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Online Rand McNally maps showing Travelers Rest in Greenville County and South Carolina. Click image to enlarge this map pair in a lightbox window.
Known as the gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains, there is a town in northern Greenville County, South Carolina called Travelers Rest. Hence its name, mountaineers, hikers, and others could visit to prepare for their northward journey or energize after an arduous journey.
Travelers Rest was traditionally considered an ideal stop outside the Blue Ridge Mountains, especially if there was hazardous winter weather in the area. The city has a comprehensive plan, recently updated and published on its website at www.travelersrestsc.com. Travelers Rest’s population is over 4,500.
A mountainous Central Asian country, the Republic of TAJIKISTAN boasts relatively clean rivers refilled by glacial water and naturally-melting glaciers. The Panj (Pyandzh) river travels along most of Tajikistan's southern border with Afghanistan, while the river's headwater source flows westward in Afghanistan's panhandle. Towns and cities located along the Panj river include Dusti, Panj (Pyandzh), Khorugh, and Vrang. Panj is a tributary to the Amu Darya river, which flows through Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan before reaching the rapidly-drying Aral Sea to the northwest. As the GeoFact of the Day Blog map indicates, multiple tributaries flow to conjoin with the Panj river. Along the river from west to east, tributaries include the Gunt, Bartang, Yakhsu (not shown on map), Vakhsh (west of Yakhsu river), and Kofarnihon (Karfirnigan) rivers.
Kofarnihon flows past cities such as Dushanbe — Tajikistan's capital — and Vahdat, formerly known as Ordzhonikidzeabad during the Soviet era and Kofarnihon until the early 2000s. With about 100,000 residents, Kulob is situated next to Yakhsu, while Vakhsh flows past cities such as Jirgatal', Obigarm, and Qurghonteppa. Tributaries of the Vakhsh river include Muksu and Obikhingou. The Bartang river is interesting because it has a different name in each section, as you can see with the map above. The westernmost section is called Bartang until the river reaches Lake Sarez (Sarezskoye) in the east. From that point, the Bartang name transitions to Murghob river then to Oqsu river. Gunt river flows past Khorugh city like the Panj river does. Gunt also flows through the Pereval Nayzatash (Nayzatash Pass), with an elevation of 4,137 meters tall. Finally, northern Tajikistan has two main rivers: Syr Darya and Zarafshon (Zeravshan). Syr Darya features the Kayrakkum Reservoir, created by one of Tajikistan's most productive hydroelectric dams.
Here is my Tajikistan post, posted in 2010 but updated just now!
Practically every day, National Geographic posts an online GeoBee Quiz as an engaging way to learn about geography and practice one's recall of geographic knowledge. There are two possible quiz modes to choose from: Apprentice and Expert. The questions below come from the Tuesday, January 26th Expert quiz. These questions and the daily quiz are hosted on the National Geographic Society website. After two days, these quiz questions will likely be deleted on the National Geographic website, but they are here on the GeoFact of the Day Blog! Answers, some of which are purposefully placed beside different letters compared to the National Geographic's original quiz, are listed at the bottom of this post.
1) One of the world's largest known natural gas reservoirs, the North Field, belongs to what country in the Middle East?
A — Qatar
B — Turkey
C — Jordan
2) What term describes the air circulation pattern of rising air at the Equator and sinking air around 30 degrees latitude?
A — Hadley cell
B — trade winds
C — westerly
3) Which state has a smaller capital city?
A — New York
B — South Dakota
C — Arizona
4) Name the belt of volcanic and seismic activity bordering most of the Pacific Rim.
A — Trans-Eurasian
B — Ring of Fire
C — Circum-Pacific Belt
5) What is the term for the fan-shaped feature composed of sand and gravel that is formed where a stream emerges from a mountain valley onto a plain?
A — till
B — channel
C — alluvial fan
6) Which state does not have a coastline?
A — Delaware
B — New Hampshire
C — New Mexico
7) Baffin Bay and Davis Strait separate Baffin Island, in Canada, from which other island?
A — Greenland
B — Prince Edward Island
C — Iceland
8) The yak, a kind of long-haired ox, is used as a pack animal in the mountain regions of which continent?
A — Europe
B — Asia
C — South America
9) Panama separates the Pacific Ocean from which body of water?
