The North Pole is at the top of the world and at the northern end of the Earth's rotational axis, slightly off center because the Earth is tilted slightly on its axis. It is located in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, approximately 725 miles north of Greenland. One of the coldest places in the world, the North Pole has historically been covered by ice year-round, but recent environmental warming trends have caused ice to melt, resulting in areas of open water.
When the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in April 1986 it sent radioactive fallout high into the atmosphere. The government of the USSR evacuated the area surrounding the plant, located in the Ukraine, a former Soviet Socialist Republic now an independent nation. Prypiat, a town of 50,000 people, was home to many of the Chernobyl workers. Today it remains abandoned, with wolves and deer its only residents and the buildings slowly being taken back by nature.
Located 80 kilometers south of the Dead Sea in Jordan, the ancient city of Petra is one of the world's most renowned archaeological sites. Petra is a series of gorges and narrow passageways, with many of its buildings carved into the rock walls of the gorges. Inhabited since prehistoric times, Petra has been a trading crossroads for the region for centuries. Today it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Jordan.
Reputed to be the largest hot desert in the world, the Sahara Desert encompasses much of Northern Africa. Twelve African nations claim parts of the desert: Sudan, Egypt, Mauritania, Eritrea, Morocco, Chad, Algeria, Libya, Niger, Tunisia, Western Sahara and Mali. Its surface area is roughly the size of the continental United States, and it contains El Azizia, Libya, on record as the hottest place on earth. In 1922 El Azizia's air temperature was measured at 136 degrees (57.8 degrees Celsius). Also among the driest places on Earth, the Sahara gets roughly 3 inches of rain annually.
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This area of Turkey is one of the most-visited mineral bath spas in the region. The ground in and around the hot springs are a striking white from the calcium deposited by hot mineral water pouring out of the ground. Pamukkale was first made a spa by the Romans during the Roman Empire, and has been one ever since. Though not the pristine, beautiful, sparsely populated spring it once was, it is still a unique and beautiful place to visit.
