# Pie chart diagrams > A pie chart (or a circle chart) is a circular statistical graphic, which is divided into slices to illustrate numerical proportion. In a pie chart, the arc length of each slice (and consequently its central angle and area), is proportional to the quantity it represents. While it is named for its resemblance to a pie which has been sliced, there are variations on the way it can be presented. The earliest known pie chart is generally credited to William Playfair's Statistical Breviary of 1801 -Wikipedia Mermaid can render Pie Chart diagrams. ```mermaid-example pie title Pets adopted by volunteers "Dogs" : 386 "Cats" : 85 "Rats" : 15 ``` ## Syntax Drawing a pie chart is really simple in mermaid. - Start with `pie` keyword to begin the diagram - `showData` to render the actual data values after the legend text. This is ***OPTIONAL*** - Followed by `title` keyword and its value in string to give a title to the pie-chart. This is ***OPTIONAL*** - Followed by dataSet - `label` for a section in the pie diagram within `" "` quotes. - Followed by `:` colon as separator - Followed by `positive numeric value` (supported upto two decimal places) [pie] [showData] (OPTIONAL) [title] [titlevalue] (OPTIONAL) "[datakey1]" : [dataValue1] "[datakey2]" : [dataValue2] "[datakey3]" : [dataValue3] . . ## Example ```mermaid-example pie showData title Key elements in Product X "Calcium" : 42.96 "Potassium" : 50.05 "Magnesium" : 10.01 "Iron" : 5 ```