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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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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Annoying hahaha. Sometimes it is because the French talk fast. pffft I have to give them a time-out sign sometimes.
I can't help but think that the British said "Annoying" for no reason other than the question was about the French!
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The didn't ask school kids in Switzerland. No romantic feelings there
well, french is one of our four official languages so we'd be a bit biased (either way, depending on where you live). But I guess since they coloured us pink we also believe it to be romantic, they just couldn't find a font small enough to fit the word into Switzerland
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There's that joke about the three reasons why the French are annoying. Their language, their food, and the fact that they are French.
Because it's not about the grammar or learning to speak it. It's just about the sound of it when natives speak.
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I like romantric. Elegant ? Annoying ? Funny ! HARD = Oops , another STUPID, panda member .
The only reason the Netherlands finds it annoying is because French people (generally) refuse to speak English. Apart from that it is quite a romantic language
It's not that they refuse they just can't. They don't know how to teach language in France and if students had taken it they would have said something along "annoying af" cause even french is hard to master to french people who are not at least upper middle class/went to college for a degree where they had to write anything but numbers/code. The scientific courses are barely literate and most people only know the vocabulary pertaining to their field of work so very specific. I used to correct other people because I was like, damn I'm trying to learn english by myself I can read it with no issue, I can understand most accent (except for the Bri'ish one) but I've got no one to have conversations in English to practice my accent. In daily situations you want to help but the words don't necessarily come immediately either so I'd want people to correct me to I'd get better. But my linguistic professor told us to never do it as it was pedantic. French people judge TF out of e/o spelling too
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It is not helpful to classify the UK as a single country for things like this, please don't think we all share the same attitude towards France as the English media would have you believe.
My thought exactly. The Scots have different opinions on the French.
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it'd be interesting to see how Europe would think non European languages sounded like. it's sad how my language is seen as uncivilised and mocked but french is seen as elegant and romantic :(
French is very close to Italian, in our ears many things sound very pompous
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The French being like MAgnIfIQuE while other countries be like annoyninnnng
I'm originally from the United Kingdom and have to disagree, I think that French sounds lovely and romantic.
It's an interesting language to be sure. The most Germanic of the Romance languages. I speak Spanish and Portuguese fluently, and can get by with Italian. I studied French, and lived in Belgian colonial African countries, who also speak French. To this day, i have an easier time understanding Romanian, then French. I need Parisians to slow waaaay down.
Lambert Wilson know french is "magnificient" ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaU3bE7M2UA
LOL, I love you, Poland.... funny. I'm from the US, and I studied German in high school. I haven't kept up with it as much as I should but I can understand enough. I did really good with Spanish in 8th grade (12-13 years old) but I switched to German. So basically I'm trying to remember German, further my Spanish AND trying to learn Polish on top of it all. I wish my Mom's family would've passed on Polish but they didn't. I know words and phrased, but not the language. I can kinda agree though... hearing someone who is mad and upset speaking rapid fire French.. it STILL sounds elegant and refined so it's... kinda funny.
Every Pole would probably approve for you trying, ... And tell you that, they're even not sure if they speak it correctly
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Of course the French themselves voted on "magnifique" and I can't even be mad cause it sounds so damn romantic!
Well it's subjective anyway. Personally I've never liked the way it sounds and I have never understood what makes it sound beautiful to most people. Though I agree that if you're forced to learn it in school, you're probably more likely to dislike it. It's the same in Finland. We're forced to learn Swedish, and most people seem to really dislike the language. Because I actually really like it, it's easy for me to believe many wouldn't mind it that much at all if they weren't forced to learn it in school.
Load More Replies... British and Italian make sense. Poland is hilarious. And ESPECIALLY the Dutch. Look up the rampjaar or "disaster year" in Dutch history. Caused by the French.
It's all bull... I am Polish and never heard anyone saying French is funny! Czech is funny for Poles but never French.
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Really? Why is that? I'm seriously curious ^^. I understand not liking a language, specially because of how it sound but to be annoyed by it is a level higher. What did that?
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Funny? I do not think this test is based on the large group of people. Generally in Poland we found french language extremely elegant.
I've never liked the sound of a French accent when speaking English. I think every type of accent of Spanish-speakers is either beautiful or darned cute. I never understood the fascination with the French accent. Hearing actual French being spoken annoys me less. One of the prettiest languages to my ears is Indonesian.
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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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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.
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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
