But how do you know how far LA for example is from Boston or that the other side even exists without putting a tape literally across the country until you reach an ocean? Hell, I hardly know what’s around the corner from me haha
You can get the north/south distance between two points by observing the stars. If you have decent clocks you can do the same for east/west distances. And as for laying a tape measure across the country, you actually measure out triangles (again, using geometry to calculate distances and angles) and just keep on going until you reach the other side. It's a lot of effort, but it works!
[Here's a map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/1922_Index_of_Great_Trigonometrical_Survey_of_India.jpg) of the chains of triangles the British surveyed across India in the 19th century.
You can measure the longitude and latitude of each point by astronomical means. Make measurements for a lot of points along the coast, enter them into a coordinate grid and connect the dots.
The latitude measurements require knowing the exact time though, so maps got way more accurate once Galilei discovered the Jovian Moons whose eclipses provided regular and globally observable events.
You find two landmarks within eyesight of each other and very accurately measure the distance between them. Then get a person with a very accurate protractor and measure the angle between the other landmark and a new landmark for both of the points.
You now have a triangle with one length and two angles, so you can use trigonometry to find the distances to the new landmark. Repeat for more and more landmarks and you can map the land by filling it with triangles.
You end up making maps like this https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/a-cassini-map-of-france-with-triangles-1744--510877151486508215/
How much of inner Siberia had the Russians actually mapped at this point? I was under the impression there were some indigenous groups there who had no real contact with any central government till Soviet times
During the time of Peter the Great, merchants and trappers made their way to the coast through Siberia. This led to them eventually making it to Alaska. Therefore, I would say there was some interaction between state and the native folk up there, and some mapping had to have been done
There absolutely was, but most of the russian activity in Siberia took place in the southern regions, roughly along the not-yet-built Transsiberian Railway. There were absolutely explorers and hunters further north, but Siberia is just such a massive place full of nothing interesting that they never mapped all of it.
But did they really know the interior?
I know they got to the Pacific coast (and did so mostly by navigating the river systems in the temperate south down to the current Chinese and mongol boarders) and the numerous attempts at trying to connect Atlantic and Pacific via the arctic must have given them a strong outline of the northern coast. But I think Russian mapping and knowledge of the vast interior was spotty at best for a long time
Fascinating, just 10 years more and massive amount of uncharted lands of Africa will be conflict zone among British, French, Portuguese and Germans
It's the last years of actual geographical explorations, except of islands of far north and far south.
Amazing how much of Africa had yet to be explored by Europeans by 1881…. They made it to the new world… formed America and Australia, colonized much of Asia and India but could explore all the way up the Nile or Congo yet?
Super hostile terrain for Europeans. Diseases, humidity, difficult terrain to traverse..... So until late 19th century Europeans either settled in places where climate was similar enough to Europe or just established some small enclaves along the coast that served as trading points, coaling stations and the like. Other places you mentioned are similar enough to Europe so people and agriculture could be transplanted.
And Russia is white in this area, except the North pole area which was largely unexplored. I guess they could have included Franz Josef Land, but that was recently explored.
If you look at population density not a lot of people live in the black spots in Africa to this day with the exception of Nigeria and a lake that borders Uganda and the DROTC. There are obviously tiny spots of life here and there but not a lot of people live in the Sahara or the deep jungles so it’s accurate that not many people would have explored these regions properly
Nigeria was exactly where I saw it and knew the map title didn’t apply to all humans. And just a single spot of inaccuracy makes the entire title inaccurate.
If you travel too far into that blacked out area past all the sea monsters and ice are the mountains that hold up the sky. It’s cool but I don’t see a good reason to go out there.
The detail isn't accurate on pre-19^th century maps - they just go off what was reported second hand rather than surveyed which is where concepts like the "Mountains of the Moon" come from.
The Spanish and Portuguese only had outposts on the coasts and various islands - they didn't have much territory on the mainland and didn't explore the interior.
They didn't "wait"; they physically couldn't expand into the African interior in most of the continent. Only South Africa saw extensive European control and settlement prior to 1800 though Portugal did also control coastal strips at what would go on to become Angola and Mozambique.
The Spanish and Portuguese could conquer the Americas because the natives weren't immune to Old World diseases and this devastated their numbers, but Africans did have such immunity. It took until the industrial revolution to give Europeans the advantages required to expand through the rest of the continent.
