Who's the most famous person to come from your hometown?
[Image: The Pudding]
The United Kingdom might not be the biggest country in the world, but it's certainly punching above its weight when it comes to the amount of famous people it's produced. And it's these celebrities who take centre stage in a new UK map that replaces city names with their most searched for resident on Wikipedia.
The interactive map does a bang-up job sifting through the Wikipedia search data, so much so that we can't decide if it's a map or one of the best infographics we've ever seen.
Created by The Pudding, the People Map of the UK uses four year's worth of Wikipedia search data to determine the top person associated with each town or city in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. And for people who are famous for being associated with multiple places, they get more than one entry.
London's crowded with celebrities [Image: The Pudding]
The map functions a bit like Google maps. Drag it around with your mouse, then scroll to zoom in and get details about each person. For UK residents, it's a fun new way to explore the geography of their country, and you'll find yourself bouncing around various locations going: 'I can't believe they came from there!'
Obviously, areas such as London are more densely clustered than rural towns. But there are plenty of surprises to be found if you venture out to the corners of the country. Did you know that Tim Curry has connections to Plymouth, or that Thandie Newton spent some of her early 20s in Penzance? Neither did we.
If anything, it's slightly reassuring to find these bizarre connections. It doesn't matter if you come from the ends of the Earth, you too can become a Wikipedia-famous person.
The Pudding haven't left US audiences out either, there's a People Map of the US ready for you to explore once you've finished scrolling around the UK.
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Dom Carter is a freelance writer who specialises in art and design. Formerly a staff writer for Creative Bloq, his work has also appeared on Creative Boom and in the pages of ImagineFX, Computer Arts, 3D World, and .net. He has been a D&AD New Blood judge, and has a particular interest in picture books.
