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Maps that explain Europe.

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  • 23/11/2014 38mapsthatexplainEuropeVox

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    38 maps that explain Europeby Matthew Yglesias on September 8, 2014

    Europe, as both a place and a concept, has changed dramaticallyin its centuries of history. Once one of the world's most war-tornplaces, it is now known for its remarkable peace. While a place ofrelatively great prosperity, it is also experiencing deep economicturmoil. Europe's transformations are still ongoing, evident bothat the continental level and as narrowly as along certaintransportation lines.

    Members of the European Union1

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    ( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/assets/4688257/european_union.png) (http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/assets/4688257/european_union.png)European Union ( http://europa.eu/about-eu/countries/index_en.htm)

    Members of the European UnionEurope is a contested and contestable concept, but onegood place to start is with the contemporary members ofthe European Union a concrete political instantiation ofthe idea of Europe. But the EU excludes some countries suchas Norway and Switzerland that are canonically Europeanand simply resist the political entanglements thatmembership would bring. The EU also includes the UnitedKingdom, many of whose residents believe "Europe" startson the other side of the English Channel. The non-membersin the Balkans are largely thought to be on track for eventualmembership when they reach an appropriate level ofpolitical and economic development.

    NATO's growth over time2

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    ( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/671350/Map_of_NATO_chronological__1_.0.gif)( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/671350/Map_of_NATO_chronological__1_.0.gif)Arz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlargement_of_NATO#mediaviewer/File:Map_of_NATO_chronological.gif)

    NATO's growth over timeThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization contains severalmembers who aren't European (the United States, Canada,and arguably Turkey) and excludes quite a few Europeannations. But its expansion over time is key to theconstruction of modern Europe. NATO was conceived of asan anti-communist military alliance. Initially, it was composedof countries that had fought together against Germany inWorld War II, but its anti-Soviet orientation and the heavyinvolvement of the United States created a context in whichFrance and others could endorse the re-armament of WestGermany. When Germany re-unied as a NATO member,rather than as a neutral, it set the stage for the alliance tocontinue expanding eastward and outlive the Cold War. In itsmodern form, the alliance is a source of security for westernEurope, a source of customers for US arms manufacturers,and a source of tension with Russia.

    Europe's multinational institutions3

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    ( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/assets/4719042/Supranational_European_Bodies.png)( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/assets/4719042/Supranational_European_Bodies.png)Wdcf (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Supranational_European_Bodies.png)

    Europe's multinational institutionsEurope has a lot of international institutions. The EuropeanUnion and its associated entities are the best-known andmost-important of them. But the EU itself is complicated,and not every EU member is part of the EU's currency union(the Eurozone) or its border security union (the SchengenArea). EEA and EFTA members largely participate inEurope's "common market" for goods but don't otherwiseparticipate in EU political endeavors. The Euro mintingagreement is with several micro-states considered too smallfor Eurozone membership but who nonetheless use theEuropean currency. The Council of Europe, meanwhile, is alargely symbolic organization that casts the broadest net ofall the European institutions.

    Unemployment rate by region4

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    ( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/assets/4719432/eurounemployment.png) (http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/assets/4719432/eurounemployment.png)Vox map created with Eurostat

    Unemployment rate by regionPolitically, Europe is a continent of nation-states. But thanksto deep integration, the European economy is really one ofregions where national averages can obscure more than theyreveal. This map of unemployment rates coded by sub-national region shows how Europe really works. The strongGerman economy is really a case of a red-hot south Germanyregion that extends into adjacent areas of Austria,Switzerland, and the Czech Republic as much as it does intonorthwestern Germany. Meanwhile, the economy of theformer East Germany looks a lot like the economy of Poland.Southern Italy is like Spain, Portugal, or Greece, but NorthernItaly is more like France so on average Italy shows up as anin-between case. The Francophone parts of Belgium haveFrance-like economic conditions, while the Dutch-speakingparts in the north have conditions closer to those in theNetherlands. Transnational economic areas happen all over

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    History

    the world, of course, but the deep and purposeful economicties European nations have forged with one another sincethe end of World War II make them an especially prominentaspect of the European experience.

