Strange Maps
A special series by Frank Jacobs.
Frank has been writing about strange maps since 2006, published a book on the subject in 2009 and joined Big Think in 2010. Readers send in new material daily, and he keeps bumping in to cartography that is delightfully obscure, amazingly beautiful, shockingly partisan, and more. "Each map tells a story, but the stories told by your standard atlas for school or reference are limited and literal: they show only the most practical side of the world, its geography and its political divisions. Strange Maps aims to collect and comment on maps that do everything but that - maps that show the world from a different angle."
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All Stories
n This is to my knowledge the only indisputable evidence of a nimbo-cartographic simulacrum, ever! You’ll find it on the website of the Fortean Times, a monthly magazine dedicated to […]
n This remarkable painting was made by the Norwegian artist Rolf Groven as a poster proposal for Norway’s pavilion at the World Exhibition in Seville (Spain) in 1992. The title […]
n The Turks have Piri Reis, whose 1513 map shows parts of America and Antarctica with astonishing and, in the case of Antarctica, frankly inexplicable accuracy. The Chinese have this […]
There´s a certain type of children´s literature that just positively requires a map at the end paper of the book. The map is there either to show an itinerary that […]
If you want to witness a total solar eclipse and you live in Europe, you’re out of luck until at least 2026. Unless you live in one of a few […]
Stuck in Despair Marsh, or marching up the Determination Hills?
As we’ve all learned in school, 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, only 30% is solid ground. What if everything was reversed? What if every land mass […]
In a place far from the geographic heart of German culture, on the lower reaches of the Volga River in the southern part of European Russia, there once existed a […]
n Steinstücken is the southernmost part of the Berlin Ortsteil (borough) of Wannsee, almost adjacent to the UFA film studios. From east to west, it’s no more than 500 metres wide, […]
Nobody knows why a map of Pinsonia was included in an otherwise accurate atlas
The Kingdom of Redonda, as presented by King Leo I of Redonda The Kingdom of Redonda, as presented by King Robert I the Bald of Redonda On his second transatlantic […]
The motto of the United States is E Pluribus Unum, Latin for ‘Out of Many, One’. Matt Kirkland, who provided me this map, thinks the US has become too unwieldy, […]
n This map out of the National Geographic magazine was sent to me by Xyzzy, a name that gives nothing away as to gender affiliation or relationship status. If Xyzzy […]
On June 3, almost 9 months after the first post on September 10 last year, the hit counter on strangemaps went up to 1 million. Today, a bit over a […]
n The cyclist pauses amid fields of produce that stretch toward the horizon, punctuated only by farms and roads. He stares in bafflement at a road map far too elaborate […]
n Frank San Miguel (“software geek, boat builder, musician and a veteran of a number of internet startups”, including what became mapquest.com) alerted me to this nifty little map he […]
President Theodore Roosevelt vetoed the idea.
n Dominique Taléghani is a French scientific journalist by day, a designer of imaginary cartographies by night. On his or her (Dominique is one of those unisex first names) blog, […]
Spain is the head, Lithuania the left knee – you get the idea
If other continents have large inland river systems, why wouldn’t Australia?
It might have snuffed out Secession with minimal loss of life; but Lincoln chose both the blockade and an invasion
I’m not in the habit of extensively revisiting strange maps already posted here, as there are so many more out there. But the map of the ‘US States Renamed For […]
n When it comes to the discovery and colonization of America, Iceland can claim a longer pedigree than all other European countries. The Icelandic explorer Leif Eriksson (970-1020) was the […]
Is the Boss to Jersey what Joyce was to Dublin?
The only way to visit this island is to read the book
Despite centuries of war and territorial changes, Poland then looks a lot like Poland now.
n This map shows which climate European cities can expect 64 years in the future: n London‘s climate will resemble that of the Portuguese coast;nParis weather will resemble that of […]
n Somewhat in the style of a treasure map, this ‘Map of Online Communities’ shows MySpace, Wikipedia, SecondLife and other user-generated phenomena now populating the internet. n The geography is […]
n The United States expanded westward in ever more rectangular fashion, leading to states out west that are so square, they’re only recognisable in their geographical context. n This map […]