FOR THE WILDLY CURIOUSThe world is
The world, at your fingertips.Explore the map Map: Natural Earth · simplified preview
The world is
full of stories.
Find yours.
Take the scenic route through places, people and cultures. There’s a whole world beyond the familiar.
Surprise meJump to a random story, country, region or seaThe world, at your fingertips.Explore the map Map: Natural Earth · simplified previewDifferent places. Shared humanity.
Always something to discover.
Always something to discover.
DISPATCHES FROM THE ATLAS
14 deep cultural stories across 7 continents
The Spice Route on Your Plate
Untranslatable Words: Five Histories Behind the Label
Rajasthan’s Forts: Water, Walls and Living Cities
Whistled Tongues of the Ravines: The Silbo Gomero
Carved from the Living Rock: The Sunken Churches of Lalibela
Labyrinths of Stone: Madagascar’s Tsingy de Bemaraha
Bread of the Ancestors: Sourdough and Clay Ovens of the Levant
The Way of Tea: Harvests, Hearth, and Silence in Uji
Voices Carved in Stone: The Decipherment of Maya Hieroglyphs
The Guardians of Timbuktu’s Desert Manuscripts
Water Beneath the Sand: The Thousand-Year Foggaras of the Sahara
Festivals That Bring People Together
A Journey Through Rajasthan
The Living Root Bridges of Meghalaya
The Spice Route on Your Plate
Untranslatable Words: Five Histories Behind the Label
Rajasthan’s Forts: Water, Walls and Living Cities
Whistled Tongues of the Ravines: The Silbo Gomero
Carved from the Living Rock: The Sunken Churches of Lalibela
Labyrinths of Stone: Madagascar’s Tsingy de Bemaraha
Bread of the Ancestors: Sourdough and Clay Ovens of the Levant
The Way of Tea: Harvests, Hearth, and Silence in Uji
Voices Carved in Stone: The Decipherment of Maya Hieroglyphs
The Guardians of Timbuktu’s Desert Manuscripts
Water Beneath the Sand: The Thousand-Year Foggaras of the Sahara
Festivals That Bring People Together
A Journey Through Rajasthan
LET THE WORLD SURPRISE YOUSomewhere new
Somewhere new
starts here.
Follow your curiosity across the map.
Across land and sea. Follow a new story.
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Map details & sources
Equal Earth projection · Natural Earth repository v5.1.2 (lakes layer v5.0.0) · Public domain. Sources: land and boundaries, marine areas, lakes and reservoirs.
Country / regional area Ocean / sea / lake / water feature Source disputes / claims Small-place locator
This is a generalized map from a fixed Natural Earth dataset, not a live record of territorial control. Hatching and dashed lines show the source’s disputed areas, claims and reference lines. Lease areas use a fine teal outline, including Baikonur (Baykonur in the dataset) within Kazakhstan; these are not additional countries. Their display—and a link to an atlas page—does not express a position on sovereignty or recognition.
The inland-water layer includes lakes and reservoirs, with major named features clickable; it is not every lake worldwide. The Aral Sea link combines the source’s North and South Aral components without restoring its historical shoreline. Other mapped areas without a matching atlas entry use a neutral fill and link here. Separately catalogued territories retain their regional pages; the country collection remains 195. Small-place dots are locators, not enlarged borders. Like every flat world map, this projection changes shapes; coastlines and islands are generalized for display.
Kazakhstan Aerospace Committee: Baikonur lease context ↗ · Natural Earth boundary policy ↗ · Data licence ↗ · Browse all countries →
PICK A PLACE. FOLLOW A STORY.
Where will curiosity take you?
Some places stay with you long after you’ve left.
COUNTRIES, TERRITORIES & REGIONS
Destinations
- CapitalAssen
- Population491,792
- Area2,680 km²
- Density183/km²
Explore this place
- CapitalArdabil
- Population1.3 m
- Area17,800 km²
- Density71/km²
Explore this place
OCEANS, SEAS, BAYS & LAKES
Oceans & seas
- Area1,839 km²
- Max depth3 m
- Length64 km
- ShoresUnited States
Explore this water
- Area82,350 km²
- Max depth406 m
- Volume12,100 km³
- ShoresCanada + 1
Explore this water
WORTH GETTING LOST IN
Stories for the curious.
Water Beneath the Sand: The Thousand-Year Foggaras of the Sahara
In a photograph made in 2025, a water measurer in Ben Aissa holds a copper plate above the channel.…
Voices Carved in Stone: The Decipherment of Maya Hieroglyphs
Alfred Maudslay found the carved stone already fallen. His diary entry for 19 March 1882 records the lintel at…
Rajasthan’s Forts: Water, Walls and Living Cities
The World Monuments Fund’s account of Jaisalmer begins beneath the sandstone skyline. As water use rose and modern plumbing…
Labyrinths of Stone: Madagascar’s Tsingy de Bemaraha
A climber’s pierced boot soles lead into Bemaraha’s cave-cut limestone, its small wildlife habitats and the human histories associated…
Whistled Tongues of the Ravines: The Silbo Gomero
A question about the ferry sits in a schoolbook beside its whistled spelling. On one side is ordinary Spanish:…
A Journey Through Rajasthan
In Bagru, a paste used to print cloth begins with black mud, flour waste, lime and tree gum. The…
The Spice Route on Your Plate
At Óc Eo in southern Vietnam, a grinding tool carried traces of spices. A 2023 study reports 717 starch…
Bread of the Ancestors: Sourdough and Clay Ovens of the Levant
The crumbs in a fireplace at Shubayqa 1 were older than farming. Excavators working in the Black Desert of…
Carved from the Living Rock: The Sunken Churches of Lalibela
The cross on Saint George's roof lay below Francisco Álvares. Visiting Lalibela in the 1520s, the Portuguese priest found…
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Untranslatable Words: Five Histories Behind the Label
After the Second World War, William Barclay asked the Red Cross and Allied agencies tracing looted property to help…
ONE WORLD. SO MANY WAYS IN.
Nine topics.What sparks your curiosity?
Follow a flavor. Uncover a history. Find a different point of view.
Endless connections.
HistoryStories that shaped us.FoodA taste of somewhere.Art & ArchitectureMade to move you.PeopleMeet the world.Traditions & FestivalsLife, celebrated.NatureFind your wild.LanguageMore than words.PlacesGo beyond the familiar.CultureEveryday extraordinary.
MORE WAYS IN