Geography · Maps · Observations · Society

A map showing the percentage of gas imported by European countries from Russia is rather old, dating from 2006, and Nord Stream is not yet on it, but it is nonetheless highly picturesque

A map showing the percentage of gas imported by European countries from Russia is rather old, dating from 2006, and Nord Stream is not yet on it, but it is nonetheless highly picturesque. More up-to-date information can be found in a graphic by The Economist. France depends on

NB! · Geography · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

If the Corinth Canal, linking the Aegean and Ionian seas, was opened in 1893, how did the BBC come by this photograph of the ship Argo sailing through it, bearing Jason and the Argonauts from the 27 states of the EU in quest of the Golden Fleece?

NB! · Geography · Museums

Swindon Railway Museum

NB! · Geography · Nature

The Sands of the Namib Desert Meet the Waters of the South Atlantic

NB! · Geography · Maps · Observations · Humour

What Might the Political Map of the World Look Like in 250 Million Years?

What might the political map of the world look like in 250 million years? Russia is as magnificent as ever, though it is perhaps a little short of a Caspian Sea

Geography · Books · Observations

"The doors of the Pullman car had not yet swung open, but the bandmaster was already flailing his arms ferociously, and the orchestra struck up the English national anthem with a lusty heave. Mamontov, steadying his sabre, hurried towards the carriage"

"The doors of the Pullman car had not yet swung open, but the bandmaster was already flailing his arms ferociously, and the orchestra struck up the English national anthem with a lusty heave. Mamontov, steadying his sabre, hurried towards the carriage." Pullman cars, which became a byword for

Geography · Observations · Humour

The world's longest rail journey, from southern Portugal to Singapore

The world's longest railway journey will take about 21 days and cover 18,755 km by train: from southern Portugal to Singapore. Such a trip has become possible thanks to the opening of the high-speed railway line from Kunming in China to Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

World map with red lines marking the west to east extent of Russia and Africa, with handwritten figures 10000 and 8000.

NB! · Geography · Maps · Observations

West to east extent of Africa is closer to that of Russia than world maps show

Sometimes we live in the grip of delusions. Yes, in reality the extent of the African continent from west to east is far closer to that of Russia than world maps would have us believe

Geography · Moscow · Mores · People

Maly Theatre actress Vera Shukhmina died in a railway accident on her way to Paris

Is It Wise to Swap Seats on Trains and Aeroplanes? Neither especially celebrated nor especially popular, but nonetheless leaving her mark on the history of the theatre, Vera Alekseyevna Shukhmina, an actress of the Maly Theatre, received an unexpected dismissal in 1925. A woman not yet old, proud and good-

NB! · Geography · Art · Nature

A marble quarry in the Apuan Alps; many Renaissance sculptures were carved from the local stone

Archive · Geography · Maps · Books · Observations

1912 Guidebook to the Loire Châteaux for Motorists, with Route Arrows on Photographs

Forerunner of Yandex Maps: a slim 1912 tourist guide to the châteaux of the Loire, designed for motoring tourists, has arrows showing the route and the right turning drawn directly over photographs of the landscape. Despite the plainness of the views and the rather poor quality of the offset printing,

Aerial view of a densely built town among mountains and slopes, with roads curving around the houses.

NB! · Geography · Observations · Nature · Humour

The Sicilian town of Centuripe, built on a mountain ridge in the shape of a human figure

A view of the Sicilian town of Centuripe, spread across the mountains in the shape of a man. Or perhaps one might simply turn into a bird?