I’m the map, I’m the map, I’m the map, I’m the map. I’m the map!

I remember watching countless episodes of Dora the Explorer as a child, singing the above song and wishing I had a map companion of my own to take me on many journeys. And while I may not be able to provide you with a treasure map to find gold in your backyard, the list we’ve got for all you pandas down below is certainly full of fascinating maps that’ll teach you more about the world. Covering everything from religion to politics to the word used for coffee in various countries, these pics pulled from this map-happy subreddit are full of fun facts, with some stunning visuals sprinkled in as well.

Be sure to upvote the maps that you find most fascinating or that you would like to see hanging up on your walls, and let us know in the comments what the best map you’ve ever seen was. Keep reading to also find interviews we were lucky enough to receive from the creator of this subreddit, land surveyor Patrick McGranaghan, and man behind Atlas Altera, Telamon Tabulicus. Then if you’re interested in checking out Bored Panda‘s last article featuring this fascinating and educational subreddit, look no further than right here.

#1 The Scottish Highlands, The Appalachians, And The Atlas Are The Same Mountain Range, Once Connected As The Central Pangean Mountains

Image credits: Fr06t

This map-obsessed subreddit was created in 2011, and has amassed an astonishing 2 million followers since then. Clearly, there are plenty of people out there interested in maps, so we reached out to its creator, Patrick McGranaghan on Reddit to hear what inspired him to start this extremely successful page in the first place. “The sub was inspired by my love of geography,” he told Bored Panda. “I traveled a lot as a kid, and the power of maps was imprinted on me at an early age. I think a lot of people have similar experiences, and that’s been the impetus for the growth of the sub.”

We also asked Patrick why he thinks people love maps so much. “People love data visualization, and maps are an especially potent form of data visualization,” he explained. “I think a lot of the growth of the sub is from Reddit’s infrastructure. Reddit can host huge files with high-resolution. You can post huge maps here and zoom in on them and see tiny details. Recently there has been a shift to mobile Reddit. Now people can quickly see and share content and maps can go viral.”

#2 A 16th Century Map Of Nicosia, Cyprus And The City From Above Today

Image credits: aceraspire8920

#3 How Earth Will Look With Current International Borders In 250 Million Years

Image credits: tzoni_montana

We were also curious what types of maps Patrick particularly loves being shared in the group. “There are many kinds of maps that I like, but I especially like pictorial or panoramic maps,” he told Bored Panda. He provided links to two of his favorites, including one beautiful depiction of Yosemite National Park in the United States and another brightly colored map of St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1913.

We also asked Patrick if he would be interested in sharing a little bit of what he has learned from running this subreddit. “I’ve definitely learned a lot about maps from running this sub,” he shared. “It has enabled me to meet and connect with map lovers all over the world. On a recent trip to Romania, I got a VIP tour of a map museum in Bucharest because of my social media presence. Running this subreddit has helped me discover peoples and regions that I only had a faint idea about.”

#4 Countries Which Were Not Invited To Queen Elizabeth II’s Funural

Image credits: KalabraxTheWicked

#5 States Where It’s Perfectly Legal For A Landlord To Evict A Tenant For Simply Being Gay Or Transgender

Image credits: Hurtcult

#6 The Legal Status Of Homosexuality Worldwide

Image credits: p_pawar19

Because this map-obsessed subreddit focuses on all sorts of different maps, we thought it would be fascinating to reach out to a map expert who primarily focuses on building a fictional map. We spoke to Telamon Tabulicus, creator of Atlas Altera, to hear a little more about his project and what inspired him to create it. “Atlas Altera is a creative worldbuilding exercise where more than 1000 nations make it onto the world map,” Telamon told Bored Panda. “This work comes from a love of the uniqueness of place and the need to share that love through maps. It is a celebration of geography, history, and languages, as well as all the marvels that lie in us… Us in all our own ways.”

“I started this project because I think we live in an uninspired world, where we’ve traded in millennia of human complexity and ingenuity for technological idolatry,” he shared. “Technological know-how is great, but it shouldn’t replace cultural wisdom and knowledge. Just as we’re losing biodiversity, we are losing another layer of what makes our world rich. We’re losing cultural diversity too.”

