Informative geography facts about our wonderful planet, detailed and easy-to-read maps, and various topics about each country! I am pleased to update my blog as a passion project and do not generate content with AI.
New! (11/2026): GeoFact of the Day is pleased to announce custom mapping services just for you! I can use my skills to make high-quality maps and build extensive GIS data assets as I have for many years. I have made blog maps with some of this data but haven't explored some of the themes that I hope to post in the future. Please let me know if you would like to discuss a mapping or GIS data project; email wonderfulworldblogs@gmail.com for more details and to explain your proposal. Thanks!
Welcome to GeoFact of the Day, where you can find fantastic facts about places, countries, cultures, languages, and other wonders of our world. I hope you enjoy!
Episode 1 Description: In Vancouver, host Phil Keoghan surprises racers with the first twist of the season — for the first time in the show’s history there are 13 Express Passes in play.
Episode Airdate: Wednesday, September 30th, 2026 on CBS
The Amazing Race is back, and team will visit nine countries around the world throughout Season 39! Teams arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA to picturesque views in the sky and on the water thanks to Harbour Air Seaplanes. The thirteen teams were welcomed to Canada by Squamish Nation people singing and playing drums. For the first time in Amazing Race history, each team was treated to an Express Pass that they can use within one of six legs (episodes). With an Express Pass, they can skip a challenge if they are spending too much time on a task or want to move on and save time before starting a task. We were introduced to this season’s teams:
● Ali and Joanna, pro soccer teammate moms (both formerly on the U.S. women's national soccer team)
● Andrea (daughter) and Anuar (dad)
● Ann-Marie (mom) and Riley (daughter)
● Charlotte and Katie, sisters
● Cody and Jaime, siblings
● Conner and Garrett, childhood friends
● Dafina and Saran, sisters
● Daisha and Dalton, dating
● Doug (grandpa) and Dylan (grandson)
● Erin and Javi, couple
● Jenn and Jody, moms
● Matt and Michelle, parents
● Nate and Zach, brothers
Teams were instructed to go to BC Place, a stadium where one member of each team bungee jumped 300 feet from a top balcony while wearing big bear claws to catch a big polyester salmon. Erin and Javi chose to use their Express Pass before beginning this challenge. Erin mentioned how it took some time for teams to get geared up, while Javi added that teams had to wait since the challenge could only be completed one team at a time. This wasn't the first time Ali visited BC Place. She and her teammates on the UNITED STATES national soccer team won the 2015 Women's World Cup on July 5th in which they defeated JAPAN 5 to 2. Joanna was on the soccer team in earlier years and not in 2015.
Next up on the itinerary was a visit to the Plaza of Nations; teams then hopped on an aquabus travelling to the Vancouver Maritime Museum. Here they encountered the “Run It Up” or “Paddle It Out” Detour. In “Run It Up,” teams memorized various maritime flags and their meanings. They then listened to a captain who called out some of these flags in a particular order, so teams hoisted the flags accordingly and were handed the Pit Stop clue if correct. Dafin and Saran used their Express Pass at the “Run It Up” detour. In “Paddle It Out,” teams arrived at Teetotaler Beach and paddled in an outrigger canoe to reach a yellow tetrahedron-shaped buoy for the Pit Stop clue. Doug and Dylan used their Express Pass at the “Paddle It Out” detour.
Teams finalized their first episode Amazing Race journey with a Pit Stop at the beautiful VanDusen Botanical Garden which features a serene waterfall as depicted in this wonderful photo by Richard Wong (↗). Erin and Javi using their Express Pass in the beginning worked out well for them — they stepped on the Pit Stop mat in first place!
