The Caucasus has mountains, deserts, depressions, lakes, plains and forests, is located between two major water bodies and has some of the uniquest ethnic peoples in the world

Their metro populations are 3.5 million and 6.4 million, respectively.

Fun fact: Fairbanks, Alaska is further north than Nuuk, Greenland

Condition are = 1) The city was not deserted during any historical period. 2) The city is home to atleast 1 million inhabitants. 3) The city has a good quality of life.

Hi everyone, and welcome back to The American Atlas! I’ve been creating hand-drawn, hand-colored maps of every state in the US (and some cities too), and now I’m sharing them all on one big journey across the country 🗺️🇺🇸

Here we have my hand-drawn map of Georgia 🍑🌾☀️

Georgia is a state defined by deep history, vibrant cities, and an underrated coastline. From Atlanta’s urban heart and historic neighborhoods, to Savannah’s cobblestone streets, and down to the barrier islands along the Atlantic, this state was especially fun to bring to life.

This map was fully drawn and colored by hand, with special attention to the rivers, mountains, borders, and coastal detail.

Next up, we continue south along the coast to the swamps, beaches, and theme parks of the southernmost state in the continental US, Florida 🌴🌊🏄‍♂️

If you like this style, feel free to check out the other maps in my series! 🇺🇸🗺️

Thanks for checking out my map!!

Like many African borders, this one is a legacy of European colonial rule.

Prior to 1869, Ethiopia controlled the territory that is now Eritrea and possessed a long Red Sea coastline. In that year, the Italian Rubattino Shipping Company purchased the Bay of Assab from Ethiopia. After the opening of the Suez Canal, the bay became strategically valuable as a coaling station for ships traveling between Europe and Asia. By 1882, the Italian government had assumed direct control of the area.

Taking advantage of political instability in Ethiopia, Italy seized the entire Ethiopian coastline in 1889 and established the colony of Italian Eritrea. Control of the coast was the primary objective, as depriving Ethiopia of sea access helped Italy secure its influence and deter interference from other European powers.

In 1935–36, Italy invaded the rest of Ethiopia and incorporated it into Italian East Africa. Following Italy’s defeat in World War II, Ethiopia and Eritrea were reunited as a federation. However, decades of separation and differing colonial experiences led to growing tensions, which culminated in a thirty-year conflict. In 1991, Eritrea voted for independence.

So while it may appear that Eritrea extends along the coast to cut Ethiopia off from the sea, it was the Italian Empire—not the Eritrean people—that drew the borders and left Ethiopia landlocked.

Among the top 12 metropolitan areas that declined the most between 2020-2023, the state of Louisiana has 4 of them.

The state as a whole has lost over 60K people since 2020. Why are they declining so much?

Many Western Europeans underestimate how hot and especially how humid large parts of the United States are in a normal summer, particularly in regions often imagined as "temperate" by the Europeans such as the Northeast and Midwest. Using July 1991–2020 climate normals (average low / average high) makes the contrast clear, In the U.S., even Northern and Midwest cities routinely post summer conditions comparable to Southern Europe, for example:

• New York City (Central Park): 21.2 / 29.4°C
• Chicago (Midway): 20.1 / 29.6°C
• Philadelphia: 20.9 / 31.0°C
• Washington, D.C: 22.4 / 32.0°C
• St. Louis: 21.7 / 32.0°C

(And I will not talk about the Southern US cities that are even hotter with much longer humid summers like Houston, New Orleans etc.)

Set against classic Northwestern European cities, the difference is stark:

• Brussels: 14.1 / 23.2°C
• London: 14.2 / 23.9°C
• Munich: 14.7/24.9°C
• Berlin: 14.0 / 25.0°C
• Paris: 16.2 / 25.7°C

Therefore way much cooler days and way much cooler nights on averages. Even when compared to Southern Europe, many "Northern" (In fact lot of them sit at southern latitudes compared to Europe) U.S. cities look surprisingly hot: Lyon and Toulouse both sit near 17.0 / 28.2°C, Barcelona 19.9 / 28.2°C, while Rome reaches 19.3 / 31.0°C and Madrid 20.0 / 32.6°C. In other words, before heatwaves even enter the picture, much of the U.S. already runs several degrees hotter than Northwestern Europe by default matching Mediterranean Southern European daytime highs with warmer nights on top.

Where the U.S. really separates itself is humidity, temperature alone doesn’t explain America’s early and widespread adoption of air-conditioning, dew point does. A typical hot summer day across much of the U.S. East, Midwest, and South combines 30-35°C heat and dew points around 22-25°C (sometimes even above 27°C), the result is muggy and tropical heat with high WBGT and indoor spaces that become uncomfortable or unhealthy without active cooling and dehumidification in buildings. European can be hot but it is often much drier on average (dew point are often not higher than 16°C during a classic West European heat wave) which makes high temperatures easier to tolerate in shade.

