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My Wonderful World
by Molly McCall
Tue, September 04, 2007, 3:00 am PDT

When asked to pinpoint Iraq on a map, 63% of young Americans can't do it. 20% place Sudan in Asia. And just 19% even own a map of the world. Woe to our landlocked children! Will they never dream of exotic travel and far off places? In an effort to change those statistics, National Geographic and a host of partners have launched a campaign to help kids fall in love with the Earth's giant promise (and help parents and teachers encourage the romance). My Wonderful World, the project's companion site, offers polls and quizzes and printable maps. It includes an online atlas called the "MapMachine." It blogs about events like the World Geography Championships. But mostly, it serves as an awesome jumping-off point for the Web's treasure trove of global knowledge, including Google Earth, Smithsonian Global Sound, and Virtual Tourism. Bon voyage!
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Filed under: Yahoo! Picks for Good, Geography, Earth, Maps

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Strange Maps
by Molly McCall
Sun, June 03, 2007, 3:00 am PDT

It all began with a charting of Pennsylvania's lunatic asylum districts. That might be an inauspicious start elsewhere, but not here. Welcome to the world of strange maps. Since that initial posting in September of last year, the blogger-collector behind this site has rolled out post after post of eccentric and imaginative maps—"the kind you won't find in a regular atlas." From ancient history to alternate history, from the world according to some two-term presidents to the U.S. according to its politics, the maps displayed here are historic, fake, funny, and marvelous. And sometimes all of the above. We paused over the image of Flash Gordon's native Mongo, ate up the charting of North America's "totem food" regions (oh, to live in Corn Bread and BBQ Nation!), and then located ourselves on both the atlas of the country of Houyhnhnms (where Yahoos, those "deformed, debased humans" reside) and the record of the online communities map. Brrr!

Update: On September 17, Yahoo! Picks talked to the blogger behind Strange Maps. Check out our interview on Y! Picks Profiles.

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Filed under: Blogs, Weird Stuff, Vintage, Geography, Maps

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Mappr
Sun, January 30, 2005, 3:00 am PST

Mappr is quite literally a snapshot of the nation. Actually, it's lots and lots of snapshots. The clever folks at Stamen Design have created an interactive map of the United States that features photographs recently posted online. Click around the map to see what's going on in Green, Kansas, or Orange, California. The results can be pretty random, from baby photos to standard-issue vacation snaps. The more methodical types may want to use the search feature to find photos that have been tagged with specific words. No surprise here: Pictures tagged with snow or cold seem to be clustered in the Northeast. Then click on a photo and Mappr will tell you just how confident it is that it placed the pic in the right location. We're confident you'll find a surprise at every click.
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Filed under: Photography, Geography, Digital Photography, Maps

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Greenwood's Map of London 1827
Sun, November 09, 2003, 3:00 am PST

London is a truly cosmopolitan city, rich with history, culture, and tradition. But to truly understand London today, you must understand its early geography. This fascinating web site, hosted by Bath Spa University College, shows an interactive map created from a survey carried out from 1825-1827. The map, scaled at eight inches to the mile, zeroes in on central London and its immediate surroundings, allowing you to focus on points of interest in great detail. For a quick taste of London circa 1825, start your journey at Hyde Park, move east to Green Park and Leicester Square, and then south to the Playground for Westminster Scholars. After a walk through 19th-century London, you'll not only have a greater appreciation for old-school city planning, but also for the surveyors who plotted this incredibly detailed map.
Visit Greenwood's Map of London 1827

Filed under: United Kingdom, London, U.K. History, Geography

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NationMaster
Thu, May 29, 2003, 3:00 am PDT

Everyone knows China's population is bursting at the seams, but did you know its labor force is nearly three times that of Europe and twice that of North and South America combined? You probably weren't aware the little country of Andorra has no unemployment, nor does it have any broadcast TV channels. And you might be interested to learn that the fastest growing country in the world is also the world's newest country. You'll find these little-known statistics, as well as other interesting facts and current trends illustrated in bar-graph form on this web site based on the latest CIA World Factbook. Where do people live the longest? Which countries are the most militaristic? Who pays the highest taxes and makes the most cell phone calls? Create your own questions, and use the pull-down menus to generate comparisons. You're bound to learn something new about our world.
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Filed under: Regional, Geography

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