    The Roman Empire

    ( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/assets/4822044/RomanEmpire_117.svg.png)( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/assets/4822044/RomanEmpire_117.svg.png)Andrei Nacu (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RomanEmpire_117.svg)

    The Roman EmpireMany of Europe's languages and institutions date back moreor less linearally to the Roman Empire. This map (see 39more Rome maps here (

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    http://www.vox.com/2014/8/19/5942585/40-maps-that-explain-

    the-roman-empire)) shows the empire at its greatest extentunder Trajan in 117 A.D. Rome ruled substantial portions ofNorth Africa and the Levant that today would be considerednon-European, while excluding most of Germany, the Nordiccountries, and most of central and eastern Europe. But theChristian religion formed in the later Roman years is acornerstone of European culture, and the legacy of Romelives on even outside the territory the empire formerly ruled.Titles such as Czar (Russian) and Kaiser (German) derivefrom Caesar, classical columns are a widely understoodsymbol of authority, and knowledge of Latin was forcenturies considered the key mark of an educated personthroughout the continent.

    Europe in the fifth century

    ( http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/671426/Roman-Empire_477ad.0.jpg) ( http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/671426/Roman-Empire_477ad.0.jpg)Thomas Lessman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_the_Western_Roman_Empire#mediaviewer/File:Roman-Empire_477ad.jpg)

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    Europe in the fifth centuryBy the late fth century, the Roman Empire had collapsed inthe west and Europe was a patchwork of small kingdoms,with the western Empire reduced to a handful of rumpterritories. Most of these kingdoms bore little relationship tomodern day states, but the Ostrogothic kingdom doeslargely map onto present-day Italy, and the origins ofmodern-day Norway, Sweden, and Finland are discernable upnorth. On the other hand, the distinction between thepresent-day cultural zones of Europe and North Africa wasnot yet drawn at this time, as witnessed by a Vandal kingdomthat encompassed territories on both sides of the divide.Similarly, Greece at this time was on the eastern side of aneast/west political divide and united with Turkey theopposite of the present-day arrangement.

    The partition of Charlesmagne's empire

    ( http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/assets/4719354/1280px-Partage_de_l_Empire_carolingien_au_Trait__de_Verdun_en_843.JPG)( http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/assets/4719354/1280px-Partage_de_l_Empire_carolingien_au_Trait__de_Verdun_en_843.JPG)Atlas Gnral Vidal-Lablache (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Verdun#mediaviewer/File:Partage_de_l%27Empire_carolingien_au_Trait%C3%A9_de_Verdun_en_843.JPG)

    The partition of Charlesmagne's empireCharles the Great, also known as Charlemagne, eventuallyunited much of western Europe into a single kingdom. Uponhis death in 814 A.D., his empire was formally divided intothree pieces by the Treaty of Verdun in 843. Thewesternmost entity to emerge from the partition is clearlythe antecedent of the modern-day state of France. Thepolitical history of Germany is more complicated, but,roughly speaking, it corresponds to the eastern kingdom.The territory in between, meanwhile, has been the site ofmuch armed conict in the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th

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    centuries as France battled with Germanic powers ruledfrom Vienna and Berlin for control over the Low Countries,Alsace, and Lorraine.

    The Holy Roman Empire

    ( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/671434/HRR.0.gif)( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/671434/HRR.0.gif)Jaspe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Roman_Empire#mediaviewer/File:HRR.gif)

    The Holy Roman EmpireAs the joke goes, the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy,Roman, nor an empire. It was, instead, the most prominentand important of a set of Medieval political institutions thatdid not develop the institutions of a modern state. Theempire's boundaries waxed and waned over time, but it waslargely moribund by the 18th century as dierent monarchs whether inside the empire or outside sought to buildtheir own powerful centralized kingdoms. When Napoleon'sarmies marched across Europe, they abolished the HolyRoman Empire, and when he was defeated the victoriouspowers made no eort to put Humpty Dumpty backtogether again. Instead, the Habsburg Dynasty, which hadlong held the title of Holy Roman Emperor, simply begancharacterizing their holdings in Austria and Central Europeas an empire.

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    The empire of Charles V

    ( http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/672218/Empire-Roman-Emperor-Charles-V.0.jpg) ( http://cdn0.vox-

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    cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/672218/Empire-Roman-Emperor-Charles-V.0.jpg)Luccio Silla and Paul2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_V,_Holy_Roman_Emperor#mediaviewer/File:Empire-Roman-Emperor-Charles-V.jpg)

    The empire of Charles VHe's a bit of an obscure gure these days, but Charles V inthe early 16th century ruled one of the mightiest empiresthe world had ever known. This map depicts his holdings inhis function as King of Castille (purple), King of Aragon (red),Duke of Burgundy (orange), as well as holder of Austria'shereditory territories (dark yellow), plus the then-extent ofthe Holy Roman Empire, throughout which he held someauthority. What it doesn't show is the vast expansion of theSpanish colonial empire at this time through the conquest ofthe Aztec and Incan empires in the New World.

