Euro coins from all countries are worth the same but each country gets to decide how they decorate their coins. Love that Slovenia is very diverse with what they put on their Euro coins. As a geographer I love that Estonia just features their own geography.

An excellent #badgeographyjoke map from @atlasmapper shows Europe according to the Irish ☘️ 🤣

I just realized that my longer stints in the US (1999, 2001, 2007) all occurred when consumer sentiment was high. I had shorter stays in the US in depressed times. Imagine how optimistic everyone in the US were to be if I moved there permanently! Source: polimetrics.substack.com/p/consumer-s...

I hadn't thought about the topic of same-sex marriage from that perspective. The vast majority of humans (and therefore also the vast majority of same-sex attracted people) live in countries where same-sex marriage is illegal.

The chart shows that the poorest countries are also the most religious. Rich countries are more secular - all rich countries!? No, the US is the clear outlier! Great chart by @ryanburge (a must follow account).

Historical map from 1913 showing the location of Spanish immigrants in the Americas. Number of Spanish immigrants in the Americas from the 19th century to the mid-20th century. Argentina: 1,900,000 Brazil: 750,000 Cuba: 700,000 Chile: 50,000 Venezuela: 40,000 Mexico: 25,000

If maps like this one about the Russian violations of European airspace make you nervous, I might suggest you listen to this Geopolitical Futures interview. The main takeaway is that Russia is weakened and desperately tries to look strong in the weakest way: buff.ly/V8vhm1D

English is only my second language so I had no idea about many of the gendered animal names. Peahen is so obvious but I never had heard of it before. What’s news to you? HT @Iearnenglishtip

This map shows the major global migrant flows from 1500 to 1914. Huge settlement movements away from Europe. Source: buff.ly/lQQcyS2

About 35% of all US American adults (aged 25+) have at least a Bachelor's degree. In some states the figure is closer to 50%. A college degree costs more than in the past while setting you less apart. Map by @hdk_maps.

In 1980 every country in South America was richer than China. Now China is richer than almost all of the South American nations. Source: buff.ly/jX5Xmw5

How likely is your country to help a stranger? It surprised me to see how low Japan is ranked. This map was created by @xruiztru based on data from the World Happiness Report 2025

Thanks to @flyingdutchpall for alerting me about the existence of the Strait of Hummus. #badgeographyjoke but would still be worth a visit…

Half of the choices have a slice of Italy in them. After careful consideration I dedicate my life to region D. A bit of Italian, Turkish coffee, heaps of Chinese, Indian, and even some Aussie pub food.

Young women in the US now plan to have 1.5 kids in their lifetime. That’s down from 2.4 around 20 years ago. We know that actual number of kids tend to be below planned number of kids on a national level. Birth rates should continue to drop. Source: buff.ly/mup6Qo9

Does religion hurt or help society? Only in a handful of Western countries do more than half the population see religion as a net negative. Remember these differences when dealing with nations at the other end of the spectrum. Source: buff.ly/0mH2l02

In the US, each (somewhat recent) birth cohort is less trusting than the previous one. US Americans stopped trusting each other. No decent foreign enemy to unite the US? Anyway, interesting data for you to ponder. Source: buff.ly/GzoHZRJ

Thank you to the folks you sent me this #badgeographyjoke! I’m living in the paradise half of Australia and am sending out special greetings to my Western Australian friends 😉

My very general advice is to avoid large cities if you are on a low (or increasingly on a median) income. The big cities must provide heaps of social and affordable housing if they want to have an army of low income workers servicing their hospitality venues, care institutions, or retail outlets.

The corniest part of the US? In Iowa over a third of the land is covered by corn. 🌽🍿

You know what 63% of Russians have in common? They are women!

I’ve shared version of this map before but it’s just wonderful geography trivia: these are the landlocked and double-landlocked countries on this planet. HT @xruiztru

The gap in average life expectancy across Europe is huge (13 years). The biggest gap between neighbours that I could spot was the Finnish-Russian gap. Source: buff.ly/GPuDHHs

In the long-run and even if only looking at the last five years, politically motivated murders in the US are mostly a from the political right.

The Netherlands introduced same-sex marriage 16 years before Germany and 24 years before Liechtenstein.

Aligning ChatGPT results with national average values we learn that our AI helper is essentially a German! 🥨🍺🇩🇪 Source: buff.ly/1GensDy

These are the largest cities (not metropolitan areas) in the US as of 2025. A few really pretty city flags too. LA is great; Jacksonville’s upper half is cool; Phoenix kicks ass.

This map by @cstats1 shows exaggerated elevations in the US, Canada, and Greenland. Don’t show this to the White House - they might get ideas…

I think 1992 South Africa must've been a remarkable place. This map shows the result of the apartheid referendum: buff.ly/SYPUI5Q

Very good observation by @ejjiott: the phrase "Where are you?" only started to make sense once mobile phones entered the picture.

This maps from the "Australian War Memorial" shows the places around Australia that were bombed and attacked during the Second World War. Source: buff.ly/HjHrWiK

Australia keeps building infrastructure for votes, not value. Politicians chase marginal seats, defend cost blowouts, and sideline better projects. A stronger, independent body could change that:

Great elevation map by @salonium shows just how massive the Tibetan plateau is.

Faith in the US: what if American religion was represented by 100 people? Nobody has better charts and data about US religion than @ryanburge.

One day the prophecy will be fulfilled.

The Cato Institute hardly is a lefty organization. The liberal think tank shows that despite the narrative of Trump and co, political murders are NOT a lefty phenomenon. Such rhetoric only inflames societal unrest in the US and would be welcome news to the adversaries of the US.

Epic flag trivia question: which five national flags feature the Southern Cross? HT @civixplorer

When complaining about sluggish GDP growth in Germany, we must remember that the overall size of the economy is still huge. HT @xruiztru

European alcohol shopping tourism is a real thing. We happily cross national borders to buy cheaper alcohol. Cheers🍻🍷🍹

You hear it all the time, young people will hold 20 different jobs across 8 different industries throughout their careers. While this might sound plausible, the data to date suggests the narrative is complete nonsense. Read the full piece here: buff.ly/Hta0Z9r

Bavaria is a rich state in Germany. One of the richest regions in all of Europe in fact.

There are plenty of maps about the Roman Empire in 200AD. That’s pretty much the peak of the empire. This map by @researchremora shows the roads of the Roman Empire.

Oh, look at that source. If it’s from the engineers, it must be true!

I was sent this map by a follower. When was the capital city of South American nations founded?

The gap between the rich and the poor in the US only keeps growing. The top 10 per cent of society are now responsible for 49.2% of consumer spending. Soon the 50% mark can be “celebrated”. Source: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

School shootings are a cultural phenomenon more or less exclusive to the US as this map shows. Source: buff.ly/ufwWfnR

Where do wild penguins 🐧 live? I saw Melbourne’s inner city penguins again this weekend. In St Kilda you can see wild penguins just a few minutes from the CBD. HT @xruiztru

I love football and I love data. Sports data is fun to analyze. This is a rather original way of deciding which team in the weird group stage of the UEFA Champions League has the toughest opponents based on their combined squad value on the transfer market. Fun bit of data analysis.