Why This Tiny Town Always Shows Up on Your Maps

Bright Side

Picture this tiny Aussie town that's suddenly on everyone's radar because of something called the "Baltimore Phenomenon." Basically, it's this bizarre glitch where mapmakers kept copying a mistake from an old map, labeling this random spot as "Baltimore" instead of its actual name. And bam, just like that, this little town becomes a worldwide sensation, known not for its own charm but for this crazy mix-up. Locals probably get a kick out of it, seeing tourists show up scratching their heads, wondering where all the crab cakes are.    Credit:  Telegraph Station: Telegraph Station, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Telegraph_Station_at_Powell_Creek.tif CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/:  Central Western Time Zone: Groogle, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Entering_Central_Western_Time_Zone.jpg  Eucla Hotel Motel: Bahnfrend, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eucla_Hotel_Motel,_2017_(03).jpg  Animation is created by Bright Side.  #brightside   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Listen to Bright Side on:  Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/idhttps-podcasts-apple-com-podcast-bright-side/id1554898078 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/brightside/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official/ Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Snapchat - https://www.snapchat.com/p/c6a1e38a-bff1-4a40-9731-2c8234ccb19f/1866144599336960  Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me

Transcript

00:00One interesting thing that happens in map design is the so-called Baltimore Phenomenon,

00:08or Baltimore Effect.

00:11This phenomenon happens when a city or another object is left off a map because there's

00:16just not enough space, while smaller cities make the cut simply because there's room

00:22for them.

00:23The name comes from Baltimore, Maryland, which often gets left out of maps because it's

00:28surrounded by bigger cities like Washington, D.C.

00:32But on the flip side, sometimes smaller and less well-known cities like Alice Springs

00:38in Australia end up on the same map simply because there's enough space for them.

00:44Like at this scale, Alice Springs, which give or take 25,000 inhabitants, is labeled, but

00:50the huge city of Guangzhou, with over 14 million people, is somehow not.

00:58This phenomenon is more common on automated mapping sites, but it doesn't happen at

01:02every zoom level.

01:04On popular sites like Google Maps and other similar ones, you'll only start seeing Baltimore

01:09show up at certain zoom levels, like the 5th, 6th, or 7th zoom.

01:15Cartographers can tweak their maps to make sure they're useful and convey spatial

01:19information effectively, finding the right balance between showing important details

01:24and keeping the map clear and focused.

01:27The best maps are the ones that show key elements clearly, while still accurately representing

01:33the world.

01:36But Alice Springs is not the only weird thing on the map of Australia.

01:40Look at the time zone map.

01:43This 10 and a half section looks a bit off, huh?

01:48Well, Australia is officially divided into three standard time zones, Western, Central,

01:54and Eastern.

01:56Australian Central Time aligns with UTC plus 9.30, with individual states and territories

02:02deciding whether to observe Daylight Savings Time.

02:06Australian Island Territories and Antarctic Stations contribute to the complexity of the

02:11time zones.

02:13Despite this, Australian time zones are generally easy to understand.

02:18In addition to the official time zones, there is an unofficial hybrid time zone called Australian

02:24Central Western Standard Time.

02:26This time zone is halfway between Western Time, UTC plus 8, and Central Time, UTC plus

02:339.30, making it UTC plus 8.45, a unique quarter-hour difference.

02:41Australian Central Western Standard Time is only observed in a small area in far southeastern

02:48Western Australia, along the Eyre Highway.

02:51The Australian Central Western Standard Time area includes settlements such as Kokobiti,

02:57Madura, Mundrabilla, Ukla, and Border Village.

03:02Only a few hundred people live in this region, making it easier for them to agree on a non-standard

03:07time zone.

03:09Despite the lack of official approval, Australian Central Western Standard Time continues to

03:14be followed due to the significant time gap between Western and Central time zones, especially

03:20during the summer when South Australia observes Daylight Saving Time and Western Australia

03:26does not.

03:28The use of this unique time zone can often lead to confusion, even amongst the locals.

03:34Ukla police, for example, operate on Perth's time zone, causing occasional tardiness to

03:39events such as community gatherings.

03:42Locals mention that in the past, Ukla operated on its own unofficial time, which made things

03:48simpler before the transition to align with Perth time.

03:52They also face confusion as their location in South Australia does not observe Daylight

03:57Savings.

03:59The history of the Australian Central Western Standard Time dates back to the establishment

04:04of a telegraph station in Ukla in 1877.

