Geography & Travel
Planet Earth contains some extraordinarily diverse environments, some of which are easily habitable and some not so much. In different areas of Earth, one might find sweltering deserts, dense tropical rainforests, or bone-chilling tundras. Each biome and habitat comes with its own selection of flora and fauna, and it may include physical features such as canyons, volcanoes, rivers, or caves. Human beings have built homes in many different environments, settling the area and organizing it into units such as cities, states, regions, and countries, each with its own points of interest. Shifting trends in human migration have resulted in a human geography that is profoundly different from that of centuries ago.
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Featured content, February 25, 2021
Why New York Is Called "The Big Apple" and How 8 Other Famous Cities Got Their Nicknames
What’s so apple-y about New York, anyway?
#WTFact / Geography & Travel

Which Waters Do You Pass Through When You “Sail the Seven Seas”?
Here’s a hint: It depends on when you’re sailing them.
Demystified / Geography & Travel

What Is Known (and Not Known) About the Bermuda Triangle
People have been trying to solve the “mystery” of the Bermuda Triangle for years. Here’s what we know (and don’t know) about...
Companion / Geography & Travel

Australia
Australia, the smallest continent and one of the largest countries on Earth, lying between the Pacific and Indian oceans...
Encyclopedia / Geography & Travel

Europe
Europe, second smallest of the world’s continents, composed of the westward-projecting peninsulas of Eurasia (the great landmass...
Encyclopedia / Geography & Travel

Austronesian languages
Austronesian languages, family of languages spoken in most of the Indonesian archipelago; all of the Philippines, Madagascar,...
Encyclopedia / Geography & Travel

Map
Map, graphic representation, drawn to scale and usually on a flat surface, of features—for example, geographical, geological,...
Encyclopedia / Geography & Travel

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Geography & Travel Subcategories

Although there isn’t universal agreement on the question of what qualifies as a “country,” it is generally accepted that in order to be a country, a state must be a sovereign unit that has a permanent population, defined territorial boundaries, a government, and the ability to enter into agreements with other states. Even when these conditions are met, however, internationally recognized independence is not a given, and a territorial entity that declares itself to be an independent country is not always recognized as such by the rest of the world.
Articles

This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Articles
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Auschwitz
concentration camp, Poland
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Mongol empire
historical empire, Asia
- Ancient Egypt

This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
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Northeast Passage
sea route, Eurasia
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Appian Way
ancient road, Italy
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Broadway
street and district, New York City, New York, United...

Since 1945 human geography has contained five main divisions. The first four—economic, social, cultural, and political—reflect both the main areas of contemporary life and the social science disciplines with which geographers interact (i.e., economics, sociology, anthropology, and political science and international relations, respectively); the fifth is historical geography.
Articles
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Southeast Indian
people
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South American nomad
South American people
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Australian Aboriginal peoples
people

Language, a system of conventional spoken, manual, or written symbols by means of which human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture, express themselves. The functions of language include communication, the expression of identity, play, imaginative expression, and emotional release.
Articles
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Slang
linguistics
- Romance languages
- Latin language

Earth’s geographic history has been one marked by significant overall change, with ice ages, continental drift, and other major disruptions ultimately shaping Earth's land into the landscape of mountain ranges, deserts, islands, and volcanoes that we see today.
Articles

Whether it's Lake Michigan, the Gulf of Panama, or the River Thames, bodies of water of all shapes and sizes can be found around the globe, and they play a critical role for human beings, who use such bodies of water as a source of drinking water, a means of transporting both goods and people themselves, or a place to engage in water sports, among a plethora of other possible uses. Additionally, many bodies of water provide striking scenes of natural beauty and house important marine ecosystems. Satiate your thirst for knowledge about Earth's oceans, lakes, seas, rivers, waterfalls, bays, and more.
Articles

Nature reserves are areas set aside for the purpose of preserving and protecting plants and animals, particularly endangered species. National parks may effectively serve a similar purpose by shielding threatened species from hunters, but these parks can also be created for the purpose of public recreation, affording its visitors a chance to be immersed in a protected natural environment. Many national parks have been created in the last 100 years, including Yellowstone National Park, the oldest and probably the best-known national park in the United States.
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Yosemite National Park
national park, California, United States
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Zion National Park
national park, Utah, United States
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park
national park, North Carolina-Tennessee, United States

Every nation has its own subdivisions to demarcate smaller political units within its territory. Counties, districts, oblasts, polis, nomos, unitary authorities, boroughs, and cities are all examples (among many others) of how land can be organized.
Articles
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Queensland
state, Australia
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Minnesota
state, United States
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Michigan
state, United States

This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Articles
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North Africa
region, Africa
- Central Asia
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Silicon Valley
region, California, United States

This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Articles
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Big Ben
clock, London, United Kingdom
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Machu Picchu
ancient city, Peru
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Palace of Versailles
palace, Versailles, France