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When most of us think about the word “data'' our eyes glaze over as a million Excel cells appear in our minds, putting us to sleep. So clever folks out there rolled up their sleeves and got to work, making visual depictions of data that help us better understand the world.

This online group shares various cool and interesting maps that help put all sorts of facts and figures into context. So get comfortable, prepare to brush up on some geography, and get to scrolling. Be sure to upvote your favorite posts and share your thoughts and observations in the comments section below. 

#1

Good Political Maps Of Oceania Are Hard To Come By

Good Political Maps Of Oceania Are Hard To Come By

RecordingFancy8515 Report

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Tucker Cahooter
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Kiwis breathe a sigh of relief that they are not being overlooked for a change

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#2

The Literal Meaning Of Every Country's Name In Africa

The Literal Meaning Of Every Country's Name In Africa

Homesanto Report

#3

Endings Of Places In Poland

Endings Of Places In Poland

DaveBensonPhilips Report

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Bernd Herbert
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is the result of an old dialectal boundary. and another fun fact: In Northeastern Germany you will find lots of places that end in -ow, showing that the old Slawic Tribes were living in that area, way before any of today's national borders.

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If you have ever taken a casual look at an average map of the world, you have no doubt been struck by the sheer size of Russia and, to a lesser extent, Canada. This does make sense, as these are the largest countries on the planet, however, did you know that a little feature of mapmaking called Mercator projection makes them look significantly larger than they really are?

This comes from the Flemish geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator, who created a “cylindrical” map to represent the world in 1569. After all, unless you are looking at a globe, most maps are drawn, painted, or printed on a rectangular surface. Imagine the tube-like maps pirates are always dragging around and you have a pretty good depiction of an early Mercator map. 

#5

What’s The Most Popular Sport In Each Country?

What’s The Most Popular Sport In Each Country?

geographyfacts Report

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WindySwede
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Correct usage of football ⚽️ /s ☺️ not that I care about sports, just find the wordusage peculiar..

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#6

Time Needed To Earn 1€ Million Earning On Average Wage

Time Needed To Earn 1€ Million Earning On Average Wage

karinasnooodles_ Report

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Tee Pussi
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sure, if you can manage not to pay taxes or rent and don't eat for a few decades.

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After all, the real landmasses on the planet, which are spherical, don’t translate 1-to-1 on a rectangular map. Certain sections end up stretched and, as a result, appear to be a lot larger than they actually are. Mercator chose to “focus” the map on the northern hemisphere, where locations closer to the “top” of the map would end up seeming larger. Hence Russia and Canada being absolutely gigantic on so many maps. 

#8

How Many % Of People Would Not Want To Live Next Door To Lgbt People?

How Many % Of People Would Not Want To Live Next Door To Lgbt People?

theworldmaps Report

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Sarinz
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wouldn't want to live next door to people who "Would Not Want To Live Next Door To Lgbt People"...

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#9

World Map According To China In 1799

World Map According To China In 1799

Redstream28 Report

In fact, at the time, these maps were specifically created to aid in marine navigation. While it’s quite irrelevant to us, early seafarers could use a Mercator map to get a “straight” bearing when sailing to a new location. On a map that doesn’t use Mercator projection, the bearing would be a curve, representing the curve of the globe.

#10

U.S. States That Have Banned The Most Books (In Autumn 2022)

U.S. States That Have Banned The Most Books (In Autumn 2022)

GaffersB Report

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WindySwede
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At least it started backfiring in Utah, banning the bible from schools. For content of murder, violence, sexual things etc.

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#11

Percentage Of Population (25-64yrs) In Europe That Cant Speak Any Foreign Language

Percentage Of Population (25-64yrs) In Europe That Cant Speak Any Foreign Language

MardukSyria Report

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TotallyNOTAFox
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

English is mandatory here in Germany, additionally there are usually choices for french and spanish on top

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This sort of map has simply stuck around for hundreds of years, leading many people to draw somewhat incorrect conclusions about the real size of things. We are lucky that Russia and Canada really are the two largest countries, so the distortions don’t seem as bad. Other examples of distortion are the similarity between the UK and Madagascar, despite the latter being nearly twice as large.

