GeoCurrents
Average Annual Precipitation by Country Mapped
As noted in the previous GeoCurrents post on the “deserts” of Colombia, Colombia is usually...
a week ago
As noted in the previous GeoCurrents post on the “deserts” of Colombia, Colombia is usually considered to be the world’s rainiest country, receiving some 127 inches (3249 mm) of precipitation annually, averaged over the entire country. Learning this fact inspired me to make a map...
GeoCurrents
Does Colombia Have an Urban/Rural Electoral Divide? Despite Bogotá, Not Really
A recent GeoCurrents post suggested that the electoral geography of the United States has strikingly...
10th Aug 2026
A recent GeoCurrents post suggested that the electoral geography of the United States has strikingly deviated from that of Latin America during the 21st century. In the U.S., population density has become one of the main influences on voting patterns, with cities favoring...
GeoCurrents
The Misleading Concept of the “Global South”
Dividing the terrestrial world into the “Global North” and the “Global South” is becoming...
4th Jul 2026
Dividing the terrestrial world into the “Global North” and the “Global South” is becoming increasingly common. Simple versions of this “two worlds” model have a relatively clean north/south division, with only Australia and New Zealand falling out of place as southern outliers of...
GeoCurrents
The Changing Geography of Top Corporate Headquarters in the U.S., 1890-2025
(Note: Last December I began work on a series of posts focusing on the geography of wealth and...
3rd May 2026
(Note: Last December I began work on a series of posts focusing on the geography of wealth and corporate power. After a single post on the location of corporate headquarters, I had to suspend my work on this topic. This post includes maps that I made at that time, based on data...
GeoCurrents
The Economic Geography of Iran: Attempting to Map Per Capita GDP
(Note: GeoCurrents has been on an extended hiatus due to personal issues and teaching obligations. I...
1st Apr 2026
(Note: GeoCurrents has been on an extended hiatus due to personal issues and teaching obligations. I now hope to resume regular posting. My initial focus will be on Iran, for obvious reasons). Iran is usually regarded as a middle-income country. According to the International...
GeoCurrents
Avoiding Misinformation When Teaching the Geography of Climate, Part 1
As earlier GeoCurrents posts in the current series on educational geography have noted, sun angles,...
2nd Dec 2025
As earlier GeoCurrents posts in the current series on educational geography have noted, sun angles, which are determined by latitude, play a huge role in shaping the geography of climate. Simply put, the lower the latitude of any given location, the more solar radiation it will...
GeoCurrents
The Geometrical Relationship Between Latitude and Sun Angles
(This post is part of a long GeoCurrents series aimed at helping parents and teachers instruct...
3rd Nov 2025
(This post is part of a long GeoCurrents series aimed at helping parents and teachers instruct students in basic geography. The material at the end of this post is most appropriate for students at the middle- and high-school levels.) Now that latitude and midday sun angles have...
GeoCurrents
Elementary Geography 1: Why Geographical Instruction Should Begin with a Globe
(This is the first of a series of posts aimed at helping parents home-school their children.)...
16th Oct 2025
(This is the first of a series of posts aimed at helping parents home-school their children.) Although I love maps and use them extensively when teaching geography, I firmly believe that elementary instruction should begin with a globe. Throughout the first few years of...
GeoCurrents
Mapping the Return of Wolves in Europe
As I was preparing to resume posting on GeoCurrents after a short hiatus, I decided to examine...
13th Jul 2025
As I was preparing to resume posting on GeoCurrents after a short hiatus, I decided to examine recent posts on the fascinating but unfortunately named Reddit site called “MapPorn.” As always, I was struck by many contributions, but what really caught my eye was a five-map...
GeoCurrents
Economic Factors Behind the Alberta Secession Movement in Canada
Several recent GeoCurrents posts have emphasized similarities in the electoral geographies of the...
6th Jun 2025
Several recent GeoCurrents posts have emphasized similarities in the electoral geographies of the United States and Canada. But there are also some major differences, particularly regarding state/province voting patterns and levels of economic development. In the U.S., the...
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