The World according to…

The World According to USA

Europe According to Switzerland

The Mainland United States of America According to Common Sense

As you know, I’m a fan of maps (but who isn’t, right?). For some people these may be considered funny, offensive, interesting, or all of those combined and then some. This is a project by designer Yanko Tsvetkov that started out as something fun for friends and then just got bigger from there. So much so that he sells these maps featured here with many others. Make sure to click on the maps to go to the original source and see these maps enlarged as well as the other maps.

When I first saw the maps a while back, I found them to be a little bit of all of the things I mentioned above. Mostly, though, I find them interesting. Especially since Switzerland is usually listed either as very money or chocolate-oriented. So while some places have very different views, others… not so much. These maps seem like the first thought that would fall into someone’s head after hearing a country’s name. While I find many of these labels quite horrible, I know that most of them are probably true reflections of peoples’ thoughts and what many people from different areas think.

[Update: stereotype (noun): A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing… in this case, country/area. Thanks, Google!]

I’d like to think, scratch that: I know my version would be much more positive and with many more blanks as I’ve not been to nearly enough countries nor learned enough about them to just label a country with a single word. What do you think of these maps? Would your version look any different?

(Images clickable to source: AlphaDesigner.com)

Comments

Pingback Four Leaf Clover » Most popular names per country
15 June 2011 - 1:10 pm

[…] {"data_track_clickback":true}; I had no idea these maps were made by the same guy who created the stereotype maps until I looked them both up to feature here today! Small world we live in. So… these maps are […]

Brandi {not your average ordinary}
15 June 2011 - 3:53 pm

These are really funny, but I’d definitely create my map different — mine would be more positive too. First of all, I’d cut off southern CA from northern CA and on the south part write “FIGS” just to remind me where the best are.

kristina
15 June 2011 - 3:58 pm

haha – love the one how switzerland sees the world!!!! sooo good 🙂

Eva
15 June 2011 - 4:16 pm

Brandi – Figs, really? I had no idea!

Kristina – The Swiss map is probably the least vulgar of the bunch so I felt safe posting it here, ha!

Misty :)
15 June 2011 - 5:07 pm

These are some very interesting maps. The first one, I found a bit offensive at first. Wasn’t sure why you were posting it lol but then I moved on to the others. Reading the U.S. map, most of those stereotypes are what many people around here think. Although, I never really thought of Indiana as “speedways.” I always thought of N. Carolina or Florida for that. I haven’t checked out the original source yet but I definitely intend to! As for creating my own map, it probably would be a lot different (for the U.S.) and it would consist of things I know the states are known for. Like Florida: oranges. And things like that. It wouldn’t be anything stereotypical or offensive (I wouldn’t intend it to be offensive anyway!).

Jules
16 June 2011 - 10:23 am

I went to check out all of them…they are rather funny…although kept having trouble at reading what they thought about Belgium…because it’s so small…most I could make out was BEER and chocolate…

Stereotypes, but they are stereotypes for a reason…

Love, Jules

Eva
17 June 2011 - 12:08 pm

Misty – Why did you find the first one offensive? I’d understand if those who live in countries outside of the US felt that way, but I’m just wondering what triggered that feeling in you.
I was confused by “speedways” for Indiana, as well. I would have expected something like “Indy 500” since that seems like the only thing that is known/big about Indiana – it was even on the quarter!

Jules – If you click on “open larger images” you’ll be taken to flickr where you can read the details.
Some stereotypes may be for a reason, but I felt that many of them were very outdated (though they usually are).

Vi
17 June 2011 - 7:49 pm

These are awesome! I looked at the others on the designer’s site. Apparently I come from the land of gulyas and porn. Excellent!

Monica {bohemian twilight}
17 June 2011 - 8:28 pm

hi there.

wow, the one of how Switzerland sees the world is odd. not what I imagined they would suggest.





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