Maps as Weapons of Empire

Colonial powers used maps to claim territory. Drawing a line on a map was treated as a legal act. The 1884 Berlin Conference divided Africa using rulers on maps, ignoring ethnic boundaries and natural features. The resulting borders split hundreds of ethnic groups across multiple countries, creating conflicts that persist to this day.

Maps also erased people. Indigenous territories were labeled "terra nullius" (nobody's land) to justify colonization. Australian Aboriginal peoples, who had inhabited the continent for roughly 65,000 years, were simply left off official maps. Once a place is treated as empty, it becomes far easier to take.