Strange Maps

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The world, seen sideways

Most maps show the world as something to be navigated. Strange Maps reveals the worlds humans have imagined.

Since 2006, Frank Jacobs has been collecting and interpreting maps that do more than chart geography or political borders. These maps — often obscure, beautiful, funny, and deeply revealing — each tell a story, usually one that’s more about how we see ourselves than where we are.

Published as a book in 2009 and a Big Think column since 2010, Strange Maps draws on a steady stream of reader submissions and rare discoveries. Together, they offer a way of seeing the world from unfamiliar angles, where cartography becomes culture, argument, and art.

with

Frank Jacobs is a journalist whose work explores how culture, history, and imagination shape the way we see the world.

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strange maps
“The Chinese Job”: Spain’s wild 1580s plan to conquer the world — via Beijing
The plan — conquer China and push west to attack the Ottomans — was peak imperial hubris, as the Spanish themselves eventually realized.

by Frank Jacobs

A color-coded map of Asia shows four migration phases from China, with arrows pointing toward Papua New Guinea and the Andaman Islands, both circled in yellow.
Everything Articles
A raised hand with bracelets is shown in focus against a blurred background of people indoors.
Strange Maps
Mapped: If America were 100 people, this is what they’d believe
Nearly 30 would be "nones" — an amorphous group that spans from zealous atheists to the vaguely spiritual.
Frank Jacobs
A world map comparing landmass outlines of the Equal Earth projection in pink and Mercator projection in green, with grid lines overlaid.
Strange Maps
Africa wants its true size on the world map
The African Union argues that the Mercator projection distorts the continent, both in size and global attention.
Frank Jacobs
Illustrated map showing streets, parks, and landmarks of a coastal city bordered by Hob's River and Delaware Bay, with a compass rose in the lower right corner.
Strange Maps
The strange cartography of Superman’s ever-shifting hometown
The latest "Superman" film sets Metropolis in the First State.
Frank Jacobs
Diagram showing a galaxy, zooming in to highlight a small area labeled "Human Experience" within a grid mapping time and space on logarithmic scales.
Strange Maps
Mapped: The boundaries of human perception
Science helps us imagine the vastness of space and time — and our small but meaningful place within it.
Frank Jacobs
Map showing Copenhagen, Denmark’s projected 2080 climate as similar to Demigny, France today, with a red arrow connecting the two cities and climate details listed in pop-up boxes.
Strange Maps
Mapped: How warm your city will be in the 2080s
“Climate analog mapping” finds the place that is currently as warm as your city might be in 60 years.
Frank Jacobs
Granite memorial stone for John F. Kennedy, surrounded by trees and located on a paved area with steps. Inscription dedicates the site from the people of Britain to the United States.
Strange Maps
Is this acre in England really American territory?
The JFK Memorial at Runnymede provides a link between America's and Britain's founding documents.
Frank Jacobs
Diagram showing human evolutionary relationships and gene flow among Khoisan, West Africans, Non-Africans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans over time, with percentages of genetic admixture indicated.
Strange Maps
Evolution isn’t a straight line: Modern humans come from 2 ancient lineages
After more than a million years of separation, two branches of humanity reunited around 300,000 years ago, suggests new research.
Frank Jacobs
Map of Bhutan showing its borders with China and India, highlighting several disputed regions with labels indicating their names and locations.
Strange Maps
Why China is eating its tiny neighbor, Bhutan
As Beijing encroaches on the territory of the Himalayan kingdom, its ultimate aim is leverage over India.
Frank Jacobs
Map showing income per capita in 1300 (US dollars, 1990 PPP) across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia, with regions shaded by income brackets.
Strange Maps
Ancient China was less equal than the Roman Empire. Here’s why.
A comparison of wealth gaps in ancient empires reveals stark differences and lasting consequences.
Frank Jacobs
Map showing a pink route line from Lagos, Nigeria to Singapore, crossing Europe and Asia. Lagos and Singapore are labeled with bold text and marked with colored dots.
Strange Maps
The world’s longest train journey is epic — but nobody’s ever taken it
Can you travel by rail from Portugal all the way to Singapore? In theory, yes. In practice? Not so much.
Frank Jacobs
Map highlighting an area in Europe, centered on the Netherlands and surrounding countries, with a red overlay labeled "PDF.
Strange Maps
The world’s largest PDF is bigger than the Universe
Common knowledge says the maximum size of a PDF is as big as 40% of Germany — but that’s a gross underestimate.
Frank Jacobs
Illustrated bell curve depicting IQ distribution with meme characters at various IQ levels: 70, 100, and 130, representing different intellectual stereotypes.
Strange Maps
The story behind the internet’s most viral (and misunderstood) political meme
A study on the “moral circles” of liberals and conservatives gets drafted into the culture wars — with mixed results.
Frank Jacobs
Hexagonal map showing Europe, parts of Asia, and North Africa in varying shades of green and gray, with clusters of red and purple indicating specific regions.
Strange Maps
GPS jamming, a weapon in hot and hybrid wars, will soon be obsolete
"Gyroscope-on-a-chip" technology could soon enable us to navigate over long distances without GPS.
Frank Jacobs
A map showing Greenland in green and the United States in red with a statue connected by arrows, indicating movement or relation between the two locations.
Strange Maps
Counteroffer: What if Greenland bought the U.S.?
"It’s only natural for us to get America back," quipped Kim Kielsen, former prime minister of Greenland, in 2019.
Frank Jacobs
Map showing regions in Europe and North Africa. Two parts labeled 'a' and 'b' highlight areas with IQ deficit contours. Several crosses are marked on the map.
Strange Maps
Airborne lead pollution may have cost ancient Romans 3 IQ points
The Roman Empire at one point emitted roughly 3,600 tons of lead dust per year, causing “widespread cognitive decline.”
Frank Jacobs
An aerial view of a topographic map showing labeled features: Dam, Ballcourt, E-Group, and Houses, with varying elevation and terrain details.
Strange Maps
Major Mayan city discovered by scrolling past page 1 in Google search
Dubbed "Valeriana" by researchers, the city of 50,000 peaked around 800 AD before being swallowed by the jungle.
Frank Jacobs
Two maps show relative GDP per capita in Europe comparing 1900 and 2010. Darker shades indicate higher GDP relative to the EU average.
Strange Maps
Mapped: How Europe’s wealth has shifted since 1900
In 1900, the UK clearly was the richest country in Europe. That's no longer the case.
Frank Jacobs
Map showing migration routes across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans to the Indian Ocean, with sightings marked by colors and dates.
Strange Maps
Hungry or horny? Whale makes record swim halfway across planet
In 8,000-mile journey, a male humpback ditches Colombia for Tanzania — however, scientists don’t know why he made the trip.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
Mapped: The strange link between obesity and corruption
In post-Soviet nations where ministers have a relatively high BMI, corruption tends to be high, too.
Frank Jacobs
Map displaying a rail route from Helsinki to Bruxelles, passing through cities like Tallinn, Riga, Warsaw, Berlin, and Hamburg. Northern and Central Europe countries are labeled.
Strange Maps
In the Baltics, 85 millimeters separate East from West
A new railway will switch the Baltic region's train gauge from Soviet to standard European — a megaproject with political, economic, and military dimensions.
Frank Jacobs
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