Random Fact Atlas

Whittier, Alaska, USA: Almost the entire population of this town (about 200-300 people) lives in a single 14-story building called Begich Towers. The building contains the post office, police station, grocery store, laundromat, church, and health clinic. You can live your entire life here without ever stepping outside into the harsh sub-arctic weather.

Setenil de las Bodegas, Spain: Instead of building houses on top of a hill, residents built them inside the gorge of the Trejo River. Many houses use the massive overhanging cliffs as their roof and back wall. It provides natural insulation, keeping homes cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Lake Maracaibo (Catatumbo River mouth), Venezuela: This area experiences the "Catatumbo Lightning," a unique atmospheric phenomenon that creates lightning storms for about 160 to 260 nights a year, for up to 9 hours a day. It produces so much ozone that it is widely considered the single greatest generator of tropospheric ozone in the world.

Hauterives, France: The Palais Idéal is a stunning, intricate castle built entirely by one man, a rural postman named Ferdinand Cheval. He tripped on a strange stone during his mail route in 1879 and spent the next 33 years collecting rocks in his wheelbarrow while delivering mail, building the palace alone in his spare time. It is now a protected historical monument.

Rjukan, Norway: Situated deep in a valley floor, this town receives no direct sunlight for six months of the year (September to March). In 2013, they installed three colossal, computer-controlled mirrors (heliostats) on the mountain peak 450 meters above. These mirrors track the sun and reflect a bright beam of light down into the town square, giving residents a "sun patch" to gather in during winter.