New Geography Quiz
Wednesday May 31, 2006
Test your geographic skill and knowledge of our planet with my latest and greatest geography quiz. Once you're done, make yourself feel better by sharing it with your friends ... Read More
A City in Every State?
Tuesday May 30, 2006
I am regularly asked whether there is a place name or a city name that is found in each of the fifty United States. These inquires inspired me to ... Read More
Microsoft MapPoint 2006
Monday May 29, 2006
Microsoft recently released the latest version of their powerful business and personal mapping software MapPoint 2006. I took a spin with MapPoint and have written a review of the ... Read More
Ten Cool GPS Gadgets
Saturday May 27, 2006
Forbes.com writes and provides a slide show about ten great GPS gadgets. The slideshow includes GPS units for the extreme outdoors, for bicycles, GPS cameras, and, of course, in-car ... Read More
Illinois Eighth Grader Wins National Geographic Bee
Thursday May 25, 2006
Bonny Jain, a eighth-grader from Moline, Illinois, who won fourth place in last year's National Geographic Bee, won the top prize in this year's competition held in Washington D.C. on ... Read More
Hurricane Season is Soon
Thursday May 25, 2006
Not again! The Atlantic Hurricane Season begins next week, on Thursday, June 1. So far, let's be thankful that there aren't any tropical storms in the making. ... Read More
Why, Oh, Why Must The SMOM Lovers Persist?!
Wednesday May 24, 2006
I regularly receive emails like this one from Bill, "Hi Matt! I think you are wrong about the Vatican being the smallest country. Even smaller is the Sovereign Order ... Read More
Montenegro Votes For Independence
Tuesday May 23, 2006
In last Sunday's referendum, an estimated 55.5% of Montenegrins (just one-half of a percentage point above the necessary 55%), voted for independence from the country of Serbia and Montenegro. ... Read More
Most Popular Baby Names
Friday May 19, 2006
The list of America's most popular baby names was recently released. The New York Times has an interesting article, noting that the name Nevaeh (heaven spelled backward) has grown explosively ... Read More
Axis of Evil, Rogue States, Outposts of Tyranny, and Axis of Terror
Wednesday May 17, 2006
How many ways can we define the enemies of the United States? Well, Axis of Evil, Rogue States, Outposts of Tyranny, and Axis of Terror are just some of ... Read More
Libya Back in Good Graces
Tuesday May 16, 2006
Yesterday, the Unites States Department of State announced that Libya, yes the country still led by that fun-loving Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi, is back on the list of countries friendly to the ... Read More
Demographic Challenges Continue
Sunday May 14, 2006
Both Russia and Germany were in the news this past week regarding each country's declining birth rates. In Russia, President Putin addressed Parliament and ordered them to develop a ... Read More
French Population Growth Efforts
Saturday May 13, 2006
BBC correspondent Hugh Schofield writes about life in France and the government's efforts to increase population growth in the country with a non-replacement total fertility rate of 1.90.
Postal Abbreviations Reference
Friday May 12, 2006
I've created a listing of U.S. state and territory postal abbreviations and a listing of Canadian province and territory abbreviations. Enjoy!
New Geography Quiz - World Airports
Thursday May 11, 2006
How well do you know your world airports? This week's five-question, multiple-choice geography quiz is a test to see how well you know the locations of some of the ... Read More
Salinas, California is Least Affordable Place to Live
Thursday May 11, 2006
The New York Times reports that Salinas, California (located in the greater San Jose region) is the least affordable place the live in the United States. In fact, California ... Read More
Best and Worst Countries to be a Mother
Wednesday May 10, 2006
Just in time for Mother's Day and a guarantee of media coverage, the organization Save the Children has released a report that lists the best and worst countries in the ... Read More
Below Sea Level = Ocean?
Wednesday May 10, 2006
The geographic blog Geographic Travels with Catholicgauze! posts about Ask.com's new online atlas that shows a detailed physical map of the planet. Unfortunately, the online atlas identifies everything below ... Read More
Take the Geographic Illiteracy Test
Sunday May 7, 2006
As I mentioned the other day, the 2006 National Geographic-Roper Survey of Geographic Literacy was recently released. Now, take the 20-question test yourself and tell us how you did! ... Read More
Animaniacs Geography Song
Saturday May 6, 2006
YouTube provides online video of that classic animated world geography lesson from Yakko of the animated series The Animaniacs (the one where he sings and points to "all" the countries ... Read More
Lake Chad is Disappearing
Friday May 5, 2006
Lake Chad, on the border of Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Nigeria, has shrunk in the past four decades from 15,000 square miles to 500 square miles (and shrinking) today. ... Read More
New Geography Quiz
Thursday May 4, 2006
Test your geographic skills and talents with my latest five-question multiple-choice geography quiz. Good luck!
New Geographic Literacy Poll Finds American Young Adults Still Geographically Illiterate
Tuesday May 2, 2006
The 2006 National Geographic-Roper Survey of Geographic Literacy was released today. In its survey of Americans aged 18 to 24, it found that this age group continues to lack ... Read More
Internal Migration in the United States
Tuesday May 2, 2006
The U.S. Census Bureau has released a report called Domestic Net Migration in the United States: 2000 to 2004, which provides a thorough study of migration between states. During ... Read More
MapPoint 2006 is Coming Soon!
Monday May 1, 2006
The latest edition of Microsoft's version of GIS software, MapPoint 2006, is expected to be released this month, according to the Microsoft website. MapPoint is a very impressive, yet affordable, ... Read More
Comparing Iraq to U.S. States
Monday May 1, 2006
Amy asked a great question on behalf of her ninth grade geography students, "How does Iraq compare in area and population to a U.S. state?" With a population of ... Read More