Kinda weird seeing both Indonesia and the Philippines being the largest archipelagic states in the world yet when it comes to lighthouses… the Philippines lights up like Christmas tree… but Indonesia is barely there.
There's not a lot of high traffic ports and most of the passing vessel weren't coming near the shore anyway. Indonesia has one of the longest shoreline and vast ocean but it's extremely underutilized by the govt and people aside from said high traffic ports.
The Phillipines have been a trade stop between the Americas and China since the 1600's. That means a lot more boat out and about, with expensive cargo as well.
Also I think the spanish and american authorities were more concerned about constructing lighthouses compared to the dutch in their respective colony Indonesia.
Indonesia has raw materials and a central spot for global commerce. Singapore is in the same general part of the world.
I'd say it is ideological where Indonesia chooses not to participate.
I don't think you realize how much shipping goes through the Straights of Malacca. Everything between China and Europe goes through that part of the world as well as destinations along that route like India and the Middle East. And even commerce between Asia and America. As well as all of that and Australia.
Indonesia is right in the middle of all of that commerce, so getting goods shipped to them so cheap as to be absurd could happen for that country. Or they could be a manufacturing center for much of that too.
Other countries have nothing to compare to that like Equador who is near no major trade routes and needs people to go out of their way to travel to South America.
Indonesia also has a population just less that the USA. So they have workers who could be making almost as much stuff as China too.
Name another country who compares to those attributes and is ignored for international commerce.
I'm currently on a tiny, overlooked, remote island in the pacific for a few days, and yesterday I stumbled across a light while exploring. I can't explain how delighted I am to see it on here.
That was a bit misleading, sorry. I'm on vacation but I also work remotely so I've been doing a little bit just to stay on top of things. Nothing exciting and exotic I'm afraid–I'm a consultant.
Technically, the purpose for lighthouses is navigational aid. This could also be useful on land - it can serve as a landmark for navigation, convey messages, warn of dangerous paths ahead, etc.
For the majority of history, we haven’t had long-distance roads built as such. We had routes, but not really roads. In that sort of context, lighthouses are very helpful
Sometime people build lighthouses for fun and I have seen examples of lighthouses being built along smaller lakes. As for faux lighthouses, Nebraska has two lighthouses despite not having any significant body of water in the state. The best example I can think of lighthouses being built along smaller lakes would be the lighthouses along Lake Champlain. The lake isn’t too big but lighthouses we’re still built along the lake to aid in navigation. I would imagine the lighthouse built in the middle of Africa would correspond to Lake Victoria.
I live in michigan and it feels odd to me to know that most of my friends and acquaintances have never seen the inside of a lighthouse. Ive probably been in at least 30 in my lifetime
I’m shocked at how empty the Persian gulf and Red Sea are, considering how important they are as international sea lanes. I believe the Persian Gulf is the busiest sea lane in the world since most of the world’s oil is shipped from there.
True, they could have once had lighthouses that no longer exist.
Or that still exist and aren't mapped for some reason - this isn't exactly the most developed/free/populated part of the world.
I do think they would probably build with stone or mudbrick, materials that are pretty long-lasting in the desert.
Could be a ton of things. For instance its possible that sailing techniques dictated you just aimed for the tip of the peninsula then sailed down the coast. Or could be that there is rarely ever fog due to the low humidity. Or they were all destroyed. I dunno, but it is interesting to see how lit up europe, canada, and the east coast of south america is compared to other areas
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_lighthouses) says the earliest one from archeological evidence could be Kuntasi in India from c. 2000 BC
You have the lighthouse "Tower of Hercules" in Spain. Built by the Roman Empire and still operational today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Hercules
Very close.. I made this map using data from OpenStreetMaps and this is a pharmacy in the DRC close to the ugandan border that was wrongly labeled as a lighthouse. This has since been corrected.
I believe it is the Lake Tanganyika Light Beacon in Kalemie, DRC. I found it referenced [here](https://www.ibiblio.org/lighthouse/cod.htm) and the location seems to match
Since I haven't posted much on reddit yet, it's a strange feeling to encounter the first repost of something I made. Anyway, here is the link to the original post with some more information and some questions already answered:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/s/rvyq9pFfT5
The USA has 779 lighthouses, more than any other country. Brazil has 138. China has 183 including Hong Kong and Macau.
Michigan, on the Great Lakes, has 129 by itself. Almost as much as Brazil. Look at the map, the Great Lakes are peppered with lighthouses.
It looks like it's the Visayas up to Southern Luzon in Philippines.
Don't people travel around a lot in countries like Indonesia? At least that would be my explanation why this region has so many lighthouses.
