Instead of using your typical cartography methods of mapping the world, James Davenport created a world map using just airports, runways and helicopter pads. That way you can see which countries are dotted and outlined with airports (hint: it’s the rich ones) and which countries just disappear into the vapour (hint: it’s the poor ones).
It’s impressive that most of the continents are outlined enough to get a general shape (with North America, South America, Europe and Australia being more apparent). The USA is almost excessively coloured in.
See the full map here. [If We Assume via Fast Co Design]