    Napoleon's European Union

    ( http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/671444/French_Empire__1812_.0.svg)( http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/671444/French_Empire__1812_.0.svg)Alphathon (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_French_Empire_1812.svg)

    Napoleon's European UnionThis map shows Napoleon's French Empire (deep blue) at itsheight in 1812, along with various satellite regimes thatwere typically headed by a member of the emperor's familyor one of his generals. The ruling regimes of Prussia andAustria were not deposed, but they were momentarilybrought into a French-dominated continental economicorder. But Britain and Russia were never reconciled toNapoleon's ambitions, and rebellion was fairly constant in

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    Spain where the long border with British-aligned Portugalcreated many opportunities for troublemaking. France andits allies went to war with Russia to try to denitivelyestablish the legitimacy of the new regime, but they weredefeated decisively. Though Napoleon's continental regimewas short-lived, it was also quite inuential, spreading themetric system and modern administrative methodsthroughout Europe.

    The end of World War One

    ( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/assets/4620775/postwar_europe.png) (http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/assets/4620775/postwar_europe.png)Fluteute ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Europe_1923-en.svg)

    The end of World War OneNapoleon's defeat led to a century-long period withoutmajor continent-wide wars. Then came the Great War (http://www.vox.com/a/world-war-i-maps), an unexpectedlylong and terrible conict that shattered many of thedynasties that participated in it. This map highlights howEurope's boundaries shifted as a result of the war (see 39more World War I maps here ( http://www.vox.com/a/world-war-i-maps)). The borders established at the war's end in late1918 are by no means identical to today's boundaries, but bythis time the basic set of nations is becoming quite familiar,as is the rough principle that European states shouldconform to linguistically dened nations. The world war wasfollowed by a second, even more terrible conict that led toa further shrinkage of Germany and the expansion of theUSSR.

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    People

    The Iron Curtain

    ( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/assets/4688361/Iron_Curtain_map.svg.png)( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/assets/4688361/Iron_Curtain_map.svg.png)Smhur (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Curtain#mediaviewer/File:Iron_Curtain_map.svg)

    The Iron CurtainFrom 1948 through 1989, Europe was divided into twohostile, armed camps one aligned with the United Statesof America and one aligned with the Soviet Union, with ahandful of neutrals in between. The line separating theSoviet bloc from the rest was famously referred to byWinston Churchill as an "iron curtain" dividing Europe. Butwhile on one level the Cold War divided the continent, inother respects it made it more unied than ever before. Thethreat of communism inspired the US-aligned nations toresolve longstanding conicts and forge institutional ties.These relationships and institutions outlived the USSR andlaid the foundation for modern Europe.

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    Europe's many languages

    ( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/assets/4784300/Rectied_Languages_of_Europe_map.png)( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/assets/4784300/Rectied_Languages_of_Europe_map.png)Spiridon Manoliu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Europe#mediaviewer/File:Rectied_Languages_of_Europe_map.png)

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    Europe's many languagesPolitical instability in other regions is often attributed to"arbitrary colonial boundaries" that fail to carve nationalitiesat the joints. But even in the historic homeland of linguisticnationalism, political boundaries rarely accord perfectly withsocial facts on the ground. German is the majority languagein three countries. Spain contains four dierent languagecommunities. There's an Italian-speaking part of Switzerlandand a German-speaking part of Italy. SubstantialFrancophone populations are living just outside France'sborders. And on the British Isles there are two (and maybesoon three) independent states sharing a common majoritytongue.

    Germany after reunification

    ( http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/676202/GermanyPopulationChangeMap.0.jpg)( http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/676202/GermanyPopulationChangeMap.0.jpg)Benjamin Hennig ( http://www.viewsoftheworld.net/?p=2719)

    Germany after reunificationGermany has been unied for a quarter century now, but anystatistical breakdown will reveal the enduring relevance ofthe old East/West divide in terms of prosperity, health, andalmost anything else you care to name. The continuedrelevance of that boundary is also visible on this map ofGerman population shifts (click through to see BenjaminHennig's full, gorgeous rendering). Almost all of the formerEast German areas are losing people. The exceptions areBerlin and the Berlin suburbs in the state of Brandenburg.

