Russia-Ukraine War Map Batch Three - Cartoon and Humorous Maps

Russia-Ukraine War Map Batch One - The Opening Moves in Crimea
Russia-Ukraine War Map Batch Two - Russia Reestablishing New Russia

The Russia-Ukraine War has reached the world of cartoon cartographers (as did the French-Islamst War, Russia-Georgia War, and the Libyan War).

Cartoon and humorous maps of the Ukrainian of conflict have been floating around on the internet for a while but the Canadian Staff at NATO and the Russian Mission to NATO shot off the first major argument about the war via cartoonish maps.

Canada reminded Russia that Ukraine is not part of Russia.

Russia responded in kind with a map showing their claim to the Crimean Peninsula.  The map ignores Canada's point about Moscow's invasion of eastern Ukraine and, interestingly enough, fails to give full independence status to Russia's two-client states of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

A Twitter user retorted with a hilarious example of how social media exchanges would have been done in 1938/39.

If Twitter had existed in '38. @CanadaNATO #Ukraine #Sudetenlandproblems #novorussia? pic.twitter.com/DmVFBk2wr5
— Matt Walje (@Matt_Walje) August 31, 2014

Another map cartoon finds a good pun with the world "Ukraine", much in the spirit of the "Crimea River" jokes from the last invasion.

Robert Ariail #cartoon #Ukraine #Russia pic.twitter.com/DLeKAqUVLy
— Hennie Kriel (@LittleManKriel) August 29, 2014

Finally, while still rare in English, pro-Russian cartoon maps tend to be extremely anti-West and anti-Semitic.

 

#Obama's "Catastrophic Defeat" in #Ukraine: http://t.co/GXkzhdASRX #Novorussia #Putin #OSCE #UNSC #UnitedForUkraine pic.twitter.com/XSjZBdwR8x
— Siberian Husky (@Erula1) August 30, 2014

Russia-Ukraine War Map Batch Two - Russia Reestablishing New Russia

Russia-Ukraine War Map Batch One - The Opening Moves in Crimea

The main question is if Russia intends to a) link up with the areas currently held by the Federation of Novorussiya b) claim all lost territory of the people's republics or c) reclaim all the old New Russia region? Image from the Ukrainian government.

The Russian Federation has invaded Ukraine again.  In the first invasion Russia sought to annex the Crimean Peninsula. Now, Russia is attempting to aid in the establishment of pro-Moscow "people's republics" which would act as unrecognized, mini-Transnistrias designed to keep Ukraine unstable for decades to come.

Live UA Map has a daily collection of maps and geo-located news stories.  The strong point of this website is that one can see the Donetsk People's Republic grow and be practically destroyed only to be rescued by the Russian invasion.

While there are no official maps of what the Federal State of Novorussiya (and therefore Moscow) claim, the official website of the federation feature maps which show all of Russian-speaking Ukraine as part of the republic (with one map oddly showing annexed Crimea) as part of the federation. 

 

How Hollywood Movies have Repeatedly Destroyed America

The blog Concourse has a good series of maps which, while self-admiringly is not comprehensive, shows the location of various disaster/monster movies.  Monsters, Creatures, Climate, Geological, infections, mankind, alien attacks, space rocks, superhero battles, and a sharknado have all taken their toll on the United States.

Interestingly, New York was the early center of disaster films but as the United States grew so did the location of movie apocalypses. New York City and Los Angeles still remain the scene of most incidents but a bias seems to dominate as the third largest city, Chicago, lags behind film industry-cities such as San Francisco and Washington.

Middle East War (Iraq Front) Maps Batch 1: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's Advance

Note: Both the Islamic State of Iraq and the Leavant as well as the Iran-Iraq-Syria-Hizbollah axis view the Syrian Civil War and the new Iraq War as one-in-the-same.  It is time we do too.

There are a lot of maps out there showing what is going on in Iraq.  Some are better than others and most tell only a part of the story. However, by combining the maps together one can gain a good understanding of the situation on the ground.

