1819 map of Asia and Oceania

1819 map of Asia and Oceania

6157 x 5388

‘Interesting it’s still referred to as New Holland with ongoing British colonisation

No. Perth, in Western Australia, was not founded until 10 years after this map, by the British. Also Adelaide in South Australia, and even Melbourne in Eastern Australia.

The east coast of Australia–unmapped by the Dutch–was mapped by James Cook in 1770 and thus known as New South Wales. Sydney was established in 1788. So it’s correct that the other three coasts of Australia were still known as New Holland.

It’s a lesson in how things can be named but not recognised as belonging to a particular power until they are colonised, since actual use of the land supposes an entitlement to it.

The Dutch were great explorers and commercial agents but since they found no commercial use in Australia they didn’t have any need to assert a claim to their discoveries.

Australia is a fascinating lesson in this aspect. The same applies to New Zealand which the Dutch discovered 127 years before Cook fully mapped it on his way to Australia. If the Dutch had behaved differently they would have exerted more influence’

1820 map of Asia - by Annin & Smith

1820 map of Asia - by Annin & Smith

7455 x 6168

‘This is a really sensible Europe-Asia division, I must say. I don’t understand why is Bashkiria with its Central Asian affiliations supposed to be in Europe. Nor the historical Pontic-Caspian steppe inhabited by Turkic nomads with an unclear difference from e.g. Kazakh nomads. Just because those lands got settled by a European power and the previous population got removed doesn’t make them European, at least not unless you think East Thrace became West Asian when settled by the Turks’–Humanophage

1801 Map of Asia

1801 Map of Asia

5133 × 4315

‘Fascinating! Some random observations:

The Caucasus range has scoliosis

The Red Sea is called the “Arabian Gulf” (rather than the bay between Arabia and India, which is unlabelled)

Lake Balkhash is swol

Mongolia includes Xinjiang

The Tarim Basin is called “Little Bucharia”, and Uzbekistan/Tajikistan is called “Great Bucharia”

The Chinese Empire includes Nepal, Bhutan, Korea, Sakhalin, and the mainland coast up to the Strait of Tartary

There are places labelled “Eluths” scattered all over eastern China (edit: apparently “Eluths” was an alternate name for the Oirat)‘–AbouBenAdhem

Tree Cover Density and Human Settlements of south, east, and southeast Asia

Tree Cover Density and Human Settlements of south, east, and southeast Asia

“This is such a good one.

Look at Japan, how its almost entirely forested mountains, except the 3 huge urban areas where all the people live.

Compare with China which in the North is completely flat and unforested farmland with a more spread out population. The south of China is more forested and mountainous, which could reflect the cultural and linguistic differences between the more unified north and the diverse south”–Fummy

GDP per capita in Asia (2018)

GDP per capita in Asia (2018)

“GDP per capita is not a direct measure of wealth per person, but the yearly economic output per person per year. However the countries that have a high GDP per capita produce a lot for their populations, and low ones produce little for their population. This does not necessarily measure wealth per person, but can be used for the general idea of which countries have wealthier citizens on average”–some_dawid_guy

Asian Watersheds

Asian Watersheds

“In the words of a Pakistani politician “When it rains, there’s water. When it rains a lot, there’s a lot of water.”

(I kid you not this dude said that during a flood)“–Ghostly_100

“In the words of an American president “One of the wettest we’ve ever seen, from the standpoint of water.”–SultanJar