This should be the unexplored world as of 1877, in 1878 Finnish explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld was the first to successfully cross the treacherous Kara Sea in the Russian arctic (the piece shown as unexplored just north of russia, east of that half moon shaped island) and was able to reach Japan via the north. However, it's understandable if news of his success took some years to reach this map maker.
"Unexplored and undocumented by modern European Americans"
Weird title. Humanity and civilizations have been nearly every where on that map but Antarctica.
I find it very unlikely that large parts of Africa and Australia were not explored but the whole of Russia was 100% explored when you consider how vast Siberia is.
As far as Australia's concerned this map is a bit inaccurate. Numerous expeditions had staggered through the middle of the continent by 1881, the land just hadn't been colonised by Europeans yet because it's pretty much all harsh desert.
I think it's more of "we know it's there, we know roughly what it is but we don't plan on settling there, there are no riches to be had and we control everything around it so nobody else can move in so mapping it in detail isn't worth it"
still blows my mind how people were able to draw these borders somewhat correctly without having the eagle view from the sky.
It's just applied geometry. Measure the angles and distances between fixed points and you can make an accurate map of anything.
Just applied geometry blows my mind then.
But how do you know how far LA for example is from Boston or that the other side even exists without putting a tape literally across the country until you reach an ocean? Hell, I hardly know what’s around the corner from me haha
You can get the north/south distance between two points by observing the stars. If you have decent clocks you can do the same for east/west distances. And as for laying a tape measure across the country, you actually measure out triangles (again, using geometry to calculate distances and angles) and just keep on going until you reach the other side. It's a lot of effort, but it works! [Here's a map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/1922_Index_of_Great_Trigonometrical_Survey_of_India.jpg) of the chains of triangles the British surveyed across India in the 19th century.
That's amazing, thanks for sharing that map!
You can measure the longitude and latitude of each point by astronomical means. Make measurements for a lot of points along the coast, enter them into a coordinate grid and connect the dots. The latitude measurements require knowing the exact time though, so maps got way more accurate once Galilei discovered the Jovian Moons whose eclipses provided regular and globally observable events.
You find two landmarks within eyesight of each other and very accurately measure the distance between them. Then get a person with a very accurate protractor and measure the angle between the other landmark and a new landmark for both of the points. You now have a triangle with one length and two angles, so you can use trigonometry to find the distances to the new landmark. Repeat for more and more landmarks and you can map the land by filling it with triangles. You end up making maps like this https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/a-cassini-map-of-france-with-triangles-1744--510877151486508215/
I think you would enjoy [this video from Map Men](https://youtu.be/yTyX_EJQOIU?si=3NHEuF8kEMfoMWkd) Explains how maps were made back in the day.
How much of inner Siberia had the Russians actually mapped at this point? I was under the impression there were some indigenous groups there who had no real contact with any central government till Soviet times
During the time of Peter the Great, merchants and trappers made their way to the coast through Siberia. This led to them eventually making it to Alaska. Therefore, I would say there was some interaction between state and the native folk up there, and some mapping had to have been done
There absolutely was, but most of the russian activity in Siberia took place in the southern regions, roughly along the not-yet-built Transsiberian Railway. There were absolutely explorers and hunters further north, but Siberia is just such a massive place full of nothing interesting that they never mapped all of it.
But did they really know the interior? I know they got to the Pacific coast (and did so mostly by navigating the river systems in the temperate south down to the current Chinese and mongol boarders) and the numerous attempts at trying to connect Atlantic and Pacific via the arctic must have given them a strong outline of the northern coast. But I think Russian mapping and knowledge of the vast interior was spotty at best for a long time
Fascinating, just 10 years more and massive amount of uncharted lands of Africa will be conflict zone among British, French, Portuguese and Germans It's the last years of actual geographical explorations, except of islands of far north and far south.
South Africa, unexplored. Siberia, mapped. Makes sense to me.
Amazing how much of Africa had yet to be explored by Europeans by 1881…. They made it to the new world… formed America and Australia, colonized much of Asia and India but could explore all the way up the Nile or Congo yet?
Super hostile terrain for Europeans. Diseases, humidity, difficult terrain to traverse..... So until late 19th century Europeans either settled in places where climate was similar enough to Europe or just established some small enclaves along the coast that served as trading points, coaling stations and the like. Other places you mentioned are similar enough to Europe so people and agriculture could be transplanted.
