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When the full-length, poetic name of Bangkok, capital of Thailand, is used, it is usually abbreviated to "Krung Thep"(City of Angels).  The full-length version is the longest place name of any town or city in the world (167 letters):  “Krung thep mahanakhon bovorn ratanakosin mahintharayutthaya mahadilok pop noparatratchathani burirom udomratchanivetma hasathan amornpiman avatarnsa thit sakkathattiyavisnukarmprasit”.
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Vulcan Point Is An Island In A Lake In A Volcano In A Lake In An Island
Welcome to Vulcan Point, otherwise known as the island within a lake within a volcano within a lake within an island.
Let's try to break down the specifics of this geographical and geological oddity, starting with the island of Luzon, which is located in the Philippines. On that island is a large body of water called Lake Taal. The lake contains Taal Volcano - or Volcano Island - which is one of the most active volcanoes in the world (33 recorded eruptions).
Located on Volcano Island, 10,000 feet above Lake Taal, is Main Crater Lake. And inside of that lake is Vulcan Point Island. So again, that's an island within a lake within a volcano within a lake within an island. Simple, right?
Except on January 12, 2020, tragedy struck when Taal Volcano erupted, claiming 39 lives. The eruption also led to the Main Crater Lake drying up. So maybe this description no longer quite applies?
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Kiribati Is The Only Country Located In All Four Hemispheres
Located in the South Pacific areas of Polynesia and Micronesia, about halfway between Hawaii and Australia, the tiny nation of Kiribati (pronounced "keer-ruh-bass") consists of Banaba Island and 32 atolls spread across three groups of islands (the Gilbert, Phoenix, and Line Islands). Boasting an estimated population of slightly more than 100,000, it is one of the poorest countries in the world. Once under the dominion of the United Kingdom, it gained its independence in 1979. 
But what makes Kiribati so unique is that it is the only country in the world that is located in each of the four hemispheres. The Phoenix Islands are located in the Southern Hemisphere while the Gilbert Islands lie in both the Northern Hemipshere and the Southern Hemisphere. 
The prime meridian, which separates the Western Hemisphere and the Eastern Hemisphere, cuts through the nation. Kiribati's easternmost point lies in its southern Line Islands, while Banaba Island marks its westernmost point.
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Australia Is Wider Than The Moon
Australia is the smallest of the world's seven continents. In fact, its land area is approximately 7.7 million square kilometers - which is about 60% the size of the second-smallest continent, Antarctica. 
The moon, meanwhile, has a land area of approximately 38 million square kilometers, or about five times the size of Australia.
So surely this means that the moon must be wider than Australia, right? Wrong. Australia is actually slightly wider. The moon's equatorial diameter - or width - is about 3,476 square kilometers. Meanwhile, it is about 3,600 square kilometers from Brisbane on Australia's eastern coast to Perth on its western coast. 
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94% Of The 'Continent' Of Zealandia Is Underwater
Could the world someday have an eighth continent? In 2017, a group of researchers submitted a study arguing that a mostly submerged landmass located east of Australia and covering approximately 1.9 million square miles should be designated as just that - a continent.
Dubbed "Zealandia," 94% of the landmass is located underwater, with only New Zealand and the island of New Caledonia rising above sea level. In the past, the landmass had been classified as a microcontinent, but the research team arguing that it should be classified as a continent stated that the size of the landmass distinguishes Zealandia from other microcontinents. This research team, led by geologist Nick Mortimer, argued that any landmass that covers at least 386,000 square miles should be defined as a continent.
Another obstacle for Zealandia to be defined as a continent is that a continent is commontly defined as a landmass surrounded by water - not submerged underneath it. 
"My judgment is that though Zealandia is continental, it is not a continent,"  Christopher Scotese, a Northwestern University geologist, stated. "If it were emergent, we would readily identify it with Australia, much like we identify Greenland with North America and Madagascar with Africa."
Mortimer's team argued that being submerged shouldn't keep Zealandia from being defined as a continent, pointing out that if Antarctica weren't covered in ice, much of the western half of that continent would be under water.
No consensus has been reached yet on whether Zealandia should be classified as a continent. But in 2021, it was determined that the landmass is approximately 1 billion years old - or about twice as old as researchers had previously thought it to be.
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The Dead Sea Has The Lowest Land Level On Earth - And Drops 3 Feet Every Year
Bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west, the Dead Sea is actually a lake whose surface is more than 1,400 feet (or 430 meters) below sea level - meaning it is located at the lowest point on earth.