The Washington Post has a good map showing the ethnic breakdown of Iraq as well as the latest updates.  Note how the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, aka Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), aka al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)) has been temporally stopped at Samarra, the northern outpost of Shia Iraq.  The remaining 100 miles to Baghdad will be much harder if not impossible for ISIL as they will be fighting on Shia Arab land against Iranian-trained local militias and not on Sunni Arab land against poorly motivated troops.  Also note how the Kurds have advanced outside their Regional Government and into disputed Kirkuk.  This will pose problems in the future as Baghdad will be unlikely to reassert control in Kurdish-annexed Kirkuk.

Long War Journal has a great map showing cities and towns in Iraq and Syria occupied by ISIL.


View Iraqi and Syrian Towns and Cities seized by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham in a larger map

This Washington Post map shows ISIL controlled areas as islands of population surrounded by desert connected by the only major roads in the hinterlands of Iraq and Syria.  Although I do not think ISIL control is that solid, established in eastern and central Iraq as shown.  (The West Bank is shown separate from Jordan but the text buffer covers most of the border)

While I do not like this map on Twitter showing ISIL control as a solid block, it does a good job showing how the group is focusing on controlling the oil wells and fields.  ISIL likely is selling this oil on the black market thus making it a self-sufficient terrorist army.

This map by a Twitter user, Ghazi, is quite good.  It explains areas of control versus areas of freedom of movement, and it shows how the post-World War I division between Syria and Iraq is basically over (for now at least).

Finally, though no longer novel it is always important to note geographic knowledge is power.  Here is a photo via FlashPointIntel of an ISIL officer planning the offensive using Google Earth.

The Most Efficient Way to Drive Through All the Contiguous United States

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Stephen Von Worley of Data Pointed has found the most efficient way to drive through all the forty-eight connected United States.  Needless to say it is quite creative and relies in part by quick drive through certain states.  I do not know if this would meet TDAXP's requirement of visiting states (getting out of the car and buying something) but bravo to such a neat, fascinating effort.  Interestingly thinking outside the box, the trip ends in Montana while I would probably of had the trip in California or Washington.

Map of Apostasy Laws

Only Israel and Lebanon allow for religious change in the Middle East core.

The Pew Research Center and Washington Post created the above map showing where apostasy is against the law on any governmental level.  All countries with apostasy laws are in the Muslim gap with the excpetion of Nigeria.  Nigeria does not break the Islamic rule, however, because the apostasy laws are in the northern state run by Nigeria.  The presence of these laws show the difficulty in separating religion and state on even the most basic levels in the Islamic mindset.  However, this is not so surprising since Islam and the state were meant to be one from the beginning while Christianity and Judaism (and even Dharma religions) had their beginnings separate from the state.

Interestingly enough, the Assad-run Syrian Arab Republic only forbids apostasy when public order is 'disturbed' by it.  There are no legal cases which cite apostasy disturbing the public order.  Anti-apostasy laws are only enforced in Islamist rebel controlled parts of Syria.

The People's Republics of Ukraine

A variety of unofficial, pro-Russia statelets have appeared in eastern Ukraine.  The movements are primarily limited to Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Right now no country, not even Russia, recognizes these people's republics as independent. 

The term people's republic does not reflect Marxist socialism.  Instead it is representative, as the New Republic as pointed out, of a very old school of Russian conservatism which connects Eastern Orthodoxy and societal collectivism of a Christian socialist variety.
 
Here is a quick guide:

Donetsk People's Republic

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Located in Donetsk Oblast, this was the first "people's republic" to declare independence from Kyiv.  Most of the fighting has been done in Donetsk. 

Luhansk People's Republic

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Located in Luhansk, this people's republic has been slower in forming but picked up speed as Kyiv focused most of its "anti-terrorist" operations in Donetsk.

Federal State of New Russia aka Novorossiya 

 It is unclear whether or not The Federal State of New Russia, also known as Novorossiya, exists.  The leadership of the Donetsk People's Republic all states it does but the leadership of the Luhansk People's Republic is divided on whether or not they belong to it.  This implies Novorossiya may be an effort by the more successful Donetsk People's Republic to control Luhansk People's Republic.

