Maps of India

August 6, 2008 8:52 PM

India is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. Fortunately, somebody has rendered the whole sub-continent down to a series of maps. Want to know who speaks what, where, or maybe the AIDS prevalence by state? Or how about the history of India (Flash). Or (if you're on vacation) a map of the average rainfall and some travel maps might help. Dozens, if not hundreds, of Indian political, climate, historical, and cultural maps to check out.
posted by Panjandrum (14 comments total)

Oh, by the way, Mapfilter. In the hottest way possible.
posted by Panjandrum at 8:54 PM on August 6

Oh brilliant, I'm totally in the state with the highest rate of HIV prevalence.

Good thing I'm not single and trying to score, I guess.
posted by paisley henosis at 9:13 PM on August 6

India? Never heard of it.
posted by newfers at 10:31 PM on August 6

YAYYY maps of India. Hours of fun for me.

These are very good. Tons of complex information made simple and visually easy. And things I would never find anywhere else, like Hill Stations in India, Manali trekking map, Places Related to Mahatma Gandhi or River Maps of Himachal Pradesh. I spent 4 years in Manali. So cool to see a general map of the place, with place names. (I lived in the apple orchards of Chijoga, above the o in .com)

Thanks Panjandrum (love your name).
posted by nickyskye at 10:43 PM on August 6 [1 favorite]

You might think it's a long way down the street to the shops, but that's just peanuts compared to crossing India.
posted by w0mbat at 11:14 PM on August 6

Thanks Panjandrum, I sent the links to a man who will be going to India soon.
posted by Cranberry at 11:16 PM on August 6

Thanks, I definitely need a much better understanding of Indian history and geography than I've gotten from Eurocentric fiction (M.M.Kaye, Kipling, etc...) and wargames. I can't keep all the states separate in my head.
posted by BrotherCaine at 12:59 AM on August 7

The language map is hugely misleading. It is just the official languages and state boundaries. I lived in a part of Karnataka with two families of Konkani speakers that was majority Marathi speaking with large Urdu and Gujuarati (as well as Konkani) speaking communities, and some Kanada speakers.

According to that map, only Kanada is spoken there.
posted by QIbHom at 5:28 AM on August 7

Eurocentric fiction (,,, Kipling, etc...)

A little dismissive of Father Kipling, I think. Take another look at the Jungle Book etc. English was, after all, his second language.

(Waits for brickbats to fly.)
posted by IndigoJones at 6:32 AM on August 7

The language map is hugely misleading. It is just the official languages and state boundaries.

Yeah, that bothered me too. But the other maps look very useful. Thanks for the post!
posted by languagehat at 6:35 AM on August 7

You're welcome!

I agree the language map is, um, "simplified." For instance in Bangalore (or Bengaluru, if you prefer), where Kanada is the official language, it's easy to find whole neighborhoods chatting away in Tamil or Telegu. That's the both the problem and the beauty of maps, I suppose, they're a balance of authority and complexity, all to often held together by wishful thinking.
posted by Panjandrum at 7:00 AM on August 7

Hehe .. okay, it's bigger than Texas ...that means it's big enough ... more than a day to get across it.

After being in New England for a couple of years now, I miss me some wide opens ...

Great site.
posted by aldus_manutius at 9:14 AM on August 7

Yes, the language map is not very good. In Sikkim most people speak Nepali, not Hindi. Nepali isn't even included on the map, so thankyouverymuch.
posted by Hollow at 12:41 PM on August 7

If you think India is big, you should take a look at Africa.
posted by vronsky at 2:42 PM on August 7 [1 favorite]