#7 The True Size Of Africa

Image credits: Bambusbjoernn

#8 My European Hand Drawn Line Art Fantasy Style Map

Image credits: qpiii

#9 Shark With Gps Paints A Shark On The Map

Image credits: VikingIsHere

“For me, world maps and place-based descriptions/narratives hold imaginary possibilities that produce real effects,” Telamon told Bored Panda. “The project is a creative attempt at creating a backdrop that can draw people back to a world they took for granted or forsook, and rediscover real wonders and a cultural world worth cherishing.”

Telamon explained that when building this alternate map, his “trick is to pick up plot lines, especially ones that have been abandoned in our history”. “Vile things can and do still happen in the history of Altera, but it’s just that each time the winners win, the losers lose less, so that by contemporary times, there is a more diverse and culturally vibrant world… Gone are the days of overt empire-building and erasure, although conflict can obviously still simmer in new ways… I did not create a utopia, but a syntopia, a world where difference is the main defining factor.”

#10 The World According To Google Street View

Image credits: Elizawefsd

#11 European Countries Rated As More Progressive Than USA By The Social Progress Index

Image credits: urmomslachancla

#12 Countries Where It Has Never Snowed (Not Sure For Uruguay)

Image credits: Ms_INT

“At the basic level, my project is about meaningful representation,” he explained. “Putting the marginalized, obscured, and erased onto or back onto the map, if only to give more urgency to certain causes or to pinpoint where solidarity needs to take place. You could also say I’m redescribing the world, depicting places in new ways. The intention is not to aggrandize any historical or present nation, nor is it a revanchist stab, but instead, it is to spotlight the cultural diversity that we have inherited in the present, though much of it is no longer clearly visible or has been obfuscated. More importantly, it is about putting to the forefront what we stand to lose in our lifetime.”

Telamon also noted that even the world’s languages are reimagined through his maps. “Did you know that only about two or three dozen languages act as the prevailing official languages for the 197 or so countries in our present world? These are languages which, due to a combination of cultural hegemony, economic globalization, and the force and violence of the nation-state, will more than likely crowd out and lead to the downfall of all other adjacent languages. Even other official languages in democracies are not immune. From Ireland to Nigeria to India, the prognosis is bleak. English, as the prevailing and dominant language of business, art and literature, online communication, and bureaucracy, is tracking to win it all—if not within this century, then a couple centuries later.”

#13 Do You Believe?

Image credits: tom_the_bear

“What’s worse, the dominant languages of our contemporary era represent perhaps only a dozen language families, when there are close to two hundred independent language families currently in existence, each one being worlds apart from the next,” Telamon went on to explain. “In Altera, the situation is the opposite. Altera boasts more than a thousand distinct prevailing official languages. Every language family (so nearly two hundred) is represented at least once on the map. In doing so, there are more language families and isolates represented in Altera than there are countries in our current world.” He also shared a link to a beta version of an interactive map (desktop only) that allows users to explore just which languages actually make it onto the map as “prevailing official languages”.

#14 Imagine What Would Happen If Some Mexican President Wanted To Restore The Country’s Original Borders, Before The American Invasion

Image credits: Left-Kiwi-4577

#15 This Map Was Drawn By Turkish Sailor/Cartographer Piri Reis In 1513

Image credits: KaleidoscopeHumble54

We also asked Telamon what he loves most about maps and where that love came from. “Maps lure people into easy moments of discoveries (because they don’t have to get out the door and board a plane or trek into the bush),” he shared. “Sure, you have to have the motivation to take the next step of following-up on something interesting you came across on a map, but a map is an alluring hook nevertheless. I have been obsessed with maps ever since my parents bought me a children’s atlas of the world, with fun little drawings and pictures for different parts of the world. I memorized every country on the world map by flipping through atlases like these.”

#16 Queue For Queen Elizabeth II – Visualisation

Image credits: Julian_H0ffmann

#17 The Continent Of Asia At Night

Image credits: Noamdu1

#18 China Emits More Co2 Than The Entire Western Hemisphere

Image credits: milktankslover

Telamon shared that he was only 14 when he started creating his own maps. “Oddly, I never really got into fantasy maps. My hobby started with alternate history or historical ‘what if’s. Reflecting on this now, I see that in those days, I was under an unhealthy spell. I thought in terms of states and empires and vainglory. Although alternate history enthusiasts are often interested in the ‘underdogs’ of history, they frequently use the logic of conquest and ‘lost glory’. Most of my early maps were Eurocentric (I’m not even of European descent), and I think partly this was informed by the things I learned in school in Canada.”

