They included New Zealand.
They're already leagues ahead of most US primary education text books
this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2025
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Most maps in Asia are like this. That’s why growing up I was confused why the US was called the west and East/Southeast Asia was called the far east.
edit: Oops, didn't realize the credit wouldn't be obvious. It's xkcd #503.
I guess it kinda makes sense if you draw the line right down the middle of Germany. Weird, I wonder if there's any historical precedent for that...
Its almost as if some country thinks they are the center of the world.
Well, specifically a couple of countries on either side of the Atlantic.
It’s more like most countries. Maps like the one shown in this post that place Asia as a central focus are common in Asia.
Maybe it’s not national narcissism, rather just focusing on what’s most relevant to any one people.
I think putting the line down the Pacific makes the most sense in most cases. But the national narcissism has historically been a defining characteristic of the UK and the US
Maps with New Zealand.
And Tasmania!
I like it, if only because it places Oceania at the center. They're always pushed aside and it's big sad.
It makes sense they’d centre the Gulf Of Korea though.
At first this map seemed perfectly fine to me, but the more I look the weirder it gets.
- The projection used (Mollweide?) distorts the hell out of Europe, Iceland is practically a smear.
- Thailand is gone.
- Crimea seems missing.
- Is Japan a bit shrunk?
- They must have screwed up mounting Africa because the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are WAY too big
They also claim South Korea.
There is no North Korea in North Korea. There is only Korea.
Nerd sniped me enough to look it up. Both countries use different names for "all of korea." While the north generally refers to itself with the same term as all of korea, there are some contexts where there is a "north Korea" used.
Nerd sniped me
~~The fuck's wrong with you?~~ (I guess that wasn't directed at me)
Look at the pic, all of Korea is red.
Sorry if I didn't explain it well. What I mean is that dprk considers itself the "true" government of the Korean peninsula, and their terminology generally reflects this. Due to the functional reality of the ongoing conflict, "South Korea" is used often. Though it's used rarely, "North Korea" (literally north, functionally "unoccupied" or "free") does still show up occasionally in language.
Seems odd to me to want to put the largest ocean in the world as the focus. Yes, let's put most of the useful information around the edge of the map. Brilliant idea.
Let's draw maps with Antarctica in the middle instead.
north korea is pretty lose to center on the map.
That's just the back of the UN logo
Looks good to me. I've also seen pics showing they can change the colors.
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