diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index d9421c35c6..2102dfb68b 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 - Added `smooth_factor `option to `GeoJSON`, `TopoJSON` and `Choropleth` (JamesGardiner #428)
 - `Map` object now accepts Leaflet global switches (sgvandijk #424)
 - Added weight option to CircleMarker (palewire #581)
+- Added requests support to enable http(s) and ftp for geo_path parameter (jreades #602)
 
 Bug Fixes
 
diff --git a/folium/folium.py b/folium/folium.py
index c0ad0a8cf6..587b330374 100644
--- a/folium/folium.py
+++ b/folium/folium.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 from .map import LegacyMap, FitBounds
 from .features import GeoJson, TopoJson
 
+import requests
 
 class Map(LegacyMap):
     """Create a Map with Folium and Leaflet.js
@@ -251,7 +252,10 @@ def choropleth(self, geo_path=None, geo_str=None, data_out='data.json',
 
         # Create GeoJson object
         if geo_path:
-            geo_data = open(geo_path)
+            if geo_path.lower().startswith(('http:', 'ftp:', 'https:')):
+                geo_data = requests.get(geo_path).json()
+            else:
+                geo_data = open(geo_path)
         elif geo_str:
             geo_data = geo_str
         else:
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 7789bb60f6..affaaf5d65 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 Jinja2
 branca
 six
+requests
diff --git a/tests/test_folium.py b/tests/test_folium.py
index 99798ba5d9..696003c627 100644
--- a/tests/test_folium.py
+++ b/tests/test_folium.py
@@ -27,6 +27,11 @@
 
 rootpath = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
 
+# For testing remote requests
+remote_url = '/'.join([
+    'https://raw.githubusercontent.com',
+    'python-visualization/folium/master',
+    'examples/data/us-states.json'])
 
 def setup_data():
     """Import economic data for testing."""
@@ -448,3 +453,15 @@ def test_global_switches(self):
         assert (mapd.global_switches.prefer_canvas is True and
                 mapd.global_switches.no_touch is True and
                 mapd.global_switches.disable_3d is True)
+
+    def test_json_request(self):
+        """Test requests for remote GeoJSON files."""
+        self.map = folium.Map(zoom_start=4)
+
+        # Adding remote GeoJSON as additional layer.
+        self.map.choropleth(geo_path=remote_url,
+                            smooth_factor=0.5)
+
+        self.map._parent.render()
+        bounds = self.map.get_bounds()
+        assert bounds == [[18.948267, -178.123152], [71.351633, 173.304726]], bounds