30 Geography Facts Most People Get Wrong #2

chances are if you are subscribed to this Channel or have been recommended this video you have an above average knowledge in geography meaning a lot of the facts I'm about to give you you might already know however for the average Joe who has little to no interest in geography some of the facts I'm about to reveal might just well blow their mind again if you have a keen interest in geography you probably already know many of the following facts but perhaps a few might catch you out even as someone who absolutely loves geography even I

was caught out by a couple of these when doing my research like for example our first fact so let's imagine the Panama Canal in our heads on a world map for me it always cut through the country of Panama from east to west or vice versa however this isn't actually the case the canal runs through the country vertically from north to south the man-made Canal starts near the city of Cologne in the North and then empties out into the Panama Bay not far from the capital Panama City number two Finland is not Scandinavian so when

people think of Scandinavia they may assume that it's this clump of countries here however the term Scandinavia only includes Norway Denmark and Sweden the term Scandinavian is not interchangeable with the nordics which does include Finland as well as as Iceland number three the Sahara Desert is not the largest desert on earth now I guarantee if you were to go out in public and ask 100 random people what the largest desert on Earth is the absolute vast majority would confidently answer with the Sahara which is technically not true to be classified as a desert a region

has to receive less than 10 in of rain per year and as it doesn't really rain but snow in Antarctica the Antarctic desert is by far the largest on Earth it is in fact about 50% larger than the Sahara however in terms of nonpar deserts the Sahara is the largest number four New York City is not the capital of New York State again if you were to ask 100 random people on the street I almost guarantee everyone would say that New York City is the capital of New York State as this is the most logical

answer right however with the seat of the New York state government being found in Albany this makes it the capital of the state Albany is found around 250 kilm North of New York City just west of the border with Massachusetts number five now it's fair to say that North Korea and Finland are very far away from one another in fact some nearly 7,000 km so most people would probably think that you'd have to travel through several countries in order to get from one to the other however it is completely possible to drive from pongyang North

Korea to Helsinki Finland by Crossing just one country that country of course being Russia number six so if you were to ask most people what the closest country to Australia is many people may instantly reply with New Zealand however this isn't the case as both Indonesia and Papu Guinea are easily closer number seven which city do you think is the largest within the Mediterranean region it's got to be a city from Greece Italy Spain or France right well it's actually a city found in Africa it is Alexandria of Egypt a city which you might not

perhaps first associate with the med if you did know this then that's pretty darn impressive the population of Alexandria is just over 6 million the next largest will be Barcelona whose Metro population is around 5.5 million Barcelona is also home to the headquarters of the for the Mediterranean number eight when you think of the islands of the Pacific you likely think of islands like these tropical paradises full of palm trees and coral reefs however not all pacifican Island chains look like this these are the aloian islands found off the coast of Alaska in the North

Pacific these islands are mountainous in nature and can get pretty chilly seeing snowfall ice andand even icebergs number nine the UK England and Great Britain are not interchangeable terms now being from the UK this is of course common knowledge for me however I've lost count at the amount of times I've had to explain the differences between the terms to people when I've been traveling abroad the UK is The Sovereign Nation made up out of England Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland Great Britain is this land mass here which includes England Wales and Scotland it is not

a country and then England is this country here which is part of the four which make up the UK a little complicated I do understand this means that the term British and English are also not interchangeable as being English means you're from England but being British also includes those from Wales and Scotland number 10 the Sahara Desert is not the driest non-polar desert on Earth that title belongs to the atakama desert found in South America the atakama is is said to only receive 0.6 in of rainfall per year significantly lower than that of the Sahara

some parts of the atakama haven't seen rain in over 500 years number 11 although perhaps the most well-known the Dead Sea is not the saltiest body of water on Earth with their salinity level of around 33% the Dead Sea is most certainly a very salty place however the Don Juan pond in Antarctica is thought to have a c level of some 44% number 12 although home to the world's tallest mountain and arguably the most well-known mountain range on Earth the Himalayas is not the longest the Himalayan mountain range stretches some 2,500 km across Asia whereas

the Andes in South America stretches some 7,500 km some three times longer number 13 Even though the US is by far the richest country on Earth in terms of G GDP as well as having its currency used in many countries across the world the US dollar is not actually the world's strongest currency at the time of making this video it actually ranks 10th the q80 dino ranks first where one US dollar will get you around 0.31 dinos number 14 this is another incorrect fact that I've personally came across many times especially when I was traveling

