Maps.com

The Most Popular Maps of 2025

Robby Deming — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 10:50:00 +0000

We’re two years into our Maps.com journey and we continue to be humbled by your love of maps and cartography. Here’s a quick look back at the year that was, as well as some sneak peeks at what’s next.

In 2025, we published 68 articles. Of these, 16 were originals from the Maps.com team and 30 were maps submitted by creators. Our Behind the Map series, where we revisit featured maps and chat with creators, continued to shed light on the art and science of cartography.

Here are the most popular maps from 2025:

We have some exciting new ideas lined up for 2026 to complement our weekly articles. One series will be native to our YouTube channel and will take a lighthearted approach to geographic trivia. The other new feature for Maps.com will be a living resource of dynamic, high-quality maps about Earth and our climate. We can’t say more just yet but stay tuned for more.

Don’t forget that you can always find the latest Maps.com content on X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. We recently launched on Reddit, and you can also find our maps on MSN now, too.

Thank you so much for continuing to support us at Maps.com. And remember, if you have an awesome map, we’d love to highlight it.

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Realms of Wonder: The Beauty of Hand-drawn Fantasy Maps

Joshua Stevens — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 10:39:00 +0000

Fantasy cartography captivates the imagination, transforming blank pages into intricate realms of wonder. Far from mere sketches, fantasy maps incorporate elaborate details like jagged mountain ranges, winding rivers, and the enchanted forests of invented worlds. Replete with features both real and fictional, and imperfections betraying the work of an artist’s hand, fantasy maps invite us into new worlds unfamiliar to our own.

Graphic designer and artist Lauren Austin of Studio Vesper brings fantasy to life in exquisite and charming hand-drawn maps. Inspired by fantasy novels and role-playing games, Austin’s creativity and skill are evident in her cartography. In place of databases and computers, her maps are built only with pens, ink, and the perilous adventures of their imagined inhabitants.

The detail and variation within Austin’s maps beg for a closer look. Hand-drawn mountains tower over fields and forests, and craggy valleys open to meandering streams. Each tree is also individually drawn, and each forest is different from the next. Some depict conifers and pines, while others appear as leafy deciduous trees that would bathe these imagined worlds in seasonal color. Such attention to detail makes it clear that these maps are the work of an artist.

Whether they’re used to guide gamers through quests or lead readers on a fantastical journey, these maps are more than a blueprint for storytelling. They are an invitation to another time and place. And even in the here and now, they elevate our appreciation for maps and the worlds they depict—real or otherwise.

About This Map

Title: Hand-drawn Fantasy Maps
Creator: Lauren Austin

Submitted Map

This map was contributed through the Maps.com submission program. If you’d like your map to be featured, submit it for consideration.

Tags: Fantasy Submitted Map

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Telling Stories with Maps

Robby Deming — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 10:24:00 +0000

Humans are wired for stories. Long before written language existed, humans used stories to share information, communicate values, and establish norms. Stories and narratives engage our emotions and have been shown to boost knowledge retention. It’s no surprise, then, that narratives and stories are also effective when paired with maps.

In this edition of Behind the Map, Allen Carroll and I discuss the power of storytelling with maps and why it’s become so popular. Carroll founded the story maps team at Esri, currently serves as the program manager for storytelling, and has even written a book on this very topic. He’s also a 27-year veteran of National Geographic, serving as art director of National Geographic Magazine and chief cartographer at National Geographic Maps. Learn more about Carroll’s journey and his inspiration for fusing maps and storytelling in the video above.

Featured Contributors

Allen Carroll

Allen Carroll founded the story maps team at Esri. Prior to joining Esri in 2010, he worked at National Geographic for 27 years in a variety of positions, including art director of National Geographic Magazine and chief cartographer at National Geographic Maps.

Tags: Education

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Painting Our Planet

Robby Deming — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 10:33:00 +0000

There is no single, prescriptive way to produce a map. Over centuries, maps have been carved into tablets and walls, woven into tapestries, painted on animal skins, etched into plates, printed in books, and more. Modern technology has supplemented these methods with programmatic and digital-first approaches to mapmaking. Today’s cartographers have more options than ever before. And some are blending them to great effect.

This exquisite map from the Kon-Tiki Maps team does exactly that. It fuses hand-painted watercolors and computer graphics to create a stunning map of our planet that is based on data from Natural Earth.

At first glance, the map appears to be a contemporary reference map of Earth. Colors reflect the physical geography of the planet. Shades of blue, green, gold, and brown differentiate landforms, bathymetric features, and topography.

