Strange Maps

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
How the modern world turned gray (and why color may be coming back)
The ideology, economics, and psychology behind the modern world's draining of color from homes, cars, and everyday objects.

Frank Jacobs

A map of the United States showing the most popular paint color in each state, with names of various gray, blue, and neutral shades labeled over the corresponding states.
A map of europe with many orange dots.
London’s busiest airport seems to be rebounding well from the pandemic — but Istanbul has better prospects in the long run.
derinkuyu
A basement renovation project led to the archaeological discovery of a lifetime: the Derinkuyu Underground City, which housed 20,000 people.
A map of europe with pink dots on it.
Thanks to protocols established centuries ago in Europe, world leaders no longer need to worry about having their heads bashed with an axe.
If you find yourself on one of these roads, it might be a while before you see another fellow traveler.
A map of the world with a circle around it.
To this day, one cult believes that Lemuria was real, and that its people left us the sacred wisdom to revive their advanced civilization.
A map showing the location of the arctic ocean.
If we're going to discuss oceanography and climate change, we should at least identify the currents correctly.
Trafalgar Square Pyramid
Take a look at the Times Square Totem, the Trafalgar Square Pyramid, and other landmarks that were never built.
A collage featuring an image of the Stasi Records Archive and a map of Europe with the shape of Germany blacked out.
There are good historical reasons why Germans are suspicious of surveillance.
Will your grandchildren live in cities on Antarctica?