Geography fun facts and oddities

Geography fun facts & oddities

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• just a collection of facts and oddities for how

Geography fun facts

• Pitcaren Islands in Polynesia, are the least populated political entity in the world (67 residents)
  • Vatican City, for example, has 825 residents
• Rio de la Plata is the widest river in the world (max width: 140 mi)
  • the Rio de la Plata is considered a river, estuary, gulf or "marginal sea"
  • it is fed by the Uruguay and Parana rivers at Punta Gorda ("fat point"

Geography oddities

sink holes

Thor's Well: a sinkhole on the coast of Cape Perpetua, Oregon

• Thor's Well: a sinkhole on the coast of Cape Perpetua, Oregon, that drains at high tides

Enclaves & Exclaves

• see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclave_and_exclave
• enclave = a country or territory that is entirely surrounded by another country or territory
  • "enclave" is derived from the Latin "inclavare" for "to close with a key," meaning one property that is entirely surrounded by another proprerty
  • nation state enclaves:
    • Vatican City (within Italy)
    • San Marino (within Italy)
    • Losotho (within South Africa)
  • semi-enclave states are surrounded by another states by land but also have a water border, such as:
    • Monaco (surrounded by France and the Mediterranean Sea)
    • The Gambia (
    • Brunei (

• • • several other enclave states exist politically independent but not recognized officially as independent

• click on EXPAND
• exclave = a territory or part of a country that is separated from the main country or territory
• examples

Geographic extremes

smallest nation

• The Gambia is the smallest country in Africa
  • The Gambia is a semi-enclave surrounded by Senegal and the Atlantic Ocean

directional extremes (north, south, east, west)

• northernmost state in the continental U.S.: Minnesota
• northernmost point in the continental U.S.: Northwest Angle, Minnesota, known as "The Angle"
  • one of six "practical exclaves" of the U.S.
  • it was
  • see: Northwest Angle (wiki)

Resources & websites

• atlasobscura.com Geographic Oddities
• joelstrait.com Geography Oddities of the United States