Twelve Mile Circle
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The Transpeninsular Line
I’ve been traveling recently, in fact, I’ve been closer to the Twelve Mile Circle than I’ve been in quite some time. During those travels I was able to stop by the Transpeninsular Line. In this blog I discuss various odd geographic topics that happen to interest me. The Transpeninsular Line is certainly one of those.…
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Smallest County in the USA, Epilogue
The previous entries discussed the whole issue of “smallest county in the United States” in way more detail that it probably deserved. However, I wanted to point out one more oddity. The smallest self-governing county and the smallest independent city share a common border! So Arlington’s far western border runs straight along the entirety of…
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Smallest County in the USA, Part 4
Today we crown the “Smallest County in the United States.” As noted in Parts 1 through 3 in this series, serious problems arose with the three smallest geographical units called counties (Kalawao County, Hawaii, New York County, New York and Bristol County, Rhode Island). Those three are counties in name only. They have no independently…
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Smallest County in the USA, Part 3
Previous posts discussed several reasons why the three smallest counties in the United States do not function autonomously. Thus, they should not be considered counties except in name only. Independent Cities The focus of the current post is another unusual arrangement, the situation of independent cities. They function identically to most counties but in fact…
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Smallest County in the USA, Part 1
What is the smallest county in the United States? It’s such a simple question but there are many ways to approach it. It really depends. Would it be the smallest parcel of land that actually carries the title “county?” Does it require a distinct, functional government with specific attributes? What about independent cities that provide…
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Canada – Close to the Border
This installment provides an instance where something sounded simple but turned out to be much more complicated than originally expected. Supposedly a disproportionately large percentage of the Canadian population lived near its southern border with the United States. So that should be a pretty easy thing to fact check, right? An Amorphous Band U.S. sources…
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Double Landlocked Countries
A landlocked country is one that does not have a coastline. Presently 43 landlocked countries exist so it’s not a particularly rare occurrence. However, two countries conform to “doubly landlocked” situations and that is much more unusual. Those occur when landlocked countries completely surround another landlocked country. Someone beginning a journey from a double landlocked…
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Unusual Geography of the Republic of The Gambia
Shape I don’t believe I’ve focused on the geography of an entire country before. However, the nation of The Gambia embodies so many interesting things to not focus some attention on it. First, notice the remarkable shape. It stretches long and narrow like a snake as it winds its way along the banks of the…
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Mapping Endangered Species
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Endangered Species Program uses maps extensively. In turn, this helps website visitors conceptualize the imperilment of specific animals and plants within their area. The primary visual interface comes through their Threatened and Endangered Species System (TESS). It lets users sort data stored in the system by various criteria, including by…
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Hi Mr. Howder — Just going from memory, I recall that your “rule” for counting a nation/state/county is “if I’m…
Thank you!
Not driving husband asked and I got him the answer thanks for information
Does anyone have actual music to the song – Tanaha ,Timpson. Bobo and Blair ?? It was recorded by Tex…
I think you might be referring to a post from January 2010 called “What Counts as a Visit.” My first…