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    A Europe of equals15

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    ( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/671524/14489964857_2bd28e9483_o.0.png)( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/671524/14489964857_2bd28e9483_o.0.png)Alasdair Gunn (https://farm6.staticickr.com/5489/14489964857_2bd28e9483_o.png)

    A Europe of equalsThis fantasy map by Alasdair Gunn redivides the areacontained in the European Union into states that would haveroughly equal populations. For the sake of further fun, he'stried to draw the boundaries to correspond to some realhistorical divisions in a way that gives us a look at somestates that might have been. The southern and westernshores of Sweden, for example, really were Danishpossessions for a considerable period of time. Mainly,though, the map works as a clever illustration of populationdensities. Lowland, Kln, and Rhineland are all relatively tinyin terms of area but not population, underscoring the verythick settlement pattern in this portion of the continent. Asone goes further east, things thin out considerably, and themake-believe countries get larger.

    English language ability

    ( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/assets/4784292/english-eu.jpg) ( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/assets/4784292/english-eu.jpg)Jakub Marian ( http://jakubmarian.com/map-of-the-percentage-of-people-speaking-english-in-the-eu-by-country/)

    English language abilityGerman is the most widely spoken native language inEurope, but English is the main language of continentalaairs. It's spoken by the multinational bureaucracy inBrussels, and it's the language multinational business teams

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    Economy

    use to communicate internally. But competence in English isneither universal nor uniform across Europe. Across Europe'ssouthern tier, in particular, major decisions are being made ina language that is only spoken by a relatively narroweducated elite.

    Europe by night

    ( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/663570/dnb_land_ocean_ice.2012.3600x1800.0.jpg)( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/663570/dnb_land_ocean_ice.2012.3600x1800.0.jpg)NASA Earth Observatory (http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/NightLights/page3.php)

    Europe by nightThis map of the night sky from NASA is another way ofgetting at where Europeans actually live. The Russianpopulation is fantastically concentrated in just a few cities,most prominently Moscow and St. Petersburg, which shinebrightly amidst a dark countryside. But Europe's biggestclusters of people are in England, around the Low Countriesof Belgium and the Netherlands, and in the very prosperousnorthern region of Italy. A particularly noteworthy fact ishow consistently lit-up the Mediterranean coast is,highlighting how central that sea has been for thousands ofyears of European settlement.

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    The richest person in every European country18

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    ( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/674100/152vuzj.0-1.0.png) ( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/674100/152vuzj.0-1.0.png)Frivilligt (http://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/2edemz/richest_people_of_europe_xpost_rmapporn/)

    The richest person in every European countryThis fun map shows Reddit user Frivilligt's best estimate ofthe richest person in every European country. There is noocial government database of ultra-high-net-wealthindividuals, so some media sources disagree about a few ofthe names. But the basic picture is clear enough. Unlike in amap of the richest resident of every American state, youdon't see any high-tech titans or fossil fuel barons here. It'seither the leaders of important consumer brands or elseindividuals whose wealth is drawn from the worlds of realestate and nance. If you're wondering how Nutella could beso lucrative, the answer is that the Nutella you see on storeshelves is only the most delicious confection made by acompany that owns a portfolio of snack brands.

    Europe scaled by GDP

    ( http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/676126/Screen_Shot_2014-08-29_at_2.05.53_PM.0.png) ( http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/676126/Screen_Shot_2014-08-29_at_2.05.53_PM.0.png)Benjamin Hennig ( http://www.viewsoftheworld.net/?p=4041)

    Europe scaled by GDPThis cartogram from Benjamin Hennig distorts the shape ofeach European country to scale it to the size of its overalleconomic output. The rich, densely populated Netherlands

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    gets a lot bigger though this method while sparselypopulated Sweden and Ireland shrink. The picture shouldmake it clear that Germany's dominance of the continent or even of the Eurozone, which excludes the United Kingdom is often exaggerated. The Germans certainly have thelargest economy in Europe but it's far from a hegemonicposition. France, Italy, and Spain are all quite large as well,and even the "small" European economies add up.

    What does Europe export?

    ( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/674346/exports.0.png)( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/674346/exports.0.png)Simran Khosla ( http://thumbnails.visually.netdna-cdn.com/world-commodities-map_536bebb20436a.png)

    What does Europe export?This detailed zoom into a larger map by Simran Khoslashows each country's biggest export sector. Most Europeancountries are global purveyors of sophisticated machineryand capital equipment of one sort or another, but there areexceptions. Norway combines a Nordic social democracywith a healthy supply of oil, making it the continent's richestcountry by GDP per capita. Conversely, many of Europe'spoorer countries like Greece, Romania, or Portugal lacksophisticated manufacturing sectors and export lessvaluable commodities.

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    The unemployment divide

    ( http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/676108/fredgraph.0.png)

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    ( http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/676108/fredgraph.0.png)St Louis Federal Reserve ( http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=IS2)

    The unemployment divideOkay, this isn't a a map at all. But it's really important tounderstanding Europe. Before the nancial crisis, the USunemployment rate was lower than the Eurozone's,reecting structural dierences between the economies.Then the recession, focused initially in the American housingsector, hit the US much harder than the Eurozone andpushed the unemployment rates up to approximately thesame level. But while the United States has made substantialprogress in recovering from that shock, tight money fromthe European Central Bank and a chaotic nancial situationhave left the European job market dramatically worse othan it was at the peak of the initial recession.

    Europe's shale gas potential

    ( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/674866/20130202_WBM955.0.png)( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/674866/20130202_WBM955.0.png)The Economist ( http://www.economist.com/news/business/21571171-extracting-europes-shale-gas-and-oil-will-be-slow-and-dicult-business-frack-future)

    Europe's shale gas potentialNatural gas extracted from shale through hydraulicfracturing has been an enormous growth industry in theUnited States over the past ve years, transforming anumber of communities and sharply curtailing domestic useof coal. At the same time, many worry about theenvironmental hazards of the fracking itself, as well as about

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    the potential for enthusiasm about new forms of fossil fuelextraction to kill momentum for renewable energy sources.This map from The Economist highlights that Europe maywell have the potential to get in on the gas party. But notonly does it take time and money to explore whether thispotential can be brought to life, would-be frackers also needto overcome considerable regulatory hurdles. Europeanpolitics makes it much easier for environmentalists and otherfracking opponents to get their way, thus far limitingexploration to a great extent.

    Tesla's supercharger network

    ( http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/674940/Screen_Shot_2014-08-28_at_9.37.22_AM.0.png) ( http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/674940/Screen_Shot_2014-08-28_at_9.37.22_AM.0.png)Tesla Motors ( http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger)

    Tesla's supercharger networkThis map of Tesla Motors' European supercharger network ishandy if you happen to be planning a road trip in anextremely expensive luxury sedan. But it's also a window intoEurope's socioeconomic geography. This product appeals toa particular kind of upscale environmentalist, so it's nosurprise that Tesla's US network started in California thencame to the northeast and has been built from the coastsinward. The European equivalent is rather dierent, startingfrom the middle along an axis running roughly from Turinto Oslo and working out to less-prosperous regions on theeastern and western peripheries.

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    Life

    Life expectancy

    ( http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/674850/Screen_Shot_2014-08-28_at_9.08.31_AM.0.png) ( http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/674850/Screen_Shot_2014-08-28_at_9.08.31_AM.0.png)Reilly616 and Eurostat (http://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/2ek/european_life_expectancy_at_birth_by_nuts_2/)

    Life expectancyMapping life expectancy across Europe's regionsdemonstrates an interesting lack of correlation with overalleconomic health. The former communist areas are uniformlyworse than those on the western side of the Iron Curtain,but within western Europe it's far from clear that the richerareas are doing better on this score. Spain has one ofEurope's weakest economies, but its life expectency isamong Europe's highest. Greek life expectency looks similarto Germany's. Some of the worst life expectancies areconcentrated in the prosperous United Kingdom. This is thesort of broad observation that's given rise to a thousandarticles touting the virtues of the Mediterranean diet andlifestyle versus the heavy investment in meat, potatoes, andbeer that's more characteristic of northern Europe or theUnited States.