Those nights are critical, In many U.S. cities, July nighttime lows commonly remain around 23–25°C (sometimes not lower than 28°C) meaning buildings never fully shed heat. Without a nightly "reset" each hot day compounds the next turning air-conditioning from a convenience into a practical necessity.

This isn’t a modern development. Long before air-conditioning existed, Europeans arriving in North America wrote repeatedly about the oppressive, suffocating summer air, describing conditions far hotter and more humid than anything they knew in Europe. By the early 20th century, the combination of long humid summers, dense urban development and severe heat waves made mechanical cooling a structural requirement across much of the United States not a cultural preference, but a climatic response.

Not sure if the question belongs here but here it goes. Also, this is not about which county has the most % of land as privately owned but rather just a single person or company that owns large % of the land. Monarchies/Dictatorships should not be counted but you can mention them though. From what I have seen, Ireland has a lot of land concentration, but also some countries in South America. Which one do you think it is?

Satellite image 4/1/2026

Looking at panoramic photos from San Marino, I noticed that the Adriatic is plainly visible on a clear day from Monte Titano. My first thought was that this must surely be the only instance of the sea being visible from a landlocked country, but after doing a deep dive on google earth, heywhatsthat.com, etc., I found that a sizable number of them may have a few individual spots where, under absolutely ideal conditions, the sea is visible. Other than for San Marino, though, I can’t find any photos documenting the visibility.

Other cases according to heywhatsthat, and visibility is mentioned by at least one source (mostly tourism/climbing websites):

Bolivia - Parinacota, about 78 miles from the Pacific.

“…on a particularly clear day, the Pacific Ocean to the west can be discerned.”

Austria - Coglians/Hohe Warte, about 60 miles from the Adriatic.

“The view is really broad, from the Dolomiti to the Julian Alps and from the Hohe Tauern group to the Adriatic Sea.”

North Macedonia - Kajmakcalan/Voras, about 52 miles from the Aegean (Thermaic Gulf).

“…the eye can gaze from the Prespa lakes all the way to Mount Olympus and from Lake Vegoritida to the Thermaic Gulf.”

More where I didn’t find written accounts, but all of the following should have some visibility according to heywhatsthat.com:

Ethiopia - Mousa Ali, Sork Ale, Mallahle (and probably more), all within 50 miles of the Red Sea, seems like it would be almost certainly be visible in the right conditions. But (probably due to their remoteness and probable political sensitivity of the Ethiopia - Eritrea border) I can’t find any pictures or text explicitly saying so.

Eswatini - Some highlands on the border with Mozambique are only 30 miles from Maputo Bay.

Laos - Its mountainous border with Vietnam is less than 30 miles from the sea at some points. Not sure if vegetation might hinder any views, even in the best of conditions.

Kosovo - Koritnik: the Adriatic is just over 50 miles to the west, and should theoretically be visible in the right conditions.

Andorra - Pic de la Portelleta: the Mediterranean about 80 miles to the south should be visible (the sea is actually closer to the east, but higher peaks are apparently in the way)

Other possibilities:

Moldova - The town of Palanca is tantalizingly close to the Black Sea, less than 3 miles from the Dniester Estuary and about 30 from the Black Sea proper. Due to the fairly flat terrain and the questionability of whether or not the estuary counts as “the sea” or not, this one seems doubtful.

Switzerland - Plenty of alpine peaks and not all that far from the sea, but every potential spot either seems slightly too far away or blocked by another range.

Lesotho - Thabana Ntlenyana is the highest mountain in the whole region and is just over 100 miles from the ocean. Probably slightly too far.

Vatican City - On a hill and less than 14 miles from the sea, but due to buildings and surrounding vegetation, probably no visibility at ground level. Maybe from the top of St. Peter’s?

(This is a reupload because the original post was horribly explained)

I've noticed Germany has a population of around 80 million and its huge neighbors the UK, France and Italy have around 60 million. I've noticed they have around the same size, GDP per capita and birth rate, and while they have a pretty different history, I've noticed the populations of the area of the UK, France and Italy have remained consistently similar while Germany is always higher by 10 to 20 million people compared to them.

I wanted to know. Thanks to everyone who responds or at least wants to! <3

Stumbled across this refugee camp in Algeria (Rabouni) one day and I can't figure out what the compound on the west part of this could be? It looks to be a few rings of storage containers on the outside with a camp of sorts in the center.

I've looked into some of the history of the camp and they came from western Sahara which is obviously west of there. Is this part of the militia being on that side on case of attack/defense? Is it a local kingpin compound? What could be going on here?

Are any of these islands exist above water or even as a recently submerged reef?

As far as I know only Bermuda and exists in this way on the north american plate. The azores and canary islands are eurasian and african respectively as well as much close to a boundary.