Example plot of globe using basemap

basemap.py

from mpl_toolkits.basemap import Basemap

m = Basemap(projection='merc',lon_0=0,lat_0=0,resolution='l',area_thresh=30000,llcrnrlon=-120,llcrnrlat=-60,urcrnrlon=170,urcrnrlat=70)
m.drawcountries(linewidth=0.25,color='white')
m.drawlsmask(lakes=False)

for coord in random.sample(coords,10000):
    # We select 10k checkins at random as too many checkins
    m.plot(coord[1],coord[0],marker='o',color='r',markersize=1,latlon=True,alpha=0.1)
plt.savefig('map.png',dpi=200)