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European overseas colonies
Our World in Data's stacked bar chart drew 19.2K views on X: 0.7x its typical post and #113 of 139 Our World in Data charts we track by views. Read Oct 10, 2026.
A century ago, around half of today’s independent countries were European colonies, Just a century ago, many of today’s independent countries weren’t self-governing at all. They were colonies controlled by European countries from far away.
Why it spread
This chart post spread because it paired a self-explaining stacked bar about the decline of European overseas colonies with a hot topic that week, reaching 19,208 views, 184 likes, 41 reposts, 9 quotes, and 35 saves.
What worked
- The chart explains itself, so viewers could grasp the colonial decline over time without extra context.
- It rode a hot topic that week, which helped a data-journalism post from a branded account with a source line travel.
- Its quote rate landed in the top quarter and its source reach was in the top quarter, signaling strong resonance and credible sourcing.
What to borrow
We could use the same self-labelling stacked bar form and the framing of a long historical shift to make our own data feel immediately readable and timely.
Careful
Do not over-read the absence of comment and benchmark figures, and do not assume the same topic heat or top-quarter quote rate will repeat for our posts.
Written by our analysis model from the measured numbers above, not by Our World in Data.
Make it yours
Your numbers, in this stacked bar chart.
Starts from the real numbers of "Number of European overseas colonies by colonizer" by Our World in Data. Replace every number with yours before you post. Make one like this, step by step
Free pictures carry a small "Made with ViralChart" line. That line is how other people find us.
API · Max
Use this chart via API
On the Max plan you can pull this chart's numbers with the provenance of each one, as JSON or CSV, with its redraw spec, or call it from an agent over MCP. Chart id 2568facde53f.
| Path | Returns | Plan | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GET | /api/v1/charts/2568facde53f | Title, publisher, date, form, point count; with a Max key, the data link | Open |
| GET | /api/v1/charts/2568facde53f/data | Every point with its provenance and confidence, plus the redraw spec. Add ?format=csv for CSV | Max |
| GET | /api/v1/charts/2568facde53f/render?view=1 | The draw-only view this page uses | Open |
| POST | /mcp | Tool get_chart_data with this id, for Claude, Cursor and other agents | Max |
curl -s https://viral-chart.com/api/v1/charts/2568facde53f/data \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $VIRALCHART_KEY"claude mcp add --transport http viralchart https://viral-chart.com/mcp \
--header "Authorization: Bearer $VIRALCHART_KEY"60 requests a minute per key; over that you get 429 with Retry-After. Up to 5 keys per account, made on your account page and shown once. Without Max, the data route answers 402 with a link to the plans. The numbers describe a chart its publisher owns, and every file carries a license note.
More from Our World in Data
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Questions people ask
How far did Our World in Data's "European overseas colonies" chart travel?
19,208 views, 184 likes, 41 reposts and 35 saves on X, read Oct 10, 2026. A normal post from @OurWorldInData gets about 28.6K views.
What kind of chart is it?
A stacked bar chart. Number of European overseas colonies declines over time.
Can I use Our World in Data's chart?
Use the format, not the picture. The chart, logo and design belong to Our World in Data. ViralChart redraws the chart type with your numbers and words, and credits the original publisher.