Fun Geography Facts to Impress Your Friends

Geography isn't just dry data; it's a collection of the world's weirdest quirks and fascinating anomalies. From borders that make no sense to places with names you can't pronounce, the world is a delightfully strange place. Here are some of our favorite geography facts to drop at your next dinner party.

1. Russia vs. Pluto

Russia is so massive that it has a larger surface area than the dwarf planet Pluto.

Russia: approx. 17 million km²
Pluto: approx. 16.7 million km² Russia also spans 11 time zones. When people on one side of the country are having breakfast, people on the other side are having dinner.

2. The Shortest Place Names

Brevity is the soul of wit, and apparently, geography.

There is a village in France simply named Y. (The residents are called Ypsiloniens).
There is a town in Norway named Å.
There are myriad rivers and small towns named U, O, or E across Asia and Scandinavia.

3. Canada has the most lakes

We’re not talking a few hundred. Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. It’s estimated to have over 2 million lakes, with 563 of them being larger than 100 square kilometers.

4. Inception Island

In the Philippines, there is a singularity of geography:

There is an island called Luzon.
On Luzon, there is a lake called Lake Taal.
Inside Lake Taal is an island called Volcano Island.
Inside Volcano Island is a lake called Main Crater Lake.
Inside Main Crater Lake is a tiny island called Vulcan Point. It is an island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island. (Note: Recent volcanic activity has altered this, but it remains a legendary geographic fact).

5. The Driest Place on Earth

It's not the Sahara. It's the Antarctic Dry Valleys. Some parts haven't seen rain for 2 million years. Technically, Antarctica is the world's largest desert because a desert is defined by low precipitation, not heat.

6. Less than 1%

More than half of the world's population lives inside a circle that covers that includes China, India, and Southeast Asia. Conversely, places like Mongolia are so sparse that you can travel for days without seeing a soul.

Learn More by Playing

Facts are fun, but exploring the world yourself is better. Discover more about these places by exploring the maps at Atlas Arcade. Who knows what other anomalies you'll find while hunting for your next high score?