A rocky peninsula and an archipelago at the south-east edge of Europe. Thousands of beaches across hundreds of islands under the warm Mediterranean sun… it’s no wonder that this country sees millions of visitors every year. But don’t be fooled by the tourist brochure. It can be argued that this land produced a people and culture that influenced the world beyond any other. This could only be GREECE.
Geography
Chile – History, Geography, Economy and Culture
A land of extreme dimensions and a tremendous variety of climate zones and biomes, from the driest desert in the world to lush temperate rainforests, scrub and tundra. It’s narrowest of all countries in form, a product of being sandwiched between the largest ocean and longest mountain range in the world. Once a property of colonial Spain, it then saw an influx of people from all over Europe that went on to shape the most prosperous of all Latin American nations. Perhaps the most geographically fascinating of all countries, this land could only be Chile!
South Africa: History, Geography, Economy & Culture
South Africa. Perhaps the first word that comes to mind is Apartheid, a system that enshrined in law racial discrimination at a national level. But those days are long gone now, and South Africa is attempting to reinvent itself as the “Rainbow Nation” of ethnic diversity. And there is so much more to South Africa. Having the most concentrated deposits of minerals found anywhere in the world, it’s no surprise that South Africa dominated the gold and diamond mining industry for decades. But these days its tourists that bring in much of the wealth, and with so much stunning natural beauty, flora and fauna, it’s no wonder. Welcome to South Africa!
Sweden: History, Geography, Economy & Culture
Sweden’s influence in the world is huge in comparison to its population size. Why is this? What is it in the culture and people of Sweden that makes it so disproportionately influential? In this video I hope to provide the answer by an examination of some facts about Sweden, its history and geography.
Russia: History, Geography, Economy and Culture
Russia. It is a country that has been at the forefront of global politics for more than two centuries. Russia is a country that is almost always in the news, as the recent Russia Ukraine conflict demonstrates. It’s a country you simply cannot ignore. At a time of renewed tensions between East and West, its more important than ever that we stop a moment to understand what is Russia and who are the Russians. And this is why I made this country the next in the series on Nation States of Earth.
Deep Oceans – Abyssal Plains, Trenches and their Bizarre Life
Oceanography – the nature of the vast oceans and their ecosystems. The largest of the world’s biomes is the one we know the least of. Crushing pressures and the vast extent of the abyssal plains of the oceans mean we know more about the surface of the moon than the depths below the water. What we do know, however, is life here has evolved into an almost alien-like form that differs greatly from that of the surface. Join me in this final episode of the Biomes series, as I investigate the nature of the deep oceans and their bizarre ecosystems.
Shallow Seas – Continental Shelf, Coral, Plankton and Kelp
Coral Reefs, seaweed, kelp and plankton. Just a handful of lifeforms that we find in waters where light can reach, where plankton can photosynthesise, and for a complex array of plants and animals to build upon that in a food chain. In this video, I explore the origins of Earth’s seas, continental shelfs, and how life has developed within this biome.
Highlands – Montane Forests, Alpine Meadows, Tropical Moorlands
What happens when you take one of the many sea-level biomes that we’ve looked at in this series, and climb into the mountains? How does cooling temperatures affect the type of plants that can grow. The answer varies depending upon whether you’re in the tropics, or temperate regions, whether the conditions are wet or dry. Join me as I explore the most spectacular scenery on our planet – the Highlands of Earth.
The Philippines: History, Geography, Economy & Culture
An archipelago of 7,600 islands, where South-East Asia meets the Pacific. The Philippine Islands are the large islands of Luzon and Mindanao, and the collection of smaller islands between, known as the Visayas, with Palawan far to the west.
Wetlands – Mangroves, Marshes and Bogs
The world’s wetlands are aquatic biomes that are among the most complex and biodiverse on our planet. They can occur anywhere on Earth where shallow water exists, from the saltwater mangroves of the tropics, to the bogs and fens of the arctic. Join me as I take a tour of wetlands on every continent and explain the differences in each of their varied types.