30 Unusual Maps That Might Change How You See The World, As Shared On This Instagram Account
Interview With ArtistYou’d be surprised how many map enthusiasts there are, if you’re not already one of them. And to those who think that cartography is a legacy from an ancient world, let me tell you, it’s exactly the opposite.
Think of it as a mode of information telling, quite like story-telling, but with its own subtle rules and features. Today, maps can tell us all kinds of miscellaneous things you had no clue existed and the “Lover Of Geography” Instagram page is a perfect online source for that. Followed by 58.3k followers, the page is dedicated to sharing “high quality posts about interesting topics.” They also promise “you won't get bored here,” and they deliver.
Below we collected some of the most entertaining entries from the page, so scroll down and upvote your favorites as you go. After you’re done, make sure to check out our previous posts with unusual maps that may change how you see the world here, here and here.
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To find out more about the creator behind the Lover Of Geography Instagram page, Bored Panda reached out to 20-year-old content creator from the Netherlands Melih Orkun Köksal, also known by his Instagram handle @melykoksal. Melih told us that he started this page in December 2019 when he was only 17 years old. “I currently study Earth Sciences at the College of Rotterdam. Other than geography my hobbies are going to the gym and hanging out with friends, not very different from a normal 20-year-old,” he said.
When asked about his interest in cartography, Melih told us that this fascination began in his childhood. “As a little kid as young as 5 years old, I always had a little bit of passion for world maps or countries. I had a huge world map in my room. Every day when I came back home from school I kept staring at the world map in my room because of how fascinating it was to me while most other kids just wouldn't care. I was playing games with myself trying to find all the countries and cities on the map. Or I played geography games on my PC after school.”
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In 1672 The Dutch crowds did what crowds do best, namely lose all semblance of sense or sanity. The prime minister of the country was stripped naked, mutilated, and according to some reports, had their livers removed and eaten by the crowds. “C’est la vie, c’est la guerre,” as the French say.
Moreover, the creator of the Lover Of Geography page recounted that he always wanted to know where the countries are located as a child. “I often asked my parents questions like 'Dad, where is this country located' because I was simply so interested in locations. My parents would notice this weird obsession and in a matter of time, when I was 6 years old, I knew all countries and their capital cities,” he said. Throughout his childhood, Melih said, his knowledge of maps grew “so much to the point that teachers in elementary school or my own parents had to ask me for extra information when we were going on vacation to a different country. Kids in school I was asked me to help them with their geography assignments.”
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Years later, when Melih was 16 or 17, he saw all these mappers on Instagram and he thought he could do that too, but better. So he wanted a page to share his “own map style and not just stolen maps from Reddit. I wanted to entertain people and educate them at the same time by making maps more fun.”
Recently, Melih has noticed maps popping up everywhere online since 2016. He believes that now younger folks are being targeted with cartography.“I am trying to select maps people will look at without just scrolling. It needs to be interesting and fun but it also needs to be based on reliable sources. So I try to share maps with the combination of these 2 things, the maps that are fun and come from reliable sources.”
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What is the secret the netherlands hold when it comes to good sleep?
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I'm more shocked by the fact that Iceland has made it's way in between France and Spain.
Many people think Iceland is an island, it's actually a pool floaty.
Load More Replies...Presumably this is based on asking white people only? Or were all ethnicities asked?
This was apparently done by the EU, so they probably employed a research company to compile the data from a representative sample of the population. Research companies tend to use electronic communication so have often been shown to more heavily weight the opinions of young middleclass consumers. But it should capture all ethnicities in any country.
Load More Replies...i search the orange in the map. I assume it's soft pink dot 🤷♀️
Load More Replies...Wait... North Africa says No? (I mean, I know most of North Africa is not black, but still... isn't near 10%?)
North Africa is mostly arabian and bereber. As you can see by the map everybody can be racist. Unlike media says, pretending that only europeans can be racist
Load More Replies...Even some non racists have concerns - concerns that their grandchildren will face a lifetime of racism and discrimination. I understand that but the view simply perpetuates racism..
True. My mother tried to warn me off having a boyfriend a different colour from me, because she didn't want to see me hurt and it would be worse for any children. It was the 60s, and she wasn't wrong. I am pleased to assure everyone that she treasures all of her grandchildren and great nieces and nephews...
Load More Replies...Not surprising at all. We might have our 💩 together in many other ways, but racism is not one of them. It's not like hate crimes are very common (to my knowledge) here or even open/conscious hate, but that racist ideas, beliefs and general (subconscious?) attitudes etc. are.
Load More Replies...sweden, norway, iceland are being so chill about it (get it) (i'll find the door)
Pretty sure Germans would answer differently if asked about brown skinned men (North Africans and Turks especially).
