Cities & capitals · Map guides
Cape Town Geography: Map, Mountains, Bays and Population
A photograph of Cape Town often shows a mountain rising behind a waterfront. That view is memorable, but it leaves out much of the city’s geography: the low…
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14 articlesBaku · Cities & capitals · Map guides
Baku Map and Geography: Caspian Coast, Population and City Limits
Baku is easy to recognize in a skyline photograph, but harder to understand from a single city pin. Azerbaijan’s capital occupies the southern side of a peninsula, faces…
Alaska · Borders · Map guides
Bering Strait Map: How Close Are Alaska and Russia?
Two maps can give very different answers to “How close is Alaska to Russia?” without showing different countries. One measures between the continental mainlands; the other includes two…
Gibraltar · Borders · Map guides
Strait of Gibraltar Map: Where the Atlantic Meets the Mediterranean
The gap between Spain and Morocco looks small on a world map, but three different questions are often bundled together: where the strait lies, how far it is…
Coasts · Comparisons
Strait vs Canal: Natural and Human-Made Waterways
A narrow blue passage on a map might be a natural opening between coasts or a route people built through land. Ships can use both, but the reason…
Coasts · Comparisons
Fjord vs Ria: Glacial and River-Valley Coasts
Two coastal inlets can both be long, narrow and scenic yet have different histories. To distinguish a fjord from a ria, ask what shaped the valley before seawater…
Coasts · Comparisons
Island vs Peninsula vs Isthmus: The Differences
Follow the land connection to distinguish an island, peninsula, and isthmus, then check the differences between an isthmus and a strait, canal-cut landforms, and tidal islands.
Coasts · Quizzes
Ocean and Coastal Geography Quiz: 20 Questions
Test your understanding with this ocean geography quiz: 20 questions on seawater, currents, tides, coastal systems and ocean observations. Each answer comes with an explanation, including short scenarios…
Coasts · Explainers
What Is a Strait?
On a map, a strait can look like a thin gap in the land, but its geographic role is more specific than its shape. The key is not…
Iran · Coasts · Explainers
Bandar Abbas: Iran’s Main Port
Bandar Abbas matters because it is both a real city and the mainland shipping gateway most closely associated with Iran’s access to the Strait of Hormuz. Many readers…
Borders · Place guides
Strait of Hormuz: Where It Is and Why It Matters
The Strait of Hormuz is one of those places that turns up whenever oil prices jump or military tension rises in the Gulf. The reason is straightforward: it…
Coasts · Comparisons
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 clasped hand, and a few cut like narrow…