  In the Area Labeling Problem one is after placing the label of a geographic
area. Given the outer boundary of the area and an optional set of holes. The
goal is to find a label position such that the label spans the area and is
conform to its shape.
  The most recent research in this field from Barrault in 2001 proposes an
algorithm to compute label placements based on curved support lines. His
solution has some drawbacks as he is evaluating many very similar solutions.
Furthermore he needs to restrict the search space due to performance issues and
therefore might miss interesting solutions.
  We propose a solution that evaluates the search space more broadly and much
more efficient. To achieve this we compute a skeleton of the polygon. The
skeleton is pruned such that edges close to the boundary polygon are removed.
In the so pruned skeleton we choose a set of candidate paths to be longest
distinct subpaths of the graph. Based on these candidates the label support
lines are computed and the label positions evaluated.
  Keywords: Area lettering \and Automated label placement \and Digital
cartography \and Geographic information sciences \and Geometric Optimization.
