Geographic Oddities - Atlas Obscura
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Geographic Oddities

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Chanute, Kansas

Center of Google Earth Mural

A Google software engineer's Easter egg led to what may be the world's most unusual saved screenshot.
Mannheim, Germany

Mannheim Quadratestadt

In this German city center, the streets have no names.
All illustrations: John Mata for Atlas Obscura
maps

Puzzle Monday: On the Map Crossword

AO Puzzles July 31, 2023
Nahwa.
Nahwa, United Arab Emirates

Nahwa

A small United Arab Emirates territory within an Omani enclave within the United Arab Emirates.
maps

Podcast: Moose Boulder

How far would you go to find the largest island in the largest lake on the largest island in the largest lake on the largest island in the largest lake in the United States?
The Podcast Team April 27, 2023
murder

Podcast: Yellowstone's Zone of Death

Can a legal loophole make it possible to get away with murder?
The Podcast Team April 5, 2023
Highway 412
Guymon, Oklahoma

U.S. Route 412

Is this 47.7-mile stretch of highway the longest straight road in the United States?
Marker at the Chamizal National Memorial
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.
1915 Michigan border post
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.
A PIRATA weather buoy, the only thing that is really at Null Island.

Null Island

A busy island at the center of the world that doesn’t actually exist.
The Red Sea, dividing Africa and Arabia, may be the world's youngest ocean.
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
The entrance to Tashanta
Tashanta, Russia

Tashanta

The last stop in southeast Russia.
The border between Stewart, British Columbia and Hyder, as seen from the Canadian side.
Hyder, Alaska

Hyder

The easternmost town in Alaska can only be accessed from Canada.
An assortment of tropical fruit at Miami Fruit Farm in Homestead, Florida.
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
The new tri-state marker (Camak Stone still missing)
South Pittsburg, Tennessee

Camak Stone

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