React Simple Maps is an MIT-licensed TypeScript component library that renders composable SVG map charts inside React, and it is for React developers who need choropleth and geospatial data visualisation within an existing component tree rather than a separate charting runtime.

What it is

React Simple Maps exposes a set of components that can be combined to create SVG maps with markers and annotations. It is built on d3-geo and topojson-client rather than the entire d3 library, and it leaves all DOM work to React, which is why it plays nicely with other React component libraries. The API is fully typed, described as mature, and carries high test coverage — 99.8% according to the project badge — with the current release at version 5.0.5.

The concrete problem it solves is the usual one of wiring geographic projections and DOM mutation by hand. Instead of reaching for the whole d3 toolkit, a developer composes ComposableMap, Geographies and Geography, and the library handles tasks such as panning, zooming and simple rendering optimization. It replaces the full d3 dependency with a narrower pair of packages, and it does not restrict a project to one specific map: any geography representable as GeoJSON or TopoJSON — countries, regions or continents, at whatever level of complexity is needed — can be rendered, as long as the map file is supplied.

Key capabilities

• Composable components ComposableMap, Geographies and Geography build SVG maps with markers and annotations.
• Renders from a consumer-supplied TopoJSON file reference, so no single basemap is imposed on a project.
• Accepts custom map files covering countries, regions and continents as long as they are valid GeoJSON or TopoJSON.
• Built on d3-geo and topojson-client instead of the entire d3 library.
• Handles panning, zooming and simple rendering optimization internally.
• Fully typed API in TypeScript, with the example rendering a world map using the equal earth projection.
• Choropleth mapping is a first-class use case, reflected in the topic list.

Who uses it and how

• Teams building React dashboards in the Data & Analytics / Business Intelligence & Reporting space, where choropleth maps carry reporting data.
• Projects already committed to a React component library stack, since DOM work is left to React and the package composes with other component libraries.
• Applications needing custom geographic granularity, such as country, region or continent views, rather than one fixed world map.
• Developers who want map charts embedded alongside existing React UI without pulling in the whole d3 library.
• The project tracks 3,313 stars and 463 forks, indicating a widely referenced library rather than a niche one.

Getting started

Install with npm install react-simple-maps, then follow the documentation at the project site, starting from the getting-started guide, and provide a reference to a valid TopoJSON file for the map to render.

How it compares

No list of paid products that this project replaces is provided, and the facts name no directly comparable tool. What is named are its dependencies: it takes parts of d3-geo and topojson-client rather than relying on the entire d3 library, so it positions itself as a React-native component layer over those primitives. On the evidence available, it stands alone in this registry as a composable SVG map layer for React.

When to use it — and when not to

A self-hoster or adopter must supply their own valid map files, because the library does not bundle a basemap and expects GeoJSON or TopoJSON to be provided; that data acquisition step is on the user. It is a poor fit for teams that are not on React, or that want ready-made basemaps out of the box. Some signals warrant caution: 170 open issues, and documentation for pre-v5 versions is split off to a separate v3 site, which suggests older integrations will need to navigate two sets of docs.

$ npm install react-simple-maps

import { ComposableMap, Geographies, Geography } from "react-simple-maps"

// url to a valid TopoJSON file
const geoUrl = "/path/to/my-topojson-file.json"

const SampleMap = () => {
  return (
    <ComposableMap>
      <Geographies geography={geoUrl}>
        {({ geographies }) =>
          geographies.map((geo) => (
            <Geography key={geo.rsmKey} geography={geo} />
          ))
        }
      </Geographies>
    </ComposableMap>
  )
}