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Questions about Earth, answered on the globe.
Every answer is a real place.
Latest · Latitude Surprises
Rome sits at 41.9° N and New York at 40.7° N, about 130 km farther north. Yet Rome's winters are far milder.
Rome, Italy · 41.90° N, 12.50° E
Read the whySeries
What flat maps and camera angles get wrong about size and shape.
Series
The farthest, most remote and most surprising points on the planet.
Series
Colours, shapes and places that look impossible, explained.
A crater lake on an island, in a lake, on an island. It exists, in the Philippines.
Taal, Philippines · 14.01° N
It is not blue lava. Sulfur gas escaping from the crater catches fire in the air and burns blue at night.
East Java, Indonesia · 8.06° S
A bright pink lake on Middle Island, separated from the Southern Ocean by a narrow strip of land.
Western Australia · 33.91° S
Huge rings in the desert, made by a long history of uplift and erosion.
Mauritania · 21.12° N
Its lava is made of carbonate salts, not molten rock. It comes out black and turns white within hours.
Tanzania · 2.76° S
At Slope Point, strong winds from the ocean have bent living trees into their shape.
New Zealand · 46.67° S
In 1943 the ground split open in a Mexican farm field. Nine years later, a 424-metre cone stood there.
Michoacán, Mexico · 19.49° N
Shallow water, thin ice and wind can push rocks across Racetrack Playa and leave long tracks.
California · 36.68° N
Series
Where lines on the map split days and dates.
Series
Why the shortest path on a globe looks bent on a map.
Index
Why Maps Lie
Why Greenland looks so big on maps.Greenland · 72° NThe road that looks completely vertical.VietnamEarth Extremes
Chimborazo is farther from Earth's centre than Everest.Ecuador · 1.47° SThe most remote place on Earth.South Pacific · 48.88° SNatural Phenomena
An island inside an island inside an island?Taal, Philippines · 14.01° NWhy does this volcano burn blue?East Java, Indonesia · 8.06° SLake Hillier and the geography of pink water.Western Australia · 33.91° SThe Eye of the Sahara.Mauritania · 21.12° NWhy does this volcano erupt black lava that turns white?Tanzania · 2.76° SWhy the trees grow sideways.New Zealand · 46.67° SThe volcano that was born in a cornfield.Michoacán, Mexico · 19.49° NThe rocks that move across the desert.California · 36.68° NWhy Routes Curve
Why the shortest route looks curved.New York → Tokyo
