data = asciiread("annotate.txt",-1,"string") lats = tofloat(str_get_field(data,2," ")) lons = tofloat(str_get_field(data,3," ")) city_state = str_get_cols(data,22,-1) cities = str_get_field(city_state,1,",") ; Remove the ",IN" ; Start the graphics. wks = gsn_open_wks("png","annotate") ; send graphics to PNG file res = True res@mpFillOn = False res@gsnTickMarksOn = False map = gsn_csm_map_ce(wks,res) ; create map txres = True txres@txJust = "CenterLeft" txres@txFontHeightF = 0.01 text = gsn_add_text(wks,map," " + cities,lons,lats,txres) ; Add dots mkres = True mkres@gsMarkerIndex = 16 mkres@gsMarkerColor = "blue" markers = gsn_add_polymarker(wks,map,lons,lats,mkres) draw(map) ; Now draw map and advance frame. frame(wks) ; Dots and text will be drawn too.