The East · Geography · Monarchies · Society

Population and Population Density of the Roman and Mongol Empires Compared with Europe and Russia Today

The Roman Empire and the Mongol Empire at their height. The maximum population of the Roman Empire was around 75 million, or 20 people per square kilometre. The Mongol Empire at its peak reached 100 million, or around 3 people per square kilometre. Today the population density of Europe is

NB! · Geography · Nature

Of Greece's 6,000 islands and islets, only 227 are inhabited, and all of them fall into 6 groups: 🟢 Ionian 🟣 North Aegean 🔵 Euboea and the Northern Sporades 🔴 Saronic Gulf Islands 🟠 Cyclades 🟡 Dodecanese

NB! · Geography · Humour

The Roundest Countries in the World

Geography · Observations · Science · Mores

Parisian millstones in English mills and Derbyshire gritstone

From an article on English milling I learnt that coarse Derbyshire millstone grit would do for grindstones, but the finest material was held to be stone from quarries outside Paris, which every millowner of any means tried to import. So for centuries the English were, quite literally, eating bread ground

Architecture · Geography · Maps · Madrid

Arab and Christian medieval cities in Spain and the Muslim origins of Madrid

The Arab (Moorish) and the Christian medieval city in Spain. An interesting piece of graphic work: the two cities are at once very alike and rather different. The Arab city strongly resembles Madrid/Majrit, whose plan is shown in the second image, and the reason is plain: Madrid is the

Map of Europe with regions such as France, Saxony, Bavaria and Lombardy shaded in grey, orange and blue.

Geography · Maps · Monarchies · Humour

Charlemagne's empire 600 years later consists of many warring independent states

843: Charlemagne's empire must be divided among his three grandsons to avoid a succession crisis in the future. 600 years later: Charlemagne's empire is a patchwork quilt of countless independent states at war with one another

NB! · Geography · Maps · Society

A Map Showing the Centres of African Resistance to European Colonisation

NB! · Geography

Passenger Railways in the United States and in Europe

Black and white group photograph of footballers in striped shirts, five seated in front and the others standing behind, with two men in suits beside them.

NB! · Geography · Pop Culture

Argentina's national football team white and sky blue kit in 1908 and the first match of 1902

Argentina's national team has worn its legendary white and sky-blue kit, in the colours of the national flag, since 1908, since the star-studded match with Brazil. The Argentines played their very first official match in a plain blue kit, against Uruguay in 1902

Geography · Monarchies · Society · Paris

Versailles rail disaster after which France stopped locking railway carriages

On 8 May 1842, France's first railway disaster occurred on the line between Versailles and Paris. The train, returning from the celebration of King Louis-Philippe's birthday at Versailles, was running with two locomotives, one at the head of the train and one at the rear.

Archive · Geography · Maps · Society

A little-known utopian map of Europe's arrangement after the First World War, from the anonymous 1920 pamphlet "The Central European Union: A Guide to Lasting Peace"

The author disputes the Treaty of Versailles and doubts that it will bring eternal peace and prosperity. The project gathers 24 European states under a single roof, as though anticipating the creation of the European Union. The borders of each country form a wedge, and all the wedges converge in

NB! · Archive · The East · Geography