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 graphical representation of network connections superimposed on a dark map, highlighting major nodes with bright orange and yellow lines.
Strange Maps
The Enlightenment had its own internet: The Republic of Letters
Digital analyses of Enlightenment-era letters are teaching us a thing or two about Locke, Voltaire, and others.
Frank Jacobs
A composite image of the milky way galaxy showing colorful interstellar dust and gas with star fields.
Strange Maps
New map reveals the Milky Way’s magnetic heart
This first-of-its-kind image offers a detailed look at the magnetic fields within the Central Molecular Zone.
Frank Jacobs
Do you live in a new desert?.
Strange Maps
America’s news deserts are growing
Most counties in the U.S. have only one local newspaper, often one that publishes weekly instead of daily.
Frank Jacobs
Map of the united states indicating earthquake epicenters and areas where people reported feeling at least weak shaking, highlighting a magnitude 6.0 earthquake in central california on september 28, 2004, and a magnitude 5.8 earthquake in central virginia on august 23, 2011.
Strange Maps
East Coast quakes are felt farther than West Coast ones. Here’s why.
Across the subterranean United States, not all rocks were created equally.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
Dewey Decimal: The sorting system that revolutionized libraries
This map samples some of the digits that make up the DDC system, invented by the brilliant but flawed Melvil Dewey.
Frank Jacobs
Historical map illustration depicting a planned city layout with a circular central area and radiating streets.
Strange Maps
Ohio’s Circleville ditched the grid system. Then it got squared.
A small Ohio town tried to escape America’s addiction to rectangular grids. It didn’t last long.
Frank Jacobs
A map showing the route of a voyage from sweden to norway.
Strange Maps
Was the “Odyssey” originally set in the Baltic?
The Trojan War was fought in Finland and Ulysses sailed home to Denmark, says one controversial theory.
Frank Jacobs
A map of antarctica with the word west antarctica.
Strange Maps
Westarctica: The micronation with a real-world purpose
The Antarctic Treaty of 1959 prohibited nations from making new land claims on the continent. But it never mentioned claims from private individuals.
Frank Jacobs
A map with a circle and a circle in the middle.
Strange Maps
CERN proposes accelerator 3 times as long as Large Hadron Collider
The $21.5-billion project could involve tunneling hundreds of feet under Lake Geneva.
Frank Jacobs
A map of the united states showing the number of abortions.
Strange Maps
Why are America’s oldest and youngest states 13 years apart?
Economics and religion help to explain the gap.
Frank Jacobs
A graph showing the death rate on everest.
Strange Maps
Mapped: The deadly geography of Mount Everest
The world’s highest mountain is also the world’s highest cemetery, with some bodies serving as creepy landmarks for today’s climbers.
Frank Jacobs
A map showing the location of the arctic sea.
Strange Maps
In case you missed it: America just effectively got much bigger
No shots fired. No flags raised. And no dry land gained. Still, the U.S. effectively grew by the size of about two Californias in December.
Frank Jacobs
A map of europe with many orange dots.
Strange Maps
Europe’s busiest airport? Heathrow and Istanbul battle for the title
London’s busiest airport seems to be rebounding well from the pandemic — but Istanbul has better prospects in the long run.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
Mapping Middle-earth: The lopsided demographics of Tolkien’s universe
Fantasy, meet statistics: The census comes to Middle-earth!
Frank Jacobs
derinkuyu
Strange Maps
Derinkuyu: Mysterious underground city in Turkey found in man’s basement
A basement renovation project led to the archaeological discovery of a lifetime: the Derinkuyu Underground City, which housed 20,000 people.
Frank Jacobs
A map of europe with pink dots on it.
Strange Maps
The surprisingly relevant history of royal summits, in three maps
Thanks to protocols established centuries ago in Europe, world leaders no longer need to worry about having their heads bashed with an axe.
Frank Jacobs
Strange Maps
The loneliest roads in America
If you find yourself on one of these roads, it might be a while before you see another fellow traveler.
Frank Jacobs
A map of the world with a circle around it.
Strange Maps
Lemuria, the weirdest continent that never existed
To this day, one cult believes that Lemuria was real, and that its people left us the sacred wisdom to revive their advanced civilization.
Frank Jacobs
A map showing the location of the arctic ocean.
Strange Maps
No, the Gulf Stream isn’t going to collapse
If we're going to discuss oceanography and climate change, we should at least identify the currents correctly.
Frank Jacobs
a map of the united states with the words 70 % of canada.
Strange Maps
Most Canadians live south of Seattle and other mental map surprises
Reject your Mental Map Oversimplifications.
Frank Jacobs
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