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

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.

Common mistakes we make about the world map

Maps have long loosely approximated what the world actually looks like. Here's a few common errors that persist due to outdated conceptions of the world.

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

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...

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

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.

Aristotle discovered that Earth was spherical by observing the round shadow it cast on the moon during lunar eclipses and by noting that different constellations were visible from different latitudes.

Great circles provide the shortest path between two points on a sphere

On Earth, a great circle is formed by slicing through the planet, such that one cuts through the center alongside the two locations from which the shortest distance needs to be found. The resulting arc along the Earth's surface is responsible for curved routes on flight maps, rather than straight trajectories.

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.

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

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.'

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.

See the most oddly gerrymandered districts in the US

Based on input from redistricting experts and political scientists, this resource identifies and ranks the most extreme congressional gerrymanders of the 2020s, examining how map design, cracking, and packing reduce competition and distort representation across states.

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.

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

Scientists can map Earth's shape and structure by measuring the ratios of certain particles arriving from different directions in space, as these ratios change with the density of the material particles travel through.

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.

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.

How the ancients calculated Earth's size correctly

Watch this seven-minute video to hear Carl Sagan explain how ancient Greek polymath Eratosthenes correctly calculated the size of the Earth in the third century BCE. At some point, Eratosthenes noticed a discrepancy in the length of shadows cast in different cities during the summer solstice. This observation grew into a simple experiment that enabled Eratosthenes, the head librarian at the Library of Alexandria, to calculate the Earth's size precisely.

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.

An AI-built pixel map reimagines New York City as a video game

Isometric NYC is a zoomable pixel-art map that renders the city in game-style perspective (think SimCity), helpfully clarifying the dense geography and architecture. The makers built the project tile-by-tile using satellite data and generative AI. Zoom into building-level views or out to see all five boroughs.

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.

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.

Imagining a fourth dimension

Famous astronomer Carl Sagan attempts to describe what it's like to think about the fourth dimension using the famous Flatland example from author Edwin Abbott in this classic video.

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...

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.

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.

View the past month of earthquakes worldwide with this digital globe, which displays data from the US Geological Survey.

Test your gerrymandering skills with this interactive game

This simulation demonstrates how packing and cracking alter election outcomes. See how shifting district lines can change representation—regardless of the overall makeup of the electorate.

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 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...

Ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus created accurate maps of the night sky way ahead of his time, with coordinates sometimes within a single degree of modern values.

Explore the medieval world in this 14th-Century map

This virtual replica of a 14th-Century map allows viewers to see the medieval world through a Christian framework. Jerusalem is the center axle of the map, harkening back to the Bible's Old Testament, which states Jerusalem is the "centre of...

The origin of shortest-path algorithms and how they became optimized for navigation apps

In 1956, Dutch programmer Edsger Dijkstra spent about 20 minutes developing an algorithm to demonstrate how computers could quickly determine the shortest route between Rotterdam and Groningen. Since then, modified versions of Dijkstra's formulation comprise the processing backbone of systems such as Google Maps and Apple Maps.

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 visualization of curved spacetime under general relativity

While depictions involving bends in elastic fabrics are common to illustrate gravity, they are circular representations that rely on gravity in the real world to depict gravity in the model. The river model instead shows how bends in spacetime convert speed through time into speed through space, producing acceleration.

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...

How accurate are climate models?

RealClimate: A new paper from Hausfather and colleagues with the most comprehensive assessment of climate model projections since the 1970s. Bottom line? Once you correct for small errors in the projected forcings, they did remarkably well.

The European Space Agency's Euclid telescope maps dark matter

As light rays travel near massive objects in space, their paths can be distorted on their way to Earth, causing objects to appear displaced, magnified, shrunken, or sheared. By simulating these effects for various mass distributions, astronomers can match the distortion to a simulated mass and compare it with the observed visible matter to infer the presence of dark matter.

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.

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.

Visualize population densities around the world represented as geographic terrain and how those densities changed from 1900 to 1975 to 2015.

Explore a 3D interactive visualization of Neptune, the smallest of the solar system's giant planets.

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...

GPS satellites are programmed to account for their faster passage of time in space

The Global Positioning System relies on signals from satellites to calculate locations on Earth by measuring time and distance. However, their orbits, being farther from Earth's center, cause them to experience less gravitational time dilation. These systems would be off by 11 kilometers per day without relativistic corrections.

The idea of a tongue map has been discredited, but taste sensitivity can vary across the tongue.

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.

View a map of America's regional pizza styles

It may all be pizza, but it's not all the same. From California to New York and from Quad City-style to Old Forge, this interactive map of the US lets you see the country's different takes on the classic dish.

Explore an interactive map showing what makes people happy.

Using 10,000 responses collected from people around the world about what makes them happy, this map offers insights into how relationships, finances, purpose, and small treats all contribute to a person's contentment. Recent data suggests that young people today are less happy than those in previous generations, indicating a need to reflect on what really matters in life.