The Dead Sea is very dense and mineral rich; it is about eight or nine times saltier than any of the world's oceans. In fact, it is the saltiest body of water in the world. But it is shrinking - receding at a rate of about 3 feet per year. This is due to a combination of the arid climate and the lack of available water, not just to replenish the Dead Sea but to irrigate the farmland in the region. And the Dead Sea's shrinkage has caused dangerous sinkholes to form on its shores.
In 2015, Israel and Jordan signed a $900 million water sharing pact that would allow the Dead Sea to be replenished by water from the Red Sea, while also supplying both Israel and Palestine with water. But that project has since stalled - and even if it had worked smoothly, it would not be enough on its own to fix the drastic water shortage in the region.
So the Dead Sea continues to get smaller, although it will never entirely disappear, as it will eventually reach a point of equilibrium and stop shrinking.
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Texas's King Ranch Is Bigger Than The Entire State Of Rhode Island
There's a well-known saying that goes "everything is bigger in Texas." That saying definitely could apply to the King Ranch.
In 1853, a man named Richard King purchased land located in the Wild Horse Desert area of Texas. By the end of the Civil War, King's property covered 146,000 acres, which was quite sizable, but pales in comparison to its current size of 825,000 acres, or approximately 1,290 square miles. This makes the ranch larger than the state of Rhode Island, which is just 1,034 square miles.
King Ranch is known for raising and breeding cattle and horses - among the latter was 1946 Triple Crown winner Assault. In 1940, King Ranch had its Santa Gertrudis brand of cattle recognized by the US Department of Agriculture as the first beef brand ever produced in America. In 1961, the ranch was designated as a National Historic Landmark.
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The Sargasso Sea Is The Only Sea On Earth That Doesn't Border A Coastline
Named for a type of seaweed known as sargassum, the Sargasso Sea is located entirely within the Atlantic Ocean, specifically within the Northern Atlantic Subtropical Gyre (a gyre is a large system of rotating ocean currents). 
It is unique in that it is the only sea in the world that isn't bordered by land; instead, its boundaries are established by the Gulf Stream to the west, the Canary Current to the east, the North Atlantic Current to the north, and by the North Atlantic Equatorial Current to the south.
Sometimes described as a "golden floating rainforest," it plays a crucial role as a habitat, spawning and foraging ground, and migratory corridor for many endangered or threatened species, such as the porbeagle shark and the American and European eels.
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Antarctica Is Home To 70% Of The World's Fresh Water
The continent of Antarctica is the largest solid ice mass on Earth, covering approximately 5.4 million square miles. It makes up approximately 90% of the total volume of ice on Earth as well as about 70% of the planet's total fresh water supply.
That is so much water that if the ice sheet entirely melted, it would raise the global sea level by around 200 feet.
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The US City Of Point Roberts Can Only Be Accessed By Driving Through Canada
When the border between the United States and Canada was set at the 49th parallel north in 1846, it intersected a peninsula, resulting in the land becoming part of Canada and part of the States. What would become known as the town of Point Roberts was located on the part of the peninsula that landed on the US side of the border.
Historian Mark Swenson said the division of the peninsula was deliberate, as the US wanted the valuable fishing and crabbing rights and also could use the property as a military outpost. In 1908, the US government granted the land to settlers.
Located about 25 miles south of Vancouver, Canada, geographers call Point Roberts a "pene-exclave" - an area of one country that, at least for most people, can only be reached by passing through another country. While it is possible to get to the tiny town (it is home to approximately 1,500 residents) by boat or private plane, it's far more common to drive there from Canada. 
If someone is trying to get to Point Roberts from somewhere else in the States, they must pass through two international border checkpoints - one to get into Canada, and the other to get back into the US at Point Roberts.
For years, there have been rumors that, because of the town's inaccessibility, the US Federal Witness Protection Program has relocated dozens of people to the area.
The unique geography has resulted in Point Roberts being economically devastated by COVID-19. The regulation requiring people to be tested for COVID before visiting Canada was waived for the town's residents in order to allow them to travel through the country to get essential services (there is no hospital or pharmacy in town) - but Canadians, who drive the area's economy, aren't allowed across the border.
As a result, by early 2021, Point Roberts's business had declined by about 90%, and about half of the permanent residents had left town.
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Colorado's Border Does Not Have Four Sides - It Has 697
If someone looks at a standard map of the United States, Colorado appears to be in the shape of a rectangle. But in reality, the state has 697 sides - which makes it a hexahectaenneacontakaiheptagon (try saying that 10 times fast).