While some have noted the flag of Novorossiya mirrors the Confederate battle flag, this is a concidence.  Red, white, and blue are the colors of Russia and the Novorossiya flag is almost a dead copy of the Russian naval jack.

Odessa People's Republic

Declared on the internet to the shock of anti-Kyiv protesters in Odessa, this people's republic seems to exist online only.

Kharkiv People's Republic

Crushed within one day of its founding.

Overview

The only "real" people's republics are in Donetsk and Luhansk.  While these claim their respective oblasts, their real control is demonstrated in the map below showing where Ukrainian elections were unable to be held.

Grey shows areas of no voting, i.e. people's republic hold on territory.

The Moon's Size Compared to the United States

From NASA and Arizona State University

Yandex Gives Crimea to Russia, OpenStreetMap Plays Both Sides, American Online Map Services Side with Ukraine

Russian search engine giant has given the Crimean peninsula to Russia.

However the English-language version of Yandex still has the peninsula under Ukrainian control.

OpenStreetMap has the label "Autonomous Republic of Crimea" in Ukrainian and "Republic of Crimea" in Russia thus acknowledging both sides.

Click to enlarge to see both labels.

Meanwhile the American online mapping giants Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo all have the Crimea under Ukrainian control.

Nazi Germany's Connection to the Union of Crimea and Ukraine

Various historical forces have tried to rule both the Crimea and Ukraine.  The Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union were the first modern powers to firmly control both.  However, Crimea usually remained under different regional authorities than Ukraine itself.

An interesting historical geographical fact I learned from National Geographic: the first time the Crimea fell under rule based in the Ukraine was Nazi Germany's Reichskommissariat Ukraine.

Map of Translated Names of Irish Counties

The Atlas of True Names is a fun map series which shows the translation of place names.  Now the Irish news site The Journal has created a map showing the translated Irish and Viking county names of Ireland.

Ukraine: An Artifact Like an African Country But One People Call Home

African countries are usually used as examples of geopolitical gerrymander that ignores history and ethnicity.  This complaint however overlooks that the nation-state was most a Western European creation that has been overlooked elsewhere including in parts of Europe.

Ukraine is one of these artifacts.  The below map from Twitter got me thinking about the creation of Ukraine.

Besides claiming there was one "Ukrainian territory" this map shows how much Russia was needed to expand Ukraine.  From @ianbremmer

The map is fairly accurate.  However, there never was one "Ukraine."  In the past Ukraine was a series of various Cossack states, Turkic colonies, Mongol vassals, and pieces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.  The region was constantly torn between Polish, Russian, Turkish, and Hapsburg powers until World War II and even then the modern-day borders of what would become Ukraine were not set until 1954.

In January 1896 National Geographic showed just how new/artificial Ukraine as we know it is.  In the "Map of European Russia", the ethnic Ukraine homeland is known as "Little Russia".  "South Russia" (also known as New Russia) is the Black Sea coastline which was colonized by ethnic Russians and a few ethnic Ukrainians after Russia's conquest of the area from Turkey.

I geo-referenced the map as well as possible and drew in the borders of modern-day Ukraine.  Note how modern-Ukraine pulls from so many different realms.

Modern Ukraine outlined in Yellow.  Note how it was a mixture of Polish, Hapsburg, ethnic Russian, and "Little Russian" (Ukrainian) lands back in 1896.  Base map from National Geographic, georeferenced by Geographic Travels.

This is not to say that many Ukrainians are calling for a split.  Most calls for an east-west split are coming from outside of Ukraine.  Not one Ukrainian politician of any merit on either side is calling for splitting the country.  Even though Ukraine was formed many different regions a nationalism has formed which has kept the country together and hopefully will keep bloodshed low.

Map of the Birth Places of Presidents and their Wives

The MIBAZAAR blog has a nice map showing the birth places of United States presidents and their wives.