throughout South America most people assume that mexic me and Central America is part of South America it logically makes sense as they are all more culturally and linguistically tied to the continent however all eight countries in this region alongside those in the Caribbean are actually North American when you look at a world map the most northern parts of Mexico are actually more further north than many major American cities such as Miami Orlando or Houston number 15 although the Portuguese live a very Mediterranean LIF lifestyle Portugal is not Mediterranean the climate food and culture is of

very Mediterranean style but the country does not have any contact with the Mediterranean Sea it sits west and southwest of Spain and only has coast along the Atlantic number 16 although Venice is perhaps the most famous canal city on earth it does not have the most canals nor the longest for example both Birmingham in England and Amsterdam have more number 17 the Amazon is not the largest Forest on Earth although perhaps the most famous Forest on the planet it is nowhere near the largest it is the largest rainforest however the award for the largest Forest

on earth goes to the tiger which stretches across North America Europe and Asia for some 17 million km squared almost three times larger than the Amazon number 18 of the US's 50 states which do you think has the most southern point if you imagine the world map in your head it's got to be Florida right well that is correct for the contagious States but if you include Hawaii then this is where you'll find the country's most southern Point number 19 now imagine Mexico in your head on a world map for me South America sits pretty

much directly below it however this isn't true Mexico is easily found further west than the entirety of the South American landmass another one that doesn't seem right until you look at a world map number 20 the UK is commonly referred to as being a Western Country meaning it sits within the Western Hemisphere however as Prime Meridian runs straight through London this means that part of England such as Cambridge Norwich or DOA are in the Eastern hemisphere the same hemisphere as the likes of Beijing Tokyo or Jakarta number 21 Mont Blanc is arguably the most iconic

and famous mountain in all of Europe it is also pretty tall most people would likely assume that it's the tallest on the continent however it isn't the tallest nor even the second tallest the tallest is in fact Mount elbris found in Russia followed by Mount Shakara in Georgia number 22 the northern lights are one of the greatest wonders of planet Earth the people who live up north must be so lucky to see them right however it isn't just those living in the Northern parts of the world that get to see this Wonder as the Southern

Lights are also a thing the Aurora ostras can be seen across parts of Australia New Zealand and Antarctica to name but a few places number 23 which US state do you think has the most islands I'd guess that most people would probably instantly assume Hawaii however there is actually a state who has around 20 times more Islands any ideas which state well with some 2,670 Islands Alaska has by far the most which comes to No Surprise given the fact it is also by far the largest number 24 when you think of Siberia you likely think

of freezing cold miserable conditions however the region can get very hot in the summer the highest temperature ever recorded in the region was 38° C in June of 2020 number 25 although the terms Seven Seas has been used throughout history there are far more than seven seas around the world a sea is effectively a part of an ocean that is surrounded by land to which there is no defined amount although some sources Claim about 50 at 5.5 million km squared the Philippine Sea is said to be the largest number 26 when you imagine Greenland you

likely imagine it to be covered in ice snow and Glaciers which for the most part is AB absolutely correct however there are some parts of the island along its southern coast that are ice free such as its Kinga Valley where you'll actually find Forest number 27 although Cyprus is more culturally and politically linked to Europe and is literally part of the European Union it is geographically actually part of Asia meaning the people there could technically be classed as Asian number 28 Believe It or Not Europe actually does have a desert the tabanus deser desert can

be found in Southeastern Spain although very small at just 280 km squared it is still classed as Europe's only desert number 29 it makes sense to think that all EU countries use the euro which is true for the most part however in fact seven countries do not use this currency being Bulgaria CIA Denmark Hungary Poland Romania and Sweden meaning the other 20 do and finally number 30 will finish with another fact that is hard to believe so again let's visualize a world map in our heads let's think of where Cairo and Miami are both plotted

in their respective countries surely Cairo is found further south than Miami right well this isn't the case Cairo is actually found slightly further north than the city of Miami in Florida so there we have it 30 geography facts that most people would probably get wrong if any of these facts did catch you out let us know which ones in the comments below like And subscribe for more geography content and as always thank you very much for watching [Music]