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30 Unusual Maps That Might Change How You See The World, As Shared On This Instagram Account
Interview With Artist
You’d be surprised how many map enthusiasts there are, if you’re not already one of them. And to those who think that cartography is a legacy from an ancient world, let me tell you, it’s exactly the opposite.
Think of it as a mode of information telling, quite like story-telling, but with its own subtle rules and features. Today, maps can tell us all kinds of miscellaneous things you had no clue existed and the “Lover Of Geography” Instagram page is a perfect online source for that. Followed by 58.3k followers, the page is dedicated to sharing “high quality posts about interesting topics.” They also promise “you won't get bored here,” and they deliver.
Below we collected some of the most entertaining entries from the page, so scroll down and upvote your favorites as you go. After you’re done, make sure to check out our previous posts with unusual maps that may change how you see the world here, here and here.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
This Post Shows What Traditional Houses Look Like In Different Countries
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#2
This Post Shows Some Cities From Different Countries From Above
#3
This Post Shows The Legal Status Of Homosexuality Around The World In 2022
To find out more about the creator behind the Lover Of Geography Instagram page, Bored Panda reached out to 20-year-old content creator from the Netherlands Melih Orkun Köksal, also known by his Instagram handle @melykoksal. Melih told us that he started this page in December 2019 when he was only 17 years old. “I currently study Earth Sciences at the College of Rotterdam. Other than geography my hobbies are going to the gym and hanging out with friends, not very different from a normal 20-year-old,” he said.
When asked about his interest in cartography, Melih told us that this fascination began in his childhood. “As a little kid as young as 5 years old, I always had a little bit of passion for world maps or countries. I had a huge world map in my room. Every day when I came back home from school I kept staring at the world map in my room because of how fascinating it was to me while most other kids just wouldn't care. I was playing games with myself trying to find all the countries and cities on the map. Or I played geography games on my PC after school.”
#4
This Post Shows Which One Was Searched More In 2021 In Each Country
#5
This Post Shows Which Country Europeans Think Has On Average The Most Attractive Citizens. Based On Polls On 1000 People Per Country
#6
This Post Shows The Countries That Have Taken "Eat The Rich" Very Seriously
In 1672 The Dutch crowds did what crowds do best, namely lose all semblance of sense or sanity. The prime minister of the country was stripped naked, mutilated, and according to some reports, had their livers removed and eaten by the crowds. “C’est la vie, c’est la guerre,” as the French say.
Moreover, the creator of the Lover Of Geography page recounted that he always wanted to know where the countries are located as a child. “I often asked my parents questions like 'Dad, where is this country located' because I was simply so interested in locations. My parents would notice this weird obsession and in a matter of time, when I was 6 years old, I knew all countries and their capital cities,” he said. Throughout his childhood, Melih said, his knowledge of maps grew “so much to the point that teachers in elementary school or my own parents had to ask me for extra information when we were going on vacation to a different country. Kids in school I was asked me to help them with their geography assignments.”
#7
This Post Shows When Women Were Allowed To Vote In Europe
#8
This Post Shows What The French Language Sounds Like According To Europeans Based On A Pollhow Is The Test Done
#9
This Post Shows Where Americans Pressed
Years later, when Melih was 16 or 17, he saw all these mappers on Instagram and he thought he could do that too, but better. So he wanted a page to share his “own map style and not just stolen maps from Reddit. I wanted to entertain people and educate them at the same time by making maps more fun.”
Recently, Melih has noticed maps popping up everywhere online since 2016. He believes that now younger folks are being targeted with cartography.“I am trying to select maps people will look at without just scrolling. It needs to be interesting and fun but it also needs to be based on reliable sources. So I try to share maps with the combination of these 2 things, the maps that are fun and come from reliable sources.”
#10
This Post Shows The Countries That Are The Opposite Of Each Other When It Comes To Random Aspects In 2021
Chinmayee Kalghatgi 2 years ago
What is the secret the netherlands hold when it comes to good sleep?
