{"id":1788566,"date":"2020-03-30T11:28:08","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T15:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1788566"},"modified":"2020-03-30T11:28:08","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T15:28:08","slug":"alternate-geographies-on-the-imaginary-maps-reddit-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/03\/alternate-geographies-on-the-imaginary-maps-reddit-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Alternate Geographies on the Imaginary Maps Reddit Group"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gizmodo takes a look<\/a> at the Imaginary Maps group<\/a> on Reddit, where members mostly post imagined maps from alternate timelines\u2014countries that never existed, the aftermath of wars that went the other way, that sort of thing. The bulk of the piece is an interview with frequent contributor xpNc<\/a>, who talks about their own motivations for creating such maps. Some, of course, are controversial\u2014a good way to pick a fight, apparently, is to draw a map of the Balkans with alternate borders. And, as xpNc tells Gizmodo, \u201cSome people are just a little bit too enthusiastic about scenarios where Germany takes over the world, and I really don\u2019t want to attract that crowd\u201d\u2014fortunately the wave of \u201cGermany wins the Second World War\u201d maps that I saw on the group a while back (last year?) seems to have abated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gizmodo takes a look at the Imaginary Maps group on Reddit, where members mostly post imagined maps from alternate timelines\u2014countries that never existed, the aftermath of wars that went the other way, that sort of… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[1162,58],"class_list":["post-1788566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-imaginary-maps","tag-alternate-history","tag-reddit","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1789714,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/11\/bbc-future-explores-alternate-history-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788566,"position":0},"title":"BBC Future Explores Alternate History Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"27 November 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"Alternate history is a long-established subgenre of science fiction. \u201cBut one of the deepest pleasures of alternate histories are their maps. Sometimes these allow stories to unfurl, or complement the hypothetical world of a tale being told. But in many cases, the map alone tells a story,\u201d writes Samuel Arbesman\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Imaginary Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Imaginary Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/imaginary-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5650,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2013\/08\/ian-silvas-koana-islands\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788566,"position":1},"title":"Ian Silva’s Koana Islands","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"21 August 2013","format":"link","excerpt":"Wired Map Lab has the story of Ian Silva, who's been posting astonishing road and transit maps of the imaginary Koana Islands to Reddit; the Islands now have their own section on the site, replete with a travel guide. It's as serious an undertaking as William Sarjeant's Rockall, Jerry Gretzinger's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Imaginary Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Imaginary Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/imaginary-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":162,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/01\/the-biomes-of-a-tilted-earth\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788566,"position":2},"title":"The Biomes of a Tilted Earth","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"8 January 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"Uploaded by Reddit user Lowtuff\u00a0to MapPorn, this map imagines the Earth's biomes if the continents were rotated 90 degrees, with the North Pole somewhere in North Africa. It\u00a0mines more\u00a0or less the\u00a0same territory\u00a0as\u00a0Randall Mundroe does in\u00a0this What If? answer. [via]","rel":"","context":"In "Imaginary Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Imaginary Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/imaginary-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"tilted-earth","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/tilted-earth.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/tilted-earth.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/tilted-earth.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/tilted-earth.png?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/tilted-earth.png?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1843023,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/06\/star-wars-galaxy-map-updated\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788566,"position":3},"title":"Star Wars Galaxy Map Updated","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"25 June 2025","format":"link","excerpt":"starwars.com Jason Fry reports: \u201cVery happy to share that we\u2019ve restored the cartography page on starwars.com that was originally developed for The Essential Atlas. You\u2019ll find a revised galaxy map (based on the wonderful 2021 Star Wars Celebration poster map and designed by DK) and a new appendix of star\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Imaginary Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Imaginary Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/imaginary-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/star-wars-galaxy-2025-06-crop.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/star-wars-galaxy-2025-06-crop.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/star-wars-galaxy-2025-06-crop.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/star-wars-galaxy-2025-06-crop.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/star-wars-galaxy-2025-06-crop.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/star-wars-galaxy-2025-06-crop.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1788262,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/01\/official-and-unofficial-german-rail-network-maps-compared\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788566,"position":4},"title":"Official and Unofficial German Rail Network Maps Compared","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"28 January 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"On the left, Deutsche Bahn\u2019s official network map of all Intercity and Intercity Express routes in Germany (PDF). On the right, a much more ambitious map of said network by Reddit user theflyingindonesian. Cameron Booth much prefers the unofficial map: while the official map is \u201cincredibly average\u201d (a putdown I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Transit"","block_context":{"text":"Transit","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/transit\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/db-intercity-106x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/db-intercity-106x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/db-intercity-106x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/db-intercity-106x150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/db-intercity-106x150.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1785024,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/02\/some-gun-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788566,"position":5},"title":"Some Gun Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"20 February 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"Reddit user academiaadvice maps the rate of gun homicides per 100,000 residents by state from 2007 to 2016 (above). From 2015: Business Insider\u2019s map showing, by state, the rate of gun ownership. Note that the two maps do not precisely correlate. [both via Boing Boing] The Washington Post has maps\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime"","block_context":{"text":"Crime","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/crime\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/gun-homicides-by-state-1024x663.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/gun-homicides-by-state-1024x663.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/gun-homicides-by-state-1024x663.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/gun-homicides-by-state-1024x663.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1788566"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1788571,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788566\/revisions\/1788571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1788566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1788566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1788566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}