Physical Geography Guides & Facts

Man floating and reading a book in the Dead Sea, Israel, demonstrating effortless buoyancy in hypersaline water

Why People Float in the Dead Sea (and How It Works)

The Dead Sea is famous for a simple, almost magical moment: you lean back and—without kicking—you bob to the surface

Aerial view of a white salt island formation in the green waters of the Dead Sea, showing crystallized magnesium and mineral deposits.

Explainers & Big Questions Israel Landforms & Water Resources and Economy

Which Mineral Is the Dead Sea Rich In? Composition & Benefits

The Dead Sea, straddling Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan, is famous for water so dense you float without trying.

Explainers & Big Questions Landforms & Water

Hydrothermal Vents

Far beneath the waves, seawater slips into cracks in new ocean crust, heats up near magma, and blasts back out

Salt formations along the Dead Sea shoreline with turquoise water and desert mountains in the background.

Explainers & Big Questions Israel Landforms & Water

What Is the Primary Reason the Dead Sea Is Known for Its High Salinity?

The Dead Sea sits in the Jordan Rift Valley at roughly 1,443 feet (440 meters) below sea level, making it

a semi-enclosed gulf with broad basin and ports (left), a wide-mouthed bay with beaches and wetlands (center), and a narrow, steep-walled fjord bordered by high mountains and deep water (right).

Explainers & Big Questions Landforms & Water

Gulf vs. Bay vs. Fjord

Stand on a windy headland and scan the coastline: some inlets are open and sweeping, others curl inward like a

Batumi Black Sea coastline at dusk with illuminated port and mountains in the background

Explainers & Big Questions Landforms & Water

Where Is the Black Sea?

Where Is the Black Sea? It sits at the crossroads of Southeastern Europe and Western Asia. Specifically, it spans roughly

Winegrower harvesting Saperavi grapes in a sun-lit Kakheti vineyard, Georgia

Explainers & Big Questions Flora and Fauna

Georgian Grape Varieties

Close your eyes and inhale—the heady scent of fermenting chakvad (must) rising from buried qvevri in sunlit Kakheti. With 525+

Panoramic view of Oksukon Lake’s white salt flat with distant mountains under a bright sky

Explainers & Big Questions Landforms & Water Resources and Economy

Oksukon Lake: Salt & Therapeutic Mud

Oksukon Lake (Tajik: Кӯли Оксукон) is a 3.4 sq mi (8.9 km²) salt-mud lake in Tajikistan’s Asht District, Sughd Region,

Sunlit vineyard rows in Shakhriani, Kakheti wine region, Georgia

Culture & Traditions Explainers & Big Questions Flora and Fauna

Georgian Wine Regions

Major Georgian wine regions include Kakheti, Kartli, Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi & Kvemo Svaneti, Adjara, Samegrelo, and Guria—each defined by distinct soils,

Wide-angle view of Lake Tanganyika’s deep blue waters reflecting a ribbon of white clouds, with the rugged mountains of the East African Rift rising along the distant shoreline under a partly cloudy sky.

Explainers & Big Questions Landforms & Water

Tanganyika: Second Deepest Lake in the World

Imagine plunging over 4,800 feet beneath the surface of a freshwater expanse so vast it spans four countries. Lake Tanganyika