30 Unusual Maps That Might Change How You See The World, As Shared On This Instagram Account
Interview With Artist
You’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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I’m with Portugal. I’ve known a few Brazilians and they were hot af
Obrigado. Sadly the feeling in Brazil about the Portuguese is not mutual. Although, I've found them to be such lovely people. They just talk funny, somebody should reach them to speak our language correctly 😋
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Does the UK think Spanish because that has been the location for cheap holidays for many decades? The foreigners we are more familiar with?
Hmmm...I wonder what the results are in parts of the world that are not Europe? Would be interesting to see.
Spain and Portugal are right. Brazil and Argentina really do have the most beautiful people.
Have you been to Cambodia? After she visited, my best friend could not stop talking about how beautiful Cambodians are.
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Luckily we all know each country has beautiful people. I guess we Europeans associate sun with attractiveness, which is why italy and spain are on top. As these are countries famous for their beaches.
I love how Portugal has picked the only other country they can communicate with!
14.9% of Luxembourg has Portuguese nationality so are they voting for themselves? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Luxembourger
Ahah Probably! But I am happy that at least we appear on this map! 😊
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I have never heard of a Dutch person claiming Spain has the most attractive people.
WTF Italy?! I remember another thread on BP where it supposedly showed where everyone wished they could vacation or move and Italy dominated THAT map too.
What color goes with what? How do we know the pink or the green the less attractive.
Ummm,,,,where's the legend? I see that they're colored different,,,, but what do the different colors mean??
Oh wait,,,,, I put on my glasses and now I get it, :D
Load More Replies... As a Brazilian, I'd guess we'd say Brazil, we're pretty narcissistic like that. Though I suspect we might go with Colombia or Venezuela, because they are in fact gorgeous. Argentina is also full of gorgeous people, but no Brazilian would admit that. But saying Argentina is like saying Italy, as most people there are of Italian descent
Huh, Italians like Swedish huh. no wonder my Swedish friend is with an Italian.
Italy for sure. I never saw an unattractive person the entire time I was there. Italian men are especially gorgeous....
Wish there was a legend that showed what each color represented (i.e., is green the best?)
Ummmm...the countries that are colored green find that Italy has the best looking people. The countries that are coloured yellow find that Spain has the best looking people. Etc.
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it would be interesting to see a similar map of the 50 US states. (I'm a sucker for Scot-Irish personally :p)
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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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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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Sweet breakfast seems to be only popular in countries that speak a Romance language.
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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.
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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
