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Since the last time we wrote about Terrible Maps, a project that is dedicated to sharing maps no one asked for or needs, they've kept themselves rather busy. So it's only natural we created a follow-up article about the cartographers who are so bad, they're actually good. After all, what is the Internet for if not to poke fun at politics and our geographical illiteracy?

From hilarious guides on how to find the state of Kentucky to showing how many Switzerlands fit in Brazil, continue scrolling and check out these gems and tell us which one would you hang on your office wall!

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OK. We can clearly see these are bad maps. But how to know you're looking at a good one? Brant Scheidecker, a sales engineer at Cartegraph, highlighted some of the main essentials for accurate and easily interpretable map use.

"Every map should have a title. It allows the user to assess the purpose of the map quickly; allowing them to determine if it meets their needs," Scheidecker wrote.

Next, origin. A fancy name for a compass or the North arrow. "This allows the user to determine the maps reference to the earth. While most maps these days have North being straight up, occasionally you will encounter a map that has a skewed orientation, perhaps to better fit it on the physical medium it's presented on (i.e. paper), or simply because it’s easier to interact with the map in that orientation."

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aaronw avatar
Aaron W
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dammit, I'm going to see this every time I look at a US map now. Thanks, Bored Panda.

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When it comes to the source, it's a two-fold element. "It allows the map maker to provide the map viewer an idea where the data the map is representing is from; a necessity in determining the accuracy of a map. It also allows the map maker a way to cite the source of their data, avoiding all those pesky cries of plagiarism and the ensuing lawsuits," Scheidecker explained. "You have better uses for your time, like ensuring the rest of the T.O.S.S.L.A.D. elements are on your maps."

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Let's not forget the legend (the area where a user can determine what a particular color or symbol represents on the map). "Without a legend, a user cannot successfully interpret what your map is trying to represent, 'Does the red skull and crossbones over my favorite restaurant mean what I think it means?'"

You should also know when was the map that you're analyzing made. If it was created in 1962 and shows commuter levels in Chicago—it might not be such a valid source for the traffic data you are looking for today, unless you are feeling nostalgic, Scheidecker joked.

There you have it. You may now have become a cartographic genius, but you should be able to tell if you're looking at a terrible map or not!

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Kesam
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm an immigrant in "aesthetically tasteless" country and I totally agree! :D

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Kesam
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I always knew Brazilians are brainy. (But wait, what does that make northwestern Canada??)

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Shelp
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Belgium imports a lot of electricity from France. I wouldn't be surprised if this particular power plant mainly produced electricity for the Belgian market

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karla Meixnerová
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No surprise, if the person with this opinion is a believer, that the Earth is flat...

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chi-wei shen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wonder whether the year 1931 is part of the joke or an actual mistake.

sawdust99 avatar
Sawdust
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is why it's sometimes worth it to cut Asia in half. :-)

ivoh avatar
Ivo H
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And on the top of that, it seems their planes cannot fly over the land

bryguy369 avatar
bryguy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is it just me that cringes when someone says "retards" to describe someone? Like is that necessary...

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Catlady6000
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's not like there are other words you can use to describe willfully ignorants idiots. Wait.....

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Martti Laurson
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That is funny. Some are not the sharpest pencils in the box, but this one is not even in the box.

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Yugan Talovich
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hello, didn't you know they had aircraft carriers? Duh..... (You have to speak their language)

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MrTree1779
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Was it over when the...Germans bombed Pearl Harbor??" - Bluto, "Animal House" (1978)

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Christopher Lee
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This has to be a joke, right? Also, terrifyingly, some of the comments here don't seem to understand fully what the problem is.

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Russian Otaku
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had to reread this three times to get the stupid point being made since I had to process the stupid

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Mumof1
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Flat Earther idiot - can't even get the date right. Wasn't it 1941?

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ImaDerp
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The plane could’ve just flown in the other direction people 🤣 the earth is not flat

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Johnny
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

While this is true, it doesn't really matter how you draw the line between Japan and Hawaii, no fighters or bombers of that era could have made the flight from Japan to Hawaii -- it's ~4000 miles, and while the Zeros had a 1600 mile range, the heavily laden bombers only had a 600 mile range. So it's theoretically possible that the Japanese aircraft carriers could have taken the marked route. (though I'm not sure they had the range to do so without refueling, even if the carriers had the range, probably a lot of the smaller support ships did not)

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Susan Mercurio
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He didn't know that they had aircraft carriers - that's what makes it so funny.

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Raphael Biock
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The japanese had planes, so why should they suround earth the water way as matked in the map? The could easy fly to their ally germany. Refuel and continue to hawaii. Proplem solved.

