Argentina is a land of striking extremes, stretching from subtropical forests in the northeast to the icy tip of Patagonia and beyond to Antarctica. The towering Andes run along its western border, while vast glaciers, wind-swept deserts, and fertile pampas fill the spaces in between. Yet Argentina is not only about dramatic landscapes: its everyday … Read more
Peru is one of the few places on Earth where you can walk through 5,000 years of human history without leaving the country. Long before the Inca Empire, the city of Caral was already old — its pyramids rose while most of the world still lived in villages. The Inca then built a road network … Read more
Cuba is an island of beautiful contradictions. It is a Caribbean nation where 1950s American cars cruise past Spanish colonial fortresses, where African drums underpin Spanish guitars, and where the world’s smallest bird flits through forests above caves that sheltered revolutionaries. As the largest island in the Caribbean — far larger than its neighbor Puerto … Read more
Ohio can look familiar on a map — a Midwestern state bordered by Pennsylvania to the east, Michigan to the north, and Indiana to the west. Its story is far less ordinary. These 28 fun facts about Ohio reveal a place that keeps turning ideas into lasting things. The state joined the Union in 1803 … Read more
Russia does not do anything halfway. It is the largest country on Earth by land area, covering more than 17 million square kilometers across two continents and 11 time zones. When Muscovites sit down to dinner, people in Kamchatka are already waking up the next day. This is a land where Europe meets Asia, where … Read more
Few countries on Earth pack as many superlatives into one border as Venezuela. This is the country where the world’s tallest waterfall spills off a plateau nearly two billion years old, where a single lake flashes with lightning more nights than not, and where the harp, cuatro, and maracas of joropo became a UNESCO-recognized heritage. … Read more
Spain is a country that rewards curiosity. Beyond the postcard images of beaches, flamenco, and paella lies one of Europe’s most layered nations — a parliamentary monarchy where a volcano on an Atlantic island is the highest peak, where several languages share official status, and where dinner often starts late by northern European standards. These … Read more
Bolivia is a country of sharp contrasts. It has snowy Andes peaks, vast Amazon forests, and giant salt flats. Its famous Salar de Uyuni can look like a giant mirror after rain. Ancient Tiwanaku once flourished high in the Andes. Bolivia also has one of South America’s richest cultural landscapes. The country had 11,365,333 people … Read more
California is a state built out of superlatives that keep colliding with each other. It holds the highest and lowest points in the contiguous United States just 85 miles apart. It grows more food than any other state while running the tech industry that shapes the planet. A former real-estate billboard became the most recognized … Read more
Most countries are defined by what they have. Costa Rica is defined by what it gave up — and what it chose instead. In 1948, it abolished its army and put the savings into schools and parks. Today, about 26% of its land is protected, it holds roughly 5% of the world’s known biodiversity on … Read more