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."

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."

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.”

“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.”