#11
This Post Shows Some Controversial Statistic In Europe And It's Surrounding Areas
#12
This Post Shows The Conflict Between Ukraine And Russia Which We Of Course All Have Heard About Recently
Krisztina Kóti 2 years ago
Hungary is not absolutely correct. Yet. We, Hungarians think that Viktor Orban actually supports Putin, that's why he acts like that, but he still wants to get money from EU. We hope this will change in 2 days finally, because Hungarian people stand with Ukraine <3
Melih also added that sometimes he uses hot topics to gain more audience, “For example, during the World Cup, I made more football-related posts.”When asked whether he ever experiments with the design and style of his maps, Melih said that he indeed has done multiple experiments with the design but he prefers to stick with one style. “So my page will be more recognizable as if it's my own brand,” he said and added that “I tend to go for a minimalist look because it's easier to look at and understand what's going on on the map.”
#13
This Post Shows What Was Searched More In 2021
Ladies and Gentlemen 2 years ago
Pardon me but i had to google search what is Hentai, now I regret it. Dont do it if you are at office or a public place.
#14
This Post Shows The Countries That Are The Most Willing To Fight For Their Own Country In A War
#15
This Post Shows The Average Age Women Get Married In Europe. Based On Data From 2019-2021
#16
This Post Shows The Countries With The Highest Quality Of Life In 2021
Max Cloarec 2 years ago
Is it really the flag of USA? I would like to know who they get this results
#17
This Post Shows The Scariest Things In European Countries Obviously It's Not Meant To Be Taken Serious
#18
This Post Shows Which Countries Europeans Joke The Most About. The Flag On The Country Shows The Country They Joke The Most About
#19
This Post Shows What Traditional Breakfasts Around The World Typically Are Sweet vs. Salty
Martha Meyer 2 years ago
Sweet breakfast seems to be only popular in countries that speak a Romance language.
#20
This Post Shows Which Specific Group Faces The Most Discrimination In Different Countries In Europe
#21
This Post Shows The Estimated Percentage Of The Population Of Countries That Are Identified As An Atheist Or Agnostic
#22
This Post Shows At What Age Europeans Leave Their Nest On Average In 2021
#23
This Post Shows The Air Quality Of Europe In From Statistics Based On 2010-2021
#24
This Post Shows Countries That Have Never Reached 45 50 Or 55 Degrees
#25
This Post Shows How Much Snow Does It Take For Schools To Be Cancelled Estimated
Gremlan jonnson 2 years ago
Haha they don't even need sweden on this map, I've never ever been excused from school or work due to snow, and we've definitely had worse than 40+ cm
#26
This Post Shows The Sport People Do The Most For Fun Or Basically Is One The Most Popular Sports To Do In That Country (Football/Soccer Not Included) Otherwise This Would Be A Boring
Nathaniel 2 years ago
This is daft, but I just imagined Ireland's sport was them facing each other and yelling "GAA!".
martin734 2 years ago (edited)
GAA is technically incorrect. GAA is the Gaelic Athletic Association and is the governing body of several Gaelic sports, mainly Gaelic Football and Hurling. The most popular sport in Ireland is Gaelic Football, a sort of mix of Soccer and Rugby followed by Hurling which is a mix of Lacrosse, Hockey and stick fighting.
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Ersin Tek 2 years ago
In Turkey, even I am not interested in sports at all I have been to basketball and volleyball matches. I even dont know wth alpine skiing is :)
onivdsrapowijap 2 years ago
Alpine skiing is basically just, well... skiing. Down a snow-covered slope. On skis. There are certain types, such as slalom, giant slalom, and SUPER GIANT slalom. There's also cross-country skiing and ski cross, which are DIFFERENT things. See the picture below. Person on the right is a good example of ski cross. gettyimage...baf4e2.jpg 
RoseTheMad 2 years ago
I'm with Ireland "GAA!" is my reaction to sports too... (though jokes aside the GAA stands for Gaelic Athletics Association iirc, also I do actually enjoy Archery a lot)
Nitro Codes 2 years ago
RIP Robert T. He died as he lived : getting shot in the face after a bad rugby match. At least, how he lived in the last bit.
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Thanatos Charles 2 years ago
We all know Scottish and Irish national sports are having a pint at the local..
Twodogsandapicnictable 2 years ago
Hiking? It may be a fun physical pastime. But a sport? Is it speed hiking? Distance hiking?
May 2 years ago
Yeah - I'm pretty sure we Norwegians hike more than we cross country ski (longer season) but we wouldn't count it as a sport
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Patsy 2 years ago
Ever seen a Canuck play hurling? One of the Vancouver Canucks swapped with one of our hurlers, and when asked what positions the hockey player wanted to play, he said "anywhere but goals" 🤣🤣🤣
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Phara from Flanders 2 years ago
Belgium got field hockey? I guess they forget to ask the Flemish? Tennis, hiking, biking, and basketball would be higher then field hockey. We got the gold medal at the Olympics, so it could be on the rise now, but no why that's nr 1.
