A country without rivers, gravity problems in Sri Lanka, and other strange geographical facts (11 photos)

Want to see what you get if you reflect Italy across the center of the Earth?





1. What do Italy and New Zealand have in common?



New Zealand on the left, Italy on the right.

If you reflect Italy across the center of the Earth, you get New Zealand. The match will be in position, size, and shape.

2. Sri Lanka has the lowest gravity region in the world.





The force of gravity is only 0.005% weaker, so it's imperceptible on a human scale, but it's enough to cause a localized lowering of sea level.

Because gravity is stronger in surrounding regions, water is drawn away from the surrounding areas of Sri Lanka.

3. Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the world without rivers.



Yet, Saudi Arabia is larger in territory than France, Germany, and Spain combined.

Where does the water in desert Saudi Arabia come from? The kingdom has made a technological breakthrough, emphasizing desalination and making it the foundation of national water security. The country's shores, washed by the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, have become an inexhaustible source of raw materials for gigantic industrial complexes.

The capacity of Saudi Arabia's desalination plants is colossal. They generate approximately nine million cubic meters of fresh water daily, satisfying over 60% of residents' needs. A network of three dozen large plants, using both reverse osmosis and multi-stage thermal distillation, is located throughout the country. The flagship of this industry is the Ras al-Khair complex on the east coast. Its daily production reaches one million cubic meters, making it the most powerful such facility on the planet.

4. Andorra's Strange Government Structure



The country is governed by two co-princes. By law, one of the co-princes is the bishop of the local Catholic diocese of Urgell. Whoever occupies this post automatically becomes the Prince of Andorra.

The other prince is the President of France. This puts Andorra in the unique position of having an elected monarch, who is not actually elected by the people of Andorra.

5. British Hills and Puns



The term "Marilyn" is used in Great Britain and Ireland to denote a hill or mountain with a relative height of at least 150 meters above the surrounding terrain.

The name was coined in 1992 by Alan Dawson as a pun on the more well-known Scottish term "Munro," which refers to mountains in Scotland over 900 meters high. This is what a hilly Marilyn Monroe looks like.

6. Independent Singapore



Singapore is considered the only modern state to have gained independence against its own will. It didn't fight a war for independence or seek secession; it was simply expelled from the Federation of Malaysia in 1965 due to acute political and ethnic tensions. Singaporeans eventually became some of the richest people in the world, leaving Malaysians far behind. The countries have roughly equal GDPs, but Malaysia's population is five times larger.

7. Alaska's Superposition



Semisopochny Island

Alaska is uniquely positioned as the northernmost, westernmost, and easternmost point of the United States due to its geography and coordinate system. The northernmost point is Point Barrow, the westernmost is Attu Island in the Aleutian chain, and the easternmost point is Semisopochny Island in the same island chain. This paradox arises because the Aleutian Islands curve so sharply that they cross the 180th meridian (International Date Line), ending up in the Eastern Hemisphere. Thus, although these islands are located west of the mainland US, in terms of longitude they are located further east than all other American lands, formally making Alaska the owner of the country's three geographic extremes.

8. Identical Flags



Until 1936, Haiti and Liechtenstein used virtually identical flags—simple red and blue horizontal bicolors. This discrepancy was discovered when the two delegations met at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and saw two identical flags. Recognizing the problem, Liechtenstein added a stylized gold princely crown to the blue stripe of its flag in 1937 to differentiate itself from the Haitian flag and emphasize its monarchical status, while Haiti retained its original design.

9. Popcorn Beach



On the island of Fuerteventura (Canary Islands), there's a unique beach, Playa del Bajo de la Burra, famous for its white, popcorn-shaped rocks. These rocks are calcareous algae that calcify over time, acquiring a porous, rounded shape and a light beige or white color.

10. Another fact about Italy



Italy is the most biodiverse place in Europe, home to 50% of all European flora and 35% of all fauna.