Common mistakes we make about the world map

This flat map is still wrong, but it's the least wrong of all flat maps

While flat maps can never be as perfectly scaled as a globe, they're far more practical than carrying around a sphere. Researchers set out to minimize six major errors of flat maps, including boundary cuts and skewed proportions, by simply squashing...

The history of the world map

What did people used to think the world looked like? From the beginning of human history to right before the age of exploration, learn how the world maps were created.

No map of the Earth is perfect because each introduces inaccuracies in the shape, size, or orientation of landmasses and oceans by trying to flatten the planet's curved surface.

The art of 'undiscovering' phantom islands

Centuries of maps include islands and isles that appear to only exist on atlases. This article explores the discovery and "undiscovery" of such landscapes, which still persist despite modern technology. As recently as 2012, Google Maps showed an...

View depictions of world maps throughout history

The first map to use latitude and longitude positions was created by Ptolemy in 150 CE, over 700 years after the oldest known world map, the Imago Mundi, was made with a Babylonian clay tablet. The Spanish crown created a secret master map from hundreds of sailors’ reports.

Some maps may incorrectly identify the boundaries of a solar eclipse's totality because they assume the Earth is a smooth surface.

Visualizing 11 cognitive biases that influence how you think

Humans are hardwired to make mental mistakes called cognitive biases, affecting the way we view our world. Among the most common are confirmation bias (seeking only evidence that affirms your views), authority bias (overweighting things said by authority figures), groupthink (assimilating ideas to avoid conflict), and more. This quick chart gives an overview of some of the most notable ways we mislead ourselves.

Compare the true sizes of continents, countries, and other regions around the world by dragging them across a Mercator projection.

A collection of contemporary maps from World War II

Newspapers published detailed maps of the conflict in real-time. See different portrayals of the situation, ranging from propaganda maps to speculative maps about the war's outcome. The fascinating depictions reveal how maps can show us the aspirations and intentions of different players in a global conflict.

Create digital maps of Earth with custom sketches and labels

In this interactive, users can apply layers to various base maps to display natural and human features, including geological activity, biomes, ocean currents, population densities, and light pollution. Custom legends, markers, and drawings can be used to highlight prominent features.

Explore a detailed map of Odysseus' fictional journey from 'The Odyssey.'

40 maps that explain North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is one of the most misunderstood countries in the world. Use these maps and charts, compiled by Vox, for context and clarity on North Korea. North Korea has a large military and an advanced nuclear...

Our brains trick us into seeing an enlarged Moon when on the horizon

Humans perceive the sky as a flattened bowl and judge the size of an object by accounting for its perceived distance away from us. Combined, studies have found that the Moon on the horizon is perceived to be larger because the terrain makes it seem like it is farther away, similar to the Ponzo illusion.

A map of the Milky Way

Curious about the layout of the cosmos? This resource presents a detailed map of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Learn the basic structure and identify prominent global clusters, nebulae, main arms, spurs, and constellations. With numerous different maps and mediums, get oriented with the universe’s configuration and where exactly we fit into it.

The entire observable universe in one map

Scientists believe we’ve only discovered about 5% of the universe. Here’s a map of what we’ve found so far, visualized using a log scale.

A simple pictorial explanation of ocean geography

Visualizing ocean geographical features, such as a coastal zone, continental shelf and abyssal plain. This article from the US Geological Survey also provides several links to diverse ocean facts.

Explore the metaverse with this mind map

The metaverse is a complex concept that involves interlocking and rapidly evolving parts, including Web3, augmented reality, and trademark law. It's easy to get overwhelmed when faced with the new legal, financial, ethical, and creative intersections of our reality and its virtual echo. This mind map details the metaverse and its implications for various fields that interact and overlap. Click through the map to read and listen to topic summaries or explore more in-depth resources.