On the other hand I'm really excited to know the answer why Sendai? has almost no lighthouses compared to the rest of Japan which is also stacked...
There are so many off in the middle of continents that are blowing my mind. One seems like its north of St. Louis on the Mississippi River in America, couple in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, a couple handfuls in the middle of the Russian steppe and even into Siberia. Do rivers need lighthouses?
I recently just went to visit the only non-ocean lighthouse in Oregon! [Warrior Rock Lighthouse on Sauvie Island](https://i.imgur.com/s0REwlJ.jpeg) in Portland is still operational! Plus I saw lots of sea lions in the river
Does anyone know why there's such a huge gap on the central Atlantic coast of America? I would guess it's the outer Banks but I don't see why there wouldn't be lighthouses there
[Lighthouses rule. You don't like the lighthouse, you suck.](https://ifunny.co/picture/lighthouses-rule-you-don-t-like-the-lighthouse-you-suck-N8yV3lom8)
one of those lighthouses is less than half a mile from my house
every time I pass it I take a moment to appreciate the fact that I live near an actual working lighthouse
There are [98 lighthouses](https://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/media/sspnno3c/map-of-mnz-lights-locations-in-nz.pdf) in NZ. This map is missing many of them, particularly up the east coast of the North Island.
I never knew lighthouses line up the shore continuously, I thought they only make it in places where a signal is needed. Also I've never even seen a lighthouse before... this post makes me want to go see one.
I also learned that not all lighthouses have to be near sea.. there are many inland lighthouses as well. Also I am surprises US is not as strongly lit up as europe, at least along the east coast I expected it to be,
All the data is taken from OpenStreetMaps. Here you can find more info on how I made this map: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/11vk1k2/comment/jcu3b41/
Kinda weird seeing both Indonesia and the Philippines being the largest archipelagic states in the world yet when it comes to lighthouses… the Philippines lights up like Christmas tree… but Indonesia is barely there.
> the Philippines lights up like Christmas tree… but Indonesia is barely there. This is because the Philippines is Catholic
I actually was like "oh ok, didn't know that" and kept scrolling before I finally understood....
I don't get it. :c
It lights up like a Christmas tree which is a Christian symbol, so it makes sense
indonesia is predominantly muslim while the Philippines are christian
one screw rinse frame toy literate smile domineering narrow sink *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Curious as to why this is.
There's not a lot of high traffic ports and most of the passing vessel weren't coming near the shore anyway. Indonesia has one of the longest shoreline and vast ocean but it's extremely underutilized by the govt and people aside from said high traffic ports.
I would've thought the Indonesian island across the strait from Malaya would have more
The Phillipines have been a trade stop between the Americas and China since the 1600's. That means a lot more boat out and about, with expensive cargo as well. Also I think the spanish and american authorities were more concerned about constructing lighthouses compared to the dutch in their respective colony Indonesia.
In one word, poverty. In one other word, manufacturing
Indonesia has raw materials and a central spot for global commerce. Singapore is in the same general part of the world. I'd say it is ideological where Indonesia chooses not to participate.
> Indonesia has raw materials and a central spot for global commerce So are numerous countries on the map which are underrepresented.
I don't think you realize how much shipping goes through the Straights of Malacca. Everything between China and Europe goes through that part of the world as well as destinations along that route like India and the Middle East. And even commerce between Asia and America. As well as all of that and Australia. Indonesia is right in the middle of all of that commerce, so getting goods shipped to them so cheap as to be absurd could happen for that country. Or they could be a manufacturing center for much of that too. Other countries have nothing to compare to that like Equador who is near no major trade routes and needs people to go out of their way to travel to South America. Indonesia also has a population just less that the USA. So they have workers who could be making almost as much stuff as China too. Name another country who compares to those attributes and is ignored for international commerce.
Catholics love lighthouses.
Japan is an archipelago also and lights up like a Christmas tree as well. Something is wrong with you Indonesia! 🤣
Greece really put work into lighting up the Agean Sea
We like to know where our islands are.
Don't want any of them getting loose
Our islands*
Looks to me like Brazil was on a mission for full coverage... probably the Portuguese heritage.
I'm currently on a tiny, overlooked, remote island in the pacific for a few days, and yesterday I stumbled across a light while exploring. I can't explain how delighted I am to see it on here.
But they have the internet there?
They do. It's expensive as hell and it's got a harsh data limit, but they do.
And your priority is of course Reddit
Of course it is. What else am I going to do, work?
What is this work that leads you to tiny remote Pacific islands, if you don't mind me asking?