A — Gulf of Mexico
B — Indian Ocean
C — Caribbean Sea
10) Which waterway serves as a shortcut for most ships traveling from New York to Los Angeles?
A — Suez Canal
B — Panama Canal
C — Inside Passage
Answers
1 — A, Qatar
2 — A, Hadley cell
3 — B, South Dakota
4 — B, Ring of Fire
5 — C, alluvial fan
6 — C, New Mexico
7 — A, Greenland
8 — B, Asia
9 — C, Caribbean Sea
10 — B, Panama Canal
Serving as the highest point in the East African country DJIBOUTI, Mousa Ali (Mousâ'alli) is a stratovolcano standing 2,021 meters and 6,131 feet tall. It is specifically located along a three-nation border point, connecting Djibouti's northern border with ETHIOPIA's northeastern border and ERITREA's southeastern border. Mousa Ali is fortunately dormant and has not erupted for thousands of years. Even better, the volcano is in a low-populated area away from major settlements. Communities located multiple kilometers and miles away from the relatively safe volcano include Dorra in Djibouti, Vann (over 20 miles away) in Eritrea, and Bure and Manda in Ethiopia.
In Southern Indiana, seven counties — Dearborn, Ohio, Posey, Spencer, Switzerland, Vanderburgh, and Warrick — currently have Winter Weather Advisories and are shown in blue on my map. Fortunately, this alert might expire in about 3 hours. Clark, Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, and Perry counties have a Winter Storm Warning, which is expected to expire at 6 A.M. Central time. Unfortunately for residents in states located east of Indiana, they will have to deal with lots of snow and other conditions for days.
View Larger Map | View Bird's Eye
Situated in eastern CANADA in Quebec (Québec) province's Côte-Nord region, Île René-Levasseur is Lake Manicouagan's circular island, featuring an area of 2,020 square kilometers and 780 square miles. The island was not always an island, being simply part of the surrounding land and crater until Lake Manicouagan was formed. See the Lake Manicouagan post below — or access it directly with the link below — for details on how this artificial, man-made reservoir was created. René-Levasseur is actually the world's second-largest island in a lake and the world's largest "artificial" island! Forests mostly cover the almost-uninhabited island with pleasant vegetation and protection from the elements, except in areas of clearcutting. Dozens of tiny lakes stud René-Levasseur, including Lac Koch, Lac Loubias, Lac Observation, and Lac Otis.
Link to Lake Manicouagan post (↗)
Click the image above to enlarge it in a lightbox window.
Image compilation with material from National Geographic (One-Page Map of Quebec and
MapMaker Interactive)
Situated in eastern CANADA in Quebec (Québec) province's Côte-Nord region, Lake Manicouagan or Manicouagan Reservoir (Réservoir Manicouagan in French) is an artificial lake shaped like a ring of fire! Speaking of fire, this area maybe experienced some fire action when a meteorite struck eastern Quebec over 200 million years ago, forming the circular impact which eventually allowed water to collect. The Manicouagan crater boasts a designation of being the world's sixth-largest crater! How and when was the reservoir formed? Lake Manicouagan was created by Daniel-Johnson Dam, which was completed in 1968 and dammed up the southward-flowing Manicouagan River. This river reaches the wider Saint Lawrence river and Gulf of Saint Lawrence near the city of Baie-Comeau. The Earth likely has other ring-shaped (annular) lakes, but these are not as large and remarkable compared to mighty Lake Manicouagan! Finally, Lake Manicouagan's large island is Île René-Levasseur, which will be featured in the next post.
This is the GeoFact of the Day Blog's 1100th post — thanks for reading today!
The countries of Southern Africa generally experience a positive increase in their literacy rates among teenagers and young adults who are 15 to 24 years old. This category is described as "youth literacy" in this post. More work can of course be done to improve literacy in these countries. Optimistically however, more and more young people can read and write than ever before. Several countries boast amazingly high literacy rates, breaking down misconceptions about the literacy of southern African residents. The following information comes from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, and UNESCO stands for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.
● The average youth literacy rate (2015) of ANGOLA is 72.93%.
● BOTSWANA's youth literacy rate is 97.85%. EXCELLENT!
● LESOTHO's youth literacy rate is 85.09%. Not bad, Lesotho!
● MADAGASCAR's youth literacy rate is 65.07%.