Season 39, Episode 1 Results
1st — Erin and Javi
1st place prize — vacation to TΓRKIYE
Istanbul
cave and underground cities of Cappadocia exploration
hot air balloon rides over the mesmerizing Fairy Chimneys
2nd — Conner and Garrett
3rd — Matt and Michelle
4th — Doug and Dylan
5th — Charlotte and Katie
6th — Anuar and Andrea
7th — Ann-Marie and Riley
8th — Jenn and Jody
9th — Dafina and Saran
10th — Ali and Joanna
11th — Cody and Jaime
12th — Daisha and Dalton
13th — Nate and Zach
Eliminated from the competition
Learn more about the Earth with the help of a GeoFact of the Day Geography Bee Quiz (↗) like this one! Think of this resource as free food for your mind. Whether you are preparing for a geography bee, wanting to impress folks at a trivia contest, or just yearning to learn, I hope you enjoy these morsels about the world. The answers to this quiz are listed below — enjoy and good luck!
1) MONACO had an adult literacy rate of 99% in the year 2023. The relatively tiny but wealthy principality is east of Nice — a city in which country?
A — GERMANY
B — FRANCE
C — SPAIN
2) Lake Mattamuskeet is only five miles away from the Atlantic Ocean. It is completely contained within Hyde County in which state in the UNITED STATES?
A — North Carolina
B — Pennsylvania
C — Vermont
D — Arkansas
3) Jaco is a tiny, circular island east of Timor Island and Cape Cutcha. It is the easternmost point of TIMOR-LESTE (East Timor) and is about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) in length. Overnight stays are not allowed on the uninhabited island. What is the official reason why visitors are banned from staying overnight on Jaco?
A — vicious nocturnal crocodiles
B — the island is sacred
C — to let birds sleep peacefully
D — sneaky leopards like to prowl at night and scare visitors
4) True or false: there are no time zones in the Arctic Circle.
Learn more about the Earth with the help of a GeoFact of the Day Geography Bee Quiz (↗) like this one! Whether you are preparing for a geography bee, wanting to impress folks at a trivia contest, or just want to learn, I hope you enjoy these morsels about the world. The answers to this quiz are listed below — enjoy and good luck!
1) The Principality of MONACO borders which sea?
A — Caspian Sea
B — Mediterranean Sea
C — Sulu Sea
2) According to data in the year 2022, IRAN has an overall adult literacy rate of _________.
A — 23%
B — 61%
C — 89%
3) True or false: rainbows are very common in Antarctica.
4) While there are several San Juan counties in the Western UNITED STATES, one of these has the highest number of neighboring counties (14) in the U.S. It is also one of the largest counties with a 7,933 square-mile area. Which state is this county located in?
A — Washington
B — Colorado
C — New Mexico
D — Utah
ANSWERS
Question 1:
B . . . . . Mediterranean Sea
Question 2:
C . . . . . 89%
Question 3:
False: they are quite rare in Antarctica; colorless icy haloes are more frequent.
Can you believe the interview below was BANNED from being shown on CBS? The FCC used the equal time rule as an excuse, but most Americans likely haven't heard of his candidacy and he has not received much coverage overall... so why is this interview banned from television? I am fuming at all the censorship going on right here in a country that purports to love freedom, rights, and religion. Here is a kind-hearted priest running for Senate whose interview was banned from being shown by the corporate bigwigs (or should I say goons as David Letterman called them) at CBS — a broadcasting giant who is complicit in the corrupt and devilish Trump Administration's trampling of the Constitution.
As mentioned in this YouTube video (↗), CBS didn't even want Stephen to mention that he was not allowed to interview Talarico on CBS! Don't get me wrong, I am okay with Jasmine Crockett as a candidate as well, so I am hoping that Texans make a well-informed decision to choose who they believe can turnout the vote among Democrats, Independents, and reasonable Republicans to win against the Republican candidate for the now-more-important-than-ever Senate seat. I appreciate she spoke up against FCC censorship (↗) (especially the 5 minute mark in this linked video) even as it relates to CBS/FCC preventing her opponent's interview from airing. It is worth noting that Jasmine was on the Colbert show multiple times in the past, so having this first interview for James should not have been an issue. Whoever you vote for, this is blatantly clear: vote Democrat to vote for freedom. Thank you YouTube, James Talarico, Jasmine Crockett, and Stephen Colbert for standing up for freedom of speech rights, which I will always be a supporter of! It would be nice if I can focus on geography, but there is so much nonsense going on in this country that I feel compelled to speak up.
