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There’s a wonderful online community on Reddit that’s dedicated to beautiful, intriguing, and artistic maps that will wow you and make you see the world from a whole other perspective. As someone who loves drawing maps in my spare time, I’m in heaven.

And even though our generous and benevolent social media overlords [cough cough] don’t allow us to mention the full name of the subreddit because of one particular word that it uses, make sure you visit the group, check out their latest maps, and maybe even become members yourselves, dear Pandas!

In the meantime, let’s enjoy some gorgeous and interesting maps, shall we? Remember to upvote your fave pics as you continue scrolling. In need of an extra mega map fix? You’ll find Bored Panda’s previous posts about the ‘Map [Whoops Can’t Mention That Word Here Anymore]’ community right here, as well as here.

#1 Europe Seen From Russia (Made In The 1950s)

Image credits: cpt_t37

#2 Occupied Bald Eagle Nests In Wisconsin. 1974 vs. 2019. Growth Credited To The Clean Water Act

Image credits: Norcan987

#3 I Made A Retro Pixel Map Of The USA! Tried To Include Some Of The Iconic Monuments/Locations That Resonated With Me

Image credits: reddit.com

With nearly 1.3 million members, the map-loving subreddit is a cartography powerhouse on the net (and it’s making me itch to start drawing a few maps of my own again). In June of 2020, the subreddit had just shy of a million members, so they’re continuing to grow steadily.

The group has been on Reddit since the late spring of 2011 and will be looking forward to its 10th birthday in just a few short months. What with the rise and fall of online groups every single day, reaching the decade-long mark is no easy feat and it speaks to the quality of the content they share.

#4 I Think Us Election Is Not About Republicans vs. Democrats But Urban vs. Rural

Image credits: Europehunter

#5 Olympus Mons On Mars, The Largest Volcano In Our Solar System, Compared To Arizona

Image credits: ADarkcid

#6 The Battle To Accurately Map The Us Election Result Is Over: Le Monde Wins

Image credits: haruspicat

In previous interviews with the founder of the subreddit, Patrick McGranaghan, Bored Panda learned all about the history of how the group was founded, as well as what kinds of maps you can expect to find. Patrick, a land surveyor from Colorado, actually founded the community while he was living in Taiwan in 2011.

#7 Arizona Voting Precincts And Arizona Native American Reservations

Image credits: tri_it_again

#8 The United States Of America: Alaskan Perspective

Image credits: loliplip

#9 The Actual Map Of Ship Traffic, Not The Wack One That Was Recently Posted

Image credits: harrison822

A map geek through and through just like some of my colleagues and I, Patrick wanted to create a place where people could easily find and discuss beautiful maps. Patrick is also a member of the North American Cartographic Information Society, the Carles Close Society for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps, the Rocky Mountain Map Society, among other groups.

#10 The 41 American States

Image credits: kernals12

#11 Wolf Distribution In Italy From 1900 To 2020

Image credits: Risingmagpie

#12 The Great Lakes And Saint Lawrence River Superimposed On A Map Of Europe

Image credits: vividmaps

According to the founder, there was a time not too long ago when the internet was much more chill about using certain words while naming online groups. “In the years since the culture on the internet has taken a much more puritan bias and some people don’t like that name,” he explained and I can’t help but agree with him—you have to really watch what you write and say nowadays. And the internet sometimes seems like it doesn’t understand subtlety, sarcasm, irony, or jokes anymore.

#13 The United States Of Sitcoms

Image credits: dienaked

#14 Satellite Map Of Vatican City

Image credits: AJgloe

#15 The True Size Of New Guinea

Image credits: BerryBlue_BlueBerry

Patrick explained to Bored Panda that there’s a bit of everything for everyone in the group: from historical and funny maps to imaginary and linguistic maps and more. “One of my favorite interactions is when a map is posted of an obscure place and someone in the comments says they live there or has a story about that place,” he said.

#16 Excellent Visualisation Of The Distortions Of Different Projections

Image credits: HetRadicaleBoven

#17 This Is My Wedding Gift To My Wife. We Get Married Next Sunday. I Used A Woodburning Kit To Burn A Map Of All The States We Have Visited As A Couple. We Both Love To Travel And Backpack Do I Want To To Keep Adding To It As We Get Older

Image credits: Doofinx

#18 Euler Diagram-Map Of The British Isles

Image credits: InkyScrolls

“Maps are a way to visualize the world in a way that is easy to grasp. They are an aid in learning about new lands and faraway places. They help us find our way when we are lost,” Patrick pointed out, adding that during the pandemic they can be great ways for us to travel while staying at home.

#19 Counties In The Us With A Spanish Speaking Majority

Image credits: VirusMaster3073

#20 Paper Sizes World Map

Image credits: Adaffor

#21 Light Blue Is A Map As We Know It And Dark Blue Is The Actual Size Of Each Country

Image credits: aisbosseth

One of the categories on the subreddit is dedicated to political realignments that redraw borders and all I can say is that I’m a major fan. They’re imaginative, creative, funny, and make us look at history in an entirely different way. Playing ‘what if…’ games is a lot of fun.

#22 What The Netherlamds Would Naturally Look Like If They Hadn’t Built Any Dikes To Prevent Flooding

Image credits: DerpyRainbow506

#23 Map Of The 2191 Meter Deep Krubera Cave. The Deepest Known Cave System In The World

Image credits: VictoriaLisz

#24 Where Most Canadians Live (Red)

Image credits: duckman23423

Why do people love maps? Because they’re aesthetic. Because they’re like picture books for adults. Because they reveal a novel way of looking at life that we’re not used to. And because squiggly lines are fun to draw. Or at least these are all the reasons why I love cartography (yours might be different).

#25 The Shire – English Counties Ending In ‘Shire’

Image credits: trail_bagger

#26 USA In Drawn In 3 Lines. Boundaries Marked With Gaps (The Best I Could)

Image credits: tfoust10

#27 Places Named Victoria

Image credits: ButtholeQuiver

Personally, I don’t mind that the map precedes the territory, no matter what Jean Baudrillard says. Why? Because, like unusual and intriguing books, they have ways of sparking new ideas and expanding our minds. Who needs the actual territory when we have such gorgeous maps to look at from the safety of our homes?

#28 Irish Railway System In 1920 vs. 2020

Image credits: saif-with-curls

#29 Countries Who Call It ‘Football’ vs. Who Call It ‘Soccer’

Image credits: qwerty74901

#30 Propaganda Made By The Allies During Ww1 Of What Will Happen To The Us If The Central Powers Won

Image credits: RedShadow199

Which map was your favorite one and why? What’s the most aesthetic or interesting map you’ve ever seen in real life? Do you have any maps at home? Are you a major geek like me and love drawing maps for your Dungeons & Dragons groups (I hope I’m not alone!)? Share your thoughts and, hopefully, your love for maps in the comment section below.