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Byzantine Constantinople Before It Was Istanbul

Last Updated: March 3, 2023 2 Comments

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Byzantine_Constantinople-en

Topographical map of Constantinople during the Byzantine period, by Cplakidas via Wikimedia

Constantinople has been the capital of 4 different empires during its long history. The Roman, Byzantine (or Eastern Roman), Latin and Ottoman empires all coveted the city due to its strategic and commercial importance.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Byzantine, Constantinople

Scotland’s Watershed Is So Wild That Only 6 People Have Managed To Complete The Whole Route

Last Updated: January 17, 2025 9 Comments

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The route of Scotland's Watershed

The Scottish Watershed, map provided by Peter Wright
The Scottish Watershed separates the drainage and river systems that flow east into the North Sea from those that flow west into the Atlantic. The map above shows its route from the English Border to the North of Scotland at Duncansby Head (near the more famous John O’ Groats).

Or, as Peter Wright (one of the only people to have walked it) puts it:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Scotland Tagged With: walking, watershed

Where Are All The Toilets On The London Underground? This Tube Map Has The Answer

Last Updated: June 25, 2025 Leave a Comment

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Where Are All The Toilets On The London Underground? This Tube Map Has The Answer

Click on the map for a full size version, part of TFL’s Accessibility guides
Locating a working loo in London is not always easy, especially on the Tube.

The lack of toilets on the London Underground, is just one of many complaints Londoners have with the network that celebrated it’s sesquicentennial anniversary in 2013.

Looking at the tube map above it’s easy to see why. In zone 1 (central London), only Baker Street (men only), Shoreditch High Street and Hoxton have any toilet facilities within the gateline and none have baby changing facilitates. Only when you get outside of central London do you start finding stations that actually have toilets in them.

Full list:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: London Tagged With: toilet, tube

The 26 Largest Islands In The World Compared

Last Updated: July 23, 2024 43 Comments

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relative size of the 24 largest islands in the world

The relative size of the 26 largest islands in the world, map by reddit user evening_raga

The map above shows the relative size of the world’s 26 largest islands. Combined they cover 7.7 million square km (roughly the size of Australia) and have 540 million people living on them (behind only China and India).

If you’re curious to learn a bit more about them, below you can find their names, what country (or countries) they belong to, their areas and the population of each island (data from Wikipedia):

[Read more…]

Filed Under: World Maps Tagged With: area, comparison, islands

What Country Is Across From You, If You’re On A Beach In Britain or Ireland

Last Updated: March 3, 2023 2 Comments

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Across the shores from Britain

Map by reddit user TheWinterKing

Inspired by the popular map of Which Countries Are Due East And West Of The Americas, this version looks at the same for British Isles (UK + Ireland), with North and South added in too.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Europe Tagged With: directions, interesting

California, Sweden and Madagascar Are Surprisingly Similar in Size

Last Updated: June 9, 2025 3 Comments

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California vs Madagascar

California vs Madagascar, by Reddit user Mattho via mapfrappe.com
Did you know that California, Sweden and Madagascar are all quite similar in size?

Don’t believe me? Well look at the map above comparing California and Madagascar or the one below comparing Sweden and Madagascar. Here are a few comparisons between the 3 based on data from Wikipedia:

In terms of total area:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Other Tagged With: area, comparison, population

Why The United States Is A ‘-Stan’ Country Like Kyrgyzstan

Last Updated: March 3, 2023 7 Comments

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Map places ending in -stan aka Stanistan

Why are there so many countries that end in -stan? In total 7 countries: Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan include the suffix -stan in their names.

These countries have a combined population of nearly 280 million people (fewer than only China, India and the United States) and cover an area of 5.45 million square kilometers (7th largest in the world).

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Video Tagged With: -stan, names

Which European Country Has The Lowest Drinking Age?

Last Updated: June 18, 2024 14 Comments

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Drinking Age In Europe Map

Drinking Age In Europe Map by reddit user correiajoao
This is actually a bit of a trick question, as several European countries including: Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Russia have no formal laws on what age people are allowed to consume alcoholic beverages. However, the map above (with a few errors) shows what age people have to be buy various types of alcohol.

According to Wikipedia these are the ages you’re allowed to purchase alcohol by country in Europe:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Europe Tagged With: age, alcohol

The Pacific Ocean is Larger Than All Land On Earth

Last Updated: September 17, 2025 4 Comments

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All land on earth compared to pacific ocean

Map by Chris Stephens, from naturalearthdata.com
While I’m sure you know the Pacific Ocean is big, I’d say there’s a good chance you hadn’t realized how big, until you look at the map above. As difficult as it may be to believe, the Pacific Ocean is larger than the landmass of every single continent and island combined.

In numbers:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: World Maps Tagged With: comparison, oceans

U.S. Counties Where Schools Close for Jewish Holidays

Last Updated: March 3, 2023 16 Comments

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U.S. Counties Where Schools Close for Jewish Holidays

Map by reddit user jonross14

The map above shows where schools close for Jewish Holidays. Reddit user jonross14 explains more about how he created the map:

My wife and I created this map. A colored county means that at least one school countywide closes for Jewish Holidays, not necessarily all schools in the county. We also designated a county if they only closed for one Jewish holiday, for example Yom Kippur but not Rosh Hashanah, or if a district consistently gives a PD (teachers-only) day on a Jewish holiday. TL;DR if any district in a county closes school to students for any Jewish holiday they are included in this map. Enjoy!

If, like me, you’re not familiar with the major Jewish holidays they are:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: United States Tagged With: education, jewish

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