June 29, 2015 at 10:40 am

32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

by twistedsifter

 

Our world is a complex network of people, places and things. Maps are a great tool and can help us understand how we are all connected. Below you will find a collection of informative maps that will hopefully teach you something new and give you a fresh perspective of our amazing planet and those that inhabit it.

 

 

1. If You’re on the Beach, This is What’s Across the Ocean

whats across the ocean map 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

The map above shows the countries that are due east and west from points along the coasts of North and South America. Many small island nations are (perhaps unfairly) excluded for ease of reading. [source]

 

 

2. Point Nemo: The Farthest Place on Earth from Land

 
the furthest point on earth from land 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

The oceanic pole of inaccessibility (48°52.6′S 123°23.6′W) is the place in the ocean that is farthest from land. It lies in the South Pacific Ocean, 2,688 km (1,670 mi) from the nearest lands: Ducie Island (part of the Pitcairn Islands) in the north, Motu Nui (part of the Easter Islands) in the northeast, and Maher Island (near the larger Siple Island, off the coast of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica) in the south. Chatham Island lies farther west, and Southern Chile in the east. This location is also referred to as “Point Nemo”, a reference to Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo. [source]

 

 

3. Air Traffic Across the Globe in a Single 24-Hour Period

 

 

 

4. How Google Maps Alters Borders Based on the Country You’re Viewing From

 
google maps different borders depending on country you are viewing from 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

 

5.

 
median ages around the world 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

 

6. The Most Consumed Alcoholic Beverage by Country

 
the most consumed alcoholic beverage by country 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

Map by ChartsBin

 

 

7. Countries That Look Like Other Countries (+Bonus States)

 
countries that look like other countries 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

Map via Ambamja

 

 

8.

 
how powerful is your passport 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

 

9. The Earth’s Seasons

 
the earths seasons

 

 

10.

 
the 20 longest non stop flights in the world 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

 

 

 

11. The Word for Bear in Various European Languages

 
the word for bear in various european languages 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

 

12. Percentage of People Having Sex Weekly by Country

 
Percentage-of-People-Having-Sex-Weekly-by-Country

Map by Charts Bin

 

 

13. Camouflages of the World

 
camouflages of the world map 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

Map via Blodje

 

 

14. Which Exports Make Your Country the Most Money

 
which export makes your country the most money map 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

 

15.

 
most popular web browsers in the world gif

 

 

16. Tech Companies in Silicon Valley/San Francisco

 
tech companies in silicon valley and san francisco (2)
tech companies in silicon valley and san francisco (1)

Maps by Vox

 

 

17. Longest Distance You Can Travel Without Crossing Major Bodies of Water

 
the longest distance you can travel without crossing a major body of water 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

The longest distance you can travel between two points in straight line without crossing any ocean or any major water bodies goes from Liberia to China. It starts at 5°2’51.59″N 9°7’23.26″W about 10 Km north of Greenville, Liberia and ends at 28°17’7.68″N 121°38’17.31″E near Wenling, China. A 13,589.31 Km walk in a straight line, it crosses 9 time zones and 18 countries and territories: Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Burkina Faso again, Niger, Chad, Libya, Egypt, Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan again and finally China. [source]

 

18. If North America Were on Jupiter or Mars

 
if north america were on mars or jupiter 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

 

19. There are More Wikipedia Articles Inside this Circle than Outside of It

 
Wikipedia-hegemons-and-uneven-geographic-coverage__Oxford-Internet-Institute

 

This map points out the highly uneven spatial distribution of (geotagged) Wikipedia articles in 44 language versions of the encyclopaedia. Slightly more than half of the global total of 3,336,473 articles are about places, events and people inside the red circle on the map, occupying only about 2.5% of the world’s land area. The article locations were mapped on top of a dataset obtained from Natural Earth using Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion map projection that has little distortion of shape and area and highlights that there is no ‘right way up’.
 
This uneven distribution of knowledge carries with it the danger of spatial solipsism for the people who live inside one of Wikipedia’s focal regions. It also strongly underrepresents regions such as the Middle East and North Africa as well as Sub-Saharan Africa. In the global context of today’s digital knowledge economies, these digital absences are likely to have very material effects and consequences. [source]

 

20. Greenland and Africa – Mercator Projection vs Actual Size

 
greenland vs africa actual size vs mercator projection

Map via Asuros

 

 

 

 

21. World’s Most and Least Ethnically Diverse Countries

 
the least and most ethnically diverse countries in the world 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

 

22.

 
50 busiest container shipping seaports in the world 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

 

23. Access to Sanitation Around the Globe

 
access to sanitation around the globe 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

 

24. If the Polar Ice Caps Completely Melted

 
if the polar ice caps melted national geographic 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

 

25. Nutella and the Global Economy

 
nutella and the global economy 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

Map by OECD

 

 

26. People Tweeting About Sunrises Over a 24-Hour Period

 
people tweeting about sunrises over a 24 hour period

 

 

27. Fiber Optic Cables Around the World

 
Fiber optic cables around the world

 

 

28. Key Import Sources Around the World

 
key import sources around the world 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

 

29. Major Russian Gas Pipelines Into Europe

 
Major_russian_gas_pipelines_to_europe

 

 

30.

 
internet population and penetration around the globe 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

 

31.

 
areal distortion of global map projections 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World

 

 

32. Relief Maps of Earth with Exaggerated Mountain Ranges

 
relief maps of earth with exaggerated mountain ranges (3)

relief maps of earth with exaggerated mountain ranges (1)

relief maps of earth with exaggerated mountain ranges (2)

Maps by Anton Balazh

 

 

 

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there are more people living inside this circle than outside of it 32 Maps That Will Teach You Something New About the World