The Distribution of Global Economic Activity...

... as proxied by the global distribution of nighttime lights (from a fascinating new paper by Hendersen et al.).  Like many good graphics, this one repays careful study.  You'll see lots of places where the lights match your prior, but you'll also see places that are perhaps "surprisingly" well-lit relative to popular perceptions (e.g., central America), other places that are perhaps surprisingly dark (e.g., most of Russia), fascinating patterns (e.g., look at Europe stretching east into Russia), etc.