Caro Caro 2 years ago
Yeah, the Netherlands is also not Hockey but soccer.
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Michal Dolyniuk 2 years ago
Speedway in Poland? No chance. Yes we got strong league but nobody gives a s**t about that. Everybody just do cycling 😊🚵
Naesil 2 years ago
Yeah and the title is what people DO for fun, cant imagine that most Polish people would own their own speedway bike :D
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Alexander Mannsfeld 2 years ago
if you put out soccer out of the equation, the graph should use, to be fair, the 2nd popular sport for every nation.
Londo Cotto 2 years ago
I met some young women in hospital who were having their knees repaired after playing Irish Death sport with sticks . . .lovely girls, fit and strong and all gorgeous . . .not to be messed with though . . . . yeah, they NEVER forgive or forget.
Mária Dusová 2 years ago
I don´t think that people play ice hockey that much in here. It is very expensive sport to play, and eg hiking is pretty much everywhere.
LuckyNumbers 2 years ago
The fact that is says fieldhockey when most dutch people think field hockey players are absolute snobs says so much about us.
Chloe Dakin 2 years ago
Basket ball in Spain? No way. After football paddle is the most popular sport.
Aleksandra 2 years ago
I really doubt 'motorcycle speedway' is that popular in poland. We have great mountains so more people hike than have any kind of motorcycle x.x Unless watching on tv counts
Klas Klättermus 2 years ago (edited)
Uhm, I would say ping-pong for Sweden. Every single break room at school and almost every single office have a ping-pong table. We don't organize into a lot of ping-pong teams because it is just something we do for fun, which was the exact question here wasn't it? Only the wealthy can afford to play hockey and it is not that common. Maybe 5% ever played hockey, but probably at least 80% played a lot of ping-pong at some point in their life (every male and most females).
caoimhe 2 years ago
It stands for Gaelic Athletic Association, technically incorrect to have on this map because it's the national governing body of 6 different sports
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caoimhe 2 years ago
It stands for Gaelic Athletic Association, technically incorrect to have on this map because it's the Irish national governing body of 6 different sports
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Timmy Pillinger 2 years ago
Lots of regional variety in the UK. The SW is a rugby union region, the Cotton belt is Rugby league. Rural Yorkshire and the Midlands are cricket zones. Cornwall has a tradition of wrestling and gig (rowing boat) racing.
Lady of the Mountains 2 years ago
If anyone needs me I will be avoiding romania like the plague
#27
This Post Shows The Average Price In Euros Of The Monthly Rent Of A 1 Bedroom Apartment Located In The City Centre Of Each Capital City Of The Countries On This Map
Pittsburgh rare 2 years ago
Now do one comparing those figures with the average salary and see the map change. *Cries in Spain*
#28
This Post Shows How People Around The World Prefer Their French Fries To Be Eaten
Nitro Codes 2 years ago
I think the countries colored black have it RIGHT YO! And I'm American!
#29
This Post Shows The Literal Meaning Of Country Names
kurisutofu 2 years ago
What does that even mean? France is named that way because it was the"land of the Franks". Franks were the tribes that were there so long ago.
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What do you think ?
Laugh or not 2 years ago
I feel many of those maps are inaccurate or partial. It would be much better with their sources.
PADNA 2 years ago
same. Most of these are based on polls on reddit. 5 people reply - "condiment of choice with fries". Yeah sure, those are not even sold together with fries, but whatevah.
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Camilla Koutsos 2 years ago
Aotearoa doesn't appear on many, and where it's present it's in the wrong place. Not sure of this geographer...
Syamsul Arifin 2 years ago
I skip reading through after couple of maps since it seems inaccurate or false
Laugh or not 2 years ago
I feel many of those maps are inaccurate or partial. It would be much better with their sources.
PADNA 2 years ago
same. Most of these are based on polls on reddit. 5 people reply - "condiment of choice with fries". Yeah sure, those are not even sold together with fries, but whatevah.
Load More Replies... Camilla Koutsos 2 years ago
Aotearoa doesn't appear on many, and where it's present it's in the wrong place. Not sure of this geographer...
Syamsul Arifin 2 years ago
I skip reading through after couple of maps since it seems inaccurate or false
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