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Some believe that geography is boring or ‘dry’, and think that looking at a map will never catch their interest. Well, chances are that their mindset can be changed with the maps on today’s list.

Created by the mastermind behind the ‘Very Useful Maps’ account, these images are not your regular markers of geographic areas; they are mirrors of cultural phenomena, eating habits, all things nature, and so much more, so scroll down to find them and see for yourself just how amusing and fun geography can be.

If you scroll down, you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with assistant professor of geography at University of Oregon and an academic expert in climate change communication, cartography, map design and mapping environment-society interactions, Carolyn Fish, who was kind enough to delve deeper into the topic of maps with us.

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Enter Capri, an island and popular tourist destination in Italy's Gulf of Naples. Noted as one of the world's strangest laws, it's illegal here to wear excessively noisy footwear  (particularly flip flops ) as locals value their 'peace and quiet'

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Started in the very end of 2021, ‘Very Useful Maps’ has already amassed nearly 100k followers. In the Q&A section of the account’s Instagram highlights, the creator—a person with Czech and Italian roots—shared that there was nothing in particular that inspired them to start the account, they simply wanted to give it a go.

“I knew that map accounts existed and, well, on New Year's Eve, I decided ‘yeah, let’s do it and see how it will go’,” they wrote.

Discussing where they draw inspiration from for their maps, the mastermind behind the account revealed that it varies; sometimes an idea would pop up randomly and they would note it down for later use, but sometimes they would have to try and come up with something as they were working on the project.

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“Sometimes it’s hard to come up with something, so I go for something that has been done [already], but I try to expand it,” they shared.

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Only at Trinity college though and according to their own laws

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Seeking to learn more about maps and their significance, Bored Panda turned to an academic expert in cartography, map design and mapping environment-society interactions, Carolyn Fish, who agreed to share her insight on all things maps, starting with a little bit of history.

“There are a lot of arguments about when the first maps came to be, with some scholars arguing that maps in some form have existed since ancient Mesopotamia and others arguing that they are a more recent invention that goes back still hundreds of years, but not millennia,” she told Bored Panda.

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“There are generally two types of maps: reference and thematic,” Fish continued. “The maps on the ‘Very Useful Maps’ Instagram account are thematic maps which are focused on showing data about a particular topic or theme, while reference maps are more general and are designed to help people navigate a place or identify where places are in relation to other places.

“The old road atlas you might have kept in your car, or the newer Google or Apple maps on your phone, are both examples of reference maps. Reference maps, I would argue, have existed for millennia. People have been taking their own mental maps of their world and putting that spatial information down in the dirt or later on paper for thousands of years.

“Thematic maps are considered far more recent inventions, and these maps have grown in popularity, especially in recent decades because we have access to so much data that it makes sense to represent that in a spatial form, i.e., a map,” the asst. prof. of geography explained.

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We also discussed what makes people interested in such content as shared by ‘Very Useful Maps’, and according to the map expert, there are likely several factors at play here: 

“First, the data needs to be interesting. In the ‘Very Useful Map’ Instagram account the maps are primarily of thematic data, so assuring that the data that you are showing is something people would be interested in knowing is important,” Fish suggested.

“Second, aesthetics are really important, especially on platforms like Instagram. While the platform has changed a lot over the years from moving away from static photos, the accounts that still focus on those static images have always been thinking about how aesthetics are key to getting followers. Maps can be beautiful and I think focusing on sharing beautiful maps is vital to growing a following.”

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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Legal in the USA too. Just expect to get socked in the face if you get too loud about it. #punchNAZIs

james stevenson
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Actually not everyone who denies the holocaust is a Nazi. should be #Punchidiots

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Mimi La Souris
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

the dilemne of freedom of expression. if everything we hear were true; even verified, we would be quiet every day

Guess Undheit
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The worst deniers are those that want only one holocaust to be recognized, and deliberately try to prevent other holocausts from being recognized (e.g. Armenia, Turkey, Rwanda, Cambodia, Gaza, Myanmar, Indonesia, Australia, US, Canada, etc.). All mass genocides of populations are holocausts, even if you don't like the victims.

Phil
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you have visited Aushwitz you wonder why it's legal anywhere.

rullyman
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's the tolerance paradox. To create a tolerant world we must be intolerant of those who are intolerant

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MrLiesegang
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So it’s illegal in the most of the country where it happened

Red Wyvern Emperor
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Like... are we supposed to just pretend it didn't happen? Might as well forget those thousands of people killed and whose 2 villages burnt down to the ground in Czech Republic alone then.

Analyn Lahr
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If GERMANY can admit it happened, so should everyone else. Germany: Yes, we did this. Holocaust denier: No you didn't. Germany: But we did. Holocaust denier: I don't believe you.

Phil
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If u have been to Aushwitz you'd want to know why its legal anywhere.

