Geography — Page 3
Wonders of our planet
220 facts
The Sahara Desert was once a lush, green landscape with lakes, rivers, and grasslands.
Around 10,000 years ago, during the African Humid Period, monsoon rains transformed the region, supporting hippos…
Millions of years ago, the Amazon River flowed westward into the Pacific Ocean, until the rise of the Andes reversed its course.
Before the Andes mountain range formed, the massive river drained into the Pacific. As the mountains rose, the river…
Tehran, Iran, is sinking at an alarming rate.
Satellite measurements show that some parts of Tehran are sinking about 25 centimeters per year. The subsidence is…
Greenland is losing ice faster than previously thought.
Recent studies indicate that Greenland's ice sheet is melting at a rate that could contribute to a sea level rise of…
Hashima Island in Japan was abandoned and became a tourist attraction.
Hashima, also known as Gunkanjima (Battleship Island), was a thriving coal mining community that became uninhabited…
The border between Brazil and France passes through a bridge over a river.
The border between Brazil and France, in French Guiana, is one of the most curious in the world: it passes through a…
Beneath Australia's soil there is a magnetic anomaly shaped like a square.
The magnetic anomaly beneath Australia has a shape that practically replicates the country's own outline, with a…
The summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is the point on Earth's surface farthest from the planet's centre.
Earth is not a perfect sphere, as it is flattened at the poles and wider at the equator. Chimborazo is near the…
Lake Vostok is located under two kilometers of ice in Antarctica.
Lake Vostok is located under about four kilometers of ice, not two. It is one of the largest subglacial lakes in the…
The Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is one of the hottest and lowest places on Earth.
The region sits at an average of 120 metres below sea level and annual temperatures often exceed 50 degrees Celsius…
In 2025, a tsunami in an Alaskan fjord reached 481 metres high.
The tsunami of 10 August 2025 in Barry Arm fjord, Alaska, was the second-highest ever recorded. The wave reached 481…
A submerged tropical island the size of Iceland was discovered in the Atlantic.
The island would have existed about 80 million years ago, driven by a mantle plume. The remains were found about…
Point Nemo, in the Pacific, is the most isolated place on Earth and is 2,688 kilometres from any land.
Point Nemo is the oceanic pole of inaccessibility, identified in the 1990s through computer simulations. Ocean…
The Dead Sea is about 418 metres below sea level.
The Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth's land surface, located about 418 metres below sea level. Its high…
The Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia becomes the world's largest natural mirror when it rains.
With more than 10,000 square kilometres, the Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt flat on the planet. When a thin layer…
Point Nemo in the Pacific Ocean is the closest point to land on the planet.
Point Nemo is the oceanic pole of inaccessibility, the point in the ocean farthest from any land. It lies about 2,688…
The Taal volcano in the Philippines contains an island within a lake, which is itself on an island.
The Taal volcano is located on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Inside the volcano's crater, Lake Taal formed…
A submerged island the size of Iceland has been discovered off the coast of Brazil.
The island, about 1,200 kilometres off the Brazilian coast, is part of the Rio Grande Rise. The presence of red clay…
A lost world has been discovered beneath the Antarctic ice, with valleys and rivers that flow upwards.
A team from Durham University identified a landscape preserved beneath the East Antarctic ice, with valleys and hills…
A landscape with ancient valleys and rivers has been discovered hidden beneath Antarctic ice.
A team from Durham University identified a landscape of 32,000 square kilometres beneath the East Antarctic ice, with…
Scientists have discovered two new hydrothermal vent fields in the Atlantic Ocean.
An expedition aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute s Falkor (too) found two new hydrothermal vent fields in the…
A new cave with a 70-metre-wide entrance has been discovered in Vietnam.
The cave, named Thang, was found in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Quang Tri Province. It is about 3 kilometres…
Ancient human DNA has been found on cave walls with rock art in Portugal.
A Portuguese team participated in the world's first discovery of ancient human DNA preserved on prehistoric cave…
The Caspian Sea is the largest lake in the world, larger than Germany.
Despite its name, the Caspian Sea is a lake, as it has no connection to the ocean. With about 371,000 square…