An empty SVG map canvas is set up with D3.js, awaiting geographic data to be drawn. The code imports the `select` function from D3 and reads the SVG’s width and height attributes to prepare for rendering. Using `d3.geoPath` and SVG elements, this example demonstrates the foundational steps for creating a map visualization, though no map data or path generation is currently implemented. The HTML loads D3 v5 from a CDN and links to a separate bundle script.