Whenever we take a look at a map, we usually want to find someplace right now and rarely ever take the time to analyze it. If more people spent a little time just looking at maps, they’d start to see all the weird shapes country borders and shorelines make without the public noticing. Some of the coolest shapes that these boundaries make are outlines of animals doing different things. There are even countries that look like pets. Some countries have boundaries that make them look like beasts found in fairy tales, such as flying and fire-breathing dragons caught mid-air. Some countries have borders that make them look like they are animals from species that went extinct a long time ago, dinosaurs. However, even though we won’t mention all the names of the countries that look like animals, we’ll list a few of the coolest looking states.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria should be renamed the kitten country because one look at the country’s map and another look at a cat playing with a woolen ball can confirm that. Bulgaria’s north-western borderline alongside Romania towards the Black is shaped like a kitten’s head and ears, southwards beside the Black Sea, Bulgaria’s shoreline looks like a cat’s face. When going eastwards from the country’s southernmost piece of shoreline alongside the Turkish border, that part of Bulgaria looks like the paw’s bottom bit and the kitten’s stomach. The country’s borderline that separates it from Greece is similar to the furry critter’s hind legs all the way up into the border that divides Bulgaria from North Macedonia. From Bulgaria’s and North Macedonia’s border begins the borderline with the formerly mentioned country with Serbia and that line draws the kitten’s rump and tail. While we may think that Bulgaria looks like a playing kitten, it does also look like a kitten on the hunt.
Finland
The animal that Finland looks like is a rabbit, a very shy one who doesn’t like making eye contact so much she turns her head away when around others. From Finland’s northeastern borderline that’s besides Norway near Kilpisjarvi right along the Kasivarren Eramaa-Alue wilderness park, that part of the country looks like a rabbit’s right ear. What looks like the rabbit’s left ear is Finland’s borderline that starts from the Poyrisjarven Eramaa-Alue, runs along the Lemmenjoki National Park to Nourgam and the Vatsarin wilderness. Where Finland’s, Norway, and Russia’s borders meet and southwards towards the Russian town of Kovdor, Finland’s border looks like an outline of a rabbit’s jaw. From the rabbit’s jaw going south towards the Gulf of Finland, that part looks like the animal’s neck, body, and leg area. When you move from the Gulf of Finland, the country’s shoreline to Tornio and the Swedish-Finnish-Norwegian border intersection, you can see the rest of the rabbit that Finland is.
Japan
Japan is a country that is famous for its tasty seafood dishes like sushi and sashimi, which is awesome because Japan kind of looks like a marine animal. The animal that Japan looks like is a seahorse, Japans freestanding islands to the northeast appear to be part of a seahorse’s coronet from there to Wakkanai and Matsumae. When leaving the Japanese island of Hokkaido, moving along the western shoreline of Honshu from Tsugaru to Niigata, that part of the country looks like the seahorse’s back. Sado, which is opposite Niigata and Tsubame, seems to form what appears to be the seahorse’s dorsal fins. From Tsubame going southwards beside the shoreline to Fukuoka, then the Yakushima Island, and then turning north again to Nagoya, that outline of Japan looks like a seahorse tail. The part of Japan that starts at Nagoya and ends at Hakodate looks like a seahorse, which leaves the remaining shoreline towards Nemuro looking like the head.
Croatia
Croatia must definitely consider changing their national animal from a marten to a dragon even though the latter doesn’t exist because the country looks like one on maps. The area that looks like the dragon’s head on Croatian maps stretches from Matulji and southwestwards to Premantura and all the way to Novigrad. From Novigrad to Savudrija and eastwards along the Croatian-Slovenian border to Seljaci, that area looks like the outline of a dragon’s horns on a beast that’s facing downwards. When you continue in an eastwardly direction along the border that separates Slovenia and Croatia towards Kucevice, you’ll find what looks like the beginning of the dragon’s spread wings. The area that makes up the outline of the dragon wings spans a large portion of land starting near Kucevice, goes towards Brezovec, Batina, Racinovci, and ends at Maljevac. The area that makes up the dragon’s legs and claws on maps stretches between Zadar, Sibenik, Split, Makarska, and the country’s outlying islands.