● MALAWI's youth literacy rate is 75.06%.
● MAURITIUS' youth literacy rate is 98.72%. AWESOME!
● MOZAMBIQUE's youth literacy rate is 76.67%.
● NAMIBIA's youth literacy rate is 89.91%. Nice!
● SOUTH AFRICA's youth literacy rate is 99.02%. Good job, South Africans!
● SWAZILAND's youth literacy rate is 94.77%. Amazing!
● ZAMBIA's youth literacy rate is 65.76%.
● ZIMBABWE's youth literacy rate is 91.73%. Very good!
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for JAMAICA in North America lists 60 critically endangered species and 77 endangered species. Jamaica's critically endangered species include the Arntully Robber Frog, Blue Mountain Yacca tree, Elkhorn Coral, Hawksbill Turtle, Jamaican Flower Bat, Jamaican Iguana, and Staghorn Coral. Endangered species include the Boulder Star Coral, Homerus Swallowtail butterfly, Jamaican Rumpspot Frog, Jamaican Snoring Frog, and Scalloped Hammerhead shark.
Two Interesting Endangered Species
Multiple endangered species around the world are noted for their special sizes, colors, actions, and other characteristics. As you might have guessed, there is a reason why the Jamaican Snoring Frog is named as such. The male frog does emit a loud snoring sound from time to time. Averaging about 4.7 inches, this species is also one of the world's largest tree frog species. The Homerus Swallowtail is the Western Hemisphere's largest butterfly with a wingspan approximately 6 inches. Stamps from Chad, Dominica, Ghana, and Jamaica feature the iconic black-and-yellow flyer.
According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for JAMAICA in North America, there are officially six extinct species and possibly more. These species are extinct in Jamaica: the Caribbean Monk Seal, Jamaica Giant Galliwasp lizard, Jamaican Monkey, Jamaican Rice Rat, Myrcia skeldingii plant, and Psidium dumetorum plant.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for ITALY in southern Europe lists 51 critically endangered species and 80 endangered species. Italy's critically endangered species include the Maltese Skate, Nuragica Columbine, Sicilian Fir tree, Spined Dwarf Mantis, and White Ferula Mushroom. Endangered species include the Appenine Yellow-bellied Toad, Dusky Grouper, Sardinian Brook Salamander, Sardinian Cylindric Grasshopper, and White-clawed Crayfish.
According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for ITALY in southern Europe, there are officially three extinct species and possibly more in Italy. First, Heleobia spinellii was a type of snail, classified in the Semisalsa subgenus and Hydrobiidae family. The Sardinian Pika lived on the island of Sardinia as well as Corsica and possibly other islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Its binomial nomenclature is Prolagus sardus, categorized in the Ochotonidae family. Finally, the Radula visiniaca liverwort plant species was endemic to Italy and was classified in the Radulaceae family.
Located in the Arabian Peninsula's northeastern region, QATAR is the world's only country with a name starting with the letter Q. Below is Qatar's flag from the website Flagpedia.net. To discover more about this country, visit my Qatar post!
The island country CYPRUS (Κύπρος) sits near the Mediterranean Sea's eastern edge and south of Turkey. Cyprus' coastline is relatively rugged and provides plenty of opportunities for bay areas. Crysochu Bay lies north of a small town, Polis, and west of Kokkina in northwestern Cyprus. Morfou Bay is found east of Crysochu Bay, north of Karavostasi, and west of Morphou (Güzelyurt). Morfou Bay is also about 32 kilometers and 20 miles west of Nicosia (Lefkosia or Lefkoşa), the capital of Cyprus.
The island's easternmost water body is Famagusta Bay, west of multiple cities including Agios Sergios, Deryneia, Famagusta (Ammochostos or Gazimagusa), Paralimni, and Trikomo (Iskele). From east to west along the southern coastline are Larnaca Bay, Akrotiri Bay, and Episkopi Bay. Larnaca Bay is south of Larnaca, Xylofagou, and the United Kingdom's Dhekelia military base area. The UK's Akrotiri base area juts southward from Cyprus' mainland, separating the Episkopi and Akrotiri bays from each other. Akrotiri Bay is south of communities such as Agios Tychon, Limassol, and Mesa Geitonia while Episkopi Bay is south of Episkopi, Paramali, and Pissouri.
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