According to a 2018 BigThink.com article, the blame for mistakenly describing the state's borders lies with the 19th-century surveyors who were given the task of trying to establish the borders by hand. In 1879 - three years after Colorado officially became a state - a group of surveyors set out from the Four Corners (where Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico meet) and placed markers at every mile on the border with Utah until they reached Wyoming.
Later surveyors found that the original crew had made multiple errors, but by that time the borders had been accepted as official. As changing them would have required Colorado and Utah agreeing on a new border as well as approval from Congress, nothing was done to correct the mistakes.
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Alaska Is The Northernmost, Westernmost AND Easternmost State in the US
Anyone with a decent knowledge of United States geography would probably not be surprised by the fact that Alaska is both the northernmost and the westernmost state in the country. However, they may be surprised to learn that it is also the easternmost of all of the states.
How is this possible? The answer is that the Aleutian Islands, which belong to both Alaska and the Russian territory of Kamchatka Krai, stretch across the 180th meridian, which divides the world into the Eastern and Western hemispheres.
So one of the Aleutians - Amatignak Island - is the westernmost point in the US, while another - Semisopochnoi Island - is the easternmost point in the country.
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There Are Just Three Countries That Are Completely Landlocked By One Other Country
The majority of the countries in the world are either bordered by multiple other nations and/or by a body or bodies of water. But there are three nations - Lesotho, San Marino, and Vatican City - that are enclaved countries. In other words, they are completely surrounded by just one country.
Lesotho is landlocked within South Africa, while Italy surrounds both San Marino and Vatican City.
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Mauna Kea, Not Mount Everest, Is The Tallest Mountain On Earth
Mount Everest, which is located in Nepal and Tibet, is generally considered to be the tallest mountain in the world. Standing at 29,029 feet at its summit, it is the highest point above the global mean sea level on Earth.
But it isn't actually the tallest mountain. That honor goes to Mauna Kea, a volcano located in Hawaii. Part of Mauna Kea is located underneath the Pacific Ocean. But from its base to its peak, it measures more than 33,500 feet - or more than 4,000 feet taller than Mount Everest.
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Millions Of Dollars Of Gold And Silver Flow Through Switzerland’s Sewers Every Year
A study carried out in July 2017 revealed that Switzerland’s sewers are filled with valuable materials. The research showed that somewhere in the region of $1.8 million worth of gold and $1.7 million of silver enters the country’s sewage system every year. That is the equivalent of almost 7,000 pounds of precious metal being pumped into wastewater.
Researchers believe that the material probably comes from the extensive gold refineries and pharmaceutical industry in Switzerland, both of which play a major part in the economy of the country. Unfortunately, there is no viable way to reclaim the gold and silver that is lost into the sewers.
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There Are More Trees On Earth Than Stars In The Milky Way
The sheer scale of the universe that encompasses the Earth often makes it seem like space must be infinite, with an uncountable number of stars surrounding it in every direction. Yet, NASA scientists have come up with very good estimates for the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. This number stands at around 400 billion. While that is certainly a lot, it is dwarfed by the number of trees that are on the planet’s surface. Recent studies have concluded that there are around 3 trillion trees on Earth, almost 10 times the amount of stars in the galaxy.
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The Universe Is Beige
Looking out at the night sky, you would be forgiven for thinking that the universe is black. Apart from the pinpoint light given off from stars, space appears to be a vast collection of nothingness. That hasn't stopped researchers from trying to discover what the real color of the universe is. Surprisingly, it isn’t black, but a sort of beige. By analyzing the cosmic light given off by hundreds of thousands of galaxies and billions of stars, they were able to see what the spectrum would be interpreted as in the human eye.
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Half Of The Water On Earth Is Older Than The Sun
Everyone knows that the Sun was around a long time before the Earth. In fact, the Sun’s life first began some 4.6 billion years ago. While that is certainly old, it turns out that as much as half of the water on our home planet may be even older than that. According to research carried out by astrophysicists, much of the water on Earth could have come from interstellar gas that froze when the solar system was first formed. It was then able to travel through space before crashing into the rocky planet humans call home.
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Russia And Pluto Are About The Same Size
Pluto has had a hard time recently. It was downgraded from its status as a planet because it was too small and hadn’t cleared out the debris in its surrounding area. To make matters worse, people have now realized that the dwarf planet is only around the same size as Russia. According to NASA’s New Horizons Mission, Pluto has a total surface area of 17,646,012 km2. As the biggest country in the world, Russia has a surface area that is roughly comparable to the former planet, with estimates putting the total at 17,125,200 km2.
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