There are numerous numbers of geographical diagrams which are visual depictions of trends and figures available on the internet, many of which I have featured before. Last week I came across an
article which showed several world maps demonstrating more trivial trends across the globe, and therefore I thought I would comment on them in a blog post.
1. Most Common Surname
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| Most common surnames in each European country |
This map is very self explanatory; it shows each European country and the most common surname within it. I was not surprised with them being Smith in England and Jones in Wales as it is common knowledge that these are common names. But the real question is: Why are some surnames more common than others? Previously in England, surnames were based on several factors of each individual. One categorisation was habitational, this was based upon the geographical location in which some one lived or a feature that they lived by, so many people who lived in one town would sure a common name. The occupational system was based upon the jobs which individuals had, so many blacksmiths were given the surname Smith which could explain why this is the most common in England. A person who tightened the weave in wool was known as Fuller, and so on. A more relaxed method was through nicknames, which were usually based upon a person's physical trait or their emotions. This resulted in people who had a tendency to talk a lot after a type of bird, a hairy person being named after a bear, and someone who had a bad temper being known as Moody. This shows that not all people with the same surname are related to each other and just that they one had a common interest or bond.
2. Legal Driving Side
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| Which countries drive on the left or right side of the road |
As an English person I am aware of the fact that we are in the minority when it comes to driving on the left side of the road. From this map it can be seen that it is Britain, Australia, India, parts of Southern Africa, Indonesia and New Zealand who drive on the left whilst the rest of the world dominate by driving on the right. 35% of the world drives on the left and the countries that do are mostly old British colonies. In the past, most people travelled on the left side of the road as in violent societies people wanted to hold their sword in their left hand and horse reins in their right. In addition most people found it easier to mount and dismount a horse from the light hand side, so it would be safer to do this onto the side of the road rather than in the middle of traffic. However in the 1700s in the United States and France, wagons were used and the driver used to sit on the rear left horse and as they wanted people to pass them on the left and ensure their wagon was moving safely, they drove on the right. The French Revolution led to most classes beginning to drive on the right. Later, Napoleon's conquests spread the new rightism to countries such as Belgium, Switzerland, Spain etc, but the states that had resisted Napolean continued to drive on the left. Left-hand driving was made mandatory in Britain in 1835. Countries that were part of the British Empire did this also, and today some of these countries such as India and Australia still drive on the left. An exception to this is Egypt, which had been conquered by Napoleon before becoming a British dependency.
3. Coffee Consumption
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| The varying rates of coffee consumption in each country |
From this map it can be seen that the countries with the highest coffee consumption is Nordic nations, Canada and Brazil. It wasn't the countries that grabbed my attention, however, it was the countries which I know grow coffee beans whose consumption is extremely low. The optimum conditions for growing coffee are along the Equatorial Zone, between the latitudes of 25 degrees north and 30 degrees south. The countries who produce the largest amount of coffee include Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, India and Ethiopia. Brazil has one of the highest consumption rates which makes sense due to them being the largest producer of coffee beans, but countries such as India and Ethiopia who also produce significant amounts do not consume much at all. This could suggest that, as their economy is underdeveloped, they need the income from exporting coffee and cannot afford to retain any for their own consumption. Brazil's economy overtook the size f that of the United Kingdom in 2011 which means they would be able to retain some of their good produced, instead of it being fully subsidence farming.
I hope that you found these slightly more trivial topics interesting, and I think this further demonstrates the point that anything can be thought of in a geographical way. I will do a second edition of this post soon, so look out for it!
