The map might not be the territory, but gosh darn it both aren’t fascinating to look at! We’re pretty big fans of maps and we can’t wait to set our eyes on even more unusual and peculiar ones in order to expand our minds and feed our imaginations which are hungry for aesthetic designs. Luckily for us, there are tons of like-minded internet users who are nearly bursting with their love of maps.

This subreddit about maps has nearly 1.5 million members and probably has more creativity than I’ve personally seen anywhere else on Reddit so far. Even though we can’t mention the subreddit’s full name because we’ll get censored, the community is truly friendly and has stood the test of time since May 2011. And the person to thank is land surveyor Patrick McGranaghan, the founder of the entire project, whose passion for maps is beyond measure and keeps the online group together.

Patrick and I had a wholesome chat about how to get ourselves moving outside our comfort zones and on adventures, what maps he’s recently been working on, as well as the ins and outs of moderating the subreddit.

“I’ve noticed, especially as I’ve gotten older, that you only have so much time on this planet and every day that is wasted is a day that you’ll never get back. If you want to get out and explore the world you just have to do it. Some adventures will cost time and resources, but the real question I ask myself is can I afford not to do some goal I have my heart set on. There are so many opportunities in this world that it may be hard to choose, but if you wait too long those opportunities will be gone forever,” he told Bored Panda to seize the day and really start living.

Bored Panda has featured the subreddit extensively in our previous articles. When you’re done upvoting and commenting on your fave maps in this list, keep in mind that there’s a whole land of adventure waiting for you in these earlier posts right here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

More info: Reddit | Twitter | Tumblr

#1 World Map Of Borders

Image credits: krinkyee_113

#2 Hand Drawn Map Of China And Neighboring Countries With Placenames In Mandarin (I Drew It As An Exercise To Memorise All The Provinces)

Image credits: LuKing-Ra

#3 Age At First Marriage

Image credits: latecomer11

I was interested to hear about Patrick’s recent cartography projects as well. He told me that recently he’s been focusing on pixel maps which are bound to get some of you Pandas nostalgic. “This spring, I was making a lot of pixel maps that looked like old video game graphics. I picked some exotic places like Botswana and Mongolia to make these maps,” he shared with Bored Panda.

“I think a great way to learn about an exotic place is to make a map of it and really give some hours and care into making the map look as good as possible. You really get a connection for a place as you’re putting labels on and making decisions about what to include and where to lay everything out.”

#4 This Is A LEGO World Map I Designed! I Spent Many Hours Staring At Google Earth And Topological Maps To Make This

Image credits: GooseWithDaGibus

#5 Antarctica Without Ice, U Don’t See That A Lot

Image credits: Rajni_Rao

#6 Average Number Of Languages Spoken By The EU Population

Image credits: JeannaLeavy

As for moderating the subreddit, which continues growing, it’s always been about finding the right balance. Patrick also told me that moderating things, just like doing anything in life, means that there will always be someone who’s unhappy with your decisions.

“Moderating is always a delicate balance. It is impossible to please everybody. If you are too laissez-faire you get a lot of low effort and ugly submissions and the users complain. If you are too strict, then you risk alienating those who supply the content for the sub. I try to find a balance between these two extremes. Overall, I’m satisfied with the moderating and I don’t foresee any changes in the immediate future,” he said.

As for the future? Patrick’s finally traveling to Europe again and plans to have a grand old time in Italy soon.

#7 The Great Lakes And Saint Lawrence River Superimposed On A Map Of Europe

Image credits: fraterkretert43

#8 Map Of Africa’s Borders If Divided By Languages ​​and Ethnicities

Image credits: Danielbrenim

#9 The Topography Of The Roman Empire, Ad 117

Image credits: boytutoy

Previously, I had a couple of in-depth chats with Patrick, the founder of the subreddit, about the project, learning to navigate better, and the state of travel during the pandemic. In the decade since its founding, the subreddit has blossomed into a welcoming niche for cartographers—professional and amateur alike—all over the globe. Everyone’s welcome, so long as they stick to the rules and stay polite. Patrick developed his love for maps very early in his childhood as his family traveled and moved a lot.

