35 Informative And Unusual Maps That Might Change Your Perspective On Things, As Shared On This Online Group (New Pics)
InterviewFor me, maps are the perfect fusion of art, information, insight, and entertainment. They help us navigate both physically and in the realm of ideas. What separates a good map and a great one is that the latter doesn’t stop with just mapping the territory: it expands the borders of our imagination.
There’s hardly a better place to see original, unusual, and interesting maps than this subreddit right here. Though we can’t mention the name (thanks, internet police!), it’s a veritable treasure chamber for cartographers, amateur and professional alike! Having celebrated its 10th birthday this spring, the online group now boasts more than 1.6 million members, pulling in thousands of new ones on a steady basis. Content is king and these redditors, including the founder, land surveyor Patrick McGranaghan, make some truly marvelous maps.
Featured here you’ll find some of the freshest and greatest new maps. Pack your bags, put on your safari hats, and let’s go on an adventure, Pandas! Just remember to upvote the maps that you enjoyed the most, the ones that taught you something new, and the ones that gave you a fresh perspective on the world.
Patrick, the founder of the subreddit, revealed to Bored Panda what makes a good mapmaker and whether we all need to be tip-top artists. A lot depends on the purpose of the map itself, however, the main goal is to make it as informative and easy to understand as possible. Art skills? Not as important. (Though certainly a plus!)
"There are many different reasons one chooses to make a map. Sometimes for navigation, sometimes for showing statistical phenomena, and sometimes for fantasy. While artistic skill helps, it is not absolutely necessary. The important thing is to make it easy for users to glean useful information. Most maps should have a thesis or a story it is going to tell and this needs to be told through the map," he said.
Hungry for more magnificent maps? Then you’ll want to have a scroll through Bored Panda’s previous articles about map-lovers and their creations here: [Unrolls 5 parchments with ancient symbols and drawings] Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.
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The Journey Of An Arctic Fox Who Walked From Norway To Canada In 2018
I was curious to find out what personal projects Patrick has been working on recently. "Lately, I've been learning Blender. It is more of a 3-D animation program used by video game developers, but I believe that there are ways to use it to display maps," he spoke about the innovative way of using the program.
"You might have seen some beautiful maps by Sean Conway and Scott Reinhard showing old maps with digital elevation terrain underneath. These are often made in Blender. Blender has a great ability to show light and shadow patterns that are almost photo-realistic. I think there are ways to use this program beyond showing maps with realistic terrain. I'm still a novice now, but I'd like to explore other ways this program can visualize maps," Patrick spoke about his ongoing adventure to learn Blender. If you Pandas haven't already, you really ought to take a look at Sean and Scott's work as well.
The Baltic Way. On 23 August 1989, Two Million People Joined Their Hands To Form A Human Chain Spanning 675.5 Km Across The Three Baltic States. The Protest Was Against The Soviet Occupation, And To Support The Independence Movements Of The Three States
A Map Art Piece I'm Working On Of Paris' Latin Quarter
The founder also told Bored Panda about the current state of the subreddit and how Reddit as a whole has changed recently. Changes in tech are also driving changes in content. "The subreddit is doing well. Reddit overall over the last few years has shifted towards mobile-friendly content. Reddit used to be only for desktop users. In the early days, the content was mostly large files that were wallpaper-sized. They were great for zooming in and exploring in detail."
However, these days are long gone. Nowadays, "Reddit is overwhelmed" with users who only use it on their smartphones and other mobile devices. "For better or worse, that is how it is and that's the trend for the future. The subreddit contains a lot of bite-size Instagram-style statistical maps. The community upvotes this content and if that's what they want, that's the direction the sub will take."
No One Lives In The Green Part Of New Zealand,the Population Density There Is 0 People Per Km And That Is About 78% Of New Zealand Land
Zealandia, The 8th Continent That's Almost Entirely Submerged
Rivers Of Italy
Patrick, the founder of the subreddit, was kind enough to go into detail about the online group, map-making, and his passion for maps on a number of occasions.
“I've noticed, especially as I've gotten older, that you only have so much time on this planet and every day that is wasted is a day that you'll never get back. If you want to get out and explore the world you just have to do it,” Patrick previously told Bored Panda about seizing the day and starting your adventure today, instead of putting these things off indefinitely.
“Some adventures will cost time and resources, but the real question I ask myself is can I afford not to do some goal I have my heart set on. There are so many opportunities in this world that it may be hard to choose, but if you wait too long those opportunities will be gone forever," Patrick said that we have to seize opportunities to live (really live) as they come.
