Brilliant Maps

The map above shows which countries currently use the Euro (aka Eurozone), are part of the ERM II (European Exchange Rate Mechanism), countries in the EU that don’t use the Euro, and also countries not in the EU that do use the Euro (with or without the EU’s approval).

Here’s a full list:

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The map above shows the amount of money invested per person into each country’s train and railway system per person per year. The data comes from German rail interest group Allianz pro Schiene.

One of the most surprising things about the map is that countries with the best perceived railway systems (e.g. France and Germany) aren’t the ones investing the most. The UK spends almost twice as much per capita on it’s trains than the Germans, and four times as much as the French yet our railway system has an (unfairly) terrible reputation.

Here are the numbers by country:

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Map created by europe.magazine

The map above shows how many years Europeans can expect to be in work from age 15. And it varies really widely from a high of 45.7 years in Iceland, to a low of 29.9 years in Türkiye.

The data comes from Eurostat for 2023. They note that:

The indicator ‘expected average duration of working life’ measures the expected number of years that a person, at the current age of 15 years, is expected to remain in the labour force throughout their life. It is estimated using the life expectancy and the share of employed and unemployed people in the population for each age.

The average for the EU as a whole is 36.9 years. And to put that into perspective the UK number in 2019 was 39.4 years. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find definitive data for the US but this 2012 article suggests it might be as high as 48 years.

More from Eurostat:

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Map created by Nerdy Maps

The map above shows the locations and logos for all of Europe’s Metro (aka subway/underground) systems. One thing that really stands out to me is the fact that while London had the first Metro system in the world, the UK as a whole has woefully few systems compared to France, Italy, Germany, Spain or even Turkey.

Here are some details about each of the systems:

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Map created by Nerdy Maps

The map above looks at the maximum speed limits found in Europe in terms of KM/H. Germany has no limit (although you’re advised to stay below 130 KM/H), Poland and Bulgaria at 140 KM/H are the highest limits. And Malta at 80 KM/H is the lowest.

Here’s a full list:

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Map crated by @the_golden_bob_tloasThe map above shows the relative size of Europe’s microstates. In order from smallest to largest they are:

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