I think many in every country answer what they think they should answer, instead of what they think they would do in reality. And what people think they would do is usually quite different from what they actually do, in experimental setups (i.e., the difference between "Would you help someone who ... ? Yes/No" vs. staging the situation without the subject knowing it's staged).
Load More Replies...yeah, I call a lot of those areas as "full of liars", sure they say ok, but look at when it actually happens. They like it in theory, but the Nordic Countries and Western Europe ones, dont actually accept when it happens. Talk to people from there who actually marry black people
This brings back a couple nasty arguments I remember hearing between my parents. I was a teenager, and I'd been thinking about coming out to them as bi but after hearing them, I chose not to. The main argument was, according to my Mom, "I'd rather her [me] date a black man than a stupid redneck!" My Dad, "If she does that, she won't have a family!" etc. So yeah, my home life was.... fun. /sarcasm
I'm shocked with Turkey's percentage. I thought they were way more conservative!
i'm also not so sure my country's percentage is really that high
Load More Replies...I'm very confused by the votes in Africa and south of turkey
What are the numbers for, for example, Italy, Finland, Latvia? And what countries are 30-49% ?
Never mind the answers, who thought this would be a good question to ask and why would it be controversial? 🤔
I think it's quite an interesting question to ask actually. I think when you ask questions about peoples children, they tend to answer more quickly and honestly because they switch to protective parent mode. So they could reveal hidden racism that they would normally not admit to. And you can get nice surprises. For example, I expected my country (France) to score much lower, given the awful rise in extreme right politics since a decade or so. So it gives me a bit of hope that my countryman are not as bad as I thought. But then again we would need to know when the map was done and how, so that we can interpret it correctly.
Load More Replies...Why do you think that? Because they didn't answer as you would have? Cant believe that high a percentage don't share your apparent racism?
Load More Replies...Damn. Downvoted just for being curious. Wtf.
Load More Replies...I am starting to doubt where this person gets their information from. Considering that the 3rd largest political party is classified as racists by most everyone else. 90% for sweden is not statistically possible.
I'm extremely surprised by this. I'm 53, from the US, and didn't even know anyone had an issue with it until I was maybe in my early 20s. I never heard one person say a word against it. In the early 70s, my sister (white) married a man who was 1/4 West African descent (1/4 Anishinabe and 1/2 European descent). My parents were born in the 1920s and apparently had zero issue with it. I still have to remind myself some people are idiots and have a problem with it. It really surprises me to hear there are so many racists in Europe. 10 years ago, I would have (wrongly) guessed the US to come out at no more than 10% opposed to it.
No offense but if you really didn't notice you were either extremely sheltered or didn't pay very close attention.
Load More Replies...This does not factor in that you and your daughter may also be black.
Poland, Italy, Portugal and others - which colour it is? Other thing - no country with 30-49%
I think the peach color of Italy is the 30-49%... The mid colors don't seem to match
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Hungary is not absolutely correct. Yet. We, Hungarians think that Viktor Orban actually supports Putin, that's why he acts like that, but he still wants to get money from EU. We hope this will change in 2 days finally, because Hungarian people stand with Ukraine <3
Melih also added that sometimes he uses hot topics to gain more audience, “For example, during the World Cup, I made more football-related posts.”When asked whether he ever experiments with the design and style of his maps, Melih said that he indeed has done multiple experiments with the design but he prefers to stick with one style. “So my page will be more recognizable as if it's my own brand,” he said and added that “I tend to go for a minimalist look because it's easier to look at and understand what's going on on the map.”
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Pardon me but i had to google search what is Hentai, now I regret it. Dont do it if you are at office or a public place.
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Is it really the flag of USA? I would like to know who they get this results
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Haha they don't even need sweden on this map, I've never ever been excused from school or work due to snow, and we've definitely had worse than 40+ cm
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Now do one comparing those figures with the average salary and see the map change. *Cries in Spain*
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I think the countries colored black have it RIGHT YO! And I'm American!
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What does that even mean? France is named that way because it was the"land of the Franks". Franks were the tribes that were there so long ago.
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Note: this post originally had 100 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I feel many of those maps are inaccurate or partial. It would be much better with their sources.
same. Most of these are based on polls on reddit. 5 people reply - "condiment of choice with fries". Yeah sure, those are not even sold together with fries, but whatevah.
Load More Replies...Aotearoa doesn't appear on many, and where it's present it's in the wrong place. Not sure of this geographer...
I skip reading through after couple of maps since it seems inaccurate or false
I feel many of those maps are inaccurate or partial. It would be much better with their sources.
same. Most of these are based on polls on reddit. 5 people reply - "condiment of choice with fries". Yeah sure, those are not even sold together with fries, but whatevah.
Load More Replies...Aotearoa doesn't appear on many, and where it's present it's in the wrong place. Not sure of this geographer...
I skip reading through after couple of maps since it seems inaccurate or false