Learning about Geography in school wasn’t always interesting as it depended on the teacher and the presentation. It’s certainly not a subject most students would bother doing further research on, not unless asked to. And yet we live in such an amazing planet that there’s so much to learn and discover. From well known facts to the more hidden ones, check out this list for some of the more unknown facts often overlooked.
1. Australia moves 2.7 inches a year
Some of the Earth’s tectonic plates move a little quicker than others when shifting. Australia sits on one that travels northward. It has a slight clockwise rotation at a rate of around 2.7 inches a year. GPS systems in the country have to be updated every so often as a result.
The piece of land is British soil.
2. Ireland’s palm trees
Ireland is not exactly a tropical getaway. But the Irish coasts have plants that look so much like palm trees. The cordyline australis, or cabbage palm, is a plant native to New Zealand. It became popular in Irish gardens in the 1800s. It’s not technically a tree hence why they’re able to thrive in Ireland’s warm ocean currents.
3. California has more people than Canada
4. Reno, NV, is actually farther west than Los Angeles, CA
California’s southern curve is often overlooked and forgotten leading to people thinking that the city in the west coast state is farther. When in actuality, Reno is located at 119°49’ west, while Los Angeles is located at 118°14’ west.
5. El Paso, TX is closer to San Diego, CA than Houston, TX
6. No other place on Earth is farther from land than Point Nemo
Point Nemo is located in the Pacific Ocean at 48°52.6′S 123°23.6′W. It is the farthest distance from land on Earth. The National Ocean Service explains,
“Point Nemo is about 2,688 kilometers [1,670 miles] from the nearest land – Ducie Island, part of the Pitcairn Islands, to the north; Motu Nui, one of the Easter Islands, to the northeast; and Maher Island, part of Antarctica, to the south.”
7. The Himalayas grow annually
8.North Carolina has land that is permanently leased to England
9. Canada outnumbers the world with the most number of large lakes
10. France’s longest border is with Brazil
French Guiana, located on the northern coast of South America, is between Surinam to the north-west with Brazil to the south. The border measures 730 kilometers with the second-longest being with Belgium at 657 kilometers.
11. Russia could house Pluto
In 2015, NASA’s New Horizon mission flew by Pluto giving us precise measurements of the dwarf planet. The planet’s diameter measured at 2,370 kilometers. Russia measures 6,000 kilometers from east-to-west while its north-to-south height is 3,000 kilometers. That means Pluto would fit inside the country.
With that said, Pluto’s slightly larger surface area at 17,646,012 square kilometers versus Russia’s 17,125,191 square kilometers means it would be a good stretch.
12. Split Alaska and they would be the first and second largest in the US
13. Russia is 116 times larger than Bangladesh which has more people
14. A lot of Canadians live south of Seattle
15. Mexico City sinks every year
Mexico City has sunk 32 feet. That’s 3.2 feet every year over the last six decades. The city was built atop an enormous aquifer, which is their main source of water. It doesn’t help that Mexico City consumes twice as much water as it replaces. Major buildings like the Metropolitan Cathedral at Zocalo Square now struggle to stay upright thanks to land subsidence.
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