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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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?
We work 9 to 5 (or whatever time, but mostly 9 to 5) jobs, leave work and turn off work phones and emails. End of workday is end of workday, no exceptions. We also have noise ordinances in place, everyone outside needs to be absolutely quiet after 10 pm, it's the law and police will actually see to unruly/loud people after that time. Combined with being a wealthy country, not a lot of people have to worry about their housing, food, bills etc. Oh and we have a very good welfare system. Jobless are not rich, but can easily live off that. Very good healthcare that doesn't make you go bankrupt. Good education. Sure there are some negatives about the country, but not nearly as much as upsides. Having the rest and quiet, and feeling safe and secure makes for easy sleeping at night
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How does Japan hold both least sleep and highest life expectancy?
India being most vegan is questionable. May be vegetarian, sure, but not vegan.
Apparently, if you want to live long, sleep less and eat more animals.
Well India is the most vegan, I wonder if it has anything to do with them not being able to afford to buy meat. Doesn't seem like veganism gives you a long life if everything else is poop.
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I'm surprised about Japan being the least vegan country. I don't know why but I just never thought of them as a big meat eating society
I was surprised, too, because I don't think of them as big meat or dairy eaters, but I think they eat a lot of seafood. And of course there's kobe beef. And that popular egg omelette dish... So yeah, I guess they're not very vegan.
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There was a book on why Japan has the highest life expectancy, it's called "The Ikigai Journey" for anyone interested.
As someone from Canada with a spouse from Mexico I find it hard to believe Mexico has the most working hours per year. Seems like I’m Canada everyone focuses their lives around work, where in Mexico it’s more about family so they tend to have more free time on their hands out of work (in my experience)
Accoring to japan, have a non vegan diet, party all night and you will have most expected life length. What our doctors are saying is wrong
I didn't know Sweden had the least polluted air! I'll add that to my list of reasons to why I wished I lived there.
Something doesn't add up here. Japan with longest working hours and least sleep and yet they live the longest? Lol.
As a Zimbabwean I can say with absolute certainty we have some of the worst drivers for sure. But I don't know that we are the worst out there.
I am not sure if India qualifies as most vegan place... at the most, most vegetarian place
Secret to high life expectancy: Sleep less, eat meat and keep the formalities high!
The one I find most interesting is the least/most stressed out teenagers, especially from the perspective of the music that they most likely listen to. In Finland death metal and other alternative music is very big, while in South Korea K-Pop is huge. Does that mean that K-Pop causes stress, or is is just that Finnish teens get rid of all their stress by head-banging? I appreciate that there's a lot more to it than music, obviously.
I'm an Indian, and I can say for sure that we're NOT the MOST VEGAN.
What does it mean when it says Norway is the least private? Is it nosy neighbors, nosy government, or people sharing details of their lives other peoples are reluctant to share?
And yet W€ed is still illegal do buy for recreational purposes in Portugal...
To be fair, Venezuela’s economy is shït, so ofc the gas is low :/
That's about the only thing that may be cheap there. Everything else is exorbitant, even basic necessities. I heard in the past that when people lost weight they called it the "Maduro" diet, after they're leader Nicolas Maduro, because people were literally starving.
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So Japan, least vegan with the longest life expectancy. Wanna live longer? Eat meat.
Japan, least sleep, longest life expectancy? That's some major weirdness there.
Litvenyenko ( can't rememberhow to spell his name).More recently tried to kill Navalny.
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based turkey for low suicide rates, based Singapore for least drug freedom and based Iceland for being peaceful
What's the definition of privacy for Most and Least Private Country? What are they measuring here? Number of people who keep to themeselves, or Big Brother type of privacy?
Apparently not the latter one. Turkmenistan is a weird, cruel dictatorship (the world press freedom index ranked them even below North Korea!), so if this was about privacy as in "no surveillance" I doubt they would be the most private country.
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Because they are neither great at being the best or the worst
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Japan: Most meat eating, least sleep, highest life expectancy. Hmm.
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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.
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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