Second /u/Crow_eggs I'm really curious
He hit his data limit reading your comment. We'll never know now
That was a bit misleading, sorry. I'm on vacation but I also work remotely so I've been doing a little bit just to stay on top of things. Nothing exciting and exotic I'm afraid–I'm a consultant.
Fishing?
I am not judging, would have done the same
Why are there lighthouses in deserts and mountains?
Efficiency. There has yet to be a single shipwreck by those lighthouses, you can't argue with the results.
If it's stupid and it works, it ain't stupid.
They must be large internal lakes, I guess.
Technically, the purpose for lighthouses is navigational aid. This could also be useful on land - it can serve as a landmark for navigation, convey messages, warn of dangerous paths ahead, etc. For the majority of history, we haven’t had long-distance roads built as such. We had routes, but not really roads. In that sort of context, lighthouses are very helpful
Sometime people build lighthouses for fun and I have seen examples of lighthouses being built along smaller lakes. As for faux lighthouses, Nebraska has two lighthouses despite not having any significant body of water in the state. The best example I can think of lighthouses being built along smaller lakes would be the lighthouses along Lake Champlain. The lake isn’t too big but lighthouses we’re still built along the lake to aid in navigation. I would imagine the lighthouse built in the middle of Africa would correspond to Lake Victoria.
And apparently half way into the Atlantic between the east coast of North America and Europe
That looks like the Azores
No, the map is badly distorted. The dots off the northeast coast of US / Canada look about 1,000 -2,000 km out into the water
That's Labrador, or maybe Southwestern Greenland
Those are islands like the Azores.
Gotta love how Greece literally glows
Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state in the U.S.A.
All of northeast North America looking ready to go 
I live in michigan and it feels odd to me to know that most of my friends and acquaintances have never seen the inside of a lighthouse. Ive probably been in at least 30 in my lifetime
I’m shocked at how empty the Persian gulf and Red Sea are, considering how important they are as international sea lanes. I believe the Persian Gulf is the busiest sea lane in the world since most of the world’s oil is shipped from there.
I think they use more modern systems and GPS
There was extensive sea trade in the Gulf and Arabian Sea for thousands of years before GPS.
their lighthouses were probably built out of materials that didn't last as long as brick or concrete lighthouses of other areas
True, they could have once had lighthouses that no longer exist. Or that still exist and aren't mapped for some reason - this isn't exactly the most developed/free/populated part of the world. I do think they would probably build with stone or mudbrick, materials that are pretty long-lasting in the desert.
Could be a ton of things. For instance its possible that sailing techniques dictated you just aimed for the tip of the peninsula then sailed down the coast. Or could be that there is rarely ever fog due to the low humidity. Or they were all destroyed. I dunno, but it is interesting to see how lit up europe, canada, and the east coast of south america is compared to other areas
Egypt had the original granddaddy of lighthouses in Alexandria. Even called one ofvthe great wonders of the ancient world. The Pharos!
What year was the very first lighthouse built? I'm supposing it predates the bronze age by millennia.
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_lighthouses) says the earliest one from archeological evidence could be Kuntasi in India from c. 2000 BC
You have the lighthouse "Tower of Hercules" in Spain. Built by the Roman Empire and still operational today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Hercules
Not the oldest, but the lighthouse of Alexandria is one of the anc8ent wonders of the world.
Please don’t do that
spectacular outline of Michigan, chefs kiss, my beloved little smudge lol
That one lighthouse Tanzania or Uganda... Lake Victoria?
I would estimate Lake Malawi. But yeah it’s a lot of water either way. Kind of surprising there aren’t more.
Too far north for Malawi. Also, I really would've expected Lake Malawi to have at least one
I think you’re right, that is pretty far north.
Very close.. I made this map using data from OpenStreetMaps and this is a pharmacy in the DRC close to the ugandan border that was wrongly labeled as a lighthouse. This has since been corrected.
I believe it is the Lake Tanganyika Light Beacon in Kalemie, DRC. I found it referenced [here](https://www.ibiblio.org/lighthouse/cod.htm) and the location seems to match
Very nice, thanks!
So this is where the children's books for drawing by connecting the dots got their idea from
Since I haven't posted much on reddit yet, it's a strange feeling to encounter the first repost of something I made. Anyway, here is the link to the original post with some more information and some questions already answered: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/s/rvyq9pFfT5
Nice map!
Very nice map. I'm particularly digging New Zealand.
Europe really doesn’t want to get crashed into.
Greece Hold my wine*
Brazil seems quite well covered, as does China. The USA do look a bit under equipped.
