Author: Matthew

Chutkotka Gulag

Paste these coordinates in Google Maps: 69.7405731, 171.8593084 Again, hold the shift key to tilt your view if you want, and be sure to expand the Explore imagery button at the bottom right.
Here we find a community built on a mountain above the arctic circle. There is no wood, no peat, no coal, oil, nor heat. But there is uranium in these hills, gold, tin, and other metals.

There’s really nothing good to say about this. Thousands of people died here, and for many reasons. One being that they were trying to survive in stone buildings built atop mountains in permafrost.
For more info, see Gulag of Chukotka, Russia (azattyk.org)

Tags: Government, Geology, Geography, I Have The High Ground Anakin

Lesotho: One country surrounded by another

I am addicted to maps.google.com. If you sign in, you can hold the shift key to tilt the map, giving you the ability to see elevation.

Here is an isometric aerial view of Lesotho; the boundaries are evident. It is set on a high plateau and carved with deep ravines. The tan and brown mountainous regions in the center and toward the back are Lesotho, and the green, relatively gentle terrain toward the front of the image is South Africa.

The oversimplified version: the people of Lesotho originally fled from the rising Zulu nation and defended themselves as the primary push of the Zulu was northward. Things stabilized somewhat until the French-supported Dutch (the Boer republic) on Lesotho’s doorstep encroached on their lands. A tussle ensued (Boer wars) and Lesotho emerged as a British protectorate (1868), and its own sovereign nation in 1966.

Tags: Geography, Geology, I Have The High Ground Anakin