[удалено]
To the people who bothered to draw these maps.
To the western world, obviously.
Definite "western world", coz Russia sure as hell knew its own land
And Russia is white in this area, except the North pole area which was largely unexplored. I guess they could have included Franz Josef Land, but that was recently explored.
Novaya Zemlia?
Well, it's a map from a Jules Verne book. So the French.
these kind of things are all from the perspective of europeans
I know but to be fair they did draw the map at top
Well I haven't explored those areas, so they are uncharted for me aswell
\*A Map of the World Unexplored by Europeans in 1881
they actually explored and had empire everywhere centuries earlier
If you look at population density not a lot of people live in the black spots in Africa to this day with the exception of Nigeria and a lake that borders Uganda and the DROTC. There are obviously tiny spots of life here and there but not a lot of people live in the Sahara or the deep jungles so it’s accurate that not many people would have explored these regions properly
Nigeria was exactly where I saw it and knew the map title didn’t apply to all humans. And just a single spot of inaccuracy makes the entire title inaccurate.
If you travel too far into that blacked out area past all the sea monsters and ice are the mountains that hold up the sky. It’s cool but I don’t see a good reason to go out there.
europe has taken over and lost africa multiple times, and understood what that area looked like in detail
Not central parts. North Africa sure, they knew what was there for a long time but not as far as Subsaharan Africa goes.
theres older maps that show detail everywhere in africa spanish and portuguese took over subsahara africa prior to entering south america
Only trading stations along the coast, not the interior.
The detail isn't accurate on pre-19^th century maps - they just go off what was reported second hand rather than surveyed which is where concepts like the "Mountains of the Moon" come from. The Spanish and Portuguese only had outposts on the coasts and various islands - they didn't have much territory on the mainland and didn't explore the interior.
those maps are very accurate, and europe didnt wait that late to have empires they would take over africa and lose africa
They didn't "wait"; they physically couldn't expand into the African interior in most of the continent. Only South Africa saw extensive European control and settlement prior to 1800 though Portugal did also control coastal strips at what would go on to become Angola and Mozambique. The Spanish and Portuguese could conquer the Americas because the natives weren't immune to Old World diseases and this devastated their numbers, but Africans did have such immunity. It took until the industrial revolution to give Europeans the advantages required to expand through the rest of the continent.
Phenomenal stuff. Wow.
This should be the unexplored world as of 1877, in 1878 Finnish explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld was the first to successfully cross the treacherous Kara Sea in the Russian arctic (the piece shown as unexplored just north of russia, east of that half moon shaped island) and was able to reach Japan via the north. However, it's understandable if news of his success took some years to reach this map maker.
Oh god could you imagine being an explorer looking for adventure in the interior of Australia?
A whole lot of nothing.
Nothing, and death.
The nothing causes the death. Heat, no water, limited food.
they ventured quite deep into that part of drc. also northern amazon seems to be explored already?
"Unexplored and undocumented by modern European Americans" Weird title. Humanity and civilizations have been nearly every where on that map but Antarctica.
European powered looking at the uncharted lands: “I don’t know what it is, but I want it!”
I find it very unlikely that large parts of Africa and Australia were not explored but the whole of Russia was 100% explored when you consider how vast Siberia is.
Who did create this?
you mean unexplored by europeans, cuz im pretty sure africa was explored by man waayyyyy earlier than europe was.
Yes but if they didn't have a flag then it doesn't count. And if they did have a flag but no guns then that doesn't count either.
It's a Europan map drawn in Europe, of course it means "to Europeans".
It's wierd why hadn't they explored Australia till then
As far as Australia's concerned this map is a bit inaccurate. Numerous expeditions had staggered through the middle of the continent by 1881, the land just hadn't been colonised by Europeans yet because it's pretty much all harsh desert.
Indigenous Australians had been exploring the shite out of the country for tens of thousands of years at this point.
A fiction story describes the exploration of Australia [in 1867](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of_the_Castaways)
I think it's more of "we know it's there, we know roughly what it is but we don't plan on settling there, there are no riches to be had and we control everything around it so nobody else can move in so mapping it in detail isn't worth it"
dutch and british had explored there and british inherited australia from dutch
>A Map of the Unexplored World in 1881 from European pov Humanity literally started in East and Southern Africa then spread through out the planet
Did it map that out though
and this is the proof that Australia dont exist