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    Alcohol taxation

    ( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/674968/excise_map.0.jpg)( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/674968/excise_map.0.jpg)Spirits Europe ( http://spirits.eu/page.php?id=37&parent_id=8)

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    Alcohol taxationAlcohol taxation prices vary widely across Europe, with thegeneral rule that the Nordic states and the UK levy thehighest rates. This map was produced by Europe's distilledspirits lobby, however, to illustrate the point that Europeannations generally tax alcohol at a higher rate when it comesin the form of whiskey or vodka than beer or wine. Wine inparticular gets a very generous tax treatment, with a hugenumber of European states apparently viewing it as nothaving any kind of health hazard worth discouraging at all.

    Share of population over 65

    ( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/674976/Europe_population_over_65.0.png)( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/674976/Europe_population_over_65.0.png)Underlying lk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ageing_of_Europe#mediaviewer/File:Europe_population_over_65.png)

    Share of population over 65This map based on 2010 data shows the share of thepopulation in each country that is over the age of 65.Demographic aging is occuring in almost all countries aroundthe world, but it is particularly extreme in a handful ofEuropean countries and it is an economic challenge forcountries that have built the most comprehensive welfarestates. Not only is a larger elder population a burden in termsof pension programs (Social Security and equivalent) butolder people tend to have greater health care needs. Thefact that Europe has a continentally integrated labor marketbut not an integrated welfare state may exacerbate theseissues. To the extent that Italy needs to levy high taxes on itsworking-age population to take care of older Italians, thatmerely makes it more attractive for young Italians to move toCopenhagen or Amsterdam leaving Italy with an even

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    higher share of senior citizens than it had before.

    The biggest football fans

    ( http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/assets/4645909/laknebg__2_.png) (http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/assets/4645909/laknebg__2_.png)tuttle_not_buttle (http://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1tqkds/percentage_of_the_population_attending_domestic/)

    The biggest football fansFootball (or soccer) is popular across the Europeancontinent, but attendance at games varies considerablybetween countries. As this map of attendance rates shows,the absolute most football-mad people on the continent arethe Scots, followed pretty closely by the English and theDutch. The enormous popularity of Norway's domesticleague is interesting because it's hardly one of the world'sbest or most prominent leagues. Soccer is relativelyunpopular in central and eastern Europe, where you seemore hockey fans. It is also interesting that soccer is lesspopular in France than in any of the western Europeancountries that surround it. Not coincidentally, the Frenchnational league is also considered weaker than itscompetitors in Germany, Italy, and Spain. Less clear iswhether this is because French people don't like soccer quiteas much, or whether the causation runs in the oppositedirection.

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    Islam in Europe

    ( http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/675078/Muslim_population_and_percentage_in_europe_map_data_table.0.jpg)( http://cdn2.vox-

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    cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/675078/Muslim_population_and_percentage_in_europe_map_data_table.0.jpg)Muslim World ( http://islamicpopulation.blogspot.com/2010/09/muslims-in-europe-country-wise.html)

    Islam in EuropeThere is nothing new about Muslims living in Europe, but thepresent-day locus of Islam in western Europe derives muchmore from recent immigration trends than from the inux ofMuslims into Spain and the Balkans centuries ago. Albania,Bosnia, and Kosovo in the far southeast are majority Muslimas part of that historic presence, but further west the largestMuslim population is in France. This is largely a consequenceof migration into France from the country's former coloniesin northern and western Africa. In Germany, by contrast,Muslims are largely the descendents of Turkish guestworkers who moved there during the economic boom of the1960s, while Swedish immigration is inuenced more heavilyby the granting of refugee status to people facing problemsin their homeland. The Netherlands is home to manyimmigrants from Indonesia, a former colonial possession ofthe Dutch.

    The secular continent

    ( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/675930/1024px-Europe_belief_in_god.svg.0.png) ( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/675930/1024px-Europe_belief_in_god.svg.0.png)Alphathon based on Eurobarometer data (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism#mediaviewer/File:Europe_belief_in_god.svg)

    The secular continentEurope is the least-religious major region on earth, ashighlighted by this Eurobarmeter poll asking how many

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    Foreign relations

    people "believe there is a god." In the United States, polls ofthis question generally show 75 to 80 percent of Americans tobe theists ( http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/poll-

    americans-belief-god-strong-declining). That's similar to thenumbers in Italy or Poland, but far above what you see inFrance, Germany, the United Kingdom, or the Nordiccountries. The Czechs and the Estonians, however, take theprize for irreligion with fewer than one fth of thepopulation professing a belief in god.