“The older I get, the more I realize that spatial awareness just comes naturally to some people, and for others, it’s a struggle,” Patrick pointed out to Bored Panda that just like with any other skill, getting good at navigating requires patience, dedication, and repetition.

“In a way, reliance on Google Maps has made us dumber. We let the navigation app do all the work for us and don’t engage with making the decisions,” he said.

#10 Mythical Beasts Of The United States Of America

Image credits: NeilParkinsonMakes

#11 “Do You Pronounce The ‘R’ In ‘Arm’?” – England 1950 vs. 2016

Image credits: Schwarzwaldmilch

#12 How To Read A Topographical Map

Image credits: World-Tight

“If you live in a place with a tall hill or some viewpoint, go up there some time and look around. Try to identify as many landmarks as you can. Notice where they are in relation to each other. Look for new landmarks that you’ve never noticed before and keep them in mind as you navigate your hometown. If there are rivers or other features that cause chokepoints on bridges or highways, memorize all the bridges and where they go. In this way, you’ll know the layout of your city and how to get around,” the subreddit’s founder, Patrick, gave us some pointers on how to up our navigation game.

With mass vaccination programs continuing to gather steam, global travel and adventure are nonetheless still in a very confusing situation right now. On the one hand, lockdowns had ended in some countries (and in the case of the United Kingdom will end on ‘Freedom Day’ on July 19, though with some confusion over mask-wearing going forth).

However, the quick rise in new cases after ending restrictions (e.g. in the Netherlands where cases soared by a whopping 500%), along with the continued spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19, mean that these same regulations are returning. And the rules keep changing very quickly, so it’s a nightmare to follow if you’re traveling, even if you’re double-vaxxed and immune.

#13 Pride Month Map: Countries In Asia That Recognize Same-Sex Marriage On A National Level

Image credits: Eclipsed830

#14 Hello! I Cross Stitch Earth Science Maps And Have Been Told They Belong Here. Great Lakes Bathymetry Is My Favorite So Far

Image credits: blondeboxshell

#15 Rural Equivalent Of New York City, Los Angeles And Chicago

Image credits: kapowitz9

“I think we all have to take precautions, get vaccinated, and avoid risky behaviors. That said, I think we need to remember that we’re fighting to eradicate this disease and get back to a normal state of affairs. I really miss the freedom of travel. We’re losing years of potential happiness to the lockdowns and at some point, we need to open up. Those are issues above my pay grade though and I hope it’s sooner rather than later,” Patrick told me in late spring.

According to Patrick, who makes maps for a living, he’s heard tons of people say that everything has already been mapped. However, he points out that there will always be a need for new maps as time goes by.

“People say, ‘Hasn’t everything been mapped?’ The world is constantly changing and accurate spatial data is a fleeting thing. Google Maps certainly gives the impression that everything is mapped, but there is selection and generalization in their data,” he said.

#16 What Are Your Thoughts On This Breggsit?

Image credits: the_Eggshibit

#17 Are You Closer To Georgia, Or To Georgia?

Image credits: atlasova

#18 Why Is [country]…? – Google Autocomplete Results (European Countires, 2021)

Image credits: Morwon

“Infrastructure is a key thing that we all rely on and don’t realize it. The electricity to turn on your lights, the fiber that carries this message, the water that you drink. All those things are traveling to you above and below ground. Construction is constantly happening along this route. Knowing where to safely build is critical,” Patrick told Bored Panda about the need to map and remap the world that surrounds us.

“There are other themes that have spatial data too. Municipalities pass zoning and other restrictions all the time. Cities like London have an umbrella of rules about the preservation of old buildings, view-lines, noise nuisances, and other regulations. Making accurate maps is a constant struggle that is going to stay with us for a long time. As more things get built, knowing where these are located is important. Maintaining the world’s databases of spatial information is the task of the modern map-maker.” There will always be a need for maps and, we hope, for the entire subreddit as well.