“One day, while envisioning on a map a larger and lasting German New Guinea territory, my perspective shifted,” he told Bored Panda. “Here I was trying to surface a viable alternate history scenario in a land where there is this immense cultural diversity, which, unlike where I am in the Pacific Northwest, hasn’t even undergone as much erasure as done by states like Canada and the United States. So if I were to dream, why fantasize over more colonialism? More importantly, why dream for more similarity?” 

#19 The Incredible Journey Of An Arctic Fox Who Walked From Norway To Canada In 2018

Image credits: prehistoric-beings

#20 Greenland Without Ice Would Reveal An Enormous Lake Right In The Center Of The Landmass

Image credits: adeleboiii

Telamon then went down a rabbit hole researching “amazing but obscure topics in anthropology, ethnobotany, and linguistics”, learning much more about our world, as well as the fantasy worlds many of us immerse ourselves in through books and films. “I realized most of what I was learning about was either hovering or on its way to the past tense. I realized that we live in an uninspired world. Our backdrop has become uninspiring. I feared that soon there would be no more difference to encounter.” 

It’s been about a decade since Telamon first started making the maps that would grow into the world of Altera, and although various things pulled his focus away over time, something always brought him back to Atlas Altera. ”During the onset of the pandemic, I tried to wrap up this hobby and take a stab at new interests,” he shared. “I also had a real-life experience of true discovery when I unexpectedly saw the comet Neowise in the night sky on a camping trip in Desolation Sound. This factored into my motivations for printing my maps, but I’m not sure I can articulate why. I tidied up my work and got my main two world maps (the political and chorographical ones) printed to mount on walls. That was an ordeal in itself, but the end result impressed not just myself, but my friends, family, and even the printer and framer. My partner encouraged me to share my project online, and that came to be the beginning of Atlas Altera as a formal project.”

#21 Countries Where Police Do Not Carry Guns

Image credits: Ms_INT

#22 Here Is A Map That Shows The Most Frequent Web Browser Used In Every Country 2012 vs. 2022

Image credits: pep0-

We also asked Telamon why the average person should be interested in maps in the first place. “Maps are about us. They can also be a tool, just as a graph is a tool, to help us envision or visualize relations across space,” he shared. “Maps tell stories. Even just choosing one projection of a map over another can tell a different story or prioritize one story or another. The Mercator map, especially centered on Greenwich, is infamous for how it can prioritize and give extra padding to Europeans,” he noted.

“Why the average person should be interested in my reprojection of the world, however, is because the story I’m trying to tell is something that is hard to piece together when you are living your everyday life,” Telamon explained. “It’s hard to access this sort of narrative, this collection of facts, this story of us with this particular set of themes/focus. Here’s a quick 5 minute video I made as a teaser/trailer for the project. It’s not great, but it helps expand on this idea of ‘reprojection’ that I’m getting at. The political world map of Altera is like a warped projection, one that highlights certain truths over the conventional truths of your average political world map.”

He also added that people often glance at his maps or see them hanging on the wall and don’t even realize they aren’t accurate depictions of the real world. “To me, that’s almost a subversive performative act of art, sneaking in fiction into the everyday,” Telamon said. “What this also tells me is that a lot of people are not curious. But the 1/3 of people who do notice a difference or are suspicious enough to look closer, are in for a real treat: genuine moments of ah-has and discoveries or rediscoveries await them as they pore over the details of my map.”

#23 Number Of Exorcist In Europe

Image credits: Ms_INT

#24 A Flag Map Of Europe But Each Flag Is Determined On Which Country They Share The Shortest Land Border With

Image credits: domshama

And while Telamon has come a long way in creating Atlas Altera, his work is not finished yet. “With the power of Reddit and other corners of the Internet, I have attracted supporters from all over the world (you can see the supporter wall map at the bottom of the about/preface page), with a decent amount of Patreon supporters for such a niche project,” he shared. “I know that my YouTube videos have even reached people in places like Tidore (Moluccas), where my work was then passed around a West Papuan group chat.” He noted that he also works with collaborators in the Netherlands, France, Italy, Germany, but he’s always looking for even more assistance. “I have had translation help from people in places like India, the Philippines, Thailand, Egypt, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Mexico, Poland, and Russia, but I am really in need of connecting with Quechuan speakers in Peru. It would be nice to also reach people in West Africa, Ethiopia, and Australian aboriginal communities.”

