Economic maps

Mapped: Currency Unions (formal and informal)

Currency unions involve multiple countries adopting a common currency, either formally or informally. In formal currency unions, like the Eurozone, member nations use a shared currency managed by a central authority, promoting economic integration and stability. Informal currency unions involve countries using a foreign currency for transactions, either alongside or instead of their national currency, often driven by economic considerations, historical ties, or trade facilitation. Currency unions aim to simplify transactions, enhance economic cooperation, and reduce exchange rate uncertainties among participating nations.

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Laws

Which countries get the most paid vacation days?

After decades of social evolution and improvements to work-life balance, contradicting pressures are fragmenting the work world’s method of paid leave. Companies struggling to attract talent are paying employees more, leaving businesses understaffed but with a steep payroll to meet and an unwillingness to give time off. In 2022, only 35 percent of American companies offer paid maternity leave–a shocking drop from 53 percent just 2 years ago, according to a study from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). For paid paternity leave, the drop is from 44 to 27 percent in the same period.

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Mapping Stereotypes

A Map of Every Chinese City

China’s urban planning philosophies and approaches have experienced many transitions because of governance and economic structure shifts throughout the country’s extensive history. The establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 denotes the start of three recent historical phases of urban planning that express a divergence from traditional Chinese urban planning morphologies, broadly categorized as a socialist, hybrid, and global cities.

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Entertainment

Every country’s favorite original T.V. show and film across popular streaming services

Sitting down to binge on a box set or get lost in the latest Hollywood hit movie has never been more effortless. Gone are the daytimes of exploring the TV guide or heading out on a pilgrimage to Blockbuster. Today, audiences have to sit back, select their go-to streaming service, and gorge on the hours of entertainment available at their fingertips. Streaming platforms have begun to hoard new and old content in a try to lure and keep subscribers. But as the competition amplifies between streaming platforms to keep viewers coming back for more, the essential for new and exclusive content becomes ever more apparent.

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Cultural cartography

Books Around America: Find the Books Set Nearest to You

You can travel our entire world, and infinite others, through books. Better still, an excellent novel supplies an erudite tour guide and a caravan of colorful characters to accompany you along the way. Apply this theory to your hometown, and you can delve even more profound. Peel back the layers of what could or what absolutely shouldn’t happen behind the closed doors of your neighbors, and you’ll see, hear, and smell your neighborhood anew.

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