I <3 geography

I love dictionaries and atlases. Nothing feels more productive or fulfilling than having a flick through a fact-filled book and picking up some new words or learning about the political and physical realities of our world. With that in mind I thought I would share some little-known facts about our world with my friends out there who read my blog.

1) Everyone knows that much of Africa is plagued by abject poverty. Did you know, for instance, that Angola is so poor that they couldn't afford new names for their provinces upon gaining independence? The best they could do was to have generic knock-offs of existing places around the world. For instance, near the bottom right hand corner of their country, you will find Moxico, the generic knock-off of Mexico. And just below that is Cuando Cubango, which means, I believe, "we're the RC Cola version of Cuba!!" Finally, at the top left of the country is Zaire, not to be confused with the actual country of Zaire that it borders. Presuming that I recall my history correctly, this province simply found some old signs in the rubbish heap that the country of Zaire had pitched out and decided to not let a good thing go to waste and recycled them by posting them in their province. Problem solved.

2) England has a city called Cockermouth. I don't even need to make a punchline for that, you guys can all insert your own. Ooops, I just said "insert your own" in Cockermouth, so I guess that was a punchline. Incidentally, this city has its own Search and Rescue squad...you know, to, uh, help out with all your cock and/or mouth related emergencies. They have some interesting rescues listed on their website; one claims that "two sheep became stuck on Anglers Crag, Ennerdale. Rescued successfully by three Team members." Again, these punchlines write themselves, as three sheep and two men are involved in something getting stuck in Cockermouth. Outrageous!! Additionally, the Squad was involved in a "search for a man missing in Big Wood." Oh, that naughty Big Wood in Cockermouth!!