BBC geography fail?

It would seem from the location of  this BBC report on the hajj deaths that the BBC think that Saudi Arabia is in Europe. Or are they predicting Europe's future?

Background Conference Call on the President's Address to the Nation | The White House

The White House http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/09/10/background-conference-call-presidents-address-nation tells us that:

'ISIL has been I think a galvanizing threat around the Sunni partners in the region.  They view it as an existential threat to them.  Saudi Arabia has an extensive border with Syria.'

'Saudi Arabia has an extensive border with Syria.'

Really? Are you sure? I'm pretty sure Egypt, Jordan and Iraq border Saudi Arabia to the east and north. Arguably Israel over water. But not Syria. If the Barack Hussein Obama White House has this poor a grasp of the geography of the Middle East, is it any wonder that they're so clueless with regards to policy? 

As an aside, if it had been a George W. Bush White House which had made this mistake or Sarah Palin's office then this would be being reported by the BBC and the Now Show would be lining up the satirical remarks, but as it's Barack Hussein Obama's White House, I think we can assume that there'll be no coverage at all.

One Map to Understand All The Threats Facing Israel

'Israel is a small country, only 424 km long and from 114 to 15 km wide, and is surrounded by many enemies. What does this mean in concrete terms? Who are the people and organizations threatening the sovereignty of Israel and from where do they act? Use this map to understand all of the different challenges that we face. These threats are real, and the IDF is forced to act on all fronts, more often than you might think.'

Map here http://www.idfblog.com/2014/04/16/one-map-understand-threats-facing-israel/

What's the difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain, England and the British Isles?

C.G.P. Grey explains and such as @Rulesthewaves would do well to watch and learn.

I know I've posted this video before but it's damned interesting!

Another Tweeter who has no knowledge of geography this time its @BigDunc123

It's @BigDunc123 this time for showing his ignorance yesterday and today...

No reply as yet from 'Big Dunc'...

Reminds me of my battle with the similarly ill-educated @kjfella1 earlier this year.

By the way, it was I that managed to get the BBC to change their favourite map of Gaza so it showed Egypt as well as Israel, read the story here.

Here's the BBC map that might explain the idiotic statements of some twitterers

And here's the fixed one that shows the Gaza Egypt border

Maybe @BigDunc123 should peruse it before calling my comments 'moronic'.

What is the difference between the United Kingdon, Great Britain, England etc. ?

I love this video and it is, so far as I am aware, correct. It even made me aware of a British Overseas territory that I was not aware of before - Akrotiri & Dhekelia.


Thanks to Theo Spark for the the spot.

I love geography and maps

I love geography and maps and I love them even more now...

Have a go yourself at Map Game

Just played again 'Wow! Only 2 miles away from Glasgow! How did you do this? Glasgow was played 41 times now with an average distance of 128 miles. The best guess was 1 miles'

How's your geography?

No really how good is it?

Take this test and find out...








Thanks to Theo Spark for the spot.

Quiz time, answer

Yesterday I asked what the following cities had in common:
Sofia, Bulgaria
Delhi, India
Mumbai, India
Beijing, China
Istanbul, Turkey
Paris, France
Tehran, Iran
Tokyo, Japan
Bogotá, Colombia
Podgorica, Montenegro
Algiers, Algeria


The answer is the boring, yet interesting, fact that they (and they alone) have a friendship agreement with London.

Quiz time

What do these cities have in common?

Sofia, Bulgaria
Delhi, India
Mumbai, India
Beijing, China
Istanbul, Turkey
Paris, France
Tehran, Iran
Tokyo, Japan
Bogotá, Colombia
Podgorica, Montenegro
Algiers, Algeria

Answer tomorrow...

Worldwide air traffic movments

Quite hypnotic... I love this sort of thing, that and maps...



Thanks to Theo Spark for the spot.

Oh those Russians (update)

A visitor to my blog, crushed, commented on my earlier post that

"To be fair though, if anyone can claim the Arctic, it is Russia.

Russia DOES pretty much encircle the Arctic..."

I think the map above shows that Canada, Denmark (via Greenland) and the USA have pretty good claims to part of the Arctic.

Alaska some facts - interesting or not

With John McCain's appointment of Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate, the spotlight has been shone on Alaska, so I thought the time right to bring up one of my favourite quiz questions.

A great quiz question is to ask:
1) which American State is the most Northern
2) which American State is the most Eastern
3) which American State is the most Southern
4) which American State is the most Western

Virtually everyone plumps for Alaska as the most northern, California or Florida as the most Southern, Maine as the most Eastern and California or Hawaii (if being smart) as the most Western.

In fact the answer to Northern, Eastern and Western is the same - Alaska. Northern and Western, people will normally believe, but Eastern? It's all due to Alaska's Aleutian Islands which stretch right up to the edge of the Western Hemisphere at the 180º line of Longitude, thus making Alaska the most western state in the country; but they also stretch across the 180º line of Longitude, into the Eastern Hemisphere, and up the edge of the Russian Federation, making it the most Eastern state as well. The most Southern US State is Hawaii.

Just as interesting is if you just count the contiguous American States; then:
The most Northern State is Minnesota
The most Eastern State is Maine
The most Southern State is Florida
The most Western State is Washington State


Tomorrow I may blog about where the geographic centre of America is, or I may not...