Season 38 Episode 12 (Wednesday, December 10th, 2025) “One Million Cookies” Finale Info: “The final three teams race through New York City where they rappel down the Empire State Building, and host Phil Keoghan crowns one team the winners.”
In this twelfth and grand finale episode of The Amazing Race Season 38 (U.S. Edition), we found out whether Izzy and Paige or Adam and Joseph arrived to the π«π· Paris, FRANCE Pit Stop πΌ in third place. As mentioned as a spoiler alert at the bottom of the eleventh episode post, Adam and Joseph arrived third and continued in the competition; Izzy and Paige arrived in fourth and therefore could not compete for a million dollars. The three teams competing for moolah — Kyland and Taylor, Jag and Jas, and Adam and Joseph — flew ✈️ westward across the Atlantic Ocean from Paris to π½ New York City, USA πΊπΈ and arrived at the magnificent Empire State Building. In a thrilling task, they went all the way to the top and rappelled down the spire!
Each team was given $550 π΅ to spend in this episode, presumably for taxi rides, food, and maybe some souvenirs. Teams met and chatted with the Cookie Monster πͺ and Oscar the Grouch — two wonderful personalities from one of the most popular PBS shows of all time, Sesame Street! Later at a gigantic fabric store known as Spandex Fabrics Inc., teams found sixteen specific bolts of fabric to match swatch samples. They gave the fabrics to a student waiting outside in front of the Feldman Center (Fashion Institute of Technology).
For the last challenge of Season 38, teams visited Seret Studios which provides an assortment of filming locations π₯ throughout New York City. Teams completed a giant crossword puzzle recapping places and moments throughout this season. Finally, they unscrambled letters from the puzzle to determine the π Pit Stop location: Yankees Stadium ⚾. To cheer on the final three teams, most teams from Season 38 were present at the Pit Stop mat including Eric/Tucker, Izzy/Paige, Chelsie/Jack, Matt/Megan, Enzo/Jack, etc. π₯ Jag and Jas arrived first and won the $1 million! π This was likely not a surprise to Amazing Race viewers due to their remarkable performance throughout the competition. In basically every episode, Jag and Jas arrived at the Pit Stop in first place or in the top three. Congratulations to them! The second-place team (Kyland and Taylor) π₯, the third-place team (Adam and Joseph) π₯, Izzy and Paige π , and pretty much every other team are also to be commended for excelling at Season 38 of the The Amazing Race!
New year, new geography quiz! Learn more about the Earth with the help of a GeoFact of the Day Geography Bee Quiz (↗) like this one! Whether you are preparing for a geography bee, wanting to impress folks at a trivia contest, or just want to learn, I hope you enjoy these morsels about the world. The answers to this quiz are listed below — enjoy and good luck!
1) Which of the following is not a city in PORTUGAL?
A — Lisbon
B — Porto
C — Madrid
D — Coimbra
2) Highclere Castle is the grand main setting of the episodes and movies of Downton Abbey. This impressive building is located in which southern ceremonial county of the UNITED KINGDOM?
A — Cornwall County
B — Devon County
C — Hampshire County
3) True or false: BAHRAIN is an island country.
4) Nicknamed the Green Mountain State, which of the following choices gained statehood to the UNITED STATES as the 14th state?
A — Maine
B — Vermont
C — Minnesota
D — Washington
ANSWERS
Question 1:
C . . . . . Madrid — capital of Spain (↗)
GeoFact of the Day is concerned about the politicization of election maps in the United States. Gerrymandering has been an issue for many years but hasn't been properly resolved in most states. Ideally, elections should be competitive to where either party could theoretically win in a district, but fewer and fewer districts are like this as the years go on. 10 of the 11 most gerrymandered states are Republican. I feel obliged to note that Republican Party has been notorious, in my opinion, for gerrymandering (they've done this for many years and in dozens of states). Gerrymandering results in districts that look elongated and ugly on a map. Ideal districts should be relatively squarish or circular and keep together neighboring counties and communities. Some districts have a length of more than 100 miles, connecting areas that are not exactly connected culturally and socially. GeoFact of the Day encourages lawmakers to hand redistricting duties over to cartographers, demographers, and other social scientist-minded individuals who will draw districts that will help revitalize United States elections and bring forth high-quality candidates and public servants — who will try to serve the interests of all constituents in their district, not just big-moneyed special interests.