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Cat Nip
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

but actually they could because japan had meth and would give it to their pilots

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Lucas Everett
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

have you heard of limited fuel supply they were light bombers so you also have to factor that in because they have weight and they are stored on the outside, therefore, increasing the drag and making the planes having to use more fuel to maintain an airspeed fast enough to stay in the air.

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Diane Patrick
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At last ... truth! And still the idiots think the Japanese did it.

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Colleen Garland
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I deeply "hate" people who use the slur "retard". Are you speaking down because you are lesser than?

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Randy Klefbeck
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He clearly has never read a history book in his life. Not to mention taken any geography coursed. Nor has he ever considered the fact that aircraft carrier ships exist.

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Jozef Becker
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What is frightening is that the person who made this map and theory is allowed to drive a car. Think about that.

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SandraG
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What if they went the other way around the world? 😏

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Jane Alexander
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How 'bout 1941 when that actually happened? So, you're saying that the Japanese did not attact Pearl Harbor ten years before they attacted Pearl Harbor. Alrighty then.

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Mireia Dos
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is a joke. I know this not because there aren't people stupid enough to think the world is like in the map but because even those idiots would have made a straight line East to West from Japan to Pearl Harbor.

johns_1 avatar
John Smith
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, of course they could. They had a ten year head start, dumbass.

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Teresa Zuiani
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That is probably the DUMBEST thing I've ever read! I honestly hope this person is being sarcastic...But, I doubt it!

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Frisinator
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well they are right about that not being possible in 1931....so they got something right

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Nothanks L. Walk
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I realise this is comedy but even so... the LONG way round? REALLY?

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Don Mackenzie
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is without doubt one of the absolutely stupidest things I have ever seen, must have been created by someone with zero knowledge of the historical event!!!!!!!!

jimn1 avatar
Jim Newman
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Many people do this same thing with statistics, too. The old saying is, "Figures don't lie, liars figure". This is as good a map as the one that cuts Asia in half because of where the paper map is folded. Whoever drew this map knew exactly what he or she was doing. And that's what we're seeing a lot of today in the news - and people fall for it, like so many of the comments. These maps really need a better name than "Terrible". They are TERRIFIC!!

jimn1 avatar
Jim Newman
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Many people do this same thing with statistics, too. The old saying is, "Figures don't lie, liars figure". This is as good a map as the one that cuts Asia in half because of where the paper map is folded. Whoever drew this map knew exactly what he or she was doing. And that's what we're seeing a lot of today in the news - and people fall for it, like so many of the comments here. These maps really need a better name than "Terrible". They are terrific!

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Karen Merkel
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They went east young man and it was in 1941, one month before I was born. My mom must have been scared silly.

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Christine Ladyman
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think the tinfoil hat is too tight on this one. The date, though!!

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Martha Higgins
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Must have gone to the same school as IQ45 and had the same geography teacher.

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Susan Mercurio
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This idiot: 1) Doesn't know that Japan sent their planes to Pearl Harbor on aircraft carriers; 2) Doesn't seem to know that Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1942, not 1931; 3) calls other people "r******d" for not going along with his cockeyed view of history and geography. And he's not joking.

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meepmeep
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Since Japan took responsibility for the attack, then they were in on the "inside job". Then when we attacked Japan, they must have been in on that too. Maybe Hawaii, Nagasaki, and Hiroshima were dead weights that the US and Japan worked together to destroy. /s

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Sancho Cruz
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My bad phone a jerk last comment pay no mind lol.. how about flying the other way around? Or I'm no pilot ticket scientist astronaut but possibly fly over land? I mean you know 30,000+ feet in air would be enough to surpass the giant skyscrapers lol

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Lesley Relph
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Interesting that they also apparently only flew over open ocean rather than dry land...

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sploof
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

japanese planes couldn't have flown that distance in 1931 to bomb pearl harbor because that's not when it happened

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Aragorn II Elessar
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also the Japanese aircraft flew from captured Pacific territories or aircraft carriers iirc

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Linda HS
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, the Earth is flat, there is no climate change, nobody was in space, the vaccines are not good, covid is a conspiracy theory...why do we wonder?🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️Sad!

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Rabbit Carrot
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nah. We see a giant a*s bible for most of those middle states. Oh and guns. Lots and lots of guns.

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Sadie Shapiro
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i don't even want to try saying that one. you know which one I'm talking about.

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Jayne Kyra
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

According to my dots in MS Paint over each: 132. Might be wrong, but I am not doing it again. EDIT: Did it again and Beto River is right, I missed 10 at some point. Thank you Beto!

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Oathbraker
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I understand mistaking it with Iraq or Afghanistan, but how the f**k did they go to Africa and the Balkans? A couple are even in the UK, for crying out loud.

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Note: this post originally had 150 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.