Geography Guides

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.