27 Geography Facts Everyone Keeps Getting Wrong

Mistake: Antarctica has no time zones

High on the list of geography mistakes is that the increasingly popular continent at the South Pole has no time zones. In reality, due to its location where all of Earth’s longitudes meet, any time zone could theoretically be used. But as we know from science stations located in various parts of the massive ice shelf, each usually keeps time according to the country that operates or supplies it, so there are essentially nine different time zones in Antarctica.

Mistake: Russia and Turkey are the only countries on two continents

You might have heard that Russia and Turkey are the only two countries that lie within two continents. But according to geologists, the Asia-Europe boundary is the Caucasus watershed, which means the border also cuts through Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Mistake: The Statue of Liberty is in New York

If you want to start an argument between New Yorkers and New Jerseyans, bring up this bone of contention. Even though the U.S. Geological Survey puts Liberty Island, where the Statue of Liberty stands, in the territorial jurisdiction of New York, it’s surrounded by New Jersey’s waters and is much closer to Jersey’s mainland than New York’s. But all of this is a little moot, since the island is federal property administered by the National Park Service.

Mistake: Maine is our easternmost state

Well, it was until 1959, when Alaska became a state and took over the title. How? The Aleutian Islands in Alaska cross over the 180th meridian, which means that the islands on the far side of this longitudinal line are technically in the farthest eastern longitudes of the world. Ready for another mind-blowing geography fact? The islands on this side of the line make Alaska our westernmost state as well.

Mistake: Florida is our southernmost state

The Florida Keys are a picturesque haven for tourists who flock to the southernmost geographical marker in Key West. But that’s the southernmost continental point. Ka Lae, Hawaii, reaches down nearly to the 19th latitude, only a couple of thousand miles from the equator.

Mistake: All 50 states have Daylight Saving Time

That would be dead wrong. Hawaiians don’t switch their clocks like most of the mainlanders. And Arizona doesn’t recognize daylight saving time either. And to complicate things further, Navajo tribal lands in Arizona do recognize the time change. So when in Arizona, check your bus schedules carefully.

Mistake: Norway is the northernmost country in the world

Sorry to disappoint all you Norse scholars, but the Kingdom of Norway is only the fourth most northern nation. Russia, Canada and Greenland all reach closer to the North Pole, with Greenland’s Kaffeklubben Island being the world’s most northern point.

Mistake: Mount Whitney is the highest mountain in the U.S.

Mount Whitney, seen here through the Mobius Arch in California’s Alabama Hills, towered above all other peaks in the country until Alaska joined the union. Alaska has the top 11 highest mountains in the country, with the tallest being Denali, aka Mount McKinley, at 20,310 feet. (In 2024, a presidential executive order reverted Denali’s name back to Mount McKinley, but many Alaskans continue to call the peak Denali, and the surrounding Denali National Park and Preserve maintains its name.)

Mistake: Route 66 is our longest highway

Sure, Nat King Cole made Route 66 famous with his song about “The highway that’s the best.” But while you can definitely get your kicks on Route 66, the highway—and its modern equivalent, I-40—pales next to scenic Route 20, which runs coast to coast for 3,365 miles from Boston to Newport, Oregon.

Mistake: Florida has the longest coastline of any state

It sounds true. After all, the whole state sticks out into the ocean, so it’s nothing but coastline, right? Yes, but according to the Congressional Research Service, Alaska has 6,640 miles of coastline compared to the Sunshine State’s 1,350. Bottom line: Alaska covers a whole lot of real estate.

Mistake: Alaska has the smallest population of the 50 states

Once upon a time that was true. But according to a 2024 census estimate, Wyoming has the fewest residents, with just under 588,000. Vermont comes after that with about 647,000, while Alaska is 48th, having nearly 742,000 residents.

Mistake: The world’s longest suspension bridge is the Verrazano Narrows

Maybe it’s just our American pride in the bridge that’s the gateway to New York Harbor, but it’s not even close to being the world’s longest suspension bridge. That honor goes to the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey, which spans 6,637 feet. (The Verrazano comes in at No. 20 on the list, at 4,259 feet.) The longest bridge overall is the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge in Beijing, China, a viaduct bridge that stretches an amazing 102.4 miles as it carries the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway.

Mistake: Orlando is the capital of Florida

It may be the theme park capital of the country, but Orlando isn’t the capital of Florida. That would be Tallahassee, up near the Florida-Georgia line. Why such an out-of-the-way location? It was chosen because it was about halfway between St. Augustine, the oldest city in the U.S., and Pensacola, which were the capitals of the Spanish territories of East Florida and West Florida, respectively.

