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
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.

Frank Jacobs

A person stands next to a large book titled "The Knowledge," symbolizing mastery of the city’s map.
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.