#19 This Is My Friends Wood Shop Project, Thought It Would Be Fitting Here

Image credits: Fleebo-1

#20 Children’s Map Of The World (Only Shows Countries Where Smacking Children Is Illegal)

Image credits: OwlRepair

#21 Soft Drinks From All Over Europe

Image credits: klaci03

#22 Territories Of Modern Ghana And Ghana Empire

Image credits: logatwork

#23 Africa, 10 Million Years Later. (Based On Current Predictions And Data)

Image credits: TheAssConsumer

#24 Shanghai, China From 1984-2020

Image credits: dmoney1300

#25 My Son’s (12) Map Of The Balkans

Image credits: Lindadorse

#26 I Made A Gingerbread Eastern Hemisphere!

Image credits: etymologynerd

#27 Hello! I Was Told You Would Enjoy This- Took Me 3 Years!

Image credits: avalonal5464

#28 What Does A Horse Say In Your Language?

Image credits: atlasova

#29 The Most Culturally Chauvinistic Europeans

Image credits: tiredeggy

#30 Russian Propaganda Map Of Europe In 1915

Image credits: Ivan_Krasnov

#31 Places Where Birthright Citizenship Is Based On Land And Places Where It Is Based On Blood

Image credits: constantlyhere100

#32 If US Land Were Divided Like US Wealth

Image credits: mapsfactory

#33 The United States — All Of It

Image credits: guspolly3

#34 Map Of The Ancient Roman World From Their Perspective, 43 AD

Image credits: Subhigh42

#35 The Most Consumed Type Of Alcoholic Drink In Europe

Image credits: Landgeist

#36 Australia And Brazil Comparison

Image credits: World-Tight

#37 I Drew A Map Of All Japanese Prefectures (Took 6 Hours). Hope You Like It 🙂

Image credits: GoroMajimaKun

#38 African Population Density

Image credits: madrid987

#39 The Europe That Was

Image credits: dhruveishp

#40 Most Spoken Languages In Each US State Other Than English Or Spanish

Image credits: TurtleMaster69_

#41 Las Vegas From 1984-2021

Image credits: BeaverTheCuber777

#42 The Pacific Is Bigger Than All The Land In The World Combined

Image credits: F4310_3M

#43 Bigfoot Sightings vs. Black Bear Records

Image credits: oefiefieuwbe

#44 How A Coastline 100 Million Years Ago Influences Modern Election Results In Alabama

Image credits: IamShartacus

#45 Japan Is Farther East, West, North And South Than Korea

Image credits: poktanju

#46 A Map Of The World But It’s Just The Time Zones

Image credits: GeneviveStarks

#47 Europe 1444 Map (8k X 5k Image)

Image credits: ratkatavobratka

#48 Comparison Of EU And East Asian Flight Paths After The Belarussian Air Space Incident

Image credits: ManTuzas

#49 The World According To Google Street View

Image credits: wetterg8iuk

#50 All The Major Highways And Roads Of Canada

Image credits: constantlyhere100

#51 This Is What The Surface Of Mars Would Look Like If, Like Earth, 71% Of Its Surface Area Was Covered With Water

Image credits: RespectTheFancy

#52 Blue/Green Eyes And Blond/Red Hair Across Europe

Image credits: Stellarsleeper

#53 The Deepest Points Of Earth’s Five Oceans

Image credits: jungle_capital

#54 A World Map, But Countries Are Sized According To Their Co2 Emissions (2010)

Image credits: imenaupwas

#55 I Made A 3D Topographic Map Of Penobscot Bay, Off The Coast Of Maine

Image credits: mtbsnow

#56 Olympus Mons Volcano On Mars Compared To The State Of Arizona:

Image credits: AryamanShetty

#57 My Latest LEGO Topographical Map, This Time The USA (Including Parts Of Canada And Mexico)

Image credits: kc_sharky

#58 First Map Of The World By Anaximander

Image credits: golifa

#59 The Average Bedtime By County In The Us

Image credits: constantlyhere100

#60 The Word Money In Various European Languages

Image credits: klaci03

#61 I Am Working On A Picture Book With Each State Drawn With One Line. I Finished My 7th State Last Night

Image credits: tfoust10

#62 Used Some Old Damaged Atlas Pages To Decorate Under The Glass Of My Coffee Table

Image credits: Noesiph

#63 For 6.5 Years My Wife And I Tried To Have Every Person Or Family Who Visited Our Home Put A Pin In This Map, Marking Where They Called, Or Once Called, Home. We’re Moving Out Now, And Decided To Tally Up This Phase Of Our Lives. 48 Countries. 15 States. 142 Pins

Image credits: iammandalore

#64 My Primary Map Stitching Project Has Been State Bedrock Geology Maps. Georgia Is The 17th State I’ve Finished!

Image credits: blondeboxshell

#65 Annual Fruit Consumption Per Capita (2017, Kg)

Image credits: emir0723

#66 This Is A Map Of All Reported UFO Sightings, 1906-2014 (Source:esri)

Image credits: reddit.com

#67 USA Cultural Regions Map

Image credits: ladyegg

#68 1422 Paris Map On Top Of Today Paris

Image credits: MikebibbyoverMJ

#69 Australia Is Big

Image credits: paulrobinsonauthor

#70 The United States As Only Bodies Of Water

Image credits: World-Tight

#71 World Writing Systems

Image credits: __PrathamYadav__

#72 Most Common Last Name Per Country

Image credits: KreeJaffaKree

#73 Map Of The Armenian Genocide. The Size Of The Red Circle Represents The Number Of People Killed

Image credits: No_Chip2111

#74 The Topography Of Africa

Image credits: eastofnowhereco

#75 The French Republic — All Of It

Image credits: MaMamanMaDitQueJPeut

#76 Map Of Europe If The Size Of The Countries Were To Be Their Gdp

Image credits: french_bobotte

#77 Polar Histograms Of Street Networks In 100 Major Cities Across All Continents, Ranked From Most Orderly To Most Disorderly (Each Histogram Bar’s Direction Represents The Compass Bearings Of The Streets, And Its Length Represents The Relative Frequency Of Streets With Those Bearings)

Image credits: benjaneson

#78 Legality Of Cannabis Around The World (July 1, 2021)

Image credits: tennytits

#79 A Physical Map Of India At The Bharat Mata Temple, Varanasi, India

Image credits: MissusWeaver

#80 Map Of Ottoman Empire In Early 16th Century. Handdrawn By Me

Image credits: ketolare

#81 Distribution Of The World’s Primates

Image credits: Retard-Cheekz

#82 The Same Amount Of People In Brazil Live In The Highlighted Areas

Image credits: artistesatisfyaf

#83 Portion Of Each State That Is Federal Land

Image credits: rimaildr

#84 Got Bored In Class

Image credits: RegnaGamer

#85 Where Is Central Europe?

Image credits: dsmid

#86 The Nearest National Capital In Europe

Image credits: Rubenkubus

#87 The Map Of Australia From 1794

Image credits: hydrolik43

#88 Highest Point In Each American County

Image credits: saint_aleutian

#89 Every Dot Is A Football (Soccer) Pitch

Image credits: lukedawson199p

#90 How Many U.S. Counties Have A Population Greater Than The State Of Wyoming?

