Interesting Maps

http://revolvingdoorcommune.wordpress.com/

I found this map on "The Revolving Door Commune Blog." It's a really old map of the world, that illustrates how differently people used to view the Earth. You can clearly see the different continents, but there are many differences between this one and a current world map. The mapping systems and ways of viewing the landscape were extremely different than they are today, and the differences are clearly illustrated. One thing I find interesting is the enormity of Antarctica in comparison to the other continents. As it had yet to be explored, map makers had no concrete information to go by, thus Antarctica's size.

http://www.ecvs.org/sevilla/PDF/Mapa%20SEVILLA.gif

I'm sure not everyone will find this map as interesting as I do. This is a map of Sevilla, Spain where I spent the Fall quarter of last year. Not being a native of the city, I spent many moments staring at this very map and studying each portion of the city. One of the many interesting characteristics of this map is its orientation. The north side of the city is on the left side while the South is on the right. The reason for this is not simply because the map maker felt like going against the norm of N being at the top, but because this is how the people who live in Sevilla perceive their city. Everyone orients themselves by the river (Rio Guadalquivir) which runs to the west of the old city center. An easier way to look at it, is by thinking of the river below the city, and everything else oriented around it. This is how I grew to perceive the city, and my mental map looks just like this one. Sevilla is a city with hundreds of small streets that go in tons of different directions, so for visitors, a map is essential...and even with a map getting lost is very likely. This map doesn't even come close to showing every street in the city, but mainly serves to give a general idea of where things are in the city.

http://www.worldmapper.org/countrycartograms/

This map represents the Earth by population density. Much different than your typical map of the world, larger population equals larger space on the map. Places like Australia, Russia, and Antarctica, that take up and enormous amount of land area on Earth, are virtually non-existent in comparison to very populous places on this map. I like this map because contrary to looking at the world as the eyes can see it, it allows you to visualize it in a different way. It seems almost strange to see that some of the most powerful nations in the world seem so tiny in comparison to places like India and China.