This tornado warning has expired and is no longer in effect.The GeoFact of the Day Blog occasionally posts tornado warning alerts, but please see info from the National Weather Service (weather.gov) for severe weather updates in your area.
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
Tornado Warning
National Weather Service North Platte NE
617 PM CDT Mon Jul 28 2025
The National Weather Service in North Platte has issued a
* Tornado Warning for...
Eastern Boyd County in north central Nebraska...
This tornado warning has expired and is no longer in effect.The GeoFact of the Day Blog occasionally posts tornado warning alerts, but please see info from the National Weather Service (weather.gov) for severe weather updates in your area.
Severe Weather Statement
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
625 PM CDT Mon Jul 28 2025
This tornado warning has expired and is no longer in effect.The GeoFact of the Day Blog occasionally posts tornado warning alerts, but please see info from the National Weather Service (weather.gov) for severe weather updates in your area.
This tornado warning has expired and is no longer in effect.The GeoFact of the Day Blog occasionally posts tornado warning alerts, but please see info from the National Weather Service (weather.gov) for severe weather updates in your area.
Tornado Warning
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
519 PM CDT Mon Jul 28 2025
The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls has issued a
* Tornado Warning for...
South central Gregory County in south central South Dakota...
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
Tornado Warning
National Weather Service Mount Holly NJ
502 PM EDT Thu Jun 19 2025
The National Weather Service in Mount Holly NJ has issued a
* Tornado Warning for...
Northern New Castle County in northern Delaware...
Southeastern Chester County in southeastern Pennsylvania...
Southwestern Delaware County in southeastern Pennsylvania...
I searched the interwebs and happened to find a wonderful resource that would be great for coloring fun all while getting a geography education. A digital image collection provided by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology (FCIT) — part of the College of Education at the University of South Florida — ClipArt ETC houses over 200 black and white world flags (↗) that could be used as printable coloring pages. If you know about all the world's countries, you might notice some countries' flags are missing — including AFGHANISTAN, HAITI, KAZAKHSTAN, LIECHTENSTEIN, LUXEMBOURG*, MALTA, and ZAMBIA. Nevertheless, lots of coloring fun can be had since the website's images are easy to copy/paste into a document and print. For educational, classroom, and non-profit uses, ClipArt ETC grants you "permission to use a maximum of fifty (50) clipart items in any non-commercial, educational project (report, presentation, display, website, etc.)" although there are some reasonable restrictions. More information about the free (and commercial) licensure options can be found on the ClipArt ETC website (↗). If you are a teacher, you could let your students choose a flag to color and instruct them to create a poster or PowerPoint presentation involving the flag's country. Enjoy, and kudos to FCIT for a wonderful website!
* The NETHERLANDS' flag can be used as a substitute due to three-stripe similarity.
This Google Maps aerial image depicts a BerryPepper “mascot” painted on an intersection in downtown Creighton, Nebraska in Knox County. What is a BerryPepper?
A — Spice combo featuring peppercorns and strawberry flavoring
B — Frozen drink combining Dr. Pepper and Nehi Strawberry soda
C — Strawberries and cream milkshake
Answer:
B — Frozen drink combining Dr. Pepper and Nehi Strawberry soda. The BerryPepper mascot is also used to celebrate the annual BerryPepper Days in Creighton.
Learn more about the Earth with the help of a GeoFact of the Day Geography Bee Quiz (↗) like this one! Think of this resource as free food for your mind. Whether you are preparing for a geography bee — or maybe a geography-themed trivia contest — or just want to cherish the positive aspects of planet Earth, I hope you enjoy these morsels of knowledge. The answers to this quiz are listed below — enjoy and good luck!
