Anton Thomas has spent more than two years drawing a <a href="http://www.antonthomasart.com/the-north-american-continent.html">map of North America</a> in pen and colored pencil. The map is nearly four feet wide and five feet high (only a tiny detail is shown above) and packed with painstakingly drawn, true-to-life city skylines and other landmarks. There are also animals—330 of them, from a Montana elk to a Mexican monkey.
Anton Thomas has spent more than two years drawing a map of North America in pen and colored pencil. The map is nearly four feet wide and five feet high (only a tiny detail is shown above) and packed with painstakingly drawn, true-to-life city skylines and other landmarks. There are also animals—330 of them, from a Montana elk to a Mexican monkey.
Map by Anton Thomas

The Best Maps of 2016

From the craters of Mars to the streets of Zurich, these maps show cartography at its best.

It’s been a good year for map lovers. Whether you’re into old maps, new maps, or new ways of interacting with old maps, there was much to cheer about in 2016.

Lots of great historical maps became more accessible this year. One of the world’s great private map collections is now open to the public at Stanford University. The Central Intelligence Agency, which isn’t exactly known for sharing, released a slew of historical maps to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its Cartography Center. Here at All Over the Map, we were excited to publish a few maps that haven’t been readily available online, including secret Japanese military maps and a map used in 1783 at the Treaty

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