WorldAtlas Latest Articles

Cities

The Best Small Town In Southern California For Seniors

Few places make later life this easy, with sub-$500K homes, a gentle climate, strong hospitals, and golf-cart streets a short drive from the Pacific.

Places

10 Best Natural Wonders To Visit In California's Sierra Nevada This Year

10 Best Natural Wonders To Visit In California's Sierra Nevada This Year include El Capitan, Mount Whitney, Lake Tahoe, and the tufa towers of Mono Lake.

County

The Counties With The Most Oil

The Counties With The Most Oil are all in the Permian Basin, led by Lea and Eddy counties in New Mexico, with Martin, Midland, and Loving counties in Texas.

Cities

9 Budget-Friendly Towns in Alabama for Retirees

Retirees who are looking to move to Alabama will love these eight budget-friendly towns, including Fairhope, Enterprise, and more.

Towns

The Best Small Towns In Pennsylvania For Live Music

Pennsylvania’s small towns hide serious music credentials, with century-old stages, converted churches, jazz rooms, and packed festival weekends.

Oceans

The Difference Between A Sea And An Ocean

Discover the key differences between seas and oceans, from size and depth to geography, salinity, climate, and marine life.

Lakes

How Lake Ladoga Compares To The Great Lakes

Europe's largest lake would finish sixth out of six in the Great Lakes. How Lake Ladoga compares, and the one contest it wins by a single metre.

Animals

Aardwolf

Aardwolf facts, from the smallest hyena and its termite-heavy diet to its scent-marked territories on the dry savannas of eastern and southern Africa.

Animals

Arapaima

Arapaima, one of the world's largest freshwater fish, is an air-breathing Amazon giant that surfaces to gulp air and can grow longer than a person.

Space

Which Planet Could You Survive on Longest?

Mars gives a suited astronaut the best survival odds of any planet beyond Earth, while Venus's heat and the giant planets' crushing depths prove far deadlier.

Ancient World

Why Were Roman Emperors Constantly Afraid Of Assassination

To be a Roman emperor meant great power and responsibility. However, it also came with a greatly increased likelihood of assassination.

Mountains

The Most Climbed Mountain In America

Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire draws around 125,000 climbers a year, with a 3,165-foot summit most hikers reach in a few hours and views across six states.

Mountains

How The Andes Compare To The Rockies

Mount Elbert is the highest point in the Rockies and would not make the Andean top fifty. How the two ranges compare, and the statistic that ends the argument.

Lakes

What Happens If Lake Powell Is Drained To Save Lake Mead

Fill Mead First has been proposed since the 1990s. What draining Lake Powell into Lake Mead would actually do, and the plumbing problem that matters either way.

Oceans

How Much Of Earth Is Covered By Ocean?

Oceans cover about 71% of Earth’s surface. See how the world’s five oceans compare in size and depth as well as climate and geography.

GDP

The Richest Countries In Europe 2026

Europe has been an economic hub of the world for centuries. Strong banking and manufacturing sectors and embracing free trade have been key to its success.

Travel

10 Underrated South Carolina Towns Worth the Drive in 2026

Oyster roasts in Bluffton, dawn Thoroughbred workouts in Aiken, a 135-foot peach in Gaffney: 10 underrated South Carolina towns worth the drive in 2026.

GDP

The Richest Countries in North America 2026

In 2025, the U.S., Canada, and Panama lead North America in GDP per capita, reflecting diverse economic strengths and strategies.

Industries

The States With More Farmland Than People

Eight US states have more farmland than people, with farm operations covering over half their land and fewer than 100 residents per square mile.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Ancient World

What Were The Most One-Sided Battles In Ancient History?

Ancient warfare was bloody, and often, it was extremely one-sided. Here are the most one-sided battles of ancient history.

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.

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.

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.

Geography

How Big Alaska Is Compared To The Lower 48

Alaska is one fifth the size of the Lower 48 and bigger than Texas, California and Montana combined. Why the maps you grew up with got it wrong twice.