WorldAtlas Latest Articles

Forests

The National Forests With The Most Rattlesnakes

The National Forests With The Most Rattlesnakes include Coronado, Tonto, and Gila, where Southwest elevation shifts let many rattler species share one forest.

Cities

The Best Small Town In Upstate New York For Seniors

Skaneateles, New York, pairs a lakeside village downtown with senior property tax exemptions, nearby hospitals, and a year-round calendar of festivals.

Cities

The Best Small Town In The Great Lakes For Seniors

Petoskey, Michigan, pairs a 202-bed regional hospital and a dedicated senior center with Little Traverse Bay views, a walkable downtown, and heavy winter snow.

State Parks

The Smallest State Park In America

Granite Ghost Town State Park in Montana sits well under an acre, one of a handful of official state parks small enough to see in an afternoon.

Geography

How Much of America Drains Into the Mississippi River?

The Mississippi-Atchafalaya basin drains about 41% of the contiguous US, over 1.245 million square miles, and the Missouri subbasin alone supplies 43% of it.

Lakes

10 Highest Elevation Lakes In The US

Lake Waiau in Hawaii tops this list of natural US lakes above 10,000 feet, joined by Colorado, Wyoming and Utah waters in the Rockies and Uintas.

Animals

Ethiopian Wolf

Ethiopian Wolf is Africa's most endangered carnivore, with fewer than 500 left, and in 2024 it became the first large carnivore recorded drinking nectar.

Space

Why Parker Solar Probe Survives Touching The Sun

NASA's Parker Solar Probe has flown closer to the Sun than any spacecraft, using a carbon heat shield to pass through the corona and study the solar wind.

Ancient World

The Defeat That Changed The Roman Army Forever

Why did the Battle of Arausio matter? Explore one of Rome's worst military disasters and its consequences for Marius and the Roman Republic.

Rivers

The Highest-Elevation Rivers In The United States

The Merced River in California's Sierra Nevada starts at 13,114 feet, with Colorado's Lake Fork Gunnison, Blue, and Roaring Fork rivers close behind.

Lakes

The Western Cities With No Backup Water Source

Phoenix can survive dead pool for generations. The western cities with genuinely no backup water source are small, sit on a reservoir, and never make the headlines.

Lakes

The US Lakes Where Swans Have Taken Over

Elegant enough to look harmless, mute swans are stripping Great Lakes wetlands bare and crowding out native birds. See where they have taken hold.

Mountains

The Shortest Mountain Range In The United States

The Sutter Buttes rise about 10 miles across the Sacramento Valley, a worn-down volcano widely called the shortest mountain range in the United States.

Travel

11 Underrated Michigan Towns Worth the Drive in 2026

Michigan towns under two hours from a major airport, with a Dickens festival in Holly, a magic museum in Marshall, and the Polar Express locomotive in Owosso.

Travel

9 Small Towns in New England with the Best Downtowns

A true downtown stays active after the sun goes down. In the case of these small towns in New England, the town centers are thriving.

Geography

How Much Of The World's Fresh Water Sits In North America?

North America holds roughly one-quarter of the world’s fresh surface water, with the Great Lakes alone accounting for about 21% of the global supply.

GDP

The Richest Countries In The World 2026

The richest country in the world is Luxembourg, followed by Singapore and Ireland, ranked by GDP per capita in PPP values, provided by the IMF for 2025.

Stories

Escaping Into The Cultural Capital Of Transylvania

Escaping Into The Cultural Capital Of Transylvania. A writer returns to Brașov for gothic streets, Tâmpa summit runs, quiet cafes, and one bear encounter.

Wildlife By Place

Why Grizzlies Are Gone From California

California grizzly bears were hunted for food, sport, and fur across the 1800s until they vanished, and the last one was killed in 1922 in Tulare County.

Animals

Goliath Grouper

Goliath Grouper was functionally extinct in Florida by the 1980s. A 1990 harvest ban revived it, and it was downlisted from Critically Endangered in 2018.

