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30 Unusual Maps People Shared On This Group That Might Change Your Perspective On Things
Interview With Author
For many of us, cartography day in geography or history class meant a quick nap. With our eyes open, we’d dream of all the delicious stuff we were gonna eat after school, of music we’d play on the Walkman, of a message we received the other day from that cutie…
To bring back our long-lost excitement for hard pieces of data, aka maps, plans, and geographic drawings, we're gonna need to start from the very best of them. Luckily, there’s a whole online community on Reddit dedicated to the most unusual charts of geographic areas that took maps to a whole new level.
From mapping "October" in European languages to mapping an eagle’s track over a period of twenty years, these incredible examples will surely put the world into a completely new perspective.
Who knows, you may well unleash your inner cartographer and become among 1.1 million like-minded members of the maps subreddit. In that case, you may need some more cartographical goodness with 41 maps that portray lesser-known facts about America.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
An Image Of GPS Tracking Of Multiple Wolves In Six Different Packs Around Voyageurs National Park Shows How Much The Wolf Packs Avoid Each Other's Range
#2
To Increase Local Tourism, Lithuania Has Made A Map With Magnets That You Can Only Find In Corresponding Cities
#3
Occupied Bald Eagle Nests In Wisconsin. 1974 vs. 2019. Growth Credited To The Clean Water Act
To find out more about this amusing Reddit community by the name r/MapP**n, Bored Panda reached out to its creator Patrick McGranaghan, who started the subreddit in 2011 while living in Taiwan.
Patrick said he has always been a map geek: “I wanted people to share those maps so that they are easy to find and discuss.”
It turns out, he works as a land surveyor in Colorado and is a devoted member of several map societies across the nation, including the North American Cartographic Information Society, Charles Close Society for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps, and Rocky Mountain Map Society, to name just a few.
The creator said that the title r/MapP**n followed the trend on Reddit at the time when “there were a lot of subreddits with a *-porn suffix.” He explained further: “This refers to pictures of innocuous things like nature, architecture, or engineering marvels in a beautiful way. It was not meant to be sexual. The internet at the time was a lot more relaxed and using that term was funny.”
“In the years since the culture on the internet has taken a much more puritan bias and some people don't like that name,” Patrick said.
However, he assured us that “the goal of the brand has not changed, though: it's a place to share and discuss beautiful maps.”
#7
The Earth Being Centered On Great Britain Is Arbitrary, So Here's A Map Centered On New Zealand
When it comes to submissions, they come in every form and style. “From historical maps showing ancient borders, to funny memes and transit maps. People also post imaginary maps of places that they create in their minds.”
In fact, every kind of map imaginable has been posted to this subreddit. Patrick said that linguistic maps are popular, as well as maps that re-imagine state and national borders. There are also maps of asteroids and maps of routes of famous explorers.
“One of my favorite interactions is when a map is posted of an obscure place and someone in the comments says they live there or has a story about that place.”
Patrick concluded that “Maps are a way to visualize the world in a way that is easy to grasp. They are an aid in learning about new lands and faraway places. They help us find our way when we are lost.”
Especially in a time like now, “when the pandemic prevents us from traveling, maps are a way that we can travel without leaving our home,” the map enthusiast said.
#18
A Europe–U.S. Superhighway Proposed By The Former President Of Russian Railways
#19
The Surface Of Mars: If, Like Earth, 71% Of Its Surface Area Was Covered With Water
#21
The Decline Of Our Native Tongue Over The Last 2 Centuries, I Find The Maps Rather Than The Reciting Of Statistics, Gives A Far Better Impression On The Overall Erosion Of One Of The Biggest Aspects Of Our Culture, Irish Itself
Grumble O'Pug 4 years ago
Try parsing the dead First Nations speakers and lost languages.
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k1ddkanuck 4 years ago
This is changing though. In the last 20 years, sizable gains have been made in the revival of the Irish language. Even something as trivial as the democratization of language studies through things like Rosetta Stone, Duolingo and Babble have helped this a lot.
Elizabeth Sovereign 4 years ago (edited)
It's making a big resurgence since the year 2000. I know someone whose first language is Irish and he has 2 siblings and his Da's side of the family speaks Irish at home. I'm learning Irish very slowly and am not from Ireland (do have relations to it the country though McCartney clan) so it's slowly making a come back. Most people from county Kerry learn how to speak Irish before they do any English and has been that way for the last 20 years or so.
Navy Blue Bandana 4 years ago
"Famine" by Sinéad O'Connor: it is a beautiful song, and it tells about the real reason so many people died In the "famine": All the food except for potatoes was sent to England, even during potato blight when there were no potatoes.
Jon S. 4 years ago (edited)
That's a little simplistic, but hiding a real truth. In fact more food was imported into Ireland than exported during the famine, it just ended up being used as animal feed rather than being given to the population. Then the peasants' who's crops had failed could not afford to buy the animal products (large amounts of which did end up on the British market, where it fetched a higher price). There was a perfect storm that made the famine so bad which included a screwy tax system, centuries of economic penalties imposed on Catholics, a fanatical adherence to market forces, an unprecedented number of harvest failures and a startling lack of empathy within the English and Anglo-Irish ruling class for Irish peasants.
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Bonnie Edwards 4 years ago
I think it will be similar in South Wales. My husband (born near Cardiff) says that because of English Law, he was not allowed to learn Welsh from any native speakers. He was only allowed to learn it from a British teacher.