    Europe's intimate ties to Russia

    ( http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/666524/Major_russian_gas_pipelines_to_europe.0.png)( http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/666524/Major_russian_gas_pipelines_to_europe.0.png)

    Europe's intimate ties to RussiaRussia and the European Union are locked into an intimateeconomic relationship by the web of gas pipelines depictedin this map by Samuel Bailey. On the one hand, without thegas that ows through these pipelines many Europeancountries including Germany and Italy would be bereftof energy resources. And yet as critical as Russian fuelimports are to Europe's energy mix, those very same exportsare in a way even more critical to the Russian economy, asthey oer a huge share of the country's foreign currencyearnings. As events in Ukraine and elsewhere drive tensionsbetween Moscow and Brussels, both sides remain lockedinto this energy trade by the basic geographical reality that

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    gas can only ow where the pipelines go.

    The EU's growing diplomatic presence

    ( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/672232/EU_diplomatic_missions.0.png)( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/672232/EU_diplomatic_missions.0.png)Alinor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_the_European_Union#mediaviewer/File:EU_diplomatic_missions.png)

    The EU's growing diplomatic presenceIt's a well-worn clich that the European Union, despite itsgrand aspirations, tends not to speak with a united orpowerful voice in world aairs. But this is changing. TheUnion now possesses an External Action Service a kind ofdiplomatic corps and an array of EU foreign missionsaround the world. The places currently served by full-serviceEU missions (denoted in dark green) are an interestingblend. You have many countries in sub-Saharan Africa wheremany individual EU members would likely not spend themoney on an embassy of their own. But you also have keyrising powers in Asia and non-EU countries that border theEU. Meanwhile, light green indicates countries where there isan accredited European Commission mission as well asdiplomatic missions from individual European nations.Together, these cover virtually every country on earth. It's along way from a "European foreign policy" but alsosomething you wouldn't come close to seeing from anyother trade bloc a perfect illustration of the EU's hybridnature.

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    EU military interventions abroad

    ( http://cdn1.vox-

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    cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/672240/Map_of_EU_interventions_overseas.0.png)( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/672240/Map_of_EU_interventions_overseas.0.png)Nightstallion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Security_and_Defence_Policy_missions_of_the_European_Union#mediaviewer/File:Map_of_EU_interventions_overseas.png)

    EU military interventions abroadEuropean Union member states retain the right to conductmilitary operations unilaterally, but in practice only Franceand the UK tend to actually do this. Other nations are muchmore likely to send troops abroad under the aegis of a largerNATO or, increasingly, EU mission. This map highlightsall the countries that have experienced an ocial EU militaryintervention over the past 15 years. It includes a lot ofpeacekeeping operations in Africa, participation in postwarreconstruction eorts in Iraq and Afghanistan, monitoringthe newfound independence of East Timor, and a variety ofoperations aimed at stabilizing the European periphery.

    Europe's colonial legacy

    ( http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/674328/Screen_Shot_2014-06-23_at_5.07.38_PM2.0.png) ( http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/674328/Screen_Shot_2014-06-23_at_5.07.38_PM2.0.png)Max Fisher ( http://www.vox.com/2014/6/24/5835320/map-in-the-whole-world-only-these-ve-countries-escaped-european)

    Europe's colonial legacyFairly remarkably, almost every country on the planet wasformally or informally incorporated into a European colonialempire at one point or another. Some of these territories like the United States or Australia were settled byEuropean immigration subsequent to colonization. Otherswere turned into "protectorates" or other arrangements in

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    Transportation

    which some native potentate retained formal control, butforeign aairs and important aspects of economic policywere turned over to the colonizing power. In most places, acolonial government was simply installed.

    Commuter rail across three nations

    ( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/assets/4784340/Basel_-_Regio-S-Bahn_Basel_-_Netzplan.jpg) (http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/assets/4784340/Basel_-_Regio-S-Bahn_Basel_-_Netzplan.jpg)Maximiliar Drrbecker ( http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Basel_-_Regio-S-Bahn_Basel_-_Netzplan.jpg)

    Commuter rail across three nationsA symbol of present-day Europe's high level of peace andcooperation, as well as its commitment to excellent masstransit service, the commuter rail network for the city ofBasel in Switzerland extends into both France and Germany.Responsibility for the service is split between the Swissnational rail company, France's SNCF, and Germany'sDeutsche Bahn. International urban agglomerations are fairlycommon globally (there are several on the US-Mexicoborder), but cross-border transportation services areuniquely practical in Europe because the SchengenAgreement allows for transit across most of the continent'sinternal boundaries without passport checks or customs.

