Strange Maps

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A vintage map illustration showing the Arctic region, including parts of northern Europe, Greenland, and surrounding seas, with radial lines converging at the North Pole.
White text on a light grey background reads "Strange Maps" in a large, serif font.
The world, seen sideways.

Most maps show the world as something to be navigated. Strange Maps reveals the worlds humans have imagined.

Since 2006, Frank Jacobs has been collecting and interpreting maps that do more than chart geography or political borders. These maps — often obscure, beautiful, funny, and deeply revealing — each tell a story, usually one that’s more about how we see ourselves than where we are.

Published as a book in 2009 and a Big Think column since 2010, Strange Maps draws on a steady stream of reader submissions and rare discoveries. Together, they offer a way of seeing the world from unfamiliar angles, where cartography becomes culture, argument, and art.

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Frank Jacobs is a journalist whose work explores how culture, history, and imagination shape the way we see the world.

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strange maps
Memorizing London’s 25,000 streets changes cabbies’ brains — and may prevent Alzheimer’s
One of the toughest vocational exams in the world requires candidates to memorize 25,000 streets in an area five times the size of Manhattan.

by Frank Jacobs

A person stands next to a large book titled "The Knowledge," symbolizing mastery of the city’s map.
Everything Articles
3D topographic map showing underwater reefs and features labeled with names such as Toul ar Fot, TAF1, Porz Biazel, and Ar Fot Bras; scale and north arrow included.
Strange Maps
7,000-year-old underwater wall raises questions about ancient engineering — and lost-city legends
Scientists found a massive underwater wall off the coast of France that might help explain the origin of the legend of Ys.
Frank Jacobs
A colorful map of the United States with state boundaries replaced by regions labeled with various unrelated names and entities.
Strange Maps
America’s post-apocalyptic maps reveal eerily familiar fault lines
In post-apocalyptic fiction, imagined futures turn today’s political and cultural tensions into geography.
Frank Jacobs
A color-coded map of Asia shows four migration phases from China, with arrows pointing toward Papua New Guinea and the Andaman Islands, both circled in yellow.
Strange Maps
“The Chinese Job”: Spain’s wild 1580s plan to conquer the world — via Beijing
The plan — conquer China and push west to attack the Ottomans — was peak imperial hubris, as the Spanish themselves eventually realized.
Frank Jacobs
A raised hand with bracelets is shown in focus against a blurred background of people indoors.
Strange Maps
Mapped: If America were 100 people, this is what they’d believe
Nearly 30 would be "nones" — an amorphous group that spans from zealous atheists to the vaguely spiritual.
Frank Jacobs
A world map comparing landmass outlines of the Equal Earth projection in pink and Mercator projection in green, with grid lines overlaid.
Strange Maps
Africa wants its true size on the world map
The African Union argues that the Mercator projection distorts the continent, both in size and global attention.
Frank Jacobs
Illustrated map showing streets, parks, and landmarks of a coastal city bordered by Hob's River and Delaware Bay, with a compass rose in the lower right corner.
Strange Maps
The strange cartography of Superman’s ever-shifting hometown
The latest "Superman" film sets Metropolis in the First State.
Frank Jacobs
Diagram showing a galaxy, zooming in to highlight a small area labeled "Human Experience" within a grid mapping time and space on logarithmic scales.
Strange Maps
Mapped: The boundaries of human perception
Science helps us imagine the vastness of space and time — and our small but meaningful place within it.
Frank Jacobs
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