Wondering Alice 3 years ago
Unsure when that happened, but it is not true today. Speaking as a teacher in Cardiff, Welsh lessons are taken seriously. Perhaps your husband is pre devolution.
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Pansexual (In theory) 4 years ago
Saddening... I've always wanted to learn native Irish tongue, as my great-grandparents immigrated from Ireland to the USA. My history always interests me.
Avril Mason 4 years ago
My uncle Charlie was one of the few left who spoke near fluently, he passed in August 2020.
C Pryce 3 years ago
The decline of native Welsh speakers was just as dramatic, till the devolved Welsh government made teaching in Welsh compulsory. Now all kids in Wales learn Welsh from 4 yrs old, and in secondary school learn other subjects in Welsh, too - like Scripture, History, Music, etc :)
Helen Douglas 3 years ago
Irish is compulsory for kids from 4/5 to 18. Most adults don't seem to remember much of it though. There are Gaelscoils here too where all subjects are taught in Irish. I think the problem is there are so few Gaeltacht areas where Irish is the first language.
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Kate DiLiberto 4 years ago
There is a group called Daltaí na Gaeilge, which is dedicated to preserving the Irish language!
IrishGirl2020 3 years ago
Irish is in Ireland, Gaelic is more for Scotland
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*sigh*, The Yellow Teletubby 4 years ago
oh yeah, I'm learning Irish on Duolingo, and one of the constant facts is "There are more people learning Irish than there are native speakers." Sad, bc I really love Ireland, and their language is just gorgeous.
Tobiasz Blaszczynski 3 years ago
bruh get map of aboriginal australian language loss. i blame colonizers
Cherril Webber 3 years ago
Wow! Well it looks like the English finally got what they wanted! How sad indeed :(
Maggie Black 3 years ago
This was ultimately because of British oppression, right? Like during the great hunger is when the British forced their language onto the Irish, or is that way off?
Suzanne Haigh 3 years ago
Scotland and Wales have made the the Native tongue compulsive in schools, not sure about Ireland.
Heidi Svenson 3 years ago (edited)
Yes - it is sad. I did not know this when I flew to Ireland with the intent to live there in 2000 I had been studying Irish (Gaelic) for months beforehand and was told it was basically only spoken in Northern Ireland. But they said I had a good accent! ;-) Ó bhuel, ar a laghad rinne mé iarracht.
Alice Fabian 3 years ago
This is awful. We should start teaching and learning Irish the same way we do English. English is spoken across the globe. Wouldn't be nice if Irish was too?
Carmen Lamp 3 years ago (edited)
Slàinte (cheers) is the most important word in Irish and basicly all you need to know ;-)
Average Grizzlies Fan 4 years ago
I'm with this. I like graphs and maps. It helps me visualize it better. I do better with graphs tho (not much of a difference either way).
Hazel Longmore 4 years ago
Active suppression of the language by the British, along with history and culture. Irish is taught as a mandatory subject in schools since the foundation of the state, or thereabouts. Some more info here: https://www.theirishstory.com/2018/10/11/to-extinguish-their-sinister-traditions-and-customs-the-historic-bans-on-the-legal-use-of-the-irish-and-welsh-languages/#.X6B3eS3fWf0
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Rob Williams 4 years ago
Awful thought... was the 1850 decline in the language due to it being suppressed or due to the famine?
Lynsey Mooney 4 years ago (edited)
Both but the famine was the main reason. Speaking Gaelic back then was suppressed by the English, it was considered a barbaric language and it had to be taught covertly through hedge schools. There are also at least four different versions of Gaelic depending on where you live i.e Kerry, Donegal and the Gaeltacht on the west coast
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Perpetual Peripheral Persons 4 years ago
In Cornwall, there's been an effort to revive the native language (road signs, and taught in school next to English.) I don't know if something similar's happening in Ireland?
John Carr 4 years ago
Road signs are bilingual here and Irish is mandatory from primary school right through to secondary. The quality of teaching however is different throughout the country. I attended a Gaelscoil during primary years where all lessons (except English lol) were taught though Irish. By the time I reached secondary school I was able to speak better Irish than a lot of my teachers.
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Miłka Chromińska 4 years ago
It can always be revived! I think that all the people who know how to speak in Irish should make songs in their language 😄 or start Irish classes in schools!
Stina Kolling 4 years ago
Problem is that Irish was kinda force-fed into previous generations in school for the last few decades in a really boring and tedious manner, so a lot of it didn't stick. The government is making strides in trying to change that, find ways to learn the language that are engaging and interesting for children so that they want to learn & retain it.
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Jo Choto 4 years ago
They should do what Wales did and start teaching school in native language from the beginning.
livi 4 years ago
There are Irish schools though not very popular - its also taught in every school as a mandatory subject
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Astrid Nineor 4 years ago (edited)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IQRmT4hXHDo Language of the Gaels
#24
The Countries That Got Tea Via China Through The Silk Road (Land) Referred To It In Various Forms Of The Word "Cha". On The Other Hand, The Countries That Traded With China Via Sea - Through The Min Tan Port Called It In Different Forms Of "Te"
#27
The Topologist's Map Of The World - A Map Showing International Borders, And Nothing Else
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Ashris Choudhury 4 years ago
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MariaLuise Gutmann 4 years ago
Nearly all parts of knowledge are mixed like a kaleidoskop -fantastic
Marta Kęska 4 years ago (edited)
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Ashris Choudhury 4 years ago
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MariaLuise Gutmann 4 years ago
Nearly all parts of knowledge are mixed like a kaleidoskop -fantastic
Marta Kęska 4 years ago (edited)
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