WorldAtlas Latest Articles

Oceans

The American Coastline That Is Actually Growing

The American Coastline That Is Actually Growing is in Southeast Alaska, where land freed from melting glaciers is rising faster than the sea around it.

Cities

The 12 Can't-Miss Towns In California's Sierra Nevada

Whether you come for the Gold Rush history or the cool waters of alpine lakes, the Sierra Nevada offers plenty of reasons to slow down and explore.

Lakes

What Happens To Yuma If Lake Mead Hits Dead Pool

At Lake Mead dead pool, Yuma, Arizona could supply homes from wells, but its winter vegetable fields would lose the Colorado River water they depend on.

State Parks

The State Parks With The Last Fall Color In The South

The State Parks With The Last Fall Color In The South glow into December, as bald cypress turns copper in Louisiana’s Chicot and Florida’s Torreya.

Cities

The Towns In California's Sierra Nevada Where Retirees Are Actually Moving To

The Towns In California’s Sierra Nevada Where Retirees Are Actually Moving To sit in the western foothills, near hospitals and highways to Sacramento.

Cities

10 Of The Best Affordable Towns To Retire In Colorado

Colorado retirees priced out of the Front Range can look to these 10 towns, with typical home values below the state figure, including La Junta and Cortez.

Lakes

Why November Is The Deadliest Month On The Great Lakes

November is the deadliest month on the Great Lakes thanks to the Witch of November, the autumn gales that sank the 1913 fleet and the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Lakes

The Great Lakes Ranked By Number Of Islands

Lake Huron holds far more islands than any other Great Lake, while Lake Erie has the fewest. Here is how the islands of each Great Lake compare, lake by lake.

Wildlife By Place

Where Rattlesnakes Go In The Winter

Where Rattlesnakes Go In The Winter is underground, into rocky dens below the frost line, where related snakes return year after year to wait out the cold.

Animals

Goonch Catfish

Goonch Catfish can outweigh a grown man, ambushing prey in the fast Himalayan rivers of India and Nepal, a legend made famous by River Monsters.

Space

How Many Moons Are In The Solar System

Saturn has more known moons than every other planet combined. A planet-by-planet look at the solar system's moon count and why the total is still rising.

Ancient World

What Did Roman Soldiers Do When They Weren't Fighting?

Roman soldiers spent much of their time training, building roads and forts, and gambling, and their role shifted from the Republic to the late Empire.

Mountains

The Longest Mountain Range In The United States

The Rockies run some 3,000 miles from British Columbia to New Mexico, crossing six western states and feeding the Colorado, Rio Grande and Missouri.

Mountains

The Mountain Range That Crosses The Most States

The Appalachians run about 2,000 miles from Alabama and Georgia to Maine and into eastern Canada. Here are the states they cross and how the range formed.

Mountains

The American Mountains Where Rattlesnakes Den For The Winter

From New York's Adirondacks to Arizona's Chiricahuas, rattlesnakes den through winter in rocky mountain crevices, returning to the same shelters each year.

Wildlife By Place

How Far North Burmese Pythons Have Spread In Florida

How Far North Burmese Pythons Have Spread In Florida stops just south of Lake Okeechobee, though a lone python turned up far to the north in Brevard County.

Animals

Atlantic Wolffish

Atlantic Wolffish bare fangs even with their mouths shut, yet these slow seafloor hunters crush urchins and crabs, helping Atlantic kelp forests survive.

Space

Why The Moon Looks Bigger On The Horizon

The Moon Illusion makes a rising moon look oversized, though photos show its width barely changes. Here is what scientists know, and what is still debated.

Ancient World

The Most Important Ottoman Military Innovations

See how Janissaries, firearms, the timar system, and naval power helped transform the Ottoman Empire into a formidable military state.

Ancient World

The Rise And Fall Of Roman Africa

Rather than being peripheral, Africa was essential to Roman power and proved remarkably resilient while the rest of the empire struggled.

