Little remark about the map 'Unemployment in Europe'
I can't speak for other countries, but in France the official metric is heavily manipulated and does not make sense anymore.
Basically, if you are unemployed long enough (~2 year), you do not get money from the unemployment insurance, and thereby are no longer unemployed.
Well, the data comes from Eurostat, which has its own definition of "Unemployed person"[1], which from what I can tell is independent of the country's social security system.
I cannot speak for the rest of the world, but Spain and Italy have similar systems, so even if in absolute the measure is not exact, the comparison it's still meaningful.
There has always been a contrast in Italy between the north and the south regions, due to their varied history, in terms of economy, and not only.
It's not uncommon for a country (I would say it´s perfectly normal) to have areas with an higher concentration of wealth compared to others, but in Italy the contrast it´s particularly stark, possibly due to its very shape.
It probably has more to do with history than the shape. The Veneto, where I live, was an independent republic for longer than the United States has been a going concern. The south tended to be bandied about between various foreign powers, feudal states, and so on.
I can't speak for other countries, but in France the official metric is heavily manipulated and does not make sense anymore. Basically, if you are unemployed long enough (~2 year), you do not get money from the unemployment insurance, and thereby are no longer unemployed.
Beside that, extremely cool collection of maps.