http://strangemaps.wordpress.com collecting cartographic curiosa Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:20:44 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en How would you eliminate almost half the planet by subtracting just 5% from it? This map shows you how: delete the countries that constitute the bottom 5% of global GDP contributors, and you scrap almost 3 billion people from the equation. Those people mainly live in Africa and South East ... http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/397-eliminating-the-bottom-5/?nucrss=1   The Bir Tawil Triangle is a desert of sand and rocks on the border between Egypt and the Sudan. It is also officially the most undesired territory in the world. Bir Tawil is the only piece of land on Earth (*) that is not claimed by any country - least ... http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2009/06/28/396-you-take-it-no-you-take-it-the-bir-tawil-trapezoid/?nucrss=1 A rug, to quote The Big Lebowski, can really tie a room together. The Dude (or El Duderino, if you're not into the whole brevity thing) opted for a pretty run-of-the-mill carpet - a classic Persian or Oriental design, if I recall correctly. Here is an example of an exciting subgenre ... http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2009/06/25/395-strange-mats-afghan-war-rugs/?nucrss=1 Irrespective of whether it's entirely mythical or merely missing, the 'lost' island of Atlantis is one of the most sought after pieces of real estate in history. The oldest source for the stories of a once mighty land now vanished beneath the waves are two of Plato's Dialogues (4th century ... http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/394-athanasius-kirchers-atlantis/?nucrss=1 How long does it take to travel from London to elsewhere? The answer is provided by this map, showing a set of expanding circles centered on the British capital, each bigger one delineating two extra hours of travel time. The familiar shape of the world is morphed into grotesque, contorted shapes ... http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2009/06/20/393-the-unevenness-of-space-time-convergence/?nucrss=1 Fixing her regional loyalty in indelible ink on skin, Julia had a map of Portland, ME tattooed on her shoulder. A comparison with the more conventional map on the right indicates that her tat clearly shows the Portland peninsula, the Fore River, Back Cove and surrounding coastline, plus a large part ... http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2009/06/20/392-the-portland-arm-and-maine-leg/?nucrss=1 If there were only 100 people in Ireland, 55 of them would be speaking only English, 39 of them would be speaking mainly English, and occasionally Irish, 2 of them would be speaking mainly Irish and one would be speaking Polish. Three would be speaking other languages. Michal Boleslav Mechura collected ... http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/391-ireland-as-100-people/?nucrss=1   Portugal, on the southwestern periphery of the European continent, is a medium-sized EU member state. Its population clocks in at 11th place out of 27 (10.59 million, in between Belgium's 10.66 million [10] and the Czech Republic with 10.40 million [12]). Size-wise, it's a bit further down the list: 13th ... http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2009/06/10/390-portugal-is-not-a-small-country/?nucrss=1 The mean centre of US population is “the point at which an imaginary, flat, weightless and rigid map of the US would balance perfectly if weights of identical value were placed on it so that each weight represented the location of one person on the date of the census”, in ... http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/389-americas-mean-streak/?nucrss=1 At last, the worlds of cartography, vexillology and population statistics meet! This map was inspired by earlier maps of the US, with its states renamed for countries with a similar GDP (see posts #131 and #135). It shows each US state covered by the flag of a country with a population of comparable size. ... http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2009/06/06/388-us-states-as-countries-of-equal-population/?nucrss=1