Image credits: Mapper_X

#91 Turkey For Beginners

Image credits: reddit.com

#92 A Raindrop Falling In Erie Co. Pa Will Travel 2,147 Miles To The Gulf Of Mexico Rather Than 15 Miles To Lake Erie

Image credits: LexFloruss

#93 The Average Centre Of The U.S. Population Has Been Gradually Moving Westward Since 1790 And South Every Year Since The Introduction Of Air Conditioning In The 1920s

Image credits: constantlyhere100

#94 USA Map In Russian. Enjoy Your Cyrillic

Image credits: angobando

#95 These Countries Do Not Have An Army

Image credits: MeronDC

#96 New Guinea. I Had No Idea It Was So Large

Image credits: fviegasAgdt3467

#97 Egypt’s Population Concentrated Around The Nile River

Image credits: MeronDC

#98 The Estimated Amount Of Daily Truck Drivers In The U.S. (1998)

Image credits: CheeseRP

#99 Countries With 2 Largest Cities Furthest Apart

Image credits: BerryBlue_BlueBerry

#100 Now You Can Figure Out How To Get Home If You’re A Bit Farther Away Than Normal

Image credits: NISCBTFM

#101 Where Is The Nearest National Park?

Image credits: foxygrandpa203

#102 Where Americans Are Moving To (And Where They Are Leaving)

Image credits: abeookes726

#103 To Which One Of The 7 Modern World Wonders Are You Closest?

Image credits: atlasova

#104 In The Process Of 3D Printing Manhattan, NY

Image credits: 3Dcityframes

#105 Percent Of Adults Smoking Cigarettes Across The Us And The Eu. Data For 2017/2018

Image credits: maps_us_eu

#106 Population Of The Americas In 1950 vs. 2020

Image credits: constantlyhere100

#107 The Most Popular Languages Learned On Duolingo Per Country.

Image credits: purin88

#108 The World’s Population Concentrated

Image credits: atlasmapper

#109 Public Broadcasters Of The World

Image credits: Ok-Codd

#110 Median Age Of Us States

Image credits: ScarAdvanced9562

#111 I Just Finished This Population Map Of Europe Where Each Pixel Means ~500,000 People

Image credits: Morwon

#112 I Think Us Election Is Not About Republicans vs. Democrats But Urban vs. Rural

Image credits: Europehunter

#113 If You Draw “Straight” Lines Between The Northern And Southern Most Points In The Contiguous Us Along With The Eastern And Western Most Points The Two Lines Never Intersect

Image credits: DarkerThanAzure

#114 How Far Are You From France ?

Image credits: AllHailMadame

#115 The Green Sahara (11000-5000 Years Ago)

Image credits: bigchicken9

#116 Symbols Of Aviation – Europe And Nearby (Source: Fb Page Of 303 Jag Squad)

Image credits: ieatbeet

#117 North America 77 Million Years Ago

Image credits: bigchicken9

#118 A Map Of What’s Happening In Israel-Palestine Right Now. Please Be Gentle In The Comments, It’s A Mess In Here (Lynchings And Rockets And Riots And Firefights And Military Lockdowns, Jesus)

Image credits: Spiritual-Panda-1805

#119 Olympus Mons Compared With France

Image credits: talgalus

#120 Tourist Map Of Death Valley (1929)

Image credits: Petrarch1603

#121 Google Earth In 1600

Image credits: mattygilf

#122 All Of Those Wandering African Place Names

Image credits: MBH1800

#123 This German Submarine Map With Squares That Are All The Same Size

Image credits: Ostseekabeljau

#124 Average Colors Of Western Europe As Seen From Space During 2018 (Map By Johannes Kroeger, Link In The Comments)

Image credits: hd189

#125 EU Map Made Out Of UK’s

Image credits: -Zaleyna-

#126 The Topography Of Turkey

Image credits: sreaht

#127 Map Of Germany’s Watersheds

Image credits: Alkit777

#128 A Comparison Of Australian States And The United States By Area And Population

Image credits: zhunu

#129 Antarctica Without Ice Fantasy Map (Made With Inkarnate)

Image credits: ChrisTheWhitty

#130 Countries Larger Over Longitude Or Latitude

Image credits: dash_hhh

Source: boredpanda.com