Before New York

This is New Amsterdam in 1660, when Peter Stuyvesant was serving as the director-general of the colony of New Netherland. New Amsterdam, located on the southern tip of Manhattan Island, was the capital of New Netherland.

One of my favorite interactive maps of all time is the Beyond Manhatta. This project visualizes Manhattan Island and its native wildlife, as it would have looked in 1609. The Beyond Manhatta map allows you to explore New York's original natural landscape of hills, valleys, forests, wetlands, salt marshes, beaches, springs, ponds and streams. 

Thanks to the New Amsterdam History Center, we can now travel forward half a century to explore Manhattan after it had become a Dutch colony, administered and governed by the Dutch West India Company.

The New Amsterdam 1660 3D model (shown above) was created by the New Amsterdam History Center for its Mapping Early New York collection, which features maps and documents of New Amsterdam and New Netherland. This model allows you to explore the settlement’s houses, farms, taverns, and workshops, as well as its surrounding walls. It was developed based on the Castello Plan, a map of the settlement created in 1660 by Jacques Cortelyou.

You can view the original Castello Plan itself on the Mapping Early New York interactive map.

The Gulf of Kleptocracy

Apple Maps has joined Google Maps in kowtowing to the maggot infestation of U.S. geopolitical policy. This means you might want to bookmark OpenStreetMap, Bing Maps or Mapquest, - who now seem to be the only interactive map providers still interested in maintaining geographical accuracy.

As well as continuing to use the correct place-name label for the "Gulf of Mexico," MapQuest has also released a fun new tool that lets you participate in Google’s and Apple’s new era of crap maps. MapQuest's Name Your Own Gulf allows you to play at being an appeaser to a corrupt, incompetent U.S. president yourself.

With Name Your Own Gulf, you can spend your whole day renaming the Gulf of Mexico to whatever you want. Just enter a new name, and the interactive map will automatically update to display your latest crazy misnomic place-name label. Feeling lazy (or running out of ideas), then simply press the "Surprise Me" button to see the Gulf of Mexico randomly renamed.

If you want to take your deranged despot cosplay to the next level, you can even head over to X in the middle of the night and send demented tweets containing unique URL links to each of your crazy Gulf of Mexico names.

If you still have a few minutes to kill, you can also play my Where's the Gulf of Mexico? game. This game imagines a world where Google and Apple have taken their new MAGA mapping policy to its logical conclusion - renaming every location in the world "United States." However, the Gulf of Mexico has gone into hiding, still remaining somewhere among the thousands of "United States" place-name labels. You have just 60 seconds to find the Gulf of Mexico and report it to Google's ICE (Imaginary Cartographic Edits) team of enforcement agents.

The Black History Month Map

The Black History Month Map is a new collaborative and dynamic map developed by kinkofa and PamPam to honor and document the significant places, individuals, and movements that have shaped Black history. To help you explore the invaluable contributions of Black Americans to U.S. history, the map is powered by PamPam's "Ask Pam" AI assistant.

The Black History Month Map allows you to discover and learn more about the places, people, and movements that have influenced Black history in the United States. To navigate the vast amount of information available, you can use the categories and themes highlighted in the map’s sidebar. For example, selecting "Movements" will filter the map to display significant movements in African American history and their associated locations.

Additionally, the "Ask Pam" AI assistant enables you to search and filter results with ease. For instance, you could ask "Show me significant locations in the life of Martin Luther King" or "Highlight key locations in the Underground Railroad," and the Black History Month Map will automatically display relevant results both on the map and in the sidebar.

The Black History Month Map is more than just a collection of locations - it is a living archive that invites everyone to participate by adding significant events, individuals, and landmarks. As more people explore and contribute, the map will continue to expand, creating an ever more comprehensive record of Black history.

Also See

The Sundown Town Map - mapping the locations of sundown towns across the USA

The Legacy of Redlining - exploring the HOLC's redlining of American towns and cities

Visualizing Emancipation - a map of slavery’s end during the American Civil War

What If Asteroid 2024 YR4 Hit Your Town?