Here's a fun fact: John Quincy Adams' wife,  Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams was the only first lady born outside the United States.  She was born in London, England.  The distance between Adams' birthplace and Louisa's is over 3,000 miles.  The greatest distance between president and first lady birthplaces belongs to the Obamas with over 4,200 miles distance between Hawaii and Chicago.

Happy Presidents' Day/Washington's Birthday!

The Overlooked Geopolitics of the Sochi Olympics Opening Ceremony

While most of the world was focused on rainbow colored gloves as part of the "Olympic Gay War" over Russia's "anti-Gay Propaganda" Law, people seem to have overlooked the obvious problem of showing country maps as part of the parade: disputed borders.

While the display was well neat, certain border calls and very strategically placed clouds made for interesting maps that so far have not started the standard geography war (maybe everyone is distracted with the homosexuality issue).

Nagorno-Karbakh were covered by clouds though lights can be seen.  This way Russia follows internationally recognized borders but avoids overtly offending nationalistic Armenians.

Israel was given the Golan Heights, West Bank, and even the Gaza Strip (which it no longer claims).  Very surprisingly given Russia's long support of Arab causes.

Very well placed clouds leave the status of Kashmir up in the air.

Hard to tell because of NBC's poor job but their graphic gives Kosovo back to Serbia.  If anyone knows what the map on the floor I would be grateful to know.

Additionally, the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas were left off Argentina's map because there spot was taken by the athlete's entrance ramp.  Sadly, NBC did not show what Georgia's map looked like.  It would be interesting to know if Russia gave Abkhazia and South Ossetia to Georgia or if they were covered by clouds in order not to offend anyone.

UPDATE:  Reader Rob From Amersfoort pointed out that Russia did use clouds to cover Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Map of Africa If Never Colonized or Only Europeans Are Foreigners and Colonizers

Swedish artist Nikolaj Cyon has made a popular map which purports to show Africa today as if it were "never colonized".  The map is making waves on the internet and was even noticed by the Washington Post.

Why are the most beautiful maps maps of lies? Click to enlarge.

The map looks pretty but much like the Native American nations name map, it is a map of lies.  Ignoring the fact it uses the European model of nation-states instead of African tribal zones or empires, my big problem is what is considered colonization.

Northern Africa is shown to be divided amongst Islamic states with Arabic names.  I am sure the native Copts, Berbers, and Africans of European descent such as the Roman African Christian community would certainly state the Arabs conquered and colonized the region.  Sicily and Spain were certainly more in a Mediterranean and European realm vice African before the Arabs came.  Also, Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) was uninhabited before Europeans arrived.  Finally, a Swahili realm shown on the map would not exist without the presence of Arabs, which in part resulted in Oman's colonization of Africa.

Much like claiming all Americans are descendants of immigrants except for American Indians, this map advances and lie myth.  For some reason colonization and empire only exists in a European sense.  It is assumed everyone else lived in a magical no-place where wars are minimal and the cultural landscape does not change.  This legacy of racism reduces none Europeans to an innocent, Eden-like race.  It is time for geographers and the public to grow up.

Maps of Protests in Ukraine and Seized Local Governments

Back in 2010 I wrote about the divide in Ukraine between ethnic and cultural Ukrainians on one side and ethnic Russians along with ethnic Ukrainians who were culturally Russian on the other side.  That post is recommended as a background piece to this post.

Since November pro-European, mostly ethnic/cultural Ukrainians, have been protesting against the pro-Russian government's (Party of Regions) decision to reject further integration with the European Union and reductions in civil liberties.  Recently these protests have intensified and spread to the point of occupations of local government administrations.  Several Twitter posts have placed maps showing where pro-European local governments exists/pro-European protesters are occupying local administrations.

@Ukroblogger has a map showing where protesters have occupied local administrations (the fist), where it is in progress (people), and where the police have forced protesters out (blue)

@Odessablogger has a map showed the status of oblasts.  I wonder how mass some of the "mass protests" are because the Crimea is overwhelmingly Russian.

