Geographic Oddities - Atlas Obscura
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Geographic Oddities

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Guymon, Oklahoma

U.S. Route 412

Is this 47.7-mile stretch of highway the longest straight road in the United States?
El Paso, Texas

Chamizal National Memorial

This site honors the end of a 100-year boundary dispute between the United States and Mexico—all started by a river's shifting course.
Angola

Ilha dos Tigres

In 1962, the ocean severed this peninsula—and the village that sat on it—from the Angolan mainland.
Erie, Michigan

Michigan's Lost Peninsula

This small piece of Michigan is entirely surrounded by Ohio.
Baarle-Hertog, Belgium

The House with Two Numbers

This residence straddles a border between Belgium and the Netherlands.

Null Island

A busy island at the center of the world that doesn’t actually exist.
science

Is the Red Sea Really the Red Ocean?

It's complicated.
Gemma Tarlach May 6, 2021
border crossings

Podcast: The 49th Parallel

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team April 26, 2021
Tashanta, Russia

Tashanta

The last stop in southeast Russia.
Hyder, Alaska

Hyder

The easternmost town in Alaska can only be accessed from Canada.
farms

How the Tip of Florida Became a Tropical-Fruit Paradise

Far-flung produce found a home thanks to Homestead's unique climate.
Rachel Wharton March 4, 2020
South Pittsburg, Tennessee

Camak Stone

This stone incorrectly marks the 35th parallel, causing some territorial kerfuffles.
Valga, Estonia

Valga/Valka Border

For the last century, this international border within a small town has appeared and disappeared various times.
Invergarry, Scotland

Glengarry Viewpoint

From here, the loch appears to take the shape of mainland Scotland.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Bacchus House

The god of wine stares out at passersby on this busy Pittsburgh thoroughfare.
Kayabwe, Uganda

Equator Line Restaurant

This small roadside eatery exists in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, as the equator runs right through it.
Helsinki, Finland

Fortress of Suomenlinna

This irregularly shaped sea fortress has defended not one but three different sovereign states.
Inyo County, California

Marble Bath

This desert oddity hides in plain sight thanks to a cartographic error and a desert explorer with a punny sense of humor.