Making Sense Of The World, One Map At A Time
Nguyen (Nguyễn) is the most common surname in Vietnam, shared by an estimated 38–40% of the population.
The name has also spread around the world through Vietnamese migration, becoming particularly common in countries such as Australia, France, Norway, the Czech Republic and the United States.
However, one of the most surprising places where Nguyen tops the list is…
The data comes primarily from the Washington Post’s Police Shootings Database.
They recorded that: “10,429 people have been shot and killed by police from 2015 to 2024.”
Below you can see the rate by county, followed by a full list of names and locations:
Three places on Earth have an Australian queen (or really a Queen consort): Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Together they make up the Kingdom of Denmark, known as the Danish Realm.
The map above shows the 753 IATA Airport Codes in the world that spell real words. E.g. London Heathrow’s airport code is LHR (not a real word) while Los Angeles’ is LAX (which is a real word).
They come from I OFTEN FLY a unique aviation inspired clothing company.
Interestingly, there is no JET and no SKY, but there is a FLY (by Finley in Australia).
Also still free: YOU, ONE, TWO, JOY, ZOO, OWL, PIG, FOX, EGG, EYE, ICE, SKI, NOW, HOW and WHY.
There are also many airport codes that are not words, but internet slang. For example:
This post is a work in progress showing how voting patterns in America changed over the course of 100 years.
I’ve compared the results of the 1924 US Presidential election to the 2024 one for each US state.
Note in 1924 there were only 48 states, not 50!
I’ve also included videos below each state to show how their votes have shifted every 4 years. I hope you enjoy:
Built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle marking the centenary of the French Revolution, the Eiffel Tower was designed by engineers Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, with architect Stephen Sauvestre, at Gustave Eiffel’s company.
The map above shows a really interesting breakdown of where Americans come from in each state over time between 1850 and 2020. Some states have almost no foreign born residents, while other have loads.
The two maps here come from Josh Metcalf at VoteHub and show the 30 most Democratic and 30 most Republican major metro areas from the top 100 in the United States.
The data is based on the 2024 presidential results within CBSA boundaries.
The following maps all come from X/Twitter user @heatmappr and show DNA Distance Heatmaps (aka how genetically similar one group is with another).
You can get Custom Genetic Heatmap Maps from their online store here.
And as always these maps are meant to be fun and not taken too seriously.
The following four maps come from @mattsurelee‘s Instagram page and are solely based on a survey of his users.