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The viral video travels across different parts of the world and details how continents, mountains, lakes and islands hold stories shaped by time and nature.
The west coast of Australia is closely aligned with the east coast of the United States. (Image source: Instagram)
The world has a way of surprising us, especially when it comes to geography, because the Earth is full of details that don’t always make it into everyday conversations. Recently, an Instagram video collected some “weirdest” facts related to geography that caught the attention of many viewers.
The video tours different parts of the world and details how continents, mountains, lakes and islands hold stories shaped by time and nature.
Australia and the United States were once connected
The video shows that although Australia and the United States are far apart now, their coasts tell an ancient story. When looked closely, the west coast of Australia is closely lined up with the east coast of the United States, “as if the two continents were once puzzle pieces that had drifted apart over time.”
Research suggests that about 1.7 billion years ago, parts of present-day Queensland in Australia were connected to North America. This happened when both regions were part of a huge supercontinent known as Nona or Colombia. When the landmass later separated, this part remained attached to Australia, leaving behind what scientists described as part of North America on the Australian continent.
A lake in Finland that fits the shape of the country
Another part of the video takes viewers to Finland, where the lake looks just like the country itself. Called Lake Naitokainen, this is not a natural formation. It is a man-made pond created in 1991 in Kittila, Lapland. Built on the slope of the Visikovaara hill, it is designed to imitate the plan of Finland at a scale of 1:10,000. Locals often call it “Lake Finland” or “Suomi Järvi”.
The spot farthest from any ocean
The clip also mentions a place known as the Eurasian Inaccessible Pole (EPIA), the point on Earth farthest from any ocean. It is located in the Xinjiang region of China, near the Kazakh border in the Dzhusutyn-Ilysin Desert. It is about 2,645 kilometers away from the nearest coastline.
A mountain that changes climate with altitude
In Africa, there is a mountain that is so tall and isolated that it creates distinct climate zones as you move up. It is Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. At the base of this mountain, conditions are warm and humid with rainforest-like weather. As altitude increases, temperatures drop sharply and at the summit, glaciers and snow remain despite the mountain standing above the tropical plains.
At Uhuru Peak, temperatures can drop to minus 29 degrees Celsius.
An island within a lake with its own lakes
The last part of the video focuses on Manitoulin Island in Canada. Located in Lake Huron, it is the largest freshwater island in the world with an area of approximately 2,766 square kilometres. What makes it even more strange is that the island contains more than 100 lakes and some of these lakes have islands within them. Manitoulin Island is also an important cultural area for the Anishinaabe people and is known for its natural scenery. Visitors can access it by road via the Little Current Swing Bridge or by ferry from Tobermory.
Delhi, India, India
18 January 2026 at 12:00 IST
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