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Why the map looks the way it does

634 articles on borders, odd shapes, disputes, names, capitals and flags. Every claim links to its source, and every page is free.

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Borders323
The treaties, wars and surveys behind the lines on the map.
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Flags24
National, regional, territorial and former flags, a line on each.
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Map oddities59
Corridors, enclaves and tripoints: the shapes that make you look twice.
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Disputed places47
Where the map depends on who you ask, and why.
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Capitals32
Capitals that moved, and countries with more than one.
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Country shapes27
Why a country is long and thin, wraps a river, or has a panhandle.
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Country lists39
Every country that shares a trait, from landlocked to nuclear-armed.
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Autonomous regions31
Regions with their own parliament, laws or language inside a bigger country.
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Place names40
Why cities and countries changed what they're called.
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By the numbers12
The longest borders, the most neighbours, the oddest clocks: the world counted from the map.
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About Learn

Learn is the reading side of Geographys: short articles on why the map looks the way it does. Each one takes a single border, place, flag, capital or name and explains how it came about, from the treaties that drew a line to the votes that renamed a country. Every claim links to its source, and every article is free.

The articles link to the games and back: a Borderline round links the article on its border, and each topic lists the games that go with it. Readers vote on what gets written next, and anyone can suggest a better source or point out a mistake, so the articles get corrected and updated as the world changes.