How Russia Smuggles Stolen Ukrainian Grain / / No Comments Bellingcat has exposed how some Russian cargo ships are managing to circumvent the European Union’s sanctions on the shipment of stolen Ukrainian grain. In its investigation Russia’s Grain Smuggling Fleet Continues Undeterred, the investigative journalism organization tracked and mapped the movements of a Russian-flagged bulk carrier called Irtysh, revealing how it has been smuggling grain Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Grain, Russia, smuggles, Stolen, Ukrainian
Mapping the Wikipedia Rabbit Hole / / No Comments All of us have, at some time or another, fallen down a Wikipedia rabbit hole. You begin with the noble intention of looking up a single topic, only to find yourself tumbling through an unplanned journey of blue hyperlinks.Start with Geradus Mercator, follow a link to Antwerp, hop over to the Tomorrowland festival, and before you know it you’re reading about Metallica. What began Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Hole, Mapping, Rabbit, Wikipedia
The History of the World Map / / No Comments It has been a boom week for Wikipedia-sourced history maps. In the last five days I’ve reviewed Landnotes & Globe of History, and I’ve now stumbled on another Wikipedia based history map – the Time Travel App.Time-Travel App is a world history explorer that uses Mapbox, OpenHistoricalMap, and data from Wikipedia to let you browse historical events, important people, cultural realms, and even Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: History, World
The Map of Human History / / No Comments You wait an age for a historical Wikipedia map and then two come along at once. Hot on the heels of yesterday’s post about Landnotes, we can now explore another Wikipedia-sourced map of human history.The Globe of History is an ambitious new interactive map that attempts to visualize the entire sweep of human history – 6,000 years of wars, inventions, discoveries, philosophers, political Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: History, Human
Time Traveling with Street View / / No Comments Have you ever wondered what your neighborhood looked like in the 18th century—or even during the Middle Ages? Thanks to Street View and AI, you can now almost find out. TimeJourneyAI is a new application that lets you pick a location in Street View and generate an AI-imagined version of that same spot for any year in history.Liberty 2025rom my limited testing, the historical views Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Street, time, Traveling, View
Make Your Own Ridgeline Plots / / No Comments Joyplot Map Today’s #30DayMapChallenge is to use a New Tool (create your map using a software, language, library, or technique you have never used before). For this challenge I decided to build something using Terrain RGB.My Joyplot Map is an interactive map that turns elevation data into ridgeline plots – right in your browser.This map lets you draw a rectangle anywhere on the globe and view Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: plots, Ridgeline
There Are No Roads in London / / No Comments Streets of London Today’s #30DayMapChallenge is to use OpenStreetMap (OSM) data as your primary source.To meet this challenge I decided to use OpenStreetMap data to explore the toponyms of London’s streets, visualizing how different road types – Streets, Lanes, Alleys, Courts, Yards, and Avenues – are named and distributed across the City of London.One of my favourite quiz questions is – ‘How Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: London, roads, there
A Minimal Flight Tracking Map / / No Comments Minimal London Day 11 of the #30DayMapChalenge is to create a Minimal Map. For this task my Minimal London flight-tracking map strips away everything but the essentials – a bold black canvas, a clean blue river, crisp white bridges, and the silent drift of planes crossing the city in real-time.🗺 What the Map ShowsAt its heart, the map visualizes:The River Thames, rendered as a smooth, blue line Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: flight, Minimal, Tracking