Travel

9 Small Towns in Victoria with the Best Downtowns

Bright, Castlemaine, Port Fairy, Maldon, Kyneton, Clunes, Daylesford, Trentham and Creswick keep Victoria's main streets, from gold-rush pubs to a Booktown.

Industries

The Top Natural Gas-Producing States In America

Texas withdrew 28.5% of the US' natural gas in 2025 and Pennsylvania 16.1 %, with just four states accounting for 61.3% of a record 47.73 Tcf national total.

Stories

The Hunger Games Filming Locations You Can Actually Visit

District 12 is a real mill village you can rent a room in, and Snow's mansion is an Atlanta museum. Nine Hunger Games locations open to visitors.

Stories

Inside Florida’s Vacation Home Capital Of The World

Kissimmee sits 11 miles from Magic Kingdom with 30,000 vacation homes, a Latin food trail and a lake paddleboat. A better theme park base than Orlando.

Ancient World

What Were The Most Brilliant Military Maneuvers In Ancient History?

Glory, while not necessary eternal, can last as long as history itself. The determining factor is what military maneuvers were used to achieve victory.

Mountains

The Mountains Where Lightning Strikes Most Often In America

Colorado's densest lightning falls near Pikes Peak, not on the state's highest summits. Moisture decides where bolts land across five mountains.

Travel

11 Underrated Pennsylvania Towns Worth the Drive in 2026

Tour Frank Lloyd Wright houses, ride steam trains through Amish farmland, and ice fish off Lake Erie bluffs in these quieter Pennsylvania towns this year.

Space

Why There Are No Stars In Photos From Space

Why There Are No Stars In Photos From Space isn’t a mystery or a hoax. Bright sunlit scenes simply drown out the faint stars behind them.

Ancient World

The African Grain That Fed The Roman Empire

Grain from Roman North Africa and Egypt fed the Roman Empire for centuries, and losing Carthage to the Vandals in 439 CE helped bring down the Western Empire.

Travel

8 Underrated Minnesota Towns Worth the Drive in 2026

All eight Minnesota towns are within a two-hour drive of a major city or airport, making them well worth adding to a Minnesota road trip.

Space

How Many Earths Could Fit Inside The Sun

How Many Earths Could Fit Inside The Sun? More than a million, yet the Sun is only an average star next to giants like Betelgeuse.

Geography

How Far The Appalachians Run Compared To The Alps

The Appalachians run about 2,000 miles to the Alps' 750, but the Alps are far taller and much younger, formed long after Pangea built the ancient Appalachians

Industries

The States With The Most Farmland Per Person

Montana leads the US with about 50 acres of farmland per resident, while Wyoming, the Dakotas, and Nebraska fill out the top five in 2025 USDA estimates.

Geography

How Far Apart America's Extremes Actually Are

America is a large country, and when its territories are factored in, its geographic extremes become even more prominent.

Geography

How Big The Great Plains Is Compared To All Of Western Europe

The Great Plains could fit Western Europe twice with room for Texas. See how this vast region compares with European countries, from France to Austria.

Geography

How Long America's Rivers Are Compared To The Nile

The Mississippi runs about 57% of the Nile's length, and the Missouri-Mississippi nearly 90%, with the Yukon, Rio Grande, Colorado, and Columbia even shorter.

Industries

The Top Semiconductor States In America

Semiconductors are some of the most coveted materials on the planet, currently. Here are the top semiconductor states in America.

Geography

How Big Texas Is Compared To Europe's Largest Countries

Texas is larger than nearly every country in Europe. Its 268,597 square miles stack up against Europe’s biggest nations in surprising ways.

GDP

The Richest Countries In Africa 2025

Africa’s richest countries fall into three types: island economies, hydrocarbon exporters, and diversified markets, shaped by resources and policies

Climate

The Difference Between A Hurricane, A Typhoon, And A Cyclone

A hurricane, a typhoon and a cyclone are the same storm under three names. Which one you get depends on the ocean, and a date line crossing proves it.