Jump to content

Wikipedia:Unusual articles/Places and infrastructure

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Places and infrastructure

[edit]
Aphrodite's artistic nudity shows itself not far from Mount Olympus.
Good golly, Miss Molly – jus' love your folly!
This 1909 voyage was planned to include four separate stopovers on phantom islands.
Breast-shaped hill Laid bare in many places around the world. May have given their name to Manchester.
Eiffel Tower replicas and derivatives Not as unique as you might have thought.
Folly Buildings prized for their uselessness.
Gravity hill A hill that gives the illusion of objects rolling up it.
List of cities claimed to be built on seven hills Almost 100 different cities across all inhabited continents, trying to get the credibility of having something in common with Rome.
List of micronations Ever wanted to start your own country?
List of tautological place names Place names that contain truisms and say what they are.
Phantom island Like islands, but they don't exist.
Pizza farm All the ingredients of pizza, grown in one convenient location!
Recursive islands and lakes Islands in lakes in islands in lakes in islands...
Rocket garden Landscaping and rocketry, together at last.
Spite house Various houses built solely out of spite for their neighbors.
Valeriepieris circle You either live inside the circle or outside. Even though you live inside.

Africa

[edit]
Crouching tiger - er, lake - hidden...not quite dragon, but maybe CO
2
...
The buildings are in Spain. The ground at the bottom is in Morocco. Confused yet?
Nigeria Abuja Airplane House An aeroplane-themed villa in the capital of Nigeria.
Senegal Akon City A 2000s R&B singer is planning his very own city in his native Senegal, based around his very own cryptocurrency which he calls "Akoin".
Egypt Bent Pyramid They hadn't quite worked out the technique yet.
  • Egypt
  • Sudan
Bir Tawil One of the few places on Earth not claimed by any country. An American trekked there and claimed it in 2014 as the Kingdom of North Sudan so he could make his daughter a princess.
Egypt Blue Desert Following the Egypt–Israel peace treaty, the United Nations gave several tons of blue paint to a Belgian artist, so he could commemorate it by painting a line of boulders in the Sinai Desert blue.
South Africa Boulders Beach A beach on the Southern African coast, near an urban residential area, known for being home to a colony of several thousand penguins.
Democratic Republic of the Congo Congo Pedicle What happens when a tyrannical king decides he wants to hunt game in a swamp.
Ethiopia Dallol (hydrothermal system) A region surrounding a volcano in Ethiopia, known for its alien-looking bright colours, and populated by vast salt plains and extremely hot acidic sulfur-emitting hot springs, that according to some studies, are absent of even the smallest microbes. There is a now-abandoned town of the same name nearby, which formerly held the record of the hottest inhabited place on Earth.
Ethiopia Gaet'ale Pond A small lake in Ethiopia that was created in 2005 after an earthquake. It's not bitter, it's just really, really salty.
Kenya Giraffe Manor A hotel in suburban Nairobi where you can eat alongside one of the world's most endangered giraffe subspecies.
Namibia Hoba Meteorite The largest intact meteorite in the world.
Saint Helena Jacob's Ladder It's all very downhill from here.
Nigeria Kalakuta Republic A compound housing Fela Kuti - a famous Nigerian musician - his family, band musicians and recording studio, which he declared independent and used to criticize the Nigerian military junta of the 1970s. They responded by raiding it with over a thousand soldiers, setting it alight, and throwing Fela's mother out of the window.
Cameroon Lake Nyos A lake in northwestern Cameroon that released gas in 1986, killing 1,746 people. One of 2 known gassy lakes, the other being Lake Monoun.
Senegal Lake Retba A lake in Senegal that is naturally pink and is one of the saltiest lakes in the world.
Mauritania Mauritania Railway Mauritania's entire national rail network consists of a single line connecting the centre of the country's iron mining industry with the port city of Nouadhibou. Said line is also home to the world's longest and heaviest trains, filled with iron ore and as long as 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) in length.
Gabon Oklo The former site of the world's only natural nuclear fission reactors.
Angola Palácio de Ferro A bright yellow iron building in Luanda dating back to the colonial era, that is noted for the fact that there is no record of who or why it was built - although legend has it that it was designed by Gustave Eiffel, architect of the Eiffel Tower.
Spain Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera A rock on the Moroccan coast connected to the mainland by an 80-metre-wide (260 ft) tombolo; it is owned by Spain. In 2012, four Moroccan irredentists attempted to storm and take over the territory.
Nigeria Republic of Benin (1967) One of the shortest-lived states in history, it was independent for only seven hours (07:00 to 14:00 on 19 September 1967).
Yemen Socotra A Yemeni island that is geographically part of Africa, and is known as "the most alien-looking place on Earth" due to its strange flora. This includes the "dragon blood tree" and a tree which produces cucumbers.
Ghana La Tante DC10 Restaurant A grounded McDonnell Douglas DC-10 passenger aircraft in Accra that has been converted into a giant plane-shaped restaurant.
French Southern and Antarctic Lands Tromelin Island An island near Madagascar that is famous for being the site of a major humanitarian disaster in the 18th century.
South Africa The Owl House Not the acclaimed animated LGBT fantasy cartoon that aired on Disney Channel; this is an outdoor museum that was created by a reclusive outsider artist who decorated her inherited house with over 300 glass and concrete sculptures of owls, camels, peacocks, pyramids, and other forms.
Kenya Umoja, Kenya An entire women's-only village in Kenya established in response to violence against women in Samburu tribal society.

Antarctica

[edit]
Blood Falls, with its distinctive "bleeding" ice.
Ross Dependency Blood Falls A naturally occurring plume of saltwater that is blood red thanks to its high iron oxide content.
Heard Island and McDonald Islands Mawson Peak The tallest mountain in the Commonwealth of Australia is not on the mainland, but on a barren, uninhabited island more than 3,800 kilometres (2,400 mi) away.
Ross Dependency McMurdo Dry Valleys An area of Antarctica that a) contains an extremely saline body of water, and b) has not experienced rainfall for over two million years.
Antarctica Marie Byrd Land The largest unclaimed territory in the world. Notable for being bigger than Mongolia, having one of Antarctica's biggest human bases, and being the setting of The Thing.
Queen Maud Land New Swabia The Nazi territory in Antarctica.
Australian Antarctic Territory Pole of Inaccessibility research station A short-lived Soviet research station in Antarctica that is now completely covered by snow - save for a small bust of Vladimir Lenin peeking out the ground.
Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region Villa Las Estrellas One of only two civilian settlements in Antarctica.

Asia

[edit]
A skyscraper with en suite highway.
How did Jumbo Jets land here and not crash?
A village with the (previous) tallest flagpole in the world... population: 0.
Roughly 50,000 people lived in that.
The roof is the floor is the roof is the floor...
AAAAAAAAAA... Oh.
China 798 Art Zone How an abandoned complex of military factory buildings became the heart of Beijing's modern art scene.
Japan Aoshima, Ehime An island where cats outnumber humans 36:1. Weirdly not the only cat island in Japan (see: Tashirojima).
Armenia Artsvashen An Armenian town surrounded and controlled by Azerbaijan. One of a number of similar towns on this border; others include Yukhari Askipara, Barxudarlı and Karki.
Indonesia Atar, Padang Ganting An Indonesian village with a monument resembling a photocopier.
Philippines Bust of Ferdinand Marcos A Mount Rushmore in the Philippines, right down to displacing its indigenous inhabitants. