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Home → Features → Natural Sciences → Geography

Making sense of the world in 14 Maps

These maps will help you put the present state of affairs in the world into perspective.

byMihai Andrei

January 13, 2015 - Updated on April 29, 2023

in Features, Geography

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Each color has 1 billion people

Global map — This is the world divided into seven sections – each with approximately 1 billion people. That’s right, both the Americas and Australia together have just as much population as that red strip in South-East Asia or the orange bit in and around India. But if you think this is a shock…

This may surprise you

World population — Population on Earth is not distributed evenly, to put it mildly. India and South-East Asia are very densely populated, so more people live inside that circle than outside it. That’s also where most of the world’s population growth is happening. Also, it’s not just population that is divided unequally…

The world’s income levels

As you can see, we still live in a segregated world — economically. The rich areas are in Europe (except for the eastern part), the US (and likely Canada), Japan, Australia and some parts of Arabia. Africa is still predominantly extremely poor, while Eastern Europe, South America and some parts of Asia are still in a transition phase. Financial and social inequality is still a problem for mankind.

Countries with which England has never fought (in white)

England wars. — The biggest colonial empire in the world, Great Britain has left their mark on mankind and made a lot of enemies along the way. As it turns out… they fought with almost everybody. Sweden gets an honorable mention for being so close to England and yet not fighting the Brits.

Violent conflicts in 2013

Do you live in an area without conflict? Then you can consider yourself lucky! Much of mankind lives in areas riddled with conflicts, often in a constant state of fear. This is just a map of the subnational conflicts, with national and international conflicts adding a lot to the problem.

Countries not officially using the metric system

There are just three countries which haven’t adopted the metric system: Liberia, Myanmar and of course… The United States of America. No comment here.

The Nemo Point – farthest away from any land

Nemo point — This is the Nemo point – if you’d be there, you’d be surrounded by almost 23 million square km (9 million square miles) of water. It’s pretty much the most inaccessible place in the world.

The longest continuous distance on land

This is the longest distance you can travel between any 2 points on Earth without crossing any ocean or sea. Interestingly enough, it passes through some of the most dangerous places on Earth – from Western Africa (currently plagued by an Ebola epidemic) to Sahara and Northern Africa, through Gaza and the Saudi desert and deep into the Islamic State in Irak, through Afganistan and the Himalayas – the highest mountains on the planet.

The Law of the World

world law — Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals that decide individual cases, as opposed to statutes adopted through the legislative process or regulations issued by the executive branch. Civil law (or continental law) is a legal system originating in Europe whose most prevalent feature is that its core principles are codified into a referable system which serves as the primary source of law. Sharia Law means the moral code and religious law of a prophetic religion.

Countries where tap water is safe – according to the CDC

This is actually one of the maps I don’t agree with. Much of the red areas have perfectly good drinking water… but this how the CDC sees things. People in central and eastern Europe, for instance, would have no problems drinking tap water.

Countries that recognize Palestine vs. countries that recognize Kosovo – almost complete opposites

Palestine and Kosovo have pretty much nothing to do with each other, which makes this contrast extremely interesting. Also noteworthy is Greece’s lack of decision in both cases – despite geographical proximity.

The blonde map of the world

If the picture is too small here, the text reads: Natural lighter colors occur most often in Europe and less frequently in other areas. The hair color gene MCIR has at least seven variants in Europe giving the continent a wide range of hair and eye colors. Based on genetic research carried out by Japanese Universities, the date of genetic mutation which resulted in blonde hair emerged only 11,000 years ago, during the last ice age.

World map of difference between solar time and clock time

Different areas have different local times… but the times rarely actually coincide with solar activity, as you can see from this map. Fun little fact: The small Afghan-Chinese border is the largest jump in timezone in the world. (3 and a half hour difference on each side).

A pale blue dot… a world

This stunning picture was taken from the International Space Station by NASA astronauts onboard the Expedition 7. The world is incredibly cruel and magnificently beautiful… let’s cherish it, and make it a better place!

All maps via Imgur and Reddit.

Tags: map

Mihai Andrei

Dr. Andrei Mihai is a geophysicist and founder of ZME Science. He has a Ph.D. in geophysics and archaeology and has completed courses from prestigious universities (with programs ranging from climate and astronomy to chemistry and geology). He is passionate about making research more accessible to everyone and communicating news and features to a broad audience.

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