#13

Belief In Life After Death In Europe

Belief In Life After Death In Europe

cloudtdaz Report

#14

Average Money Spent On Weddings In US States

Average Money Spent On Weddings In US States

Starry_Night0123 Report

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zeljkoklaric78_1 avatar
Bernd Herbert
Community Member
5 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is absolutely wild. Looking at California....this is more than I spent in the last 10 years for various vacations. I'm from Germany, and those vacations included USA & Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, the Seychelles, Mauritius and countless trips within Europe. (Yes, I'm counting my expenses.) I would never ever exchange these experiences with a one-time party. Absolutely absurd!

sylvia-wachs avatar
FaceTime Audio
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It’s absurd, but also cost of living needs to be taken into effect for California. Stuff is REALLY expensive there. Also, I wonder if outliers are included in the average. Some huge celebrity wedding in California isn’t representative of the majority of Californians.

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Bec
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

1) Everything in California is expensive. 2) The ultra-rich , expensive weddings are going to skew the average up

rdennis avatar
R Dennis
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Spent $500 on mine and been married 24 years... together 33... money spent doesn't make the marriage.

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Privateer
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ditto, rings and honeymoon included. Together 16 years, married for 12.

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SkyBlueandBlack
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As a Californian, I'd like to point out that Hawaii is not included.

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ShellsBells
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Neither is Alaska. Apparently cell phone companies don't think Hawai'i is part of the US. I have friends that can't text me, even while sitting next to each other, because I have a Hawai'i area code. It's not a covered area.

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Jonathan MacFarlane
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wyoming is only like that because of the eleven people there living too far apart.

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MezzoPiano
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm very interested to know what's going on in South Dakota.

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Nae Nae BB
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm baffled as to why South Dakota is so high? Unless it has to do with Mount Rushmore?

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Kevin the Manager
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This should be right next to the "Average Money Spent on Divorces" map. Just for fun!

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Griffy
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Jeez, ever hear of going to a Justice of the Peace or do an informal wedding?!

t_zeta avatar
Mr. Nurse Man
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

$3800 for everything, including my wife’s dress which was over $1000 on its own. And this was back in 2017 in Indiana.

magicjacket avatar
MagicJacket
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

First off, who knows if this is accurate? Secondly, I bet celebs having lavish weddings in CA drive the average up. What the hell is up with Rhode Island and South Dakota?

hwhatley avatar
FunOldGuy
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Using the average is misleading, as it only needs a couple of million dollar weddings to skew the numbers. What's the median?

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Kraneia The Dancing Dryad
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

South Dakota is high because they jack up the prices 😆 we have some pretty areas but if you're on a budget, go elsewhere, they'll take you for all you're worth.

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Multa Nocte
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Utah's cost is so low because of polygamy - you'd go broke by the time you got to your fourth sister-wife. 😉

censorshipsucks12 avatar
censorshipsucks
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

77k USD is 1.4m ZAR, You can buy a two bedroom house for that here. What a waste of money.

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Darius S. (he/him) cis/grey
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i can speak for NJ, We are ethnically diverse and have top5 per capita income. There are rich families that spend heavily for weddings that are important culturally. I can't tell you how many times i've passed elephants, horses, camels, etc. at wedding venues near my current town.

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thetoaster1083
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

welcome to california, land of the rising gas prices and expensive things

andrewtolbert avatar
Andrew Tolbert
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

my parents wedding was barely $200, if even. they were wed in Texas, so compare the numbers. absolutely stupider that the 10 lane highways we have here.

leneeriksen1984 avatar
Lene
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So... thinking about how much money we spent on each of our namegiving parties for our kids and adding a bit extra because... just in case... I think that we're gonna spend the equivalent of ca 1500 us dollars. How you can be willing to spend ten times that amount and more is just beyond me. Or perhaps Americans just generally know a lot more ppl than my bf and I? Lol.

ladyowen0410_1 avatar
Linda Owen
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What the he)l South Dakota, what's going on with your weddings? Also as a Missouri resident, I know five recently married people, weddings in the southeast Missouri area, the most expensive one had cost 17k, lowest, mine was 2k.

