‘Mental map’ is a term referring to the way people orientate themselves in their spatial surroundings and how they perceive the world. Alongside ‘cognitive map’, its approximate synonym, the concept of a mental map is established in geography, the behavioral sciences, and psychology. Over the past two decades the idea of mental maps has been adopted by historians in analyzing the construction and dissolution of historical regions, the world views of political elites, and patterns of dominance and subalternity. Despite the resonance the concept of mental maps has had in several disciplines, an international multi-disciplinary conversation on mental maps with an emphasis on cultural patterns is still in its earliest stages. The present special journal issue addresses this situation by bringing together scholars from the fields of history, geography, economics, anthropology, and linguistics, and by using a variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods. The idea of this themed issue emerged at a workshop entitled “Mental Mapping – Historical and Social Science Perspectives”, held 12–13 November 2015 at the Institute of Contemporary History, Södertörn University, and the Italian Cultural Institute “C.M. Lerici” in Stockholm. The workshop was arranged by the research project Spaces of Expectation: Mental Mapping and Historical Imagination in the Baltic Sea and Mediterranean Region, a joint venture between Södertörn University and Ca’ Foscari University in Venice.