Mad Maps: Some Of The World's Wackiest Borders, Explained

Ever glanced at a map of the world and stopped to wonder why some countries have seemingly nonsensical shapes? You can find the answers -- or some of them, anyway -- in our ongoing Mad Maps video explainer series.

Mad Maps: The 'Ghost Borders' Of Georgia

Inside Georgia, there are two borders that are not even supposed to exist, but appear seemingly out of nowhere. Locals who live close to the breakaway South Ossetia or Abkhazia regions face arrest over crossing a sometimes invisible border, even though they are legally still in the same country.

Mad Maps: The 'Ghost Borders' Of Georgia

The Bizarre 'Border Salad' of Central Asia's Ferghana Valley

The crazy national boundaries of Tajiksitan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan in the Ferghana Valley have the power to spark violence. Who made them so complicated? Here’s a hint: Stalin had quite a bit to do with it.

Mad Maps: Why Are Borders In Central Asia So Bizarre?

Why Does India Have A 'Chicken Neck'?

We look at how India ended up with a strange-looking, inconvenient "chicken neck," thanks to the British Empire:

Mad Maps, Part 2: Why Does India Have A 'Chicken Neck'?

Those Crazy Panhandles And What A Pain They Can Be

Some of the wackiest-looking borders around the world contain so-called panhandles -- for example, Namibia's huge "landing strip" sticking out of its northeast corner. In this episode, we look at how and why many of the world’s panhandles were created, and what a headache they can be:

Mad Maps, Episode 3: Those Crazy Panhandles And What A Pain They Can Be

How Kaliningrad Became A Part Of Russia

Seventy-five years have passed since the German city of Koenigsberg and the surrounding area became Kaliningrad, now an odd piece of Russia disconnected from the rest of the country. So how did a German region become a Russian exclave, and what role does it play for Russia today?

Mad Maps, Part 4: Kaliningrad: The Tiny Russian 'Ham' Inside An EU 'Sandwich'