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Karen Philpott
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

California is where the ultra rich Americans live, so I'm not surprised.

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Holly McRell
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm surprised Texas isn't higher - I've seen some amazing photos of weddings in Texas.

alomonis avatar
Aballi
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is absolutely ridiculous. Even the lowest average is too much!!

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Appalachian Panda
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm surprised West Virginia is as high as it is. We're not a rich state, to say the least.

cirran avatar
Christof Irran
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

JESUS HEPLOID CHRIST! California's is more than 10 times of what I spent on my current car!

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Mint Sauce
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Even the lowest figure is too much. Invest in the marriage, not the wedding.

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Mtownmick
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Its cheaper in the south because they hold them at family reunions.

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#15

Roman Coin Hoards, From The 'Coinage In The Roman Empire' Project — 'Hoards Containing Coinage In Use In The Roman Empire Between 30 B.c. And A.d. 400.'

Roman Coin Hoards, From The 'Coinage In The Roman Empire' Project — 'Hoards Containing Coinage In Use In The Roman Empire Between 30 B.c. And A.d. 400.'

idonotknowtodo Report

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sbj
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Those Romans were very careless with their loose change on their travels

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Even more comically, due to its northerly position, Alaska appears to be roughly the size of Australia, despite the fact that the land down under is almost five times larger. You can find an excellent gif depicting the presented and real size of various nations here

#16

When Is Weekend

When Is Weekend

two_plus_two_is_zero Report

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#17

Asia's Counting System. How Do You Say The Number 57

Asia's Counting System. How Do You Say The Number 57

Mokkasakka Report

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TotallyNOTAFox
Community Member
5 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Blue and yellow are reasonable, the rest seems overly complicated. Edit: Orange, not yellow ^^

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#19

Male Body Hair Distribution Of Indigenous Human Populations Around The World

Male Body Hair Distribution Of Indigenous Human Populations Around The World

Homesanto Report

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Tuesday
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

South Indians are hairy, didn't need a graph to tell me that, just a mirror... sigh. I'm a woman and I'm hairier than my North Indian father

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#20

Sex Ratio

Sex Ratio

Hockputer09 Report

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Tracy Wallick
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And yet, men are treated as the default despite being a smaller percent of the population in the majority of countries.

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#21

Percentage Of Light vs. Brown Hair In European Countries

Percentage Of Light vs. Brown Hair In European Countries

Specific_Ad_097 Report

#22

Most Wasteful Countries In The World

Most Wasteful Countries In The World

flyingcatwithhorns Report

#24

Air Polution In Europe

Air Polution In Europe

therealcup_1 Report

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Monstarr the Divisive
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Whoa... What's happening in nort Italy, Poland and around the Balkans? Why is it so bad there?

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#25

US States By Violent Crime Rate

US States By Violent Crime Rate

Specific_Ad_685 Report

#26

The Countries With The Most Island

The Countries With The Most Island

robertjan88 Report

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BoredPossum
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The islands in Sweden are very very small but numerous. That's why they don't show up on most maps.

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#27

The Most Consumed Type Of Meat By Country Including Fish & Seafood

The Most Consumed Type Of Meat By Country Including Fish & Seafood

giuliomagnifico Report

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WindySwede
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nope, according to 'The Swedish Board of Agriculture', it's poultry meat (when not including sausages, ham and kassler). When you include them (and assuming they are 100% pork meat, pork is #1 by approximately 3,5x compared to fish.

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#28

The Most And Least Happy Countries In The World

The Most And Least Happy Countries In The World

Intelligent_Store0 Report

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R L
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think Israel's view may have changed somewhat in the past weeks.

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#29

Projection Of Water Stress Level By Country In 2040

Projection Of Water Stress Level By Country In 2040

giuliomagnifico Report

#30

Highest Temperature Recorded In Europe Countries

Highest Temperature Recorded In Europe Countries

Redstream28 Report

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pep Ito
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

These maps are misleading. They should have shown the point where it was reached and the temperature by zones. As it appears on the map it seems that all of Spain reached 47 degrees when it was in the south of Spain and probably in the northern half the temperatures were. By far lower

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Note: this post originally had 54 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.