Territories Where Married Gay Couples Can Buy Rifles To Protect Their Marijuana Plants
Wolf Distribution In Italy Since 1900
Reported UFO Sightings Map. Last 115 Years
UFO means unidentified flying object. It does not mean alien most are probably military from earth.
Recently Patrick had been working on pixel maps that are bound to get the attention of anyone who’s got a penchant for video games, retro items, or pixel art. "This spring, I was making a lot of pixel maps that looked like old video game graphics. I picked some exotic places like Botswana and Mongolia to make these maps," he revealed a bit about his projects.
"I think a great way to learn about an exotic place is to make a map of it and really give some hours and care into making the map look as good as possible. You really get a connection for a place as you're putting labels on and making decisions about what to include and where to lay everything out,” the founder told Bored Panda.
The Easternmost Point Of Brazil Is Closer To Africa Than To Its Westernmost Point
The Longest Possible Train Travel In The World
Existence Of Pangaea Proven With Evidence Of Similar Fossils Across Continents
As a child I always thought this was easy to prove by just looking at a world map, the countries separated by oceans all fit together like jigsaw pieces.
According to Patrick, moderating the subreddit is all about keeping a delicate balance and staying realistic: the fact is that you can’t keep everyone happy all the time. Nor should you try to when questions of quality are involved. “Moderating is always a delicate balance. It is impossible to please everybody. If you are too laissez-faire you get a lot of low effort and ugly submissions and the users complain,” he said.
Closer To Paris Or To London?
Countries That Have Yet To See True Temperature Extremes
After Tokyo 2020 This Map Remains The Same. All Men’s Water Polo Gold Medal Winners Since 2000 Were Born Inside This Circle
However, being too strict is also not an option. “If you are too strict, then you risk alienating those who supply the content for the sub. I try to find a balance between these two extremes. Overall, I'm satisfied with the moderating and I don't foresee any changes in the immediate future," Patrick explained.
Variations Of The Given Name “Paul”
Land Reclamation In The Netherlands
During low tide, you can walk from the mainland to the islands in the North as our country is flat as a pancake :)
Butter Or Olive Oil? Based On Actual Per Capita Consumption
Some people are naturally more skilled at navigation and using maps than others. Though, of course, navigation is a skill and you can get better at it so long as you’re patient, dedicated, and spend enough time honing it. “The older I get, the more I realize that spatial awareness just comes naturally to some people, and for others, it's a struggle," Patrick said. “In a way, reliance on Google Maps has made us dumber. We let the navigation app do all the work for us and don't engage with making the decisions.”
The Strait Of Gibraltar
Europe If The Sea Level Rose 100m
Eh, the Dutch would survive. We'd just build a giant dome over the Netherlands and continue on as if nothing happened
Share Of Young People Aged 25 -34 Living With Parents
The founder had some advice for everyone about how we can develop our navigation skills in our local area. It’s a great way to get your foot in the door before moving on to bigger adventures.
"If you live in a place with a tall hill or some viewpoint, go up there some time and look around. Try to identify as many landmarks as you can. Notice where they are in relation to each other. Look for new landmarks that you've never noticed before and keep them in mind as you navigate your hometown.”
Number Of Prisoners Per 100 000 People In European Countries
Traditional Hats Of Europe
Sun Tanning vs. Skin Whitening
Patrick continued: “If there are rivers or other features that cause chokepoints on bridges or highways, memorize all the bridges and where they go. In this way, you'll know the layout of your city and how to get around.”
Languages Of Europe Using Lemon And Citrus
Percentage Of People Who Trust Climate Scientists, 2020
Most people have no intention of giving up their cars, you see, so they won't go along with it.
Load More Replies...The numbers for China are obviously wrong. Anhone who says how they really feel gets "disappeared".
Load More Replies...I don't trust them, but I do believe them and do trust them with having no reason to lie. But no way I will give them my ice cream cone to hold while I wash my hands.
Of course not, trust only extends so afar! But why were you holding your ice cream cone with dirty hands?
Load More Replies...I am shocked that India ranks first here, I thought we would be in the 70%
Don't know why India is shown badly in western media and people go by those facts and ignore the real ones
Load More Replies...Chinese pollution is largely caused by the western world, though. Most plastic production, deforestation, and greenhouse emissions are "exported" from China, Brazil, and India - that is, that the products created by destroying the environment there are ordered from and sent to western nations. The manufacturing of things may be done there, but the demand is coming from North America and Europe. Our Life In Data has a whole series of interesting maps on the importation/exportation of environmental damage.
Load More Replies...because usa outsources to them? China is ahead of usa only for that reason, india's actually a bit lower in carbon emissions.
