AbstractThe ionosphere is very active and complex due to photo‐ionization from the solar activity, while traditional empirical models can only give a rough description of its actual variations. Nowadays, global ionosphere maps (GIMs) derived from denser Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) world‐tracking data provide an excellent total electron content (TEC) data set for global ionospheric research and modeling. In this paper, long‐tern variations of 16‐year (2003–2018) TEC time series from GIMs are investigated by using the principal mode analysis (PCA) technique. We analyze the resulting modes in the time‐spectral domain and parameterize the main contributions in terms of solar and magnetospheric forcing, local solar time (LST), and annual variations. The results show that the TEC variability is strongly dependent on the geographical location of the Earth's magnetic field, and the Earth's diurnal rotation modulates its spatial patterns of variability. The latitudinal asymmetry in the global distribution of TEC variations is due to the effects caused by the irregular shape of the Earth's magnetic field along with its diurnal rotation. The analyses of residuals show that periodicities are correlated to the solar wind speed and magnetospheric forcing, especially those located near the southern dip pole at the night side. Furthermore, we found a TEC anomaly at about 15° from the South magnetic dip at the night side, more prominent around 52°S 155°E.