#25 Most Popular Countries For International Students

Image credits: Ms_INT

#26 The True Size Of Argentina, Map 2

Image credits: Cid_Helveticus

#27 This “Where Are You From” Map At The Aurora Museum In Reykjavík Iceland

Image credits: insecapid

“Finally, I just want to remind everyone that this is not a roadmap for secessionism, nor is it wholesale advocacy for independence movements,” Telamon shared. “Professionally, I do work that facilitates mutual understanding across differences, and I am an advocate for deliberative democracy. All of my work in Atlas Altera is just wishful thinking, because there is a place for that, and it is meaningful, helpful, and even healing to have wishful thinking sometimes.”

If you are looking to check out Atlas Altera or get involved with helping yourself, be sure to check out the project’s website right here. 

#28 What Does “World Tour” Actually Mean?

Image credits: OnlyYouAndI

#29 Hand Drawn Map Of Venice Italy Nearly Completed

Image credits: CamTron89

We hope you’re enjoying this list of maps and that you’ve got some new fun facts up your sleeve that can be whipped out the next time you’re in a social setting. It’s always fascinating to find out more about our world, especially when information is accompanied by stimulating visuals like the maps on this list. Keep upvoting your favorites, and feel free to let us know in the comments what the best map you’ve ever seen was. Then if your map-petite still isn’t satiated, you can find Bored Panda’s last article featuring the same subreddit right here.

#30 Trending Now In Algeria : Image Of The Carina Nebula From James Webb Space Telescope Matching The Eastern Coast Of Algeria

Image credits: WichaelCrow

#31 The Insane Scale Of The Ongoing Pakistan Floods Visualized – Sindh Province Comparison August 27, 2021 vs. August 27, 2022

Image credits: Casualte

#32 Map Of Public Spots In Budapest Where Adult Videos Were Shot

Image credits: Ok-Food-8468

#33 Literal Translation Of Chinese Names For European Countries

Image credits: xu_shawn

#34 Map Of Still Inhabited Cities Older Than The USA In The USA

Image credits: Baenansq

#35 Japanese Stereotypes Of Europe

Image credits: walterwhitez54

#36 National Identity In The UK From The 2011 Census

Image credits: reddit.com

#37 V3.0 Traditional Alcohol Preferences Across Europe According To Mostly Reddit Comments

Image credits: VitalyAlexandreevich

#38 Bible, Quran, Manga Distribution

Image credits: Tommy_Arashikage

#39 The Route I Drove Around Africa. 53,500 Miles Through 35 Countries. It Took Me 999 Days

Image credits: grecy

#40 Sex Ratio By Country For Population Aged Below 15. Red = More Girls, Blue = More Boys

Image credits: Naive_Cry_7357

#41 % Of Population Able To Hold A Conversation In English

Image credits: CapitalBeginning2032

#42 Without Touching A Single Piece Of Land, It’s Possible To Sail From India To The USA In A Completely Straight Line

Image credits: tomydenger

#43 The Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Or “Theatre Of The World”) Is Considered To Be The First True Modern Atlas In 20 May 1570

Image credits: No_Bee4126

#44 Pixel Art Map Of Argentina

Image credits: noon-n

#45 The Empire Of Japan At Its Territorial Height (January Of 1943)

Image credits: RebelJoe888

#46 Recognition Of Israel And Palestine ???? – Europe Edition

Image credits: ShafiLP

#47 Where The Television Licence Is Required In Europe

Image credits: Ms_INT

#48 How Many People Died During World War I?

Image credits: theworldmaps

#49 Percentage Of The European Population Who Believe In The Existence Of Hell

Image credits: theworldmaps

#50 Current Status Of Finland And Swedens Ascension To Nato (As Of 4/8/2022)

Image credits: plinthpeak

#51 How Much Sleep Are People In Europe Getting ?