Here's to a New Year's Resolution of learning about our amazing planet!
1) Which of the following is not a city in ROMANIA?
A — Bucharest (BucureΘti)
B — TimiΘoara
C — Belgrade (Beograd)
2) Which state in the UNITED STATES has exactly 100 counties? Some of these counties include Durham, Mecklenburg, Orange, Pitt, Wake, and Watauga.
A — Vermont
B — North Carolina
C — New Mexico
3) BANGLADESH is mostly bordered by INDIA but also shares a border in the southeast with _____________.
A — MYANMAR
B — NEPAL
C — PHILIPPINES
ANSWERS
Question 1:
C . . . . . Belgrade (Beograd) which is the capital of Serbia (↗)
Learn more about the Earth with the help of a GeoFact of the Day Geography Bee Quiz (↗) like this one! Think of this resource as free food for your mind. Whether you are preparing for a geography bee — or maybe a geography-themed trivia contest — or just want to cherish the positive aspects of planet Earth, I hope you enjoy these morsels of knowledge. The answers to this quiz are listed below — enjoy and good luck!
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
1) Which of the following is not a city in NORWAY?
A — Stockholm
B — Oslo
C — Bergen
D — Trondheim
2) In late summer 2024, over 20 silver Roman denarii coins were discovered inside a wall hole at an acropolis on the Mediterranean island of Pantelleria. The Italian island is located between ITALY and which country in Africa?
A — CAMEROON
B — TUNISIA
C — ETHIOPIA
3) Which two states in the UNITED STATES have more than 80 counties each?
A — Arizona and Nevada
B — Michigan and Minnesota
C — Connecticut and Rhode Island
D — North Dakota and South Dakota
ANSWERS
Question 1:
A . . . . . Stockholm which is the capital of Sweden (↗)
I first want to mention my gratitude for veterans this Veterans Days and always. This election was quite a roller coaster, the likes of which I never experienced before. I believed Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, had a decent chance of winning — but I knew the election results would be almost 50/50 and that the winner would not win by much. Unfortunately, the result turned out to be disappointing for me (I was confident they could win) but yet not all that surprising since Donald Trump has a strange stranglehold over much of the American people. I know Trump might have done some good things for the economy, but I and many fellow Americans wanted to give Kamala a chance; she might have given us an even better economy for all we know!
While Harris-Walz did not win the so-called “swing states,” Trump-Vance did not win those states by a landslide. All of the swing states in this election — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — gave Harris-Walz almost or at least 48% of the vote. To summarize, Harris-Walz and other Democrats put forth a valiant and optimistic effort that helped to bring out the best in us, in contrast to the hatred, fearmongering, and falsehoods coming from the “other side.” Harris and Walz (and other Democrats) should be very proud of their campaign. It is worthwhile to note how Harris-Walz had relatively little time to prepare (since late July 2024) compared to Trump's team. They also conceded the election with grace, class, and wisdom, whereas Trump and his people disputed the 2020 election even in 2024. I immensely believe future generations will look back at this moment in history and will appreciate the historic candidacy of Kamala Harris — and how she inspired us to be better.
● The author of this GeoFact of the Day Blog creates and curates original, authentic content and posts information based on established facts. Blog posts are not generated by artificial intelligence (AI) but published by the author.
● Content and image graphics from other sources are properly credited. Many geography facts are well-established and therefore do not belong to any one source, but occasionally a fact requires attribution/credit if it is unique and hard-to-find — for example, facts found from specific cultural, anthropological, geological, and scientific (etc.) research.
● I do not copy and paste from other websites. Therefore, all posts are original but may sometimes include information, links, and/or images from credited external sources. To use a GeoFact of the Day Blog image for your website or project, write a comment below a post — then I may approve your request.
● Feel free to offer comments, suggestions, and compliments on any post or page! You can be anonymous. Spam comments with non-relevant links will be deleted.
● Thanks for your loyal readership on the educational and reliable GeoFact of the Day Blog, in existence since 2008!
Thanks for Visiting from Anywhere in the World!
Over 470,000 views as of October 2023 — thank you!
