Monday, June 15, 2026

What is the most unusual country map?

 At first glance, everything seems quite normal. Apart from Corsica, there's nothing unusual about the shape of the map of France (no offense to Corsica!):

It resembles a hexagon, doesn't it? In fact, the hexagon is considered a French symbol to such an extent that it's represented on coins. Here's a French euro coin:

If France were as simple as that, I wouldn't even mention your map in this response. But it's not. See below a real map of France:

France's longest border is not with Spain or Belgium, but with Brazil. The overseas department of French Guiana shares a 730 km border with Brazil, while mainland France's longest border is with Spain, measuring only 657 kilometers, and is even bisected by the Franco-Andorran border.

France also shares a border with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but it lies on the Caribbean island of St. Martin/Sint Maarten. France has a maritime border with Canada due to St. Pierre and Miquelon, islands located off the coast of Newfoundland.

As can be seen on the second map, there are parts of France also in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Great Britain has many overseas territories, but they are not an integral part of the United Kingdom. All the areas shaded in blue on the second map are an integral part of the French Republic, and their inhabitants are French citizens, equal in all respects to the inhabitants of Paris or Marseille. Or even Corsica.

France is definitely the country with the strangest map shape on the planet. Besides, it's actually the land where the sun never sets. Somewhere in the world, the sun is always shining in France.