30 Unusual Maps People Shared On This Group That Might Change Your Perspective On Things
Interview With Author
For many of us, cartography day in geography or history class meant a quick nap. With our eyes open, we’d dream of all the delicious stuff we were gonna eat after school, of music we’d play on the Walkman, of a message we received the other day from that cutie…
To bring back our long-lost excitement for hard pieces of data, aka maps, plans, and geographic drawings, we're gonna need to start from the very best of them. Luckily, there’s a whole online community on Reddit dedicated to the most unusual charts of geographic areas that took maps to a whole new level.
From mapping "October" in European languages to mapping an eagle’s track over a period of twenty years, these incredible examples will surely put the world into a completely new perspective.
Who knows, you may well unleash your inner cartographer and become among 1.1 million like-minded members of the maps subreddit. In that case, you may need some more cartographical goodness with 41 maps that portray lesser-known facts about America.
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To find out more about this amusing Reddit community by the name r/MapP**n, Bored Panda reached out to its creator Patrick McGranaghan, who started the subreddit in 2011 while living in Taiwan.
Patrick said he has always been a map geek: “I wanted people to share those maps so that they are easy to find and discuss.”
It turns out, he works as a land surveyor in Colorado and is a devoted member of several map societies across the nation, including the North American Cartographic Information Society, Charles Close Society for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps, and Rocky Mountain Map Society, to name just a few.
Tracking Of An Eagle Over A 20 Year Period
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Okay, mind blown; it's literally twice as big as I'd imagined given typical maps. Thank you, person who made it!
The creator said that the title r/MapP**n followed the trend on Reddit at the time when “there were a lot of subreddits with a *-porn suffix.” He explained further: “This refers to pictures of innocuous things like nature, architecture, or engineering marvels in a beautiful way. It was not meant to be sexual. The internet at the time was a lot more relaxed and using that term was funny.”
“In the years since the culture on the internet has taken a much more puritan bias and some people don't like that name,” Patrick said.
However, he assured us that “the goal of the brand has not changed, though: it's a place to share and discuss beautiful maps.”
The Earth Being Centered On Great Britain Is Arbitrary, So Here's A Map Centered On New Zealand
To be honest, only the Centering of 0-meridian to britain is arbitary.. location of 0 latitude at the ecquator is quite natural selection.
I think it should be centered on Nalanda University, Rajgir, Bihar, India (ancient center of scholarship). That would put the center meridian more or less in the middle of the largest landmass, and would put most of the world right in the center, rather than the British way that puts an ocean in the middle.
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Actually the maps are centred on the Prime Meridian which just happens to run through London.
But the Prime Meridian is an arbitrary construct
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It's not arbitrary. It was a definite choice made by people whose maps survive and pervade.
Pervasive is a good choice. The British controlled so much of the land surface of the globe
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YES AT LAST WE ARE IN CHARGE. HAHAHA actually I do get sick of world maps that leave NZ off
It’s not arbitrary, it’s because the 0 degree meridian goes through London. Ever heard of GMT?
Having the equator in the middle is not arbitrary though.
Arbitrary - the British were masters of the Seas, and controlled much of Earth's land mass
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Now my brain hurts. I've grown up with the conditioning of the USA in the center and Asia split in half.
I think you’ll find it’s not centred on Great Britain actually I think you’ll find that actually in the centre of that map is Africa which is quite often misrepresented in a much smaller size so let’s not go there thank you very much with your hatred of colonialism just because we gave you history doesn’t mean you have to hate it
We earthlings are slightly 'tilted' on our axis
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Few maps nowadays are centred on the uk, rather it is shifted so that the 'zipper' goes down the pacific ocean (the widest, least inhabited expanse on earth) and no landmasses have to be split.
Those are maps popular in the US. Most of the world uses maps that are centred on Greenwich.
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The map has New Zealand not Australia, so Australia is now the land to the West
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We are still sooooooo small! But look at us, still in the middle of everything!
Shows how we in NZ are so isolated, but with Covid, that's a great thing!
The prime meridian is the line of 0 longitude, the starting point for measuring distance both east and west around the Earth. The prime meridian is arbitrary, meaning it could be chosen to be anywhere. Any line of longitude (a meridian) can serve as the 0 longitude line. However, there is an international agreement that the meridian that runs through Greenwich, England, is considered the official prime meridian. Finally, at an international convention called by U.S. President Chester Arthur in 1884, representatives from 25 countries agreed to pick a single, standard meridian. They chose the meridian passing through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England. The Greenwich Meridian became the international standard for the prime meridian.
New zealand is on my 3 favorite countries with the netherlands and madagascar. I haven't been to any of those places but maybe someday...
I love this. Each country should make their own "we're at the center, because why not?" map
Actually, it is centered on this point in the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of the “dent” in africa
The world would be MUCH better off if we'd all followed New Zealand's lead for dealing with the pandemic.
Having the Atlantic in the middle makes more sense than using the Pacific and pushing the land to the edges.
Now it looks like all the continents are running away from New Zealand.
I can't see it...!!! Australia looks like it's the center of the world...😉
Seems to me every other continent/country has become misshapen, beside the USA would never allow it.
lol I prefer that to the ones where America is in the centre - throws me completely!
So changing the center changes the shape of the other countries? Britain never has been the center so we must have differing maps.
Also what you envisage of a World Map is upside down, or is it back to front? Also, why does going North make you think you're going uphill?
Centered on the largest empire the world has know, maps detail owing mostly to their exploration.... or New Zealand who did what ?
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When it comes to submissions, they come in every form and style. “From historical maps showing ancient borders, to funny memes and transit maps. People also post imaginary maps of places that they create in their minds.”
In fact, every kind of map imaginable has been posted to this subreddit. Patrick said that linguistic maps are popular, as well as maps that re-imagine state and national borders. There are also maps of asteroids and maps of routes of famous explorers.
“One of my favorite interactions is when a map is posted of an obscure place and someone in the comments says they live there or has a story about that place.”
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Wow, I never knew this. Unlikely Jesus was fair skinned, blond and blue eyed....
Patrick concluded that “Maps are a way to visualize the world in a way that is easy to grasp. They are an aid in learning about new lands and faraway places. They help us find our way when we are lost.”
Especially in a time like now, “when the pandemic prevents us from traveling, maps are a way that we can travel without leaving our home,” the map enthusiast said.
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3D Render Topographic Map Of Europe
I didn't know there was an ice-wall between Finland and Russia!?! (Do I need to write 'Sarkasm'?)
North America Animal Migration Routes
A Europe–U.S. Superhighway Proposed By The Former President Of Russian Railways
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In the "australia" map.... that little pink line above the "L", is actually New Zealand - a totally separate country to "Australia" (although the Aussies & Kiwis do consider themselves like "siblings" ie we are staunch rivals within sports, but stick together in defense of eachother).
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Note: this post originally had 75 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
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Nearly all parts of knowledge are mixed like a kaleidoskop -fantastic
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Hello :) #24 is made by us at https://fb.com/indiainpixels - as the watermark says. Could you please source us instead? Thank you
Nearly all parts of knowledge are mixed like a kaleidoskop -fantastic
One of the most interesting things I've recently found on Bored Panda:) Love it:)
My heart was broken. I never believed I would get my ex back until Dr Akhigbe brought my ex in 48hrs with a powerful love spell. It is reliable to get a positive result, contact the spell caster for a love spell by email: drakhigbespellhome7@gmail.com or WhatsApp on +2349021374574.
