Our planet is filled with many wonderful geographical and geological anomalies and mysteries. So many so, that we may never truly unlock all of the secrets that nature has tucked away. This is a list of 15 of the more unusual or outright bizarre facts relating to geography, geology, and the earth. 1. Shortest Place Name photo source The Shortest place name is “Å” it is located in both Sweden and Norway. In Scandinavian languages, “Å” means “river”. The image above is one of the newly replaces road signs for the area – they are frequently stolen for their novelty value. 2. Largest City in the World (surface area)

China with Inner Mongolia highlighted in orange and Hulunbuir city highlighted in red

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The largest city in the world – based on surface area, is Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia (China) which is 263 953 km sq (102 000 sq mi).

3. Countries Completely Surrounded by One Other Country

Lesotho, Vatican City, and San Marino are the only countries completely surrounded by one other country. Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa, and Vatican City, and San Marino are both completely surrounded by Italy.

4. The Second Longest Geographical Name

The second longest geographical name that is accepted in the world is “Taumatawhakatangihangak oauauotamateaturipukaka pikimaungahoronukupokaiwhe nua kitanatahu” (85 letters) which is a hill in New Zealand – it is a maori phrase which translates to “place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as land-eater, played his flute to his loved one”. It was the longest until recently (though the Guinness Book of Records still regards it as the longest); it has most likely now been supplanted by Krung thep maha nakorn amorn ratana kosin­mahintar ayutthay amaha dilok phop noppa ratrajathani burirom udom rajaniwes­mahasat harn amorn phimarn avatarn sathit sakkattiya visanukamprasit in Thailand (163 letters).

5. The Coldest and Warmest Sea

The White Sea, in Russia, has the lowest temperature, only -2 degrees centigrade. ThePersian Gulf is the warmest sea. In the summer its temperature reaches 35.6 degrees centigrade.

6. World’s Oldest Constitutional Republic

San Marino claims to be the world’s oldest constitutional republic – it was founded in 301 by a Christian stonemason fleeing persecution under Emperor Diocletian. Its constitution of1600 is the oldest written constitution in the world. San Marino is pictured above.

7. The Deepest Hole Ever Drilled by Man

photo source The deepest hole ever drilled by man is the Kola Superdeep Borehole, in Russia. It reached a depth of 12,261 meters (about 40,226 feet or 7.62 miles). It was drilled for scientific research and gave up some unexpected discoveries, one of which was a huge deposit of hydrogen – so massive that the mud coming from the hole was “boiling” with it.

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8. Farthest Point From Earth’s Center & Lowest Place on Earth Crust