Explore a topic
Explore boundaries, border arrangements and geographic connections.
Borders · Map guides
A country map and a Congo Basin map can both be labeled “Central Africa” while showing different places. The distinction matters: one groups whole countries; the other follows…
South Africa · Borders · Map guides
A map labeled “Southern Africa” can cover five countries or a much wider area. The difference usually comes from the definition, not from a disagreement about where South…
Borders · Map guides
A Red Sea map becomes much easier to read once its two northern gulfs and southern entrance are separated. The country count changes with that scope, while the…
Estonia · Borders · Map guides
“Baltic countries” usually means three neighboring states, but a map of the Baltic Sea shows many more countries. The useful distinction is between the three-state region, the sea’s…
Borders · Map guides
An East Africa countries map can look surprisingly different depending on who made it. A statistical region, a geographic peninsula and a regional organization answer different questions. Start…
Borders · Map guides
East Asia is a geographic region, not a single political organization. A useful map must show where its places lie while distinguishing countries, special administrative regions and Taiwan…
Gibraltar · Borders · Map guides
The gap between Spain and Morocco looks small on a world map, but three different questions are often bundled together: where the strait lies, how far it is…
Borders · Map guides
A Ring of Fire map can look like one continuous line around the Pacific. In reality, it brings together different plate boundaries, volcanic arcs and earthquake zones. Reading…
Borders · Map guides
A Balkan countries map is only useful when its legend explains what “Balkan” means. A map of the peninsula, a regional country list and an EU policy map…
Borders · Map guides
North Africa can mean a statistical region, the lands along Africa’s northern edge, or a broad cultural region. The Maghreb overlaps with it, but the two names do…
Borders · Map guides
A South Asia countries map needs a definition as well as borders. Some lists show eight countries; the United Nations statistical grouping shows nine. The difference is easier…
Borders · Map guides
Central Asia has five countries under the UN’s M49 statistical grouping: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. They form a landlocked region between Russia, China, Afghanistan, Iran and…