FreeRice : an humanitarian game

An internet word game has generated enough rice to feed 50,000 people for one day, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has said.
Read the whole article on BBC website.

Improve your English by clicking on the image.

London closer to Europe

With the new terminus Saint-Pancras railway station London will be "closer to the patisseries of Paris and to the beers of Brussels" !
Let watch this promotional but geographic clip from Eurostar to understand how these new infracstructures will draw a new area to the East of London.

Shift happens

This clip is created by Karl Fish, an american teacher from a Colorado High School.

Did You Know

The 10 most polluted places in the world

This map features the 10 most polluted places in the world, as voted by the Blacksmith Institute. The Blacksmith Institute, founded in 1999, is a New York City based organization supporting pollution-related environmental projects.


View Larger Map

To read informations about the different nominated, click on the placemarks !

The Cinematic Geography of Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California, is known as the capital of Cinema Industry. In the following clip, you can see the main movies shooting in different places in L.A. ! If you love Geography, History and cinema, you'll be overjoyed !

I've haven't watched all of them yet, but my favorite ones are The Big Lebowsky, L.A. Confidential and Back to the Future !



Intersection Highway are very imposing. Using satellite imaging, this clip shows the widespread area of L.A.

Click on the image below to know more about L.A. Geography (in french).

Photos of 19th and 20th America's centuries

On Shorpy, the 100 year-old photo blog, you can travel by pictures in America's space and time.

Its design copies an old newspaper. You can browse using the different galleries, like cities and streetscapes, civil war, education, factories, industry and public works, sports and recreation, World War II and many more !

These few examples will show you its interest !


"Bill Norton, the bathing beach policeman, measuring the distance between knee and bathing suit on woman in Washington, D.C. Col. Sherrell, the Superintendent of Public Buildings and Grounds, issued an order that bathing suits at the Washington bathing beach must not be over six inches above the knee. Photo from the National Photo Company Collection, 1922.""Gen. John F. Hartranft reading the death warrant to the four condemned Lincoln assassination conspirators (Mrs. Surratt, Payne, Herold, Atzerodt) on the scaffold at Fort McNair, Washington. July 7, 1865"


"Worker in bombardier nose section of a B-17F Navy bomber at the Douglas Aircraft plant in Long Beach, Calif. October 1942. The B-17F "Flying Fortress" is a later model of the B-17."


"Celebration on Wall Street upon the news of Germany's surrender in World War I. November 1918."

Thank you to this virtual collegue for the link

Who does the North Pole belong to ?

This summer, North Pole is the conflict center between bordering Artic ocean countries.

On August 2nd, "Russian explorers have planted their country's flag on the seabed 4,200m (14,000ft) below the North Pole to further Moscow's claims to the Arctic."
"The rust-proof titanium metal flag was brought by explorers travelling in two mini-submarines, in what is believed to be the first expedition of its kind."
"Canada, which also claims territory in the Arctic, has criticised the mission. "This isn't the 15th Century," Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay told the CTV channel. "You can't go around the world and just plant flags and say 'We're claiming this territory', he said."

But according to Sergei Balyasnikov, from the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Institute , "It's a very important move for Russia to demonstrate its potential in the Arctic... It's like putting a flag on the Moon".

But why is it so important ?

"Russia's claim to a vast swathe of territory in the Arctic, thought to contain oil, gas and mineral reserves. Several countries with territories bordering the Arctic - including Russia, the US, Canada and Denmark - have launched competing claims to the region. The competition has intensified as melting polar ice caps have opened up the possibility of new shipping routes in the region (the famous North West Passage)."

According to US Geological Survey, 25% of world oil reserves are settled to the North of the Arctic Circle.

What about the international law ?

"The North Pole is not currently regarded as part of any single country's territory and is therefore administered by the International Seabed Authority."

"Current laws grant countries an economic zone of 200 nautical miles beyond their land borders.
This zone can be extended where a country can prove that the structure of the continental shelf is similar to the geological structure within its territory."

That's why it's so important to the Russians to argue with scientific proof ! But others countries are now in the running : Danes expedition is on the way.

Further informations

I found the main informations in this article :

BBC News

Do you know North Pole Conquest History ?

North Pole Wikipedia article

Do you know the IPY ?

The International Polar Year is a large scientific programme focused on the Arctic and the Antarctic from March 2007 to March 2009.

Flood in UK

Heavy rains have caused important floods in UK this summer. On the BBC website, find out a round-up of the situation in the worst-affected areas with an interactive map.

"Has London fallen victim to the latest deluge of rain? These shocking pictures seem to suggest so but don't worry they're just images taken from a new British disaster film." Metro.co.uk

More about this movie.

Want to watch the trailer ?

A few photos of Devon

2007-07-england

Geography in danger in United States too !

My Wonderful World

National Geographic leads a campain to promote Geography in education. Could we understand and succeed in the world we're living without Geography ? Certainly Not !
In this clip, you can find out arguments.

A few photos of England

Funny Geography 3

This very sympathetic dancer has travelled all over the world !



See another clip on this page.

Geography in danger in UK

Give Geography Its Place (GGIP) is an english geographer action created to save Geography in UK.
Watch attentively this short quizz clip and try to find the map errors.

One Day in London

Funny Geography 2

Here's Wakko again ! Now, the 50 states of USA and their capitals !




This interactive map will help you to learn states location.

This interactive puzzle map too ! I made it in 3,46 minutes without knowning this game is raced. Try to do better !

Dakini Project : education through the Channel

Official presentation :

"£2.3 million pounds of free resources for Secondary Schools in Kent (UK) and Haute Normandie (France)

The Dakini Project, funded by the European Regional Development Fund Interreg IIIa community initative, establishes the first cross border (UK and France) geo-spatial web server for schools and holds high quality map based data of the Interreg IIIa region (Kent, East Sussex,
Nord Pas de Calais, Seine Maritime and Somme).

This includes a variety of digital data, including: aerial photography; large and small-scale maps; administrative boundaries with census, social and economic data; historical maps; satellite images; environmental data ; and 3D Digital Elevation Models (DEM).

In addition, the site also hosts a series of unique Digital Information Portals (DIP's) in the form of virtual tours for a number of key sites within the Interreg IIIa region."

Home page of Dakini project

Funny Geography

After seeing this funny video, you will sure know locating and pronouncing all the world countries !




Written in 1993, this song contents a lot of geographic errors ! Try to make out the list by posting a note.

Here are the answers on Wikipedia.