The science of optical illusions

The human brain has developed cognitive shortcuts to help us navigate in a world where our visual senses are constantly bombarded of information. But these shortcuts can also be exploited, tricking the brain into telling us something is happening when it really isn't. This short video unpacks the neuroscience behind some of the most common (but perplexing) optical illusions.

Mapping the world's cell towers

Millions of cell towers around the world help connect the world's 8 billion people via cell phones and the Internet. But access to such coverage, while still expanding, is not equal. This data visualization depicts the world's many cell connections across a global map, revealing cell use hot spots and the world's many gaps in coverage.

Explore a world map of Mars

The yellows spots scattered across the map indicate meteor impacts while the red regions represent volcanoes and their associated lava flows. The varying shades of brown indicate cratered highlands and midlands, which make up most of the southern hemisphere.

Visualizing the world's food supply chains

The world's food supply chain is complex and lopsided, with much of the world's nutrient-rich food ending up in Europe and North America. This visualization illustrates the paths our food takes around the world, from starchy vegetables in...

How people imagine a calendar year

It turns out everybody imagines the abstract calendar year in a simple, concrete way, though there are surprising differences between the exact model and shape of each image. Dive into one writer's collection of tens of thousands of questionnaire responses showing the fascinating consistency and divergence of how people visualize time.

Why do some people always get lost?

Using GPS, anthropological data, and VR, scientists have learned that one's sense of direction is largely influenced by upbringing. A person's wayfinding ability can be measured by how accurately they point toward an out-of-sight location, a challenge further complicated by imagining they're somewhere else and pointing toward a third location. Anxiety, safety concerns, and dislike of wandering can negatively impact one's sense of direction, which can improve with practice.

Mapping the origins of the world's crops

Food has evolved alongside humanity, and through globalized trade, much of the world can enjoy foods once isolated to one region. Examine where your favorite foods originated from and see how diet differs across cultures with these interactive...

Visualizing the world's population centers

What does population density look like on a global scale? These detailed 3D renders illustrate our biggest urban areas and highlight population trends.

How do maps get their place names in multilingual areas?

In countries with multiple local dialects, cartographers struggle to standardize place names enough to create maps of the region. This process inevitably leads to conflict. Case in point, Switzerland, where in the late 1800s many dialects called the same places by different names, leading one alienated community to demand the return of its local names. Read about this and several other examples of contentious place-naming on maps here.

Clark’s maps provided the first detailed record of the American West

Covering over 8,000 miles, William Clark’s maps charted rivers, mountains, and tribal territories with remarkable accuracy. Equipped with sextants, compasses, telescopes, and more, Clark became an expert at surveying—requiring extensive celestial and topographical observations each day.

Visualizing the symbols and history of world flags

More than 200 world flags feature high-intent designs, projecting ideals and values to the world through archetypal symbols, colors, and shapes. This page effectively depicts the data behind symbol and shape usage, how much each country's flag has changed over time, the most popular colors used, and more in a series of elegantly simple charts.

A collaborative map lets anyone rename the entire world in real time

Rename.world is a playful, community-driven project where users discover, claim, and rename locations across a live global map. It's kind of like Wikipedia meets Google Maps, filtered through the internet's love of chaos and whimsy.

Explore a map of global native lands

This interactive map visualizes Indigenous territories across the world. Users can search by location, language, or tribe to explore the histories, cultures, and present-day communities connected to specific lands.

The cone of uncertainty predicts where a hurricane's center can potentially travel

A common misconception is that regions beyond the cone are safe, but the spread does not depict the full reach of a cyclone's wind, rain, or storm surges. The cone is not built from real-time storm data but is an average forecast error from the past five years.

A map of the moon, using lidar

When planning to land on the moon, knowing the topography matters. This map of the lunar surface was created by using 6 billion measurements from NASA's Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, a type of lidar. Check out the technically accurate depths of craters and ancient oceans on our beloved lunar neighbor with this fun, impressive map.