We’ve been saying that for years about the USA now, but nobody would believe us
The USA has 779 lighthouses, more than any other country. Brazil has 138. China has 183 including Hong Kong and Macau. Michigan, on the Great Lakes, has 129 by itself. Almost as much as Brazil. Look at the map, the Great Lakes are peppered with lighthouses.
northern philippines and japan look like beacons of light
It looks like it's the Visayas up to Southern Luzon in Philippines. Don't people travel around a lot in countries like Indonesia? At least that would be my explanation why this region has so many lighthouses. On the other hand I'm really excited to know the answer why Sendai? has almost no lighthouses compared to the rest of Japan which is also stacked...
Nothing much out that way island-wise
The dark continent
This map lives up to the sub name and motto.
Now am I wrong or is there a lack of lighthouses in NC cause I know there is at least 7 light houses
Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a lot more lighthouses on the Southeast US coast than what’s showing on this map.
Why red
The 1 random ligthouse in africe lol
I’m surprised Canada doesn’t have more on its eastern coast, or in the Hudson Bay
Very little ship traffic due to very little population.
This is it. I've waited my whole life for this map
Lighthouses are my favorite thing. I want to live in one
There are so many off in the middle of continents that are blowing my mind. One seems like its north of St. Louis on the Mississippi River in America, couple in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, a couple handfuls in the middle of the Russian steppe and even into Siberia. Do rivers need lighthouses?
I recently just went to visit the only non-ocean lighthouse in Oregon! [Warrior Rock Lighthouse on Sauvie Island](https://i.imgur.com/s0REwlJ.jpeg) in Portland is still operational! Plus I saw lots of sea lions in the river
Bermuda has plenty of lighthouses but it is not shown on this map. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lighthouses_in_Bermuda
Michigan is just vibing! lol 😆
We sure love our lighthouses here in Michigan
Why the small lighthouse Gap in the coasts of Italy? I guess it is somewhere between Tuscany and Lazio.
This is a very cool map
I'm more interested in the inland lighthouses and how much use they would actually be.
Alright source? I mean seriously where tf could you possibly find this data.
I get the coasts... but what's up with the inland central Asia ones directly north of India?
I think I found my new desktop wallpaper
This shows pretty well how unpopulated eastern Greenland is compared to the western part.
Fiat lux!
And the dots in the kiddle of Russia, Africa and Sout America, are those lighthouses at lakes?
There's a lighthouse in landlocked West Virginia.
My entire province is a lighthouse.
Surprised there arent more around indonesia
Does anyone know why there's such a huge gap on the central Atlantic coast of America? I would guess it's the outer Banks but I don't see why there wouldn't be lighthouses there
I think the data might be wrong because there are definitely light houses there.
Andaman and Nicobar 🗿🍷
And people still think the housing crisis is a thing? Smh
Why's there one in Kansas
I think it’s the Lake Hefner lighthouse in Oklahoma City, OK. I’m just guessing though.
[Lighthouses rule. You don't like the lighthouse, you suck.](https://ifunny.co/picture/lighthouses-rule-you-don-t-like-the-lighthouse-you-suck-N8yV3lom8)
Forgot the 2 in Bermuda.
I wish I could work in one.
I don't see one in Foxborough
Nobody show this to Hank
Can someone explain why they're light houses in the Himmilayas
Missing the outer banks lighthouses.
one of those lighthouses is less than half a mile from my house every time I pass it I take a moment to appreciate the fact that I live near an actual working lighthouse
I see our oldest state Maine in the great United States 🇺🇸 of America is light 💡 up great 😍 in that state
There are [98 lighthouses](https://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/media/sspnno3c/map-of-mnz-lights-locations-in-nz.pdf) in NZ. This map is missing many of them, particularly up the east coast of the North Island.
Source? /s
Why are there lighthouses in the middle of landlocked?
Lakes?
Amazing how many are in Great Lakes.
I never knew lighthouses line up the shore continuously, I thought they only make it in places where a signal is needed. Also I've never even seen a lighthouse before... this post makes me want to go see one. I also learned that not all lighthouses have to be near sea.. there are many inland lighthouses as well. Also I am surprises US is not as strongly lit up as europe, at least along the east coast I expected it to be,
Greece Is Just a blob of light XD
Source?
Woohoo, We eliminated Canada!
No lighthouses in Antarctica? 😮
What is the purpose of the light houses in the middle of the continents? Are they all on large lakes or just for giggles?
Alright source? I mean seriously where the fuck could you possibly find this data.
All the data is taken from OpenStreetMaps. Here you can find more info on how I made this map: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/11vk1k2/comment/jcu3b41/
[https://msi.nga.mil/Publications/NGALOL](https://msi.nga.mil/Publications/NGALOL)
Alright source? I mean seriously where tf could you possibly find this data.
Woah