Load More Replies...I don’t believe it. We witness the climate change and people who seriously doubt it are few and far between.
They really aren't. The pseudoscience brigade is depressingly large and powerful.
Load More Replies...Honestly, I'd have thought that the U.S. would have been at least 5-10 percent lower.
Lithuania would be above 80 category. Even sceptics see that our winters dissapeared in the last 15 years
Wow, Japan, really? I guess we shouldn't be surprised by your Covid response.
"Climate science" is a non-thing. it is a popular term for peole with noy real knowledge id education to distract the public from their shenanigans. METEROLOGISTS are the scientists
Well we all know that the Chinese are being lied to- apart from the Chinese of course.
This is fishy...it is not that low in Canada. Generally most people here believe climate change is an issue, thus they must trust climate scientists.
THIS is how we got to where we are today - if we had actually convinced people in the 70s & 80s MAYBE we wouldn't be here now... but greed, Big Energy and corporate handling of governments is how we got to this point... and thank you President Agent Orange for 4 years of flat out denial... mushroom
seems to depend on how badly the country is affected by climate catastrophes
Vietnamese here. I can see that there is none statistic about my country, so I can offer a personal view. I belive most Vietnamese people believe in climate scientists because, literally, we are suffering very bad due to climate change. Mekong delta region where I live is threatened by sea level rising, and the central region is constantly threatened by increasingly powerful storms.
I was kinda hoping to see the numbers for my country but they aren't in the map 😟
Basically all the countries near and around the equator and tropics see the effects. Surprised that the U.S. east coast isn't green, considering how they go through more frequent and powerful hurricanes, floods and extreme temperature fluctuations each year? Also, way to go Argentina:)
Oh God! Australian Govt. Your People are ashamed of you! Vote them out 2022!
It's important to note that the highest support rates are among the global south- the nations who will be the hardest hit by climate change, and the ones who also contribute the LEAST to global carbon emissions and who have the lowest carbon footprints due to lower standards of living and poorer populations. The countries where ppl have to make the most change and who are the most responsible for what's happening (the global north), have the lowest rates of trusting scientists. Interesting.
I think this maybe is an indication as to who actually looks at the data and/or crunches the numbers
Oooh . . . . that's not good is it? What happened to Britain, we used to be quite bright! Nice to see France is worse . . . gotta stoke the 'auld enmity!
Considering population in India and China is still growing I have doubts regarding their scientists.
I'm concerned that the fiasco with masking and vaccines in the U.S. is going to drive distrust in scientists to unprecedented levels. For instance, Dr. Fauci flipped from "masks are utterly ineffective" to "wear masks or you're Satan incarnate" and he is lionized as the second coming of Christ. Instead of engaging people, he lied ("for their own good"), and then sought to oppress and punish people who didn't trust in him despite his lies.
In France, it applies to almost every science. Simply science education is not very good and poorly educated people think they know better than scientists who worked for decades on the subject. Or at least think that these scientists don't know more than them because apprently that's what being "skeptical" means.
For good reason i believe - their continuous predictions of doom that never happens, could be one reasons for the waning trust in climate scientists, or the fact that countries with 1% of the global contribution should give up everything to allow one country accounting for 50% of it, to carry on as usual.
It's not surprising that the lowest percentage of believers in the science of climate change come from countries that produce oil and coal. Those industries pay a lot of money to propagandize the citizens of their perspective countries. In the U.S. we've got one senator who's going to destroy any legislation to move to cleaner energy (Joe Manchin) because he personally profits from coal. In a just world, corporations would not have this kind of power.
Why are you being downvoted? It is absolutely true that much of the anti-science anti-environment propraganda comes from the industries that profit most from destroying the environment.
Load More Replies...Oh the irony of China and India being the countries that trust climate scientists the most yet produce the most pollution in the world.
Do you know China's per-capita carbon emission is less than half of the US? Yet China manufactures much much more products. Who's the one being irresponsible here?
Load More Replies...I'm surprised the USA isn't totally red-seems like all the crazies live here with their conspiracy theories
How Do You Sneeze?
As for the idea that ‘everything has been mapped,’ Patrick thinks it’s a bunch of baloney. “The world is constantly changing and accurate spatial data is a fleeting thing. Google Maps certainly gives the impression that everything is mapped, but there is selection and generalization in their data," he said that there will always be a need for new, fresh, updated maps.
Percentage Of Indians With Toilet 2014 vs. 2017
That's one of the few decent things Modi has done right for India-toilets and electricity nationwide. Didn't do anything about the slums though, like idk, HELPING them
Countries That Are Obligated To Defend The United States And Vice Versa
North America Compared To Jupiter
Countries Where It's Illegal To Smack Children!