@jc_stubbs hosts a map showing mostly the same story but probably more accurate than the above second map.  "People" probably means local anti-Party of Regions government control.

  

Map of How Parisians View France

The blog No Pasaran linked to the CartesFrance.fr map of how Parisians view the rest of France.  The map in part proves to be a rabbit-hole beyond my understanding.

• Paris is labelled "Maison" meaning "home".
• Much of the coastal regions of France is "plages" meaning "beaches".
• The Alps and the Pyrenees Mountains are great for skiing.
• The French Reveria is labelled as a land of "menteurs" meaning "liars".  I guess Parisian tourists have had some bad experiences there.
• Brittany is labelled as a land of alcoholics.  I know the region is known for its strong alcohol but I am unaware that alcoholism is a problem there.
• The more culturally Germanic region in eastern France is labelled as "depressif" meaning "depressive". 
• The Basque region and Corsica are labelled as the land of terrorists.
• Finally, the northern region by Belgium is labelled as "pauvres" meaning "poor".

  

Kwanzaa: A Holiday Ignoring Geography, History and Implying All Africans are the Same

Kwanzaa is a secular holiday created  in the United States by Dr. Maulana Karenga in order to promote pan-Africanism.  To do this, Kwanzaa stresses certain Swahili-titled principles.

Swahili is a pidgin language combining several East African languages and Arabic.  It was invented by Arab traders to communicate better with their East African customers (interestingly enough, the Arab slave trade was a key driver of the language's development).  Today Swahili is spoken by people mostly in Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Mozambique.

Map of where Swahili is  spoken. From Stanford University.

However, most African-Americans are descendants of those who were brought over in the Euro-American-African slave trade.  This slave trade targeted west Africans.

West Africans to the Americas and Europe.  East Africans to the Muslim homeland.  From Slave Voyages.

Kwanzaa ignores this cross-continental divide in peoples' cultures.  European regimes are rightly blamed for ignoring cultures when cutting apart African; yet this holiday does the same sin in principle.   This would be like me trying to promote the impact Irish-Americans have had in the United States by making a holiday using the Gagauz language.

The person who invented Kwanzaa was born Ronald McKinley Everett.  Everett changed his name to "Maulana Karenga" which in Swahili means "Master Teacher Keeper of Tradition". Dr. Karenga is an outsider who rebelled against the current system (both in America in general and specifically African-American society) and created the Kwanzaa myth to oppose the current system and promote himself, much like members of the American Indian Movement and those who support Siouxification.  These myths are harmful because they rob the rich diversity of the truth for an outsider who tries to use these myths for radical means.

Map of Christmas Present Giving Entities in Europe and Western Asia

The map of "Who Brings Gift to Europe" is making news on the internet (and I have been unable to track down the source).  However, there are some interesting geographical trends.

Click to enlarge

Scandinavian countries tend to have a pagan or supernatural gift giver vice the Christmas Saint Nicholas-derivative.

Slavic countries tend to have Grandfather Frost.

The map does not mention the Dutch Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) from which the Dutch in New Holland gave the future United States Santa Claus.

Saint Basil beats out Saint Nicholas in Greece(!).

Some form of Father Christmas wins out in Western Europe.

Spain, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, southern Germanic realm (Bavaria, Switzerland, Austria, norther Italy), and Hungary have explicitly historical people give out gifts.

Jesus is the gift giver only in the southern Germanic realm and Hungary.

The original Christmas gift givers (the magi) are "still" giving gifts only in Spain (where they give on Three Kings Day and not Christmas).

The Hobbit's Middle Earth on a Google Earth-like Map

I am no fan of the new Hobbit movies.  They seem to miss the whole point of the Christian pilgrimage the story is meant to be, plus, it makes up way too much not in the book.  However, part of the promotion of the new movie is an interactive map.

One can zoom in and out by double clicking on the map.  Each location (a ring) can be interacted with.  While I still dislike the movies, including the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the music and map convey the beauty of Middle Earth.