Slovenia
Croatia’s neighboring country Slovenia is another state that must reconsider its national animal but in this case, Slovenia must steal the rooster from the French. We say that because the country’s borders are shaped in a pattern that looks very similar rooster, especially one that is running away from something or someone. The part of Slovenia that looks like chicken legs starts near Vrhpolje and stretches towards Secovlje in the Southwest and ends near Travnik for the left leg. From Travnik, the part of the border that represents the other leg goes towards Marindol before going northwest again to Drage. But for Slovenia to be seen as a rooster on maps, it would need to have a portion of its borders shaped like a rooster’s head. You can find that part between the Gorisnica, Pince-Marof, Hodos, Ocinje, and Radenci regions.
South Africa
Rhinos are very special animals in South Africa. The heads of this endangered species that appear on the local currency also look a lot like the country on maps. What makes us say this is how South Africa appears to have the two horns near its westernmost border with Namibia and by the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. On a map, pointing southwards from South Africa’s westernmost border near Alexander Bay, that shoreline which passes Cape Town, L’Agulhas to George looks like the rhino’s mouth. From George, as you continue along the country’s eastern shoreline, that part looks like a rhino’s jaw all the way up to Durban and Mtunzini, where the ear starts. Another cool feature that completes South Africa’s look as a rhino head is that it surrounds a small country called Lesotho. The outline of that border between South Africa and Lesotho makes up the eye of the rhino.
Romania
The fact that Romania looks like a fish on maps is indisputable due to the resemblance she shares with these animals. Romania even looks like Dory from Finding Nemo. A part of this country that makes it look conspicuously like a fish is the northeastern border from Maramures County to Carja that’s shaped like a dorsal fin. Another portion of Romanian borders and shorelines that make it stick out as a fish country starts from nearby a place called Isaccea by the Danube River. From there, it goes eastwards to Periprava, then Laguna Sacalin, Constanta, Vama Veche, and ends at Almalau to form the caudal fin, otherwise known as the fish’s tail. The last part of Romanian borders that completes the country’s fish look starts near Beba Vech and extends to Svinita, Orsova, Hinova, and Izvoru Frumos. This last part makes up what looks like the slightly opened mouth of Pacific Blue Tang fish.
Bolivia
The animal that Bolivia looks like is a cat, a really large cat that’s sitting down and facing towards you when you look at it on a map. What makes us come to that conclusion is that the Bolivian border from Puerto Heath, then northwards towards Bolpebra and southeast again towards Porvenir, outlines a cat’s right ear. The border that outlines the cat’s other ear starts near Brazil’s Placido de Castro, stretches for miles towards Abuna in Brazil and ends opposite Los Paquitos. For the paws, from the borderline near Cochimba, you’ll go southwards to the Laguna Mandiore, then Puerto Busch, ending at the Gran Chaco National Park for the left paw. To outline the cat’s other paw continue down the border from the National Park until you’re opposite the Santa Victoria Este, then continue northwest to Esmoraca. Everything west of Esmoraca, La Paz, and San Pablo De Tiquina makes up the cat’s bushy tail.
Georgia
Even though it can be debatable to say Georgia looks like a crocodile or to claim that the country seems like a platypus, the latter makes more sense. Mostly that’s because the border outline which makes the tail appear to be too smooth and short for it to be a crocodile tail. Besides the tail, the outline that forms the hind legs shows all the signs of belonging to a platypus, especially in size as crocodile legs tend to be leaner. The mouth area is the only part that suggests that Georgia might look like a crocodile because it looks too rough around the edges to be a platypus beak. However, a large part of the roughness around the mouth area could be interpreted as the platypus’ left front leg. Meanwhile, the border between Udabno, Patara Khanchali, and the Turkgozu Border Crossing make up the right front leg and stomach.
France
It’s in the stars. France is destined to be a country that prides itself on its birds. If it’s not roosters, it’s owls that the country’s outline looks like. What makes France look like an owl a lot is northern parts whose borders draw what looks like owl ears. These parts start near Le Crotoy. From Le Crotoy, they extend northwesterly but only slightly west to a place called Audinghen, then Bray-Dunes, Velosnes, Lauterbourg, and Lebetain. From Lebetain, the parts of France to the east between this area and Montpellier form what looks like the owl tail feathers and parts of the owl’s neck. Whereas the parts of the French shoreline that make the country look like an owl with an outstretched wing start at Les Mathes. From Les Mathes to Audierne, then Brest, Mont Saint-Michel, and Caen to complete the look of an owl showing someone the way.