We grouped Latin American countries into three hydrosocial groups based on a number of shared hydrological and social descriptors. Some of which include measures of social and hydrological systems, socioeconomic status, and availability of water resources. Generally, the closer the countries are on the graph, the more similar they are in terms of the characteristics above. Different colors represent each hydrosocial group. These three country groups allowed for more meaningful interpretation of the bright and blind spots in water research in Latin America.

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Grouping Countries by Hydrologic and Social Descriptors

This heat map displays countries based on their hydrological and social descriptors. The colors are scaled by column (i.e. by country). For each column, the closer the colors are to one another, the more similar the countries are in terms of that feature.

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precipitationNational Rainfall IndexDependency ratioDam capacityDam capacity per capitaTotal water withdrawlsAgricultural withdrawalsIndustrial withdrawalsMunicipal withdrawalTotal water withdrawals per capitaFreshwater withdrawalWater stressAreas actually irrigatedAgricultural areaTotal harvested irrigated crop areaHarvested irrigated temporary crop areaHarvested irrigated permanent crop areaIrrigated cropping intensityFlood occurrenceTotal access to safe drinking waterRural access to safe drinking waterUrban access to safe drinking waterHazard and ExposureVulnerabilityLack of Coping CapacityDemocracy indexEnvironmental Performance IndexEnvironmental HealthEcosystem VitaliyGross Domestic Product in 2015Population in 2015Land areaInland waterPercentage of inland waterGross domestic product per capitaMunicipal withdrawal per capitaPercentage of agricultural areaArgentinaBelizeBoliviaBrazilChileColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorGuatemalaGuyanaHondurasJamaicaMexicoNicaraguaPanamaParaguayPeruSurinameUruguayVenezuela


Hierarchical Clustering by Hydrosocial Features

Below is another visualization of the country clustering. Countries are grouped together by hydrological and social descriptors. The closer the countries are on the graph, the more similar they are in terms of the characteristics listed above. Different colors represent each hydrosocial group.

  1. Group 1 is in orange and has the largest growth in volume of water-related research published per year. This group consists of Brazil and Mexico.
  2. Group 2 is in green and has the second largest volume of research. This group consists of Argentina, Chile, Guyana, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
  3. Group 3 is in blue and has the smallest volume of water research. This group consists of Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, and Peru.

Please note that some countries with a lack of water-related research have been excluded from our research.

Country Cards

Click on the country cards to learn more about the top ten bright and blind spots of each country as well as hydrological and social descriptors about them (irrelevant topics have been filtered out).

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