Explore an interactive map of the unified theories of everything

This interactive concisely describes many highly complex theories ranging from quantum gravity and black holes to dark matter and energy. Supplementary resources, key questions, and possible solutions accompany each description. As of 2026, no developed theory provides an accepted explanation of all observed phenomena in the universe at all scales.

Mapping fiction's imagined breakdowns of the US after apocalypse

Post-apocalyptic fiction in the US is at least a century old, and how the future is envisioned reflects contemporary anxieties and divisions. This piece examines the various creative maps birthed from the tradition from Jack London's 1912 "The Scarlet Plague," a pandemic novel set in 2073, through Stephen King's "The Stand", dystopian "The Hunger Games," and visions of civil war.

Explore an interactive map of global water gaps, caused by human consumption surpassing the rate at which water reserves are replenished by the hydrologic cycle.

View maps of seafloor topography, earthquakes, and volcanic activity, which scientists use to create outlines of Earth's tectonic plates.

Here's how humans migrated across the world

From our deepest origins in Africa all the way to the Americas, by looking at the fossils and archaeological materials we have been able to trace the path our ancestors took during thee short window of time when we took over the world.

Mapping the world records held by each US state

What world record does your state hold? Check out this map of the United States to see what weird accomplishment took place near you.

The geoid depicts what Earth would look like if not for tides and currents, given the planet's rotation and uneven gravitational field.

America's most underrated places to visit

The United States is vast, with beautiful and fascinating cultural hubs, landmarks, and natural wonders to fill a lifetime of travel. These landmarks can be well-known and top everyone's bucket list, or they can fly under-the-radar. Here's a list of...

See an animated map of the entire Cold War.

The missing continent that took 375 years to find

It took scientists 375 years to discover the eighth continent of the world, which had been hiding in plain sight all along. But mysteries still remain.

Explore interactive maps from fictional journeys, including 'The Odyssey,' 'Moby-Dick,' and more.

How global conditions have improved over 200 years

In an era of 24-hour news, it can feel as if the world is on a perpetual downward spiral. This set of visualizations zoom out, and show how global living conditions have improved in recent centuries. The percentage of people living in extreme...

How one biologist drew a national park's definitive map

Long before GPS, biologist John Cely mapped the swampy terrain of South Carolina's Congaree National Park by hand, and mostly from memory. The map was so accurate, it became the preferred resource for the park's rangers. This Atlas Obscura article explores how Cely acquainted himself with the park's particulars and how the map grew from an unofficial peculiarity into the park's definitive guide.

Five charts that changed the world

Data visualization helps us understand the world, providing a powerful way to communicate complicated information in a quick and efficient way. There are many different ways to create graphs, and these five examples—the pie chart, geographic dot...

Climate determinism wrongly linked human traits and societal progress to geography

Historically rooted in Greek philosophy, its ideas used the latitudes where people were located to justify racial hierarchies, casting tropical peoples as lazy or inferior. These biases still influence how media and research portray people in climatically disadvantaged regions. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

A visual guide to Hollywood dystopias and their real-world locations

Even the most dire dystopias are grounded in the real world. That's especially true with dystopian movies, which turn real cities into near-future nightmares. This guide from Atlas Obscura takes readers on a tour through some of the most recognizable, from "Blade Runner" (filmed in Los Angeles) to "Total Recall" (Mexico City, Mexico), "The Matrix" (Sydney, Australia), and more.

Visualizing Earth's space garbage

An unsavory byproduct of humanity's brilliant exploration of space, the Moon, and more, is the rapid production of space debris floating around in orbit. Its estimated over 25,000 objects are in orbit, a number that grows everyday as satellites are decommissioned, rockets enter orbit, and more. Now, you can visualize what this debris looks like from a zoomed-out perspective with this brief video.

The overview effect is a cognitive shift experienced when viewing Earth from space

Astronauts regularly report profound realizations after seeing Earth from space for the first time, sometimes prompting significant philosophical changes, including a greater awareness of the interconnectedness and fragility of life.