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Our planet is full of strange borders, extreme landscapes, and geographical quirks that don’t seem to make sense at first glance. Here are five facts that will change how you look at the map of the world.

• Russia Has a Larger Surface Area than Pluto: Russia is absolutely massive, covering about 17 million square kilometers. In comparison, the dwarf planet Pluto only has a surface area of about 16.7 million square kilometers. This means you could technically fit the entire surface of Pluto inside Russia’s borders.
• The Dead Sea is Receding: The Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth’s surface, sitting about 430 meters below sea level. It is so salty that you can float effortlessly, but because it is evaporating faster than it is being refilled, the water level is dropping by about one meter every year.
• Africa Spans All Four Hemispheres: Thanks to the intersection of the Equator and the Prime Meridian, Africa is the only continent in the world to have land in the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Hemispheres.
• Diomede Islands – Tomorrow is Just a Walk Away: There are two islands in the Bering Strait, Big Diomede (Russia) and Little Diomede (USA), that are only about 2.4 miles apart. However, the International Date Line runs between them, meaning Big Diomede is 21 hours ahead of Little Diomede. You can literally look across the water and see tomorrow.
• The Amazon River Has No Bridges: Despite being one of the longest and most powerful rivers in the world, there is not a single bridge that crosses the Amazon River. This is mostly because the river flows through dense rainforests with very few roads, making ferries the primary way to get across.