04:09Although the exact origins of this time zone are unclear, it is speculated that it was

04:14adopted to avoid confusion at the telegraph station located on the border between Western

04:19Australia and South Australia.

04:22UTC plus 945 was historically utilized in Australia as a time zone known as Central

04:29Western Daylight Time.

04:32Certain roadhouses along the Eyre Highway in South Australia and Western Australia adopted

04:38UTC plus 945 during the summer months when South Australia observed Daylight Savings

04:44Time.

04:45While not officially recognized by the authorities, the boundaries of this time zone are clearly

04:50outlined and often depicted on local roadmaps.

04:55Five locations in Australia including Border Village, Kaigouna, Ukla, Madura, and Mundrabilla

05:01previously observed UTC plus 945.

05:04Currently, these areas operate on UTC plus 845 due to Western Australia's lack of Daylight

05:12Savings Time.

05:14Australia is not the only example of weird time zones.

05:19China has a population of approximately 1.5 billion people and it's the third largest

05:25country in the world.

05:27Despite its vast size, China operates on a single time zone known as Beijing Time or

05:34China Standard Time.

05:37This unique time zone covers almost five geographical time zones within the country.

05:42At times, in some cities in China, the sun rises as late as 10 am.

05:49People often have lunch after 2 pm or even after 4 pm if they're not in a hurry.

05:55Since 1991, Daylight Savings Time has not been observed in China.

06:00However, the region of Xinjiang, located in the western part of the country, follows Xinjiang

06:06Time which is two hours behind China Standard Time and is considered an unofficial time

06:12zone.

06:14Nepal also has its unique time zone as it operates on Nepal Time all year round without

06:20the use of Daylight Savings Time.

06:23It's a bit unique compared to other countries because it has a UTC offset of plus 545 meaning

06:30that Nepali clocks are 5 hours and 45 minutes ahead of Coordinated Universal Time.

06:37This is only a 15 minute difference from neighboring India where the Standard Time used to be the

06:42same until Nepal decided to set its own time zone in 1956.

06:49Now let's examine the map of Europe.

06:53Great Britain, Portugal and Spain are all located at roughly the same latitude.

07:01However, despite this, it's one hour earlier in Portugal and the UK compared to Spain.

07:08Why is this the case?

07:10In the 1940s, Spain was instructed to switch to German Time, a directive that was accepted

07:16by Spanish authorities.

07:18Over time, despite changes in leadership, Spain remained in the same time zone resulting

07:23in it being one hour behind its neighboring countries at the same latitude.

07:29But like many other countries, Spain sticks to Daylight Savings Time.

07:35Greenland would rank as the world's 12th largest country if it were independent, but it's currently

07:40part of Denmark.

07:42The country has three different time zones.

07:44Most of it is three hours behind Greenwich Mean Time, except for only one town on the

07:49eastern coast, which is two hours ahead.

07:53Thule Air Base in the northwest operates on GMT minus 4, while the tiny population of

07:59Danmarkshavn sticks to GMT.

08:05Daylight Savings Time was implemented to give us more daylight during the evenings after

08:10work, which could help save energy by lowering the need for lights and heat.

08:14It was first suggested by Benjamin Franklin in 1784 to align waking hours with daylight

08:20and conserve energy, and was implemented in Port Arthur, Ontario in 1906.

08:28Since then, many countries have adopted the practice, though some regions near the equator

08:32or at high latitudes opt out due to minimal variations in daylight hours.

08:39In the United States, Daylight Savings Time is observed almost everywhere, except in Hawaii

08:46and Arizona.

08:48Arizona's scorching hot weather makes Daylight Saving Time kind of pointless.

08:53People there would rather get stuff done in the cool morning hours than sweat it out in

08:57the evenings.

08:58However, the Navajo Nation, which is autonomous Native American territory, sticks to the same

09:04Daylight Savings Time schedule as the rest of the country.

09:08Even though it spans three states, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, they keep the time consistent

09:14across their lands.

09:17As for Hawaii, due to its tropical location, the amount of sunlight doesn't change much

09:22throughout the year.

09:24If Hawaii changed its time zone to UTC-9 during Daylight Savings Time, the sun would rise

09:30at around 7am in June.

09:33This is because most of the islands are situated towards the west of the Hawaii Aleutian Time

09:38Zone, and theoretically should be in the next time zone to the west.

09:43In the past, Hawaiian Standard Time was based on a different longitude than it is now.

09:49That's it for today!

09:52So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your

09:57friends!

09:58Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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