Theseus: A framework for managing knowledge graphs about geographical divisions and their evolution

Abstract

This article presents the Theseus Framework designed for the automatic creation of knowledge graphs (KGs) that describe the evolution of geographical divisions (GD) over time. This framework is based on an ontological model dedicated to the representation of evolving GD (e.g., divisions into regions, districts, municipalities). Both the detection and annotation of changes are automated using an algorithm based on several tests that measure the similarity between geographic areas. Theseus supports a complete processing chain that ranges from the preparation of the geographic data, including the detection and annotation of changes (using semantic tags such as fusion, split, etc.), to the generation of KGs ready to be immersed in the Linked Data Web.