Squeezed in between two occupation zones, the locals opted for independence – and smuggling.
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The series of tubes famously dubbed the ‘internets’ by president G.W. Bush* constitute a world wide web of interconnectedness. But, as this map demonstrates, there are some black holes in […]
At 678.051 km² (261.797 sq. mi), Texas is the largest of the 48 contiguous states. With a population of over 23 million, it’s also the second most populous, after California. […]
When historians look back on the current conflict in Iraq, they might very well call it the Third Gulf War. The first one would have been the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), […]
Brexit lends a renewed poignancy to Gillray’s scatological cartoon
n “It takes a big state to absorb the entire North every winter,” the New York Times wrote on February 2 of this year. “Florida is pulling it off.” n […]
n The Daily Mail is one of the UK’s more euroskeptic newspapers, so it must have been with much delight that they were able to present this map to their […]
Heinrich Bunting‘s Itinerarium Sacra Scripturae (‘Travels According to the Scriptures’), first published in 1581, contained accurate maps of the Holy Land, but also three maps of pure fantasy. Two of […]
After 1945, Germany lost about a quarter of its pre-1933 territory to Poland and the Soviet Union. The German-Polish border was established at the so-called Oder-Neisse Line, after the two […]
On 23 July 1977, this map appeared in Krazy Comic, a short-lived (Oct ’76 – Apr ’78) British comic magazine. Judging by the colours alone, this is pretty much your […]
n n This little piece of fashion cartography was made by Dutch artist Coriette Schoenaerts, based in Amsterdam and London. On her website, she explains why she went to the […]
Baseball is the quintessential North American sport, as demonstrated by this map
111 years ago, San Francisco was almost wiped off the map
A curious map from Alfred Russel Wallace, the father of biogeography
What could be more rational – or more revolutionary – than to impose a rectangular grid on France’s age-old divisions?
Intangible and invisible, but omnipresent: that combination of qualities used to describe only God (or the sense of dread left by His absence). Now it also applies to cyberspace. Any […]
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, […]