According to NASA, Asteroid 2024 YR4 has a 2.3% chance of impacting Earth on December 22, 2032. The asteroid is estimated to be between 40 to 90 meters (130 to 300 feet) in diameter.

If you want to know what damage Asteroid 2024 YR4 might cause if it lands in your backyard, you can use Neal.Fun's Asteroid Launcher to find out.

According to Neal.Fun's Asteroid Launcher, if a 200-foot diameter rock asteroid hit Manhattan at 38,000 mph at a 45-degree impact angle, it would cause a fireball almost 1 mile in diameter. As a result of the fireball, 3,671,280 people would die, and an estimated 2,904,736 people would receive third-degree burns. Homes within 8.2 miles of Manhattan would collapse, and nearly all the trees within 8.8 miles would be knocked down.

Neal.Fun's Asteroid Launcher is an interactive map that allows you to visualize the impact and effects of an asteroid hitting the Earth. The map allows you to define the size, composition, speed, and impact angle of an asteroid and then choose where on Earth the asteroid will hit. Once you have chosen an impact location, you can view information on the predicted width and depth of any impact crater, as well as data on the number of people who would be vaporized in the crater or killed by the resulting fireball, shock wave, and wind blast.

While the current estimated impact probability of Asteroid 2024 YR4 is 2.3%, it is important to note that this figure is likely to change as additional observations and data are collected. Continued monitoring and analysis by NASA and other space agencies will help refine the asteroid's trajectory and provide a clearer understanding of any potential threat.

The chances of Asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting your town are very slim - there is probably more chance of a nuclear war. But don't worry, Bomb Blast Bomb Blast can show you the likely effects of a nuclear missile landing on your home.

Outrider's Bomb Blast interactive map allows you to choose from a range of different types of nuclear weapons and select whether you want to detonate it at ground level or as an airburst. You can then view the likely damage of the selected weapon hitting your town, visualized on an interactive map. The map shows the likely radius of the fireball, radiation, shock wave, and heat. It also provides an estimate of the number of fatalities and injuries that the selected nuclear weapon would cause to your chosen target.

What is Your Ecoregion?

Ecotenet is an interactive platform that provides users with a unique map of ecoregions across the globe. The map focuses on ecological boundaries in order to provide users with an understanding of different types of ecoregion and their unique biodiversity.

One of the most compelling aspects of Ecotenet is its emphasis on ecoregions, which are defined by the World Wildlife Fund as a "large unit of land or water that contain distinct species, natural communities, and environmental conditions".

Click on any ecoregion on the map and you can read a general summary of the region's ecological characteristics and history. The ECO-651 Filter can be used to view the global distribution of various animal or plant species. For example the screenshot at the top of this post shows the distribution of the northern giraffe in Africa.

The species distribution data on Ecotenet is sourced from organizations such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, World Wildlife Fund, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, USDA, and the Ocean Biodiversity Information System. This ensures that the data is both accurate and comprehensive, covering a wide range of species and their habitats.

Also See

• Explore Earth's Bioregions - a map which visualizes the Earth as 185 discrete bioregions
• The Ecoregions Map - a guide to 846 ecoregions around the globe

The Flight of the Barn Swallow

This animated gridded occurrence map shows recorded sightings of the Barn Swallow in Europe throughout 2024. The Barn Swallow is one of Europe's most well-known migratory birds, undertaking a long-distance migration between its breeding grounds in Europe and wintering areas in Africa.

On the animated map, you can see Barn Swallows returning to southern Europe in late February and early March. During April and May, they spread northward into central and northern Europe, reaching the UK, Scandinavia, and even parts of Russia.

In August and September, the swallows begin their southward migration as insect availability declines. By late November, most Barn Swallows will have reached their wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa, in countries like Senegal, Nigeria, and South Africa.

This animated map of Barn Swallow sightings can be viewed on the EuroBirdPortal (EBP), a collaborative project that compiles and visualizes bird observation data from across Europe. The site integrates millions of records submitted by birdwatchers from multiple online platforms. EBP then creates animated, interactive maps that track bird distributions and movements over the course of a year, offering valuable insights into migration patterns, seasonal changes, and species distributions across the continent.