But the map invites, and practically demands, a much closer look. Zooming in, you can see sketch lines and brush strokes where colors readily bleed and merge into each other on textured paper. Labels denote cities, continents, mountain ranges and peaks, rivers, and even research stations. The edges of the map (which uses the Robinson projection) and its insets (which use the polar stereographic projection) faintly glow against a backdrop of stars, evoking Earth’s shimmering atmosphere. The insets of the north and south poles reveal splintering ice sheets.

The map is both gorgeous and functional, serving as more than just a pretty picture. Deliberately crafted shades of color communicate ocean depths and elevations on land. Fracturing ice at the poles shows where seasonal sea ice forms and dissipates each year.

The design is so well executed and intuitive that it almost obscures the rigor and craft used to create the map. The result is an easy-to-understand map of the natural world that rewards time spent poring over its details.

More to Explore

Learn more about the effort and iterations behind this map.
Revisit a hand-drawn map of Salt Lake City.
See how hand-drawn sketches and technology bring a map of Minnesota to life.

About This Map

Title: The World Painted
Creator: Ekaterina Shchekina, Milana Glebova, Sergey Nikolaev, and Nikita Slavin, Kon-Tiki Maps
Data Sources: Natural Earth

Submitted Map

This map was contributed through the Maps.com submission program. If you’d like your map to be featured, submit it for consideration.

Tags: Submitted Map

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A Paw-some Map of the 101 Most Popular Dog Breeds

Robby Deming — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 10:35:00 +0000

Humans first domesticated dogs between 18,000 and 32,000 years ago. While scientists debate the specific timing (and ancestral lineage) of when this first happened, one fact is not in dispute: People love dogs. Nearly half of all US households have at least one dog, living up to the moniker of “man’s best friend.” We don’t yet know where the first dogs originated. But it’s a different story when it comes to today’s breeds.

This animated map counts down the 101 most popular dog breeds and their origins. It’s based on data from the American Kennel Club and Wikipedia.

Starting with the Bouvier de Flandres at 101, each breed appears as a card connected to its place of origin. The card features an outline of the breed, as well as information about the breed’s size, origin, and the year it was recognized by the American Kennel Club. Each card is color-coded based on the breed’s region of origin.

Origin data differs for each breed. Some can be traced to countries (such as Madagascar for the Coton de Tulear) or even specific cities (like Tenerife in the Canary Islands for the Bichon Frise). Others can only be classified to broader regions, like the Anglo-Scottish border for the Border Terrier.

There is significant variance among the 101 most popular breeds, both in size and legacy. The English Setter, Cocker Spaniel, Irish Setter, and Chesapeake Bay Retriever were all first recognized in 1878. Conversely, the Biewer Terrier wasn’t fully recognized until 2021. Popular breeds range from very small dogs like Chihuahuas and Pomeranians up to enormous pups like Mastiffs.

After the video counts down to the French Bulldog at #1, a choropleth map appears. This shows the geographic footprint of the 101 most popular breeds, and where they cluster. Of the top 10, only one originates outside of Europe. The UK leads with 29 breeds. Germany (18 breeds) and France (8 breeds) come in at second and third. The map reveals that breeds come from every continent except Antarctica. As new breeds are recognized every year, it will be interesting to see how origins (and preferences) shift.

About This Map

Title

Dog Breeds of the World

Creator

Charlie Lott and Rich Spencer, Maps.com

Data Sources

American Kennel Club
Wikipedia

Original Map

This original map was created by the Maps.com team. It is available for you to use in accordance with our media use policy.

Tags: Animated Maps Explainer Original

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Uncertainty Arrives in the Arctic for Sámi Reindeer Herders

Joshua Stevens — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 10:40:00 +0000

Freezing winds howl across the Arctic. Darkness arrives earlier and stays much longer. Soon, the Sun will set below the horizon and remain unseen for months. Winter is approaching. These seasonal trials are expected and pose little challenge to the reindeer herders who recognize them like family. But new changes are making their way to the Arctic. These challenges threaten the livelihoods of an indigenous culture and the reindeer they have relied on for millennia.

The Sámi are an indigenous people of the Arctic, inhabiting a region known to them as Sápmi. It spans northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and parts of Russia. Both climate change and land development are bringing hazards to this region. A phenomenal new map by Christina Shintani of the Woodwell Climate Research Center and Ravdna Biret Marja Eira Sara of the International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry provides a cartographic look at how three Sámi families and their reindeer herd are being pushed to the limit.

The map is a gorgeous blend of satellite imagery and thematic data. It shows the land vital to the Fálá herd in Western Finmark, Norway. Snow-covered, winter imagery gently gives way to views of summertime vegetation. It also shows how a landscape of seasonal grazing grounds and migratory routes is becoming fractured and perilous. Inset maps and other graphics complement the storytelling. They also provide an elegant balance between the primary map and its more abstract counterparts.

Trial and perseverance are no strangers to the Sámi. Despite disruptions to natural places and societal issues like discrimination, they’ve held onto the soul of their culture. But once more, they are preparing for an uncertain future. And this map beautifully tells part of that story, and one that is steeped in both struggle and resolve.

More to Explore

View more maps in Christina Shintani’s portfolio.
Learn how the Arctic boreal forest is moving northward.
See how Woodwell Climate Research Center measures and maps carbon in US forests.

About This Map

Title: Navigating the New Arctic: The Uncertain Future of Arctic Reindeer Herding
Creator: Christina Shintani, Woodwell Climate Research Center and Ravdna Biret Marja Eira Sara, International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry

Submitted Map

This map was contributed through the Maps.com submission program. If you’d like your map to be featured, submit it for consideration.

Tags: Climate Change Resilience Submitted Map

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Falling Fertility Rates in Europe

Robby Deming — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 10:33:00 +0000

Earth’s population is in the midst of two notable trends that will impact humanity’s future. People are living longer than ever before. At the same time, population growth is slowing and beginning to plateau. The UN predicts that Earth’s population will reach its apex in the 21st century before declining. This is due to a global drop in fertility rates (the number of births per woman in her lifetime). And while fertility rates are declining globally, they are dropping faster in some places than others. Among the continents, Europe has the lowest fertility rate.

This animated map tracks fertility rates in Europe from 1950 to 2025. It uses modern borders and data from the United Nations Population Division to illustrate the change in fertility rates.

The map symbolizes countries based on their fertility rate in a given year. Countries above the replacement rate of 2.1 births are blue, while those below the rate are red. Countries near the replacement rate draw in more neutral grays. The intensity of reds and blues show deviation from the replacement rate. A ticker on the legend marks the average fertility rate for Europe over time, while a bar below the year tracks Europe’s total population. Arrows in each country show how rates are changing relative to the previous year.

As time passes, countries change colors and shades to represent changing rates. Faster changes in color represent larger shifts in the fertility rate for a given country. Fertility rates initially trend downward, with that trend accelerating in the 1960s. By 1973, the European average falls to the replacement rate of 2.1. The rate continues to fall until bottoming out at 1.4 in 2002 before rebounding slightly. It never rises above 1.6 again.

A few interesting patterns emerge over the 75 years:

In the mid-1960s, the fertility rate increases sharply in Romania for a few years after previous years of decline. This reflects Decree 770, which banned abortion and contraception in an effort to improve the country’s fertility rate.
Europe’s population grows by nearly 200 million people over time despite falling fertility rates. This is the result of mass immigration to Europe following World War II. Immigration has continued, with high numbers of refugees immigrating as people flee conflicts in other parts of the world.
Europe’s total population peaks around 2022 and drops in the following years. This is likely a result of the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

The video ends with an animated chart graphing each country’s fertility rate from 1950 to 2025, along with the European average. The map and chart make it clear that fertility rates fluctuate over time but ultimately trend downward. While immigration has sustained Europe’s population in the past 75 years, recent policies may alter that trend moving forward.

More to Explore

Take a deep dive into global population dynamics.
Revisit a map of global life expectancy.

About This Map

Title: European Fertility Rates, 1950–2025
Creator: Charlie Lott and Rich Spencer, Maps.com
Data Sources: United Nations Population Division

Original Map

This original map was created by the Maps.com team. It is available for you to use in accordance with our media use policy.

Tags: Animated Maps Demographics Explainer Historical Original

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Hurricane Melissa Breaks Records

Joshua Stevens — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 14:28:48 +0000

Hurricanes, also known as typhoons in the eastern hemisphere, are one of the most potent phenomena on planet Earth. These powerful storms bring damaging winds, torrential rain, and deadly storm surge flooding to anything and everything in their path. Hurricanes are so powerful that they release as much energy as a 10-megaton nuclear bomb every 20 minutes.

And then there is Hurricane Melissa. With humble beginnings as a thunderstorm complex near the African coast, the storm moved west as part of a midtropospheric wave. As it crossed the Atlantic Ocean, it organized and gathered energy from the heat content of the ocean. With low wind shear to disrupt the rising of warm, humid air, and enough proximity to Earth’s equator to initiate rotation, all this system needed was more fuel. And plenty of it was found in the Caribbean Sea

Hurricane formation requires warm water—at least 26°C (78.8°F). Temperatures above this level can further amplify and strengthen hurricanes. The storm system ultimately reached the Caribbean Sea where sea surface temperatures were exceeding 30°C (86°F). These temperatures encouraged the rapid intensification that turned the tropical storm into a hurricane that quickly reached Category 5 status. The map above uses sea surface temperature data from the Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST), storm track information from the National Hurricane Center, and imagery from NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES).

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in southwestern Jamaica on October 28. The storm was at the peak of its intensity. More than 50 fatalities and extensive infrastructure damage followed as the hurricane made its way to Cuba. Hurricane Melissa became the strongest tropical cyclone of 2025, tying the 1935 Labor Day hurricane with the lowest recorded pressure in the Atlantic. It was also the strongest hurricane to ever make landfall in Jamaica, and had the second highest one-minute sustained wind speeds of an Atlantic hurricane.

About This Map

Title

Hurricane Melissa: Hot Seas and Broken Records

Creator

Joshua Stevens, Maps.com

Data Sources

Original Map

This original map was created by the Maps.com team. It is available for you to use in accordance with our media use policy.

Tags: Disasters Hurricanes Oceans Original Weather

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Grids and Generators: Energy Production and Distribution in the US

Robby Deming — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 09:36:00 +0000

The United States generates and consumes a lot of energy each year. In 2023, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates the US produced nearly 103 quadrillion Btu (British thermal units) of energy. Consumption was slightly lower at nearly 94 quadrillion Btu. To support this demand, the US relies on a complex grid of generation sources (and types) and distribution lines.

This poster from Houseal Lavigne highlights multiple dimensions of the US electrical grid through a collection of maps and charts. It uses data from federal sources, industry groups, and others to explore infrastructure networks, generation capacity by state, and more.

Mapping the Grid

The first map labels the three main grids in the US: the Eastern Interconnection, the Western Interconnection, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Within each interconnection area, power is generated and distributed across the network as needed. This means the energy a given home or business uses may not come from the closest source. In the map, brown pipelines and white distribution lines connect to blue power plants across the country.

A State-Level Perspective

The second map is a cartogram that documents energy generation capacity by state. The size of each circle reflects the state’s overall energy generation capacity. Within each circle, colored slices show the mix of sources used in each state.

States west of the Mississippi River tend to have more renewable energy sources such as wind or solar (green slices). In the eastern US, nuclear energy (red slices) is more common. And across the entire country, nonrenewable sources (gold slices) like fossil fuels dominate as a major source of energy. California, Texas, and Florida are the leading producers in each interconnection area.

Individual Power Plants

The third map shows the locations of more than 10,000 power plants in the US. Each power plant is drawn with a circle that shows its max output (size of the circle) and source (green for renewables, gold for nonrenewables, and purple for nuclear). Callouts identify the largest producers by source. Washington’s Grand Coulee Dam hydroelectric plant has the highest max output in the US at 7,079 MW (megawatts).

Accelerating Demand

The final section of the poster focuses on future energy needs. Thanks to the rise of data centers and AI, as well as continued adoption of electric vehicles and industrial needs, demand for power is expected to rise sharply in the next decade.

A bivariate map shows the relationship between the number of data centers by state and the max output by state. Yellow dots show the locations of more than 1,300 data centers in the US. States with high numbers of data centers and greater max energy outputs include Washington, Illinois, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and others. Maine, Idaho, the Dakotas, and others have relatively few data centers and lower max outputs.

The U.S. Power Grid: A Complex Machine Powering Modern Life

Explore the Full Map

More to Explore

Browse a collection of maps showing the state of America’s energy infrastructure and more.
Discover which energy sources Americans use to heat their homes.
Revisit a map of electric vehicle chargers and EV deserts.

About This Map

Title

The U.S. Power Grid: A Complex Machine Powering Modern Life

Creator

Sujan Shrestha, Jack Lavigne, and John Houseal, Houseal Lavigne

Data Sources

ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World
Energy Information Administration (EIA)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
US Census Bureau
Wikipedia
Canary Media
Simple Thread
Grid Strategies
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners
National Mining Association
Reddit
Greenly
PeeringDB
Houseal Lavigne

Submitted Map

This map was contributed through the Maps.com submission program. If you’d like your map to be featured, submit it for consideration.

Tags: Energy Explainer Infrastructure Submitted Map

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