Space

Which Planet Has The Largest Core?

Earth has the largest core by volume of any rocky planet, while Mercury’s core holds the proportional record by occupying 85% of its radius.

Ancient World

How Did The Roman Empire Defend Its Borders?

Learn how walls and frontier armies worked with roads, fleets, and diplomacy to defend the Roman Empire across Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Mountains

The Highest Mountain In The United States That Isn't In Alaska

Mount Whitney in California is the tallest US mountain outside Alaska at 14,505 feet. Colorado's Sawatch peaks, Mount Rainier, and Mount Williamson follow.

Travel

9 Small Towns on the Gulf Coast with the Best Downtowns

Nine Gulf Coast towns in Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi with walkable downtowns, from Apalachicola's working waterfront to Fairhope's bayfront streets.

Wildlife By Place

Why Scorpions Stop At The Kansas Line

Why Scorpions Stop At The Kansas Line, or mostly do. Winters limit the striped bark scorpion, yet it reaches Nebraska and a hardier cousin lives in Canada.

Space

Which Planet Is The Hardest To Land On?

Venus crushes landers, Mercury is nearly unreachable, and the gas giants have no ground at all. Which planet actually resists a landing the most?

Mountains

The American Mountains With Roads To The Summit

Six US mountains, from Colorado's Pikes Peak to New Hampshire's Mt Washington, where a paved road and a toll booth replace the multi-day hike to the summit.

Mountains

The Steepest Mountain In The United States

A sheer 3,000-foot granite wall, an unclimbed 6,500-foot face, and a desert cliff second only to El Cap. See which peak is truly the steepest in the US.

Industries

The Busiest Cargo Ports

Cargo ports allow for mass transportation of goods by sea. Here are the largest and busiest cargo ports in various states.

Mountains

The American Mountains With The Most Black Bears

The Cascades hold the most black bears, the southern Appalachians hold the densest, and Alaska has a third of them all. Where American mountain bears concentrate.

Geography

How Big Lake Superior Is Compared To Entire States

Lake Superior spans 31,700 square miles, larger than 10 US states by total area and nearly the size of South Carolina, plus a 2,726-mile shoreline.

Stories

You Don’t Have to Go to the Highlands to Meet Scotland’s Famous Cows

You Don't Have to Go to the Highlands to Meet Scotland's Famous Cows. In Dumfries and Galloway, Kitchen Coos & Ewes lets visitors brush and feed Highlands.

Space

Which Planet Has The Strangest Sunrise?

Uranus has the strangest sunrise in the solar system: at either pole, the sun rises once and stays up for 42 years. Mercury and Venus are the runners-up.

Ancient World

Ancient Kingdoms History Nearly Forgot

Human civilization is built on the shoulders of giants, namely, ancient empires which made advances in culture and science. Here are some we almost forgot.

Ancient World

Who Were The Greatest Generals Of The Late Roman Empire?

The late Western Roman Empire produced Arbogast, Stilicho, and Aetius, generals who held the line as the state around them failed.

Industries

The US Dams That Power Entire States

Six US hydroelectric plants each out-produced a full state's yearly electricity in 2025, with Grand Coulee on top and The Dalles new to the list.

Geography

What Is The Thailand-Cambodia Border Dispute

A border drawn more than a century ago still divides Thailand and Cambodia, with disputed temples and territory keeping tensions alive today.

Climate

The 10 US Cities With the Longest Summers

Some US cities barely see winter at all. Ranked by NOAA normals, here are the ten with the longest thermal summers, from Honolulu to Fort Lauderdale.

Industries

10 Countries with the Largest Uranium Reserves

Australia holds 1.67 million tonnes of recoverable uranium, but Kazakhstan mines the most. How the ten largest resource holders compare.

Religion

African Countries With Islam As The Religion Of The Majority

In 19 African countries, Islam serves as the religion of the majority.