Terrible Maps has been the home of maps with a pinch of humour for nearly ten years. You can find us here:

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Copyright

HarperCollinsPublishers

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HarperCollinsPublishers

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First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2023

FIRST EDITION

Text © Michael Howe 2023

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2023

Map design © Lovell Johns Ltd 2023

Additional interior images Shutterstock.com, with the exception of:

Miley Cyprus (Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic/Getty Images); I can’t unsee this (Artefact/Alamy Stock photo); Map of famous places: Tina Turner (Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images); Map of famous places: Reese Witherspoon (Steve Granitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images)

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Michael Howe asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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Source ISBN: 9780008641597

Ebook Edition © October 2023 ISBN: 9780008641603

Version 2023-10-23

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Page numbers taken from the following print edition: ISBN 9780008641597

Introduction

Welcome to the world of Terrible Maps, where geographical accuracy takes a backseat and getting lost is practically guaranteed. This book is a collection of maps ranging from humorously inaccurate to completely absurd, where stereotypes are exposed and quirks are celebrated. If you’re looking for highly accurate, politically correct and meticulously researched cartography, then you’ve come to the wrong place. However, if you’re ready to embrace the unconventional and indulge in the amusingly terrible side of mapping then keep reading. Whether you are a geography enthusiast, lover of satire or simply looking to purchase a gift for someone that you don’t like very much, this book is for you.

Terrible Maps emerged on social media in 2015 as a spin-off from Amazing Maps. After posting interesting, sensible, factual maps on social media for a few years as Amazing Maps it became clear that humans inherently like to whine because every comment section was full of complaints, arguments and general negative feedback. I was struck with an idea. Why not post maps that aren’t meant to be good, that defy rational criticism, that transcend the boundaries of ‘right’ or ‘wrong’? Terrible Maps was born.

Initially created as nothing more than a joke, the global thirst for terrible maps has been phenomenal. Across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook there are now more than 2.8 million followers of Terrible Maps at the time of writing – no wonder the world seems so lost!

Within these pages, I present to you a condensed assortment of some of the most terrible maps ever conceived. Fasten your seatbelts and grab your compass as we embark on a fun-filled journey that will challenge your notions of scale and sense of direction, and remind you never to take a map too seriously.

Is it against the law to knock on a door and run away?

The top 12 states to live in

Indonesia/Outdonesia

Saudi Arabia mapped only by its rivers

Cat earth theory

Australia: you’ll never see it the same way again

Oklahoma if it was used to express feelings

The ‘international community’

Coldest season of the year

Argentina/Aren’tgentina

Where you can marry your first cousin in the United States

Miley Cyprus

How to find your bearings in Antarctica

Most common answer from respondents after being asked what state they are in

Map of Roman air bases in 2nd century AD

Coincidence?

Fatalities from texting and driving in 1960

Traffic signs for ‘No pedestrians’ across Europe

More people live in the green area than the blue area

You can sail in a straight line from England to France

EU later, alligator

Map of the United States if it was an Oregon donor

An extensive map of all countries that use the MM/DD/YYYY date format

Railway map of Antarctica

The great British bread off

I can’t unsee this

Electricity consumption in Europe in 1507

The United States of terrible town names

Portugal is smaller than the United States, Russia and China combined

Map of famous places

US states but the first letter is missing

World map (if approaching Earth from below)

Countries arranged by geographical location

Literally all statistics about Italy

Map of every pub in the UK

Is this country Greenland?

When you can’t afford a trip to Europe

Place names of the UK and Ireland

OCD USA

Moon on flag vs flag on moon

Words for ‘Coma’ in European languages (someone didn’t get the memo…)

The most popular word in each state

Europe according to Americans

How aliens see Earth

If Great Britain was located next to Japan

Map of the UK (Shetland’s Revenge)

The true size of Africa

Duck, Duck, Map – DUCK!

More people live inside the circle than outside of it

Now we know what they get up to in Finland…

Bosnians and Herzegovinians: I wanna swim. Croatia: No

Map of countries that are often omitted from maps

Europe but if Europe colonised it

Restaurant order preferences in Africa

Map of Nice people

Prevalence of colour blindness worldwide

A map of Europe with the naughty bits censored

How to find Kentucky

Countries that eat their national animals

How it started/How it’s going

South America vs Pluto

A Southerner’s view of the UK and Ireland

Map of Earth if there was no land

Average flag colour by latitude

World map after an 8,800m sea level rise

When a band announces a world tour

Maposaurus rex

The legality of waking a sleeping bear to take its picture

Super Bowl wins by country

How the rest of the world sees the USA

Prison population per 100,000 people

Average jeans colour by state

Map of South America

Which way do you screw?

Countries that have declared war on birds … and lost

The most widely spoken language other than Spanish by state

Countries by human development if human development was based on the number of wild penguins

Map showing the origin of Miss Universe winners (1952-present)

How dogs bark in different languages

Does Terrible Maps have a larger social media following than the population of your country?

If you have any terrible maps to suggest you can connect with us on:

Twitter logo @TerribleMaps

Instagram logo @TerribleMap

Facebook logo Terrible Maps

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