Geography & Travel

Planet Earth contains some extraordinarily diverse environments, some of which are easily habitable and some not so much. In different areas of Earth, one might find sweltering deserts, dense tropical rainforests, or bone-chilling tundras. Each biome and habitat comes with its own selection of flora and fauna, and it may include physical features such as canyons, volcanoes, rivers, or caves. Human beings have built homes in many different environments, settling the area and organizing it into units such as cities, states, regions, and countries, each with its own points of interest. Shifting trends in human migration have resulted in a human geography that is profoundly different from that of centuries ago.
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Featured content, March 16, 2023

How Many Countries Are There in the World?
Find out how many countries there are.
Is Australia an Island?
What’s the difference between an island and a continent anyway?
8 Hotly Disputed Borders of the World
Somaliland, the Korean peninsula, Western Sahara—all of these places are home to some of the most hotly disputed borders...
language
Language, a system of conventional spoken, manual (signed), or written symbols by means of which human beings, as members...
canals and inland waterways
Canals and inland waterways, natural or artificial waterways used for navigation, crop irrigation, water supply, or drainage....
Plains Indian
Plains Indian, member of any of the Native American peoples inhabiting the Great Plains of the United States and Canada....
cave
Cave, natural opening in the earth large enough for human exploration. Such a cavity is formed in many types of rock and...

Geography & Travel Quizzes

Geography 101: Fact or Fiction?
Do four countries have the word "Guinea" in their names? Do the names of about 20 countries, in English, end in –stan? Sort...
From Point A to B: Fact or Fiction?
From Alaska to Buenos Aires, go from points A to B and test your comparitive knowledge of world geography.
A World of Food Quiz
In what country might you sit down to a smorgasbord? Why is durian fruit banned in several places? Take a trip around the...
Geography and Language
What are people from Mumbai called? How many continents have English names containing a cardinal direction? Take a trip around...
This or That? Big City vs. Capital City
Sometimes a country’s most famous city is its capital. Sometimes it isn’t. See if you can tell big cities from the capital...
Mountain Ranges
Whether you’re an expert climber or a stay-on-the-ground kind of person, test your knowledge of mountains and mountain ranges...
Strange Geographical Features: Fact or Fiction?
What is the world’s southernmost city? How many capitals does Bolivia have? Test your knowledge of strange geography facts...
Know Your Capes
Which cape is home to Kennedy Space Center? Which cape forms the northernmost part of Australia? Test your geography knowledge...
Final Resting Places
You may know their lives, but do you know their deaths? Test your knowledge of these famous final resting places.
Geography of Iran
What is the tallest mountain in Iran? What islands belong to Iran? Test your knowledge with this quiz.
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Geography & Travel
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Geography & Travel Subcategories

Riyadh Cities & Towns
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
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Ukraine Countries of the World
Although there isn’t universal agreement on the question of what qualifies as a “country,” it is generally accepted that in order to be a country, a state must be a sovereign unit that has a permanent population, defined territorial boundaries, a government, and the ability to enter into agreements with other states. Even when these conditions are met, however, internationally recognized independence is not a given, and a territorial entity that declares itself to be an independent country is not always recognized as such by the rest of the world.
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Roman Forum Historical Places
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
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Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Highways & Trails
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
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Distribution of North American Plateau Indians Human Geography
Since 1945 human geography has contained five main divisions. The first four—economic, social, cultural, and political—reflect both the main areas of contemporary life and the social science disciplines with which geographers interact (i.e., economics, sociology, anthropology, and political science and international relations, respectively); the fifth is historical geography.
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Some of the pictorial signs used at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Calif. Languages
Language, a system of conventional spoken, manual, or written symbols by means of which human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture, express themselves. The functions of language include communication, the expression of identity, play, imaginative expression, and emotional release.
Articles
Mount St. Helens volcano Physical Geography of Land
Earth’s geographic history has been one marked by significant overall change, with ice ages, continental drift, and other major disruptions ultimately shaping Earth's land into the landscape of mountain ranges, deserts, islands, and volcanoes that we see today.
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Arctic Ocean Physical Geography of Water
Whether it's Lake Michigan, the Gulf of Panama, or the River Thames, bodies of water of all shapes and sizes can be found around the globe, and they play a critical role for human beings, who use such bodies of water as a source of drinking water, a means of transporting both goods and people themselves, or a place to engage in water sports, among a plethora of other possible uses. Additionally, many bodies of water provide striking scenes of natural beauty and house important marine ecosystems. Satiate your thirst for knowledge about Earth's oceans, lakes, seas, rivers, waterfalls, bays, and more.
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Hiker in Sequoia National Park in the Sierra Nevada, east-central California. Nature Reserves & National Parks
Nature reserves are areas set aside for the purpose of preserving and protecting plants and animals, particularly endangered species. National parks may effectively serve a similar purpose by shielding threatened species from hunters, but these parks can also be created for the purpose of public recreation, affording its visitors a chance to be immersed in a protected natural environment. Many national parks have been created in the last 100 years, including Yellowstone National Park, the oldest and probably the best-known national park in the United States.
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flag of Queensland States & Other Subdivisions
Every nation has its own subdivisions to demarcate smaller political units within its territory. Counties, districts, oblasts, polis, nomos, unitary authorities, boroughs, and cities are all examples (among many others) of how land can be organized.
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North Africa Geographic Regions
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Big Ben Tourist Attractions
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