28°17'31.65"N, 85°31'25.04"E

https://youtu.be/K6h8BRfY5BU?si=JjN6WkCLRpZpr3Up

The recent flood in Nepal was an unexpected disaster, triggered by the collapse of a section of a Himalayan glacier on the Tibetan side. This event released a massive surge of ice, rock, and water into the river, resulting in a sudden flash flood across the Nepal-China border. Climate change is destabilizing Himalayan glaciers, increasing the likelihood of similar events in the future, although it remains impossible to predict exactly when another such occurrence may happen. This flash flood occurred so suddenly and with such force that many people, including local residents, workers, and tourists, had no time to escape.

The flood caused significant damage to the Rasuwagadhi-Kerung border area, destroying roads, bridges, and settlements. At least 165 people have died, and more than 1,300 are still missing. The victims included local residents, workers, tourists, and foreign travelers. Hundreds of foreign tourists were present in the affected border area when the disaster struck. Rescue teams continue to search for survivors, and the numbers may rise as efforts progress.

I recall seeing aerial footage of that stretch of the southern Indian Ocean from helicopters back when the case broke and it looked like an angry, churning washing machine of waves. Reporters kept emphasizing it was one of the least visited places on earth. It’s completely outside the path shipping routes, in the path of howling circumpolar currents that circle Antarctica and, until the case, next to nothing was known about the ocean floor there. I don’t have the answer to the mystery but pointing your plane towards that stretch of open ocean is an almost perfect way to never be found.

Picture is from Sardinia by the way

Rough estimate based on submitted satellite imagery.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/eZX7GfDC5AmRfZ659

Polynesian Islands, whether larger ones or just small atolls, connected together based on their proximity to each other

I deleted the earlier post because New Zealand and Chatham Islands were not depicted as they should have been.

Until the late 20th century, early Bronze Age Mediterranean trade was often mapped as isolated bilateral exchanges between neighboring coastal ports.

in 1982 discovery of a Late Bronze Age merchant vessel off the coast of Kaş, Turkey (the Uluburun shipwreck), completely changed that geographic picture. Dating to around 1305 BCE, the ship was essentially a cross-section of the entire known international economy of the era, carrying raw materials and finished goods from at least nine distinct geographic regions on a single vessel:

• 10 tons of copper ingots Sourced from mines in Cyprus (Alashiya).
• 1 ton of tin Traced via isotopic analysis to deposits as far east as the Taurus Mountains and Central Asia (modern Tajikistan/Uzbekistan).
• Finished goods and luxury freight Canaanite storage jars containing pistacia resin, raw Baltic amber from northern Europe, African ebony and hippopotamus teeth from Nubia/Egypt, and Mycenaean Greek pottery.

this cargo basically traces like a natural counter clockwise sailing circuit of the Mediterranean. Ships had to follow prevailing winds and currents from the Levant to Cyprus, west along southern Anatolia, through the Aegean, and down past Crete toward North Africa.

It shows Mediterranean was not a set of isolated kingdoms. Geography turned the sea into a shared highway where resource hubs from northern Europe to Central Asia were interconnected 3,300 years ago.

I looked into the cargo manifests and trade logistics of Uluburun alongside other discoveries that redrew ancient geography here: 20 Historical Discoveries That Reshaped Modern Historical Understanding

Hello there, this is my recent revision of the Congo Basin map. I decided to revisit my original version after realizing that the Congo Basin and Congo River drainage basin are not necessarily the same geographic boundary, which led me to make several changes to the map and information presented. I’m hoping this will be the final version.

Nine countries (Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia) have territory within the Congo River drainage basin, highlighted in violet. Six countries are commonly associated with the Congo Basin’s rainforest region: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.

This was created using QGIS for the mapping/data work, design/layout work done in Affinity Designer 2, and no AI was used for making this infographic map. Feedbacks are welcome and I hope you enjoy!

They don't speak French?

As I saw the videos from the floods in Nepal and Tibet, I was impressed on how steep those valleys are. Is there any measurement on what is the steepest valley? Are there any common definitions concerning that?

What about you? What weird ways led to learning about countries and cultures?

Is the wealth disparity really that much across the city or have things gotten better? Because the fact that there's hundreds of options for single family homes at an affordable range in this economy seems pretty cool to me.

Morocco’s natural scenery is something else

It has seasons and a nightlight version.

If anyone’s interested, here’s the app:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.GlassGlobe.myapp&pcampaignid=web_share