Quirky

From the time I was a small child, I have loved geography. Every year, from first grade to seventh, my favorite book was the geography one. Then my geography lessons ended except for one last, elective class in college. 

However, my fascination for where things are located on the planet, who lives in these places, and what these places look like has never stopped. 

I once met a 4th grade boy who had memorized the globe. Name any country, major mountain range or river and he could immediately place it. What a gift to have a map of the world in one’s brain. I’m still actively working to keep the world’s countries correctly placed. 

I am also intrigued by the many quirky aspects of geography such as the things that are commonly taught as facts but aren’t and the things which we think we know that we don’t. Here is a sampling of these mind benders.

• How many oceans does the world have?

Google research results in the numbers 3, 4, 5 or 7 popping up. The correct answer is one. Planet earth has one world ocean made up of ocean basins. Cast a boat off any ocean coast and you can sail unimpeded around the globe back to where you started.

• How many continents does earth have?

A continent is commonly defined as “one of the main landmasses of the earth”. If the Ural Mountains are land, it would appear that Europe is not a separate continent. But for historical, cultural and political reasons, Europe has had enough clout to make itself one of the seven continents. Tough luck, Eurasia.

• Make a guess on the percentage of the world’s population that lives in the Northern Hemisphere.

We’re loaded. It’s 90%.

And now for some smaller oddities:

• Which direction does the Panama Canal go?

The answer is north/south, as Panama goes east/west. And, because of its geography, Panama has never had a hurricane.

• Which city is farther east, Louisville or Nashville?

I learned this answer a few weeks ago when planning a driving route to Atlanta. The freeway route for us would be from home to Chicago to Indianapolis to Louisville to Nashville and down to Atlanta. When I looked at this route in my road atlas, I realized that Louisville is east of Nashville. The shortest route is to skip Indianapolis and Louisville altogether and take Highway 41. Lower speed limit, but way fewer miles and stress.

• Which city is farther west, Reno, Nevada or Los Angeles, California?

Reno is much farther west than L.A.

• In which American city can you drive south and get into Canada?

Detroit, Michigan

For those of us who like to know where we’re at on the planet, it helps to occasionally consult an Atlas.

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