Maps are one of those things you can lose yourself in for hours. Since their humble origins as scribbles in the sand thousands of millennia ago, maps have been useful companions during the development of human culture and society. Now, in an age of seemingly endless information, maps are more abundant, advanced and fascinating than ever before.

Here are some of the most interesting maps we could find; hopefully, they will leave you looking at our little "pale blue dot" with a fresh perspective.

Goode Homolosine Projection

Image credit: Strebe/Wikimedia Commons

The most common form of map, known as the Mercator map, is actually surprisingly inaccurate. Yep, you’ve been lied to since first-grade geography class. The problem arises when we try to represent a three-dimensional object, like the Earth, in a two-dimensional projection. The result is a map that exaggerates the size of the areas that are further away from the equator. The Goode homolosine projection was created to fix this problem by providing a more accurate depiction of scale.

A New Perspective Of Africa

Image credit: Kai Krause