Image credits: ErikHfors

#52 Longest Running Cartoon Set In Each State (Based Off Of Number Of Episodes)

Image credits: LustriousCharming

#53 Land That Would Have Surfaced If Atlantropa Had Happened

Image credits: tzoni_montana

#54 “How The War Department Sees The Country”, 1940

Image credits: biasface

#55 Proposed Borders For Turkey, Drawn By Us President Woodrow Wilson

Image credits: reddit.com

#56 How Long For An English Speaker To Become Proficient

Image credits: MercParr

#57 Female Phenotypes Across Europe And Surrounding Areas

Image credits: Homesanto

#58 Camouflage Patterns Of European Countries

Image credits: forummapping

#59 Countries Without Rivers

Image credits: Ms_INT

#60 A Map Of Found Meth Labs

Image credits: Jenda686

#61 Google Autocomplete In The USA, July 2022

Image credits: ShafiLP

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

Image credits: Appropriate-Feed-252

#63 The First Profession Of All The Chief Ministers Of India, July 2022

Image credits: pur__0_0__

#64 What European Countries Do Americans Like The Most? – Yougov 2022

Image credits: reddit.com

#65 First Ever European Map Of Japan

Image credits: ZenBoyNothingHead

#66 Map Of World Railway Network, Wikipedia

Image credits: olivergx

#67 World Map From 1548 Based On Giacomo Gastaldi

Image credits: noausterity

#68 Us Voting Districts With A Least One Election Denier

Image credits: JFK_R0wling

#69 Average Cost Of Basic Gasoline Across The Ue And The Eu In July 2022. 1 Us Gallon Is Around 4 Liters (3.785). 1 Us Dollar Costs 1 Eu Euro In July 2022 ????

Image credits: maps_us_eu

#70 Android vs. iOS Popularity By Continents

Image credits: EstoniaIsBest

#71 Flag Desecration By Country

Image credits: tamaino_13

#72 The World Map According To The Board Game Risk

Image credits: insecapid

#73 Countries That Ban Communist Parties (Sep 2022)

Image credits: Bitter_Resolution877

#74 Current Inflation Rates In Europe

Image credits: umutbera06

#75 This Is How A Globe For The Blind Looks Like!

Image credits: Specific_Glass77

#76 The U.s.a. According To Minnesota

Image credits: abroadpreen18

#77 Countries Which Are Richer Than The World Average

Image credits: KalabraxTheWicked

#78 The Real Size Of Latin America

Image credits: BullMoose86

#79 Countries That Have At Least 50% Forest Coverage

Image credits: latecomer11

#80 Share Of People In Eu That Would Be Comfortable With Their Child Having A Romantic Relationship With A Person Of The Same Sex

Image credits: Kooky-Engineer840

#81 Household Firearm Onwership In The USA By State. Made By Me. Source In The Picture. Personally, I Would’ve Expected It To Be Higher

Image credits: Greikers

#82 The 26 States Where Abortion Will Likely Become Illegal After Scotus Overturns Roe vs. Wade

Image credits: hearsdemons

#83 Google Autocomplete In Germany July 2022

Image credits: ShafiLP

#84 Military Aircraft Roundels By Country

Image credits: RNMD-

#85 Mapping How To Laugh Online In Different Languages

Image credits: Languagelover_1234

#86 Percentage Of The European Population Who Believe In Life After Death

Image credits: theworldmaps

#87 A Map Of Mexico Carved On The Wall Of A Yucatan Bar

Image credits: NicoteachEsMx

#88 South America Map, But With Each Country National Football Team’s Shirt

Image credits: SeaEnjoyer

#89 Percentage Of People Watching TV Every Day (European Union)

Image credits: Ms_INT

#90 Japan As Seen From Space (Most Of The Grey Are Cities)

Image credits: jessipinky

#91 Why Most Latin American Countries Don’t Support Brazil In A Permanent Seat?

Image credits: Greedy-Lingonberry97

#92 Percentage Of Children Who Have Received Corporal Punishment (At Home Or At School) At Some Point In Their Lives

Image credits: EnzoFrenzi

#93 Berlin Conference In 1884 – What They Wanted vs. What They Got

Image credits: KalabraxTheWicked

Source: boredpanda.com