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    Rhein-Ruhr mass transit35

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    ( http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/664340/StadtbahnRR.0.png)( http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/664340/StadtbahnRR.0.png)Sebastian Sothen ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verkehrsverbund_Rhein-Ruhr)

    Rhein-Ruhr mass transitGermany is Europe's largest economic power and Berlin isGermany's largest city. But the real hub of the Germanyeconomy is a lesser-known but more interesting urbanphenomenon the polycentric metropolitan area known asRhine-Ruhr, stretching from Dusseldorf and Cologne in thenorth to Bonn in the south. None of the constituent cities ofRhine-Ruhr are especially large, but together they make ametropolitan area that's 11 million strong and hosts 26 ofGermany's 50 largest companies. Knitting it all together andmaking it all work is the complicated but ecientVerkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr, the region's mass transitsystem. It's composed of 29 regional rail lines, 11 S-Bahnlines, 19 light rail lines, 45 streetcars, and over 900 busroutes.

    High-speed rail

    ( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/671606/High_Speed_Railroad_Map_of_Europe_2013.svg.0.png)( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/671606/High_Speed_Railroad_Map_of_Europe_2013.svg.0.png)FlyAkwa ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Europe#mediaviewer/File:High_Speed_Railroad_Map_of_Europe_2013.svg)

    High-speed railThe Acela Express between Washington, DC and Boston, anunusually fast train in American trains, is only about as fastas the bright yellow lines on this map of Europe's passenger

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    rail network. The orange, red, and purple lines are faster thananything we have in the USA. You can see that the very besttrain routes are dominated by France and Spain, who'veinvested mightily in passenger rail. But the links betweenLondon, Lille, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Lige are themost noteworthy in terms of the mix of speed, distance, andnumber of cities served. In a typically European fashion,these crucial links cross several national boundaries. Theformerly communist countries, meanwhile, are essentiallyAmerican in their neglect of high-speed rail.

    Europe's busiest airports

    ( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/672222/EuropeCent.0.png)( http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/672222/EuropeCent.0.png)PemFR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_in_Europe#mediaviewer/File:EuropeCent.PNG)

    Europe's busiest airportsThis is every European airport that moves more than100,000 annual passengers, with the size of the dot scaledto the volume of air trac. The map was made using datafrom 2009, which was a terrible year in general for aviationthanks to the great recession, so total volumes are likelybigger today. By and large the biggest cities see the most airtravel, though one important exception is that Berlin innortheastern Germany is a relative minnow in terms of airtrac Germany's biggest airport by far is in the smallerwestern city of Frankfurt. That's in large part a legacy of thecity's anomalous Cold War politics, and is supposed to bexed after the much-delayed new Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (http://online.wsj.com/articles/berlin-mayor-resigns-after-

    criticism-over-delays-to-new-airport-opening-1409056774) isnally completed.

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    Learn more

    Grand Paris Express

    ( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/675022/Grand_paris_express.svg.0.png)( http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/le/675022/Grand_paris_express.svg.0.png)Hektor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Paris_Express#mediaviewer/File:Grand_paris_express.svg)

    Grand Paris ExpressThis map shows France's plan to make the best mass transitsystem on the continent (if not the world) even better,through the Grand Paris Express initiative. The plan calls forthe creation of four new Metro lines one of them asuburban loop that will make all trips between peripheraldestinations much faster as well as the extension of theexisting Metro lines 11 and 14, transforming them into majoraxes throughout the Paris area. The city's municipalboundaries are highlighted in yellow in the center here. Asyou can see, the improvements are almost all totransportation outside the city so this won't change thingsmuch for tourists who probably don't have much need evenfor the new links to Versailles or Charles de Gaulle Airport.But for actual French people, this will greatly expand the setof destinations where one can live and still enjoy aconvenient commute to the central city or to the enormoussecondary business district of La Dfense right outside thecity.

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    Credits

    40 maps that explain World War One (http://www.vox.com/a/world-war-i-maps)

    An awesome map of the last time each Europeancountry was occupied (http://www.vox.com/2014/5/28/5758662/occupation-europe-map-ukraine)

    40 maps that explain the Roman Empire (http://www.vox.com/2014/8/19/5942585/40-maps-that-explain-the-roman-empire)

    Developer Yuri Victor ( http://twitter.com/yurivictor)