Geography Guides articles

From Arctic Alaska to subtropical Florida, the United States packs nearly every landscape on Earth into one country. This guide walks through its landforms, climate, and how to read its maps.

Canada spans three oceans and six time zones, with more lakes than any other country. Here's how its landforms, climate and sheer scale fit together — and how to read its maps.

The United Kingdom is small enough to cross in a day but varied enough to feel like several countries. Here's its island geography, from Highland peaks to chalk cliffs.

Australia is a continent that is mostly empty: ancient deserts in the middle, nearly everyone living near the coasts. Here's how its landforms, reef and climate fit together.

Germany's geography is written in rivers: the Rhine flows north to the sea while the Danube flows east to the Black Sea. Here's the land between them, from plains to Alps.

France is nicknamed 'the Hexagon' for its six-sided shape — and it holds the Alps, the Mediterranean, Atlantic surf and volcanic highlands inside those six sides.

Italy stretches from Alpine glaciers to African-facing coasts, with three active volcanoes in between. Here's the geography of the boot, from the Po Valley to Sicily.

Most of Spain sits on a high plateau, the Meseta — which is why Madrid's winters are cold and its summers scorching. Here's the geography of Europe's rooftop.

Japan stretches 3,000 kilometres from subarctic Hokkaido to subtropical Okinawa — a volcanic island chain where 73% of the land is mountainous and earthquakes are routine.

China is the world's third- or fourth-largest country, stretching from 8,849-metre Everest to tropical islands — yet the whole country runs on a single clock.

India is a subcontinent where one wind — the monsoon — decides the fate of a billion people. Here's its mountains, rivers, deserts and coasts, and how to read its maps.

Brazil is a continent-sized country dominated by water: the Amazon, the Pantanal, Iguaçu Falls and an Atlantic coastline of 7,500 kilometres. Here's how it all fits together.

Mexico City sits at 2,240 metres — which is why its climate is springlike year-round. Here's the geography of highlands, volcanoes, deserts and two long coastlines.

Russia covers one-eighth of Earth's inhabited land, spanning 11 time zones from the Baltic to the Pacific. Here's the geography of that staggering scale.

South Africa sits where two oceans meet — but the famous Cape of Good Hope isn't the southernmost point. Here's the country's coasts, mountains, wildlife and climates.

Argentina is the world's eighth-largest country and its longest north-to-south — a single nation spanning subtropical forest, Pampas grassland and Patagonian steppe.

Ninety-five percent of Egyptians live on about five percent of the land — the Nile Valley and Delta. Here's the geography of the river, the desert and the seas.

Nigeria runs from Atlantic mangroves to the edge of the Sahara in 1,100 kilometres. Here's the Niger River, the north-south divide, and the geography of Africa's giant.

Indonesia spans three time zones and two continents' worth of islands, with more active volcanoes than any other country. Here's the geography of the archipelago.

South Korea packs mountains, four distinct seasons and 2,400 islands into a peninsula the size of Indiana. Here's its ranges, rivers, coasts and volcanic Jeju.

Turkey is where Europe meets Asia: Istanbul straddles the Bosphorus, Anatolia rises to Mount Ararat, and three different seas frame the coasts.

Saudi Arabia holds the largest continuous sand desert on Earth — and not a single permanent river. Here's the geography of the Empty Quarter, the Red Sea and the holy cities.

Sweden is Europe's long north: 1,600 kilometres from temperate farmland to Arctic tundra, with tens of thousands of lakes and islands along the way.

Norway is a 1,750-kilometre coastline of fjords, islands and mountains — with a climate far milder than its Arctic latitude thanks to the Gulf Stream.

Poland sits on the flat corridor between Germany and Russia, with the Tatra Mountains as its southern wall and the Baltic as its northern edge.

The Netherlands is the country that refused to accept its geography — a third of it below sea level, kept dry by a thousand years of engineering.

Four of Europe's great rivers are born in the Swiss Alps — which is why Switzerland is called the water tower of Europe. Here's its mountains, lakes and valleys.

Greece is four-fifths mountains and one great archipelago: 6,000 islands scattered across the Aegean and Ionian seas. Here's the land of Olympus and Odysseus.

Portugal faces the Atlantic from the edge of Europe — and its islands, the Azores and Madeira, extend it deep into the ocean. Here's the geography of the far west.

Ireland is a limestone bowl: a flat green center ringed by coastal mountains, washed by Atlantic rain. Here's the Shannon, the cliffs, the bogs and the weather.

New Zealand is the youngest landscape in the developed world: mountains still rising, volcanoes still erupting, fjords still being carved. Here's its two islands.

Thailand is a river kingdom: the Chao Phraya built Bangkok's delta, the north holds the mountains, and two different seas frame the coasts.

Singapore is smaller than New York City — yet it sits on the strait through which a huge share of world trade passes. Here's the geography of the city-island.

Malaysia is two lands separated by the South China Sea: the peninsula holding Kuala Lumpur, and Borneo holding rainforest, caves and Mount Kinabalu.

The Philippines is 7,641 islands in the Pacific typhoon belt, on the Ring of Fire — volcanic, seismic, and fringed with some of the world's best reefs and beaches.

Colombia holds three Andean cordilleras, two oceans' coasts, and a slice of the Amazon — the most geographically complete country in South America.

Chile stretches 4,300 kilometres north to south but averages 175 wide — from the driest desert on Earth to the icefields of Patagonia.

Peru is three countries in one: a desert coast, the highest Andes, and the Amazon's headwaters — the Inca Empire grew in the middle one.

Vietnam is an S-curve of 3,260 kilometres of coastline, with two great river deltas at its ends and the Annamite mountains down its spine.

Kenya is where humanity began — the Rift Valley's lakes and savannahs hold our oldest fossils and the greatest wildlife spectacle, the Mara migration.