Amazing Maps

Loch Ness contains more water than all lakes, rivers, and reservoirs in England and Wales combined

Nunavut is the largest electoral district on Earth and it is roughly four times the size of France

In 1796 Italy was not one country but a collection of kingdoms, republics, and smaller states

The weirdest foods in each U.S. state

The United States once proposed annexing Canada in 1866, and this shows how the map could have changed if it succeeded

Europe’s EuroVelo network, a continent-wide system of long-distance cycling routes

Namibia’s Caprivi Strip, a long and narrow panhandle in the northeast

Daylight varies across Europe on the winter solstice because of Earth’s tilt and your latitude. The Earth is tilted by about 23.5°, and in December the Northern Hemisphere is angled away from the Sun. This makes the Sun take a much lower path across the sky. The lower that path, the less of it rises above the horizon, so the day gets shorter, with later sunrises and earlier sunsets. How much shorter depends on how far north you are. In southern Europe, you still get around 9 to 10 hours of daylight. Further north, it drops to about 5 to 7 hours. Above the Arctic Circle, the Sun never rises at all. Its entire path stays below the horizon, creating polar night.

With days now getting noticeably longer across Europe, this shows how little daylight there was at the winter solstice

Loch Ness is one of the deepest and largest freshwater lakes in the United Kingdom. It reaches depths of about 230 metres (755 feet) and stretches roughly 37 kilometres (23 miles) through the Scottish Highlands. Its great depth gives it an unusually large total water volume. England and Wales have relatively few large natural lakes, and most rivers are shallow. As a result, the combined freshwater volume there is surprisingly small. Because of this, Loch Ness alone contains an enormous share of the freshwater found in England and Wales’ lakes and rivers combined.

Loch Ness contains more water than all lakes, rivers, and reservoirs in England and Wales combined

Not all green belt land is open countryside. Around London, large areas inside the green belt include golf courses, airports, reservoirs, military land, and small settlements that existed before the designation was introduced. Green belt status mainly controls new urban development, rather than guaranteeing the land remains natural or publicly accessible.

Large areas of land around many English cities are designated as green belt, where most urban development is restricted. The policy was introduced after World War II to limit urban sprawl and prevent neighboring towns and cities from merging into continuous built-up areas. Green belts form broad rings around major urban areas including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and Newcastle. Development rules are stricter than in most other areas, although some uses such as agriculture, recreation, and certain infrastructure are allowed. Today, green belt land covers about 13 percent of England, making it one of the country’s most significant planning designations.

A map of England’s green belts showing the protected land surrounding cities where development is tightly restricted

Several of these formations were still very large. In Norway alone roughly 350,000 German troops remained when the war ended, one of the largest intact German forces still in the field. They surrendered only after Germany’s capitulation on 8 May 1945.

By early May 1945, Nazi Germany had been defeated across most of Europe. Allied forces advancing from the west and the Soviet Red Army advancing from the east had occupied Germany and most previously held territories. However, several large German formations had not yet formally surrendered. Significant concentrations of German troops remained in Norway and Denmark, along parts of the Atlantic coast of western France, in the Netherlands and northern Germany, and in areas of Bohemia and the northern Balkans where units were still retreating or awaiting surrender orders. Germany’s unconditional surrender came into effect on 8 May 1945, ending the war in Europe.

A map showing where German forces were still holding territory across Europe on 8 May 1945 as World War II in Europe came to an end

Fun fact: There was a part of Saxony that went unoccupied for 42 days (red = unoccupied). It is unclear why this area remained unoccupied. In this timeframe, local councils formed and pleaded with both USA and USSR to occupy them to avert a developing food crisis.

Kanawyers and Independence in California lie about 20 miles apart in straight-line distance across the Sierra Nevada. The mountains between them rise above 13,000 feet, including peaks such as Mount Williamson and Mount Tyndall. This section of the range has no roads crossing it. To drive between the two communities, vehicles must travel south through the Central Valley, then around the southern end of the Sierra Nevada near Bakersfield and the Mojave Desert, before heading north along U.S. Route 395. As a result, a distance of about 20 miles becomes a road journey of roughly 350 miles and more than six hours.

These two California towns sit just 20 miles apart across the Sierra Nevada but reaching one from the other requires a 350 mile drive

How the range of the American bison collapsed across North America during the 19th century