Sweden: in ten years of teaching at middle and high schools with 30% immigrant kids, never had a fight that drew blood. First week in US kid was put in the hospital. Don't have to do school shooting drills either
Countries Whose Local Names Are Extremely Different From The Names They're Referred To In English
Nearly Half Of American Will Have Obesity By 2030
Number Of Cigarettes Smoked Per Smoker Per Day In European Countries
Percentage Of Obese Population Per Country In Europe
For Just A Small Space On The Pan American Highway, We Can't Drive From Alaska To Patagonia. Known As Darién Gap
I hate that this world is so dangerous for women. I would love to take a few months off, rent a car and drive that route - alone. Yet I would never dare to.
Size Comparison Of Vietnam With The Eastern United States
Where Are The 336 Politicians In The Pandora Papers From?
Sorry...I have a hard time believing there are no politicians with their hands in this in the USA.
Map Of Neil Armstrong’s Moonwalk Compared To A Football Pitch. From The Nasa History Division
The Former Island Of Urk - The Netherlands
What Percent Of People From Different European Countries Wash Their Hands After Going To The Toilet
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth At Its Maximum Extent
To make this clearer, this was a union a long time ago and it shows how far it spread (something like the 12th century).
Countries Which Criticized/Defended China Security Law For Hk At Un
Maximum Thermometer Readings In The Entire History Of Meteorological Observations, °с
11th August 2021 the temperature in Sicily was 48,8°C. Close to Siracusa
Legality Of Cannabis (Marijuana) Across The Us And The Eu. August 2021 Data
Percent Who Own Guns
Population Of America's In 1950 vs. 2020
Video Game Map Of Europe (Map Of Famous Video Games Developed By Each Country In Europe)
Percent Of The Population Incarcerated In Prisons Across The Eu And The Us. This Calculation Takes The Entire Population Into Account, If Only The Adult Population Would Be Taken Into Account, These Numbers Would Be Higher
In many states in the U.S., prisoners can't vote. However, prisoners do count as residents for census purposes, which impacts congressional seats and funding. Inmates are also frequently shipped to states far away from their home state for prison. This means, states who want more political power are incentived to build prisons, imprison people, and keep people imprisoned for longer to have more funding coming in and more political sway. It's a really, really awful idea that continues completely legally in the U.S.
Homeless People Per 10,000 People In The United States
The First, Second, And Third Most Spoken Languages In NYC By Neighborhood
How The World Is Divided Between McDonald's And Subway
Eurozone Countries' Currencies Before Adopting The Euro
I think it's sad. Currency is a part of culture, and I hate when it changes. They also made great souvernirs before everyone got Euro.
The Number Of Skyscrapers By State
Traveling To The Us From European Countries (Visa Requirement And Refusal Rate)
Ahhh the good ole US hypocrisy. Everyone here is a descendant of immigrants who took indigenous people's land then slaughtered them, yet tons of people here hate immigrants. It wouldn't be 'Murica without hypocrisy everywhere you turn.
Same-Sex Legalization In Europe As Compared To The Us
So...when I compare the mappings...Is it safe to say that living with parents at high age causes criminal behavior? :)
I encourage everyone to look at Our World in Data. There are some pretty fascinating maps and graphs on there.
Most of these maps are false regarding North Africa in particular Algeria. The white skinning, the hat, the names..etc. I guess they don't have the right info so they just put what they find on Lybia although these 2 countries have nothing in common. The hats map was also wrong regarding France. That's not a French beret and it's only in Paris that people used to wear berets. The south and the north of France had different sorts of hats. That's the 2 countries I lived in and I know most so I guess that it maybe mistakes about others countries that I don't know about. I know it's not important like COVID disinformation but it gives people wrong informations and make them believe they learn something on a country when it's wrong.
So...when I compare the mappings...Is it safe to say that living with parents at high age causes criminal behavior? :)
I encourage everyone to look at Our World in Data. There are some pretty fascinating maps and graphs on there.
Most of these maps are false regarding North Africa in particular Algeria. The white skinning, the hat, the names..etc. I guess they don't have the right info so they just put what they find on Lybia although these 2 countries have nothing in common. The hats map was also wrong regarding France. That's not a French beret and it's only in Paris that people used to wear berets. The south and the north of France had different sorts of hats. That's the 2 countries I lived in and I know most so I guess that it maybe mistakes about others countries that I don't know about. I know it's not important like COVID disinformation but it gives people wrong informations and make them believe they learn something on a country when it's wrong.