Mistake: Krakatoa is East of Java

Krakatoa, East of Java is the title of an exciting 1968 movie about the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa that caused the loudest sound ever heard on earth. Trouble is, the volcano is off the west coast of Java. Didn’t anybody check this before they shot a whole movie about it?

Mistake: The South Pole is in Antarctica

Well, this is right. But it’s also wrong, because there are a number of different south poles on the most remote place on Earth: the Geographic South Pole (where the earth’s axis intersects Earth’s crust), the Pole of Inaccessibility (where Antarctica is farthest from the shoreline), the Geomagnetic South Pole (where the geomagnetic field intersects the Earth’s surface) and the Magnetic South Pole (where Earth’s magnetic fields intersect the crust). To further confuse you, because of magnetic drift, the Magnetic South Pole is constantly moving around.

Mistake: Canada is the world’s largest country

Not even close. Russia is a massive 6,592,850 square miles, so big that it has 11 time zones. Canada is a distant second with 3,855,103 square miles, but with six time zones of its own, there’s a long gap in time between Vancouver in the west and St. John’s in Newfoundland.

Mistake: The Matterhorn is Europe’s highest mountain

Switzerland’s picturesque peak may be the most visually striking mountain in the world, but it’s not even close to being the tallest in Europe. For that you have to look to Russia’s Mount Elbrus, which rises to 18,510 feet in the Caucasus Mountains near the border with Georgia.

Mistake: Toronto is the capital of Canada

Toronto, one of the world’s most beautiful cities, is Canada’s financial and media center and boasts some of the country’s most impressive cultural icons. It even has major league baseball. The only thing it doesn’t have is the capital of the country, which is a four-hour drive away in Ottawa.

Mistake: Africa is a country

Hardly. Africa is a continent containing 54 sovereign states and countries, nine territories and several de facto independent states with very little recognition, each with its own languages, cultures and traditions.

Mistake: Geneva is the capital of Switzerland

Geneva and Zurich may have reputations as world cultural centers, but the capital of Switzerland is actually Bern, the country’s fifth largest city. It’s worth a visit, if only because every international visitor is given a Toblerone chocolate bar as a welcome gift.

Mistake: Holland is a country

People have always used Holland and the Netherlands interchangeably. But they’re not the same. The Netherlands has 12 provinces, including North Holland and South Holland. But since the country’s major cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague are in these provinces, people tend to just skip the details and mistakenly call the low-lying country Holland.

Mistake: Greenland is bigger than Africa

We’re all familiar with Mercator Projections, those world maps from grade school that expand the poles to gigantic proportions. As a result, Greenland looks huge on those maps, while Africa looks fairly modest. In truth, it’s not even close. Africa is 11,730,000 square miles, while Greenland covers only 836,300 square miles.

Mistake: Great Britain and the United Kingdom are the same

We have a special relationship with the United Kingdom, so we should probably learn that these terms are not interchangeable. The United Kingdom is a country that includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Great Britain is only a part of that, specifically the island that consists of England, Scotland and Wales.

Mistake: Puerto Rico is a country

Maybe it’s the fact that Spanish is the island’s main language that makes picturesque Puerto Rico seem like a foreign country. But in fact it is a U.S. territory. But that could change going forward, as residents voted for statehood in 2012, 2017, 2020 and 2024. However, only Congress can change Puerto Rico’s status, and so far has declined to do.

Mistake: Iceland is covered with ice

Despite its name, the small island nation in the North Atlantic is actually fairly mild. Thanks to the warm North Atlantic Current nearby, the coasts of Iceland remain ice-free all winter. Sure there are glaciers, but there are also geysers and lots of volcanic activity, such as the Eyjafjallajökull eruption of 2010, which threw so much ash into the air that it stopped air travel across Europe for days.

Mistake: Sydney is the capital of Australia

When Americans think of Australia, they picture the Sydney Opera House or the Sydney Olympics, so is it any wonder that we think the country’s largest city is also its capital? The capital is actually the city of Canberra, and it was chosen in 1909 as a compromise between Sydney and its rival city of Melbourne. However, it wasn’t officially named until 1913.

Mistake: Lagos is the capital of Nigeria

This used to be true, but in 1991 the capital was moved to Abuja. There were at least two advantages to that move: Abuja is near the center of the country, and it’s the location of Magicland, one of the country’s first amusement parks.

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Sources:

• National Park Service: “Statue of Liberty”
• World Atlas: “10 Tallest Mountains In The Contiguous United States”
• National Park Service: “Denali National Park and Preserve”
• U.S. DOT Federal Highway Administration: “Highway History”
• Congressional Research Service: “U.S. International Borders: Brief Facts”
• Guinness World Records: “Longest suspension bridge span”
• Audiology: “The Loudest Known Sound Ever!”
• Alaska News Source: “Executive order to rename Denali signed by President Trump”