You can also explore European bird migration patterns on the Bird Migration Atlas. The Bird Migration Atlas is an interactive map that plots the migration patterns of over 300 bird species across two continents: Eurasia and Africa. The map integrates data from historical European ringing schemes and modern tracking technologies to provide a comprehensive view of migration routes across both continents.

You can explore the migration patterns of American bird species on the impressive Bird Migration Explorer. The Bird Migration Explorer is an interactive map that visualizes the migratory patterns of 458 bird species that breed in the United States and Canada. Using this map, you can explore the journeys of individual bird species and discover when different species are likely to migrate through your town or city in North America.

3D Print Your World

The Topography Explorer is an interactive map that generates and allows users to explore 3D renderings of the Earth's surface.

Using the application, you can create your own 3D visualizations of watershed areas or predefined regions. The animated GIF at the top of this post is an example of a 3D visualization generated by the Topography Explorer. This animation shows a 3D rendering of Bioko, an island belonging to Equatorial Guinea.

The Topography Explorer includes dynamic URL addresses. For example, here is a direct link to the 3D visualization of the island of Bioko. Currently, the application does not provide the option to download data from created 3D visualizations.

The DEM Net Elevation API can also help you create your very own 3D terrain models for any location on Earth. DEM Net has a fantastic tool that allows you to generate 3D models simply by selecting an area on a map.

To create a 3D model using the DEM Net Elevation API, all you have to do is draw a square on an interactive map around the area you wish to model. Within seconds, DEM Net will generate a 3D model of your selected area. You can then rotate and zoom in & out on your model directly in the browser. Additionally, you can download the model in two different formats.

DEM Net offers several customization options, including:

• A selection of different satellite imagery or map tile sources for your model.
• The ability to adjust the height of your model to exaggerate elevation levels.
• A choice of various elevation models to generate your terrain.

If you’d love to own a 3D model of your own neighborhood, you might want to try Tile Exporter. Unlike the Topography Explorer and DEM Net, this application does not generate topographical representations but instead creates 3D models of urban areas using building footprints from Mapzen maps.

The tool utilizes building height data from Mapzen’s vector map tiles, enabling you to create a 3D map of any neighborhood. Just enter an address into Tile Exporter, and you’ll see a 3D map of the location. You can also use the inset map to adjust the location by selecting adjacent map tiles.

Once you’ve found a 3D scene that you like, simply press the "Download" button to grab the .obj file. This file includes:

• Building height data
• Earth, water, and land-use layers of your selected map tile

Once you’ve downloaded your .obj file, all you need is a 3D printer to bring your model to life!

There's Something About Islands

There is something slightly old-fashioned about Obscure Islands I Find Interesting, which I find very endearing. In essence, it is a simple interactive map with a limited selection of just 16 interesting islands. However, there is a certain charm in its innocent delight in exploring the world—one that reminds me of why I first became obsessed with interactive maps.

Obscure Islands I Find Interesting takes you on a tour of some of the world's most unique and little-known islands. With a selection of just 16 islands, each accompanied by a brief but intriguing description, this site offers a delightful exploration of some of the most isolated and mysterious locations across the globe.

The islands featured on the map range from historical curiosities (like Pheasant Island, which changes sovereignty every six months) to geographical anomalies (such as the recursively nested unnamed island in Canada). Its simplicity is perhaps the map's greatest strength. For example, the minimalist interface, with “Next” and “Previous” buttons, allows for smooth browsing between islands, making it easy for users to navigate through the 16 'interesting' islands with minimal hassle.

One of the islands featured on Obscure Islands I Find Interesting doesn't actually exist. In 2012, scientists from the University of Sydney sailed to Sandy Island, an island that appeared on Google Maps in the Pacific Ocean. However, when they arrived at the location, all they found was open sea. Sandy Island didn't exist - it was a phantom island.

Phantom islands are fake islands that have appeared on maps for a period of time, only to be later removed when proven to be nonexistent. Most of these islands originated from reports by sailors exploring uncharted waters. Presumably, they were a mix of mythical tales and simple cartographic errors in positioning real islands on early maps.

One of the most impressive explorations of these imaginary places is Phantom Islands – A Sonic Atlas, an interactive map that takes users on a journey through some of history’s most famous phantom islands. Each island is marked on the map, and clicking on a location reveals the story behind its creation. You can learn when the island first appeared on an atlas, when it was last recorded on a map, and how it was eventually debunked. Press the "Cruise" button, and you'll be taken on an audio tour of all the phantom islands.

Godview AI

Godview is one of the most promising new AI-powered maps to have emerged in the past 18 months. It is an interactive map that allows users to perform geographical searches using natural language queries.

This week, Godview introduced an exciting new feature called "Discover." This addition enhances the user experience by enabling individuals to click on any location on the map and instantly access AI-generated insights about the area.

Discover

The Discover feature is particularly valuable for a wide range of users, from travelers and researchers to everyday individuals curious about their surroundings. For example, as I plan a trip to southern Italy, Discover should allow me to simply click on towns and cities in Puglia to identify which ones might be most interesting to visit. It could also help me pinpoint must-see attractions in the towns where I eventually decide to stay.

Or Don’t Discover

Unfortunately, Godview appears to be somewhat myopic, and its Discover answers can be geographically imprecise. For example, when I clicked on West Ham in London, I was informed that it was Wanstead—"a generally affluent area." While the two locations are only two miles apart, in a city like London, those two miles can make a world of difference (West Ham actually has one of the highest poverty rates in the UK). 

I encountered similar inaccuracies when clicking on towns and cities in southern Italy. For the large city of Bari, Discover provided an accurate and useful general description. However, for smaller towns in Puglia, the results were more inconsistent. Godview frequently defaulted to a broader description of the Puglia region rather than providing details specific to the town in question. In some cases, it even confused locations with nearby towns.

Final Thoughts

While Godview’s Discover feature has significant potential, it still has room for improvement in accuracy and precision. The issue may stem from imprecise reverse geocoding rather than the AI itself - perhaps the geocoding service Godview relies on is returning overly broad results. Alternatively, the language model (LLM) powering Discover may currently be limited to generating insights in some locations at a broad regional rather than a local level.

This also raises the question of user needs - something Discover does not yet fully address. Different users clicking on Greenwich Village in New York, for example, may be looking for entirely different levels of detail. One might expect a general overview of New York City, another may want specifics on the neighborhood itself, while a third could be interested in insights about a particular block or street.

Jumbled Maps

Introducing Jumbled Maps

Tripgeo has kindly agreed to host another of my map games, bringing geography enthusiasts a fresh and exciting challenge. If you love testing your knowledge of world maps and enjoy puzzles, then my latest game, Jumbled Maps, is perfect for you. 

In Jumbled Maps, someone has played a cosmic prank on the world map, and every country place-name label has been randomly displaced. Your mission is simple: restore geographical order by putting each nation back in its rightful place.

To play Jumbled Maps, click on any misplaced country label and type in its correct name. There are 249 countries in total to correct. Country names that you have successfully fixed will be shown with a green outline on the map and will also appear in the map sidebar.

How the Map Works

In essence Jumbled Maps is a very simple game. The game is powered by MapLibre, the flexible and open-source mapping library, with map tiles provided by OpenFreeMap, an open-source platform providing free custom map layers. These map tiles have then been custom styled using Maputnik to remove all country place-name labels from the map layer.

When the map loads, new country place-name labels are displayed on the map in randomly shuffled positions. These labels are retrieved from a GeoJSON dataset. This creates the core challenge of Jumbled Maps, as players must use their geographical knowledge to restore order.

The game also utilizes local storage to track a player’s progress. Any countries that have already been correctly identified are saved and excluded from future shuffles. This means you don’t have to correct all 249 country names in one session - you can return to the game at any time and pick up where you left off!

Also See

If you enjoy Jumbled Maps then you will also love Scrambled Maps, Tripgeo's daily map challenge. Scrambled Map requires you to unscramble the jumbled map tiles of a different city every day.