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
When A Band Announces A World Tour
Japan, How Big It Is In Reality?
Okay, mind blown; it's literally twice as big as I'd imagined given typical maps. Thank you, person who made it!
Visit thetruesize.com and you can do this with any country, it's really fun.
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When I was a young rocket engineer, I got the chance to work in Japan for several years on the Japanese space program to launch weather and communication satellites. We had a great class taught by a professor from the University of California Sacramento about Japan. He said that the islands of Japan were physically about the same size as the state of California. In 1977 the population of America was about 200 million people and the population of Japan was about 100 million people. He said that Japan had about 40% usable land - there's a large part that's swamp land or the Aleutian island chain. California by comparison has about 60% usable land. The Sierra Nevada mountains and the dessert occupy the remainder. I always remember his final statement: Take half the entire population of the United States and move them all to California. Now take away 1/2 the usable land. That's how crowded Japan is.
That’s a really interesting perspective...especially since I’m a Californian!
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The bottom right most red dot of an island, still part of Tokyo.
Different map projections screw up sizes a lot, the standard Mercator projection for example makes Greenland look like the size of Africa while it's actually much smaller. Consequences of try to fit a round Earth onto a flat map.
still smaller than Ontario with more people in it than all of Canada
This is only helpful if I know how big the US "really" is, which I don't, unless it's next to a map of Europe.
That U.S. is roughly 3000 miles/5000 km east to west and 1000 miles/1600 km north to south.
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Landmass is roughly the size of California. Farmland and liveable land is about 2/3 that.
It's a mountainous country so most of the population is concentrated in very large cities. Of course you could say the same about Texas and Alaska.
Wow! I didn't realize how small the East Coast of the US is! I thought we were much BIGGER than that!
Alaska: 663,300 mi², Quebec: 595,391 mi², Ontario: 415,600 mi², British Columbia: 364,764 mi², Texas: 268,597 mi², Alberta: 255,541 mi², Saskatchewan: 251,700 mi², Manitoba: 250,116 mi², France: 248,573 mi², Spain: 195,364 mi², Sweden: 173,860 mi², California: 163,696 mi², Japan: 145,937 mi², Germany: 137,988 mi², Finland: 130,672 mi², Poland: 120,726 mi², Great Britain and Ireland: 113,418 mi², Great Britain: 80,823 mi²
India: 1,269,000 mi², Saudi Arabi: 830,000 mi², Alaska: 663,300 mi², Quebec: 595,391 mi², Ontario: 415,600 mi², British Columbia: 364,764 mi², Texas: 268,597 mi², Alberta: 255,541 mi², Saskatchewan: 251,700 mi², Manitoba: 250,116 mi², France: 248,573 mi², Spain: 195,364 mi², Sweden: 173,860 mi², California: 163,696 mi², Japan: 145,937 mi², Germany: 137,988 mi², Finland: 130,672 mi², Poland: 120,726 mi², Great Britain and Ireland: 113,418 mi², Great Britain: 80,823 mi²
Did Japan take control of the arrow pointing North at some point?
There's a lore what I know/barely remember is where a sword was dipped in the water and the dripping water formed the land. :)
126 million people in Japan, compared to 326 in all of the US. They are not wasting any space
Hee, hee... That's reality? Ye gads! I thought they were on the other side of the world!!
For more of this kind of thing check out http://mapfrappe.blogspot.com/p/mapfrappe-index.html
And they are quite a bunch of Daredevils too! All cities are all on the Pacific side 😳.
Japan seems to be slightly southerly, but I’m looking at a not-great map.
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very confusing placing Japan right next to USA for comparing the size....
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.”
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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.”
50 Percent Of Canadians Live South Of The Red Line
Each Section Has 10% Of The World's Population
List Of Countries Mentioned Or Referred In The Bible
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.
The Longest Possible Train Travel In The World
Where Penguins Are Found Naturally In The World
Size Comparison Between Australia And The United States
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
The Surface Of Mars: If, Like Earth, 71% Of Its Surface Area Was Covered With Water
World's Smallest Country vs. Largest Building
The Decline Of Our Native Tongue Over The Last 2 Centuries, I Find The Maps Rather Than The Reciting Of Statistics, Gives A Far Better Impression On The Overall Erosion Of One Of The Biggest Aspects Of Our Culture, Irish Itself
Worlds CO Emissions
Locations Johnny Cash Claims To Have Been In "Ive Been Everywhere"
The Countries That Got Tea Via China Through The Silk Road (Land) Referred To It In Various Forms Of The Word "Cha". On The Other Hand, The Countries That Traded With China Via Sea - Through The Min Tan Port Called It In Different Forms Of "Te"
Passenger Railway Network 2020
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).
What Pedestrians Look Like Across Europe
The Topologist's Map Of The World - A Map Showing International Borders, And Nothing Else
These Two Areas Of Africa Have Roughly Equal Populations
Roads Either Side Of The Border: Finland vs. Russia
Syria Before And After Civil War
The Surprising Range Of Flamingos
My Teacher Was Excited For Our WWI Unit
World With 1000m Sea Level Drop
A Map Of The World But It’s Just The Time Zones
The History Of Accuracy In World Maps
North American Cryptids
How The Antarctic Looks Beneath The Ice
All The Nations That Have To Be Combined To Be Equal To Brazils Annual Homicides
Staggering. I appreciate this done for affect, but I would be interested in Mexico's figures.
How Much Snow Does It Usually Take To Cancel Schools?
Variations Of The Name John
In German ist would be Johann/ Johannes first, Jan and Hans are shorter versions
When Visiting Someone: Red - Keep Shoes On, Green - Take Shoes Off
Brazil's Northernmost Point Is Closer To Every Country In The Americas Than To Brazil's Southernmost Point
I Recorded The Last Two Months As A Pizza Delivery Guy (On Bike)
Turkey , Borders 7 Countries With 7 Different Alphabets
‘October’ In European Languages
There And Back Again
The Japanese Flag But The Two Colors Have The Same Population
Map Of Venus If It Has As Much Water As Earth
Percentage Of People Willing To Fight For Their Country
New Take On The Concept Of A World Metro
Coats Of Arms Of European Countries
World’s 25 Largest Lakes Side By Side
But Caspian Sea is a sea. 🌊 (It’s a joke for those who are gonna complain in the reply section)
How I, A Brit, See The United States (Sorry If It Offends Anyone)
You only call New England "small and confusing" because you are still wondering how you lost it (no offense, just joking! Seriously).
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How To Say "Thank You" In Europe
Thank you in Irish is Go Raibh Maith Agat ( Pronounced Go Ro My Aggat. Thank you in Welsh is Diolch (pronounced Diolsh).
How To Become President With 22% Of The Vote
If you would get 50.1% of the vote of each red-coloured state, 22% of the population of the country, you would become president, even if 78% of the country voted for another person, this is assuming that 49.9% of people in the the red-coloured states voted for the blue party, and 100% of the people in the blue-coloured states voted for the blue party.
NOTE: The colours dont mean anything
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Span, Italy, and Romania apparently don't have Motorcycles. They have Tron Light Cycles!
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British Columbia Split Into 3 Areas Of Equal Population
They should rename the Province to "Not Vancouver", then make Vancouver a City State.
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@I’m not even going to try to write that out, as it would give me an aneurysm, it is, in fact, the nearest country to you when in Russia
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Average 'First Leaf' Appearance In The Contiguous U.S.
I want to live somewhere where I have to where a light jacket in summer and I'm snowed in during winter. I'm tired of sweating mid October.
The Italian Flag, But Every Colour Has The Same Population
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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:)
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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.
