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Transit maps like the one for the London Underground are an essential part of living in any major city with public transport.

They simplify the routes to allow complicated travel information to be easily understood by commuters, and as such distort the city’s geography.

A recent series of animated graphics, created by the DIY cartographers, have appeared on online forum Reddit and show just how distorted they are.

They include the London Underground, and metro maps in Berlin, Paris, New York and Hong Kong.

London

London’s iconic Tube map has never reflected reality, with seemingly short journeys turning out to be miles long and stations which are just metres apart appearing to be a tube ride away.

This map shows just how much the Tube map exaggerates the size of the city centre, as it shrinks significantly in size while simplifying the routes that run out towards the city’s suburbs.

Berlin

A similar transformation can be seen in the Berlin map, with the city centre shrinking in size and the routes leading to Berlin’s outskirts becoming straighter and simpler.

Paris

This map begins with a geometric variation of the Paris Metro map rather than the standard map, which again becomes contracted around the city centre and elongated towards it periphery, although the transition is not as extreme as with London or Berlin.

New York

New York’s geography, which is defined by islands and rivers, limits how much the design of its subway map can differ from reality. As such, it stays relatively true to life, simply expanding in size.

Hong Kong

The map of Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway, which is build across a series of islands, is similarly simplified for railway users.

These maps have been posted on Reddit over the last few weeks, and others which have emerged include Philadelphia, Sao Paulo, Barcelona, Washington DC, Montreal, Vienna, Guangzhou, Oslo, and many others.