Since I was young, I’ve always been fascinated by maps and atlases. I must have spent countless hours looking through various books about geography, trying my best to remember the names of all the countries in South America, Eastern Europe or some other distant place. I used to be convinced that maps were fairly straightforward things to understand. I thought they simply represented the world as it is, with the borders drawn in the same place everywhere around the world. Only later did I learn that this is not the case.
Maps are fascinating because of their political nature. They can be used as political tools or propaganda, as well as educational objects. A map printed in Japan is likely different from a map printed in Russia. A map in Serbia is almost certainly different from a map printed in Albania. Why is this the case? The aim of PoliAtlas is to look at maps and understand why they are drawn a certain way, and to understand what they tell us about history and contemporary politics. This site will hopefully shed some light on the meeting point between geography and politics, otherwise known as geopolitics.
Geography plays a huge role in the development of a state and culture. Why is America the global superpower? Why are the countries of Northern Europe wealthier and more productive than their Southern counterparts? Why is Singapore so crucial to global trade? All of these questions can be answered when looked at from a geographical perspective. I hope to answer questions like these, and many more on this site.
PoliAtlas 