Notes from the atlas
Short pieces on the things that make world maps interesting, and the things that make them hard to remember.
- Capital Cities That Are Not the Largest City
Washington, Ottawa, Canberra, Brasília, Abuja and Ankara are none of them their country's biggest city. Why so many countries separate power from population.
· 5 min
- Countries People Confuse: Flags, Names and Shapes
Chad and Romania share a near-identical flag. Slovakia and Slovenia swap post. A field guide to the country pairs that trip everyone up, and how to tell them apart.
· 5 min
- The Hardest Countries to Find on a Map (And Why They Are Hard)
Microstates, look-alike shapes and countries hidden behind their neighbours. The specific reasons some countries defeat almost everyone on a blank map.
· 5 min
- How Many Countries Are There in the World? (And Why Nobody Agrees)
The UN has 193 member states plus 2 observers, so most sources say 195 countries. Here is why Taiwan, Kosovo and Palestine break the count.
· 4 min
- How to Memorise All the Countries of the World
Chunk by region, test yourself instead of reviewing, and space the repetitions. What the learning research actually supports, applied to 196 countries.
· 6 min
- Landlocked Countries: The Complete List, and the Two That Are Double-Landlocked
There are 44 landlocked countries, and only two are double-landlocked: Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan. Where they are, and why it matters economically.
· 5 min
- The Countries With the Most Neighbours, and the Strangest Borders on Earth
China and Russia each border 14 countries. Baarle-Hertog has 22 enclaves. A tour of the borders that make no sense until you know the history.
· 5 min
- Why World Maps Disagree With Each Other
The same country can have different borders depending on where you open the map. How map worldviews work, and which territories they differ over.
· 6 min