Bryoney Blakley
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's heartbreaking and lowers my opinion of the countries who allow that

J Lauridsen
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Coming from a country where it is not illegal, I can honestly say I have never encountered any who denied it. Some may express opinions that are in contradiction with my own regarding to its good/Bad status, but it is something we hear and learn about in school (mandatory years). It cannot be evicted from our cataloque of basic knowledge. We are a neighbouring country and lost people to Holocaust. So if someone denies it, they are simply looked upon as unenlightened, stupid and maybe found worthy of a friendly history-lesson or movienight. Not all stupidity can be removed by law.

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Dave
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is very sad. Holocaust deniers are idiots, but what about free speech?

H G
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There would also be reactions in Norway 🇳🇴 if anyone talked in denial of holocaust. Also, if they talk about it positively. Don't do that here, not wise at all.

arthbach
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wonder about the UK. There's hate speech legislation there, and I suspect denying the Holocaust could be classified as a hate speech. "In England and Wales, any similar behaviour is likely to be treated as an offence or offences under the Malicious Communications Act 1988 or the Communications Act 2003. Alison Chabloz is a blogger who believes that “Hitler was right”. In 2018 she was convicted of two offences under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003. This followed the performance of anti-Semitic songs upload to YouTube; she then posted links to them on her blog. The judgment from her appeal against her conviction described the songs as weaving together Holocaust denial and hateful attacks on Jewish people generally and that they were grossly offensive. (sourceL: https://www.mortons-solicitors.co.uk/is-holocaust-denial-classed-as-hate-speech/)

Did I say that out loud? (he/him)cis/het
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'd be very interested to know why some countries have felt it necessary to make Holocaust denial illegal. How much of a problem has it been in some of these countries?

xolitaire
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well let's see. Imagine having relatives who died in 9/11 - and then radical political right wingers deny 9/11 ever happened, call all the survivors liars and twist it around to use it to strengthen their political influence? This. This is why we have a law against this in Germany.

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“I’m definitely biased, but I love learning how all sorts of topics vary across space. And how something varies across space is typically best represented in a map,” Fish told Bored Panda. “I also think that one of the more interesting things to map is the connection between human geography (how things involving people vary across space) and physical geography (how the natural world varies across space). For instance, human settlement often follows natural features, and I think that is fascinating.”

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“Whenever I tell people I study maps, I usually hear one of two responses. Sometimes it’s ‘Hasn’t the whole world been mapped already?’, but more often it is ‘Whoa! That’s cool! I love looking at maps!’ I think this tells me that there is a large untapped population out there who would love to follow accounts on social media that show spatial information in a beautiful way,” the expert said, addressing the popularity of map-related content online.

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Czech 🇨🇿 taxis have three rates: the average level 1, level 2 which is usually used for tourists and level 3 which is the Government’s rate that must be used for all taxi rides after a nuclear e*plosion

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While some of the maps on this list, such as the one depicting Europeans’ views on pineapple pizza, for instance, are more of a source of entertainment rather than geographic knowledge, information presented in fun ways can actually be a pretty great way to learn.

Thanks to technology, people nowadays have access to all sorts of engaging ways to learn new information, from games to cartoons, and beyond. While for some people, reading a book can be equally exciting, for those finding it easier to focus on something more colorful, vivid or interactive, it can be a game changer in learning.

Be it in a digital form or not, maps can help people learn not only all about certain geographic areas but about links between different cultures, too.

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“While personal experience with other social groups and cultures is the pinnacle of building mutual understanding between groups, maps are a great way for people to begin to understand the world around them, including the differences (and similarities) across different cultures and groups. And getting access to maps, especially for those of us in the Global North, is easier than traveling all around the world, nevermind that it is more climate friendly,” Asst. Prof. Carolyn Fish suggested.

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It may sound strange, but it’s true that a driver can face a fine of 500 zlotys or even the revocation of their license if they are caught driving with contact lenses instead of glasses, despite their driver’s license indicating that they should be wearing glasses. This is because police officers can stop a driver with a significant visual impairment from driving if they don’t adhere to the restrictions on their license, which are indicated by numerical codes on the back of the document

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While all sorts of maps can clearly be great ways of learning new information, according to Fish, it’s important to view them with a healthy dose of skepticism. “Just like we need to have a healthy skepticism of the news we read, we also need to maintain that skepticism with maps as well.

“There is a great book called ‘How to Lie with Maps’ by Mark Monmonier which talks about the ability to easily manipulate data and information to tell different stories in maps. A lot of my recent research has explored how people might be doing this with climate change maps. Humans have this tendency to trust maps more than they trust other information, so just being cognizant of our biases is helpful when viewing maps these days.

“My research has shown that typically there is not ill-intention on the part of the mapmaker, but we, as map readers, should all be looking at maps and thinking: about where the data comes from, who had a stake in creating it, what mistakes could have been made in the creation of the map, and how was the data made into information that is viewable in this type of graphic.”

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Note: this post originally had 130 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.