Strange Maps
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."
A vertical map of Earth: How high or low can you go?
Over 40% of the world’s dog breeds come from these 3 countries
Only 19% of European synagogues still stand, post-WWII
42 of the world’s 50 deadliest cities are in one region
Obesity in America vs Europe: Two maps explain it all
7 world maps show the highs and lows of American exceptionalism
Every country is unique—but only America is extraordinary
Smart vultures never, ever cross the Spain-Portugal border. Why?
The first rule of Vulture Club: stay out of Portugal.
Revealed: Dutch are least hygienic Europeans
Half of Holland does not wash hands after going to the bathroom. The Bosnians are the cleanest Europeans.
In these 34 states, police officers can legally have sex with detainees
Should police officers be able to get away with having sex with detainees?
Should you wear long johns? There’s a map for that
Mapping your daily long john needs since 2011 (Canada only)
Since 1910, this statue has warned Parisians about flooding
If the zouave of the Alma bridge gets his feet wet, Paris knows to start worrying
Meet Tabarnia, Catalonia’s counter-separatist nightmare
Once you start seceding, who's to say where it will stop?
From Ho Chi Minh Street to Boris Nemtsov Plaza: a history of the undiplomatic street name change
Street names can cause diplomatic offence - and sometimes, that's exactly why they're there.
Trippy ’60s forecast: A post-apocalyptic cave city where you can drink Coca-Cola
Even underground, there would still be a helicopter hovering overhead
Nobody Lives Here: Mapping Emptiness in the U.S. and Beyond
Did you know the U.S. is actually almost half empty?
In Norway, Bad Things Happen to You If You Don’t Get Clothes for Christmas
Also, where are you going to find a ram's horn at this time of year?
Blood on the Map: Charting Australia’s Colonial-Era Massacres
How bloody was Australia's colonial history? Two mapping projects reveal the horrible truth
Airbus Draws Christmas Tree in Skies Over Germany
Possibly the biggest Christmas tree in the history of ever
A Crowd-sourced Translation for a Mysterious Map Rug
A Middle-Eastern copy of the famous 'serio-comic' map of Europe, with the female figures more modestly dressed
A Map of Saintly Place-names in Europe
The highest concentration in Europe of places named after saints? Galicia, in Spain.
How Bitcoin consumes more energy than 159 individual countries
By 2020, Bitcoin mining will consume more energy than the world currently produces
How long to learn that language? Here’s a map for that
How the U.S. teaches foreign languages to its diplomats.
This Sinterklaas Season Too, Black Pete Stays (Mainly) Black
Despite accusations of racial stereotyping, most Dutch cities and towns keep the traditional blackface version of 'Zwarte Piet'.
In Which Countries Should You Tip, and How Much?
A gratuity is expected in some countries, but taken as an insult in others
A Utopian Map of Southeast Asian Railways
What the region's train network would look like if all plans and proposals were realised
These Chinese Cities have GDPs that Match Those of Entire Countries
Do you know you Hangzhous from your Changzhous?
A Map of the Disunited States, “as Traitors and Tyrants Would Have It”
The U.S. divided into Pacific, Atlantic, Interior and Confederate States
Greetings from Saufend-on-Sji, in Polish-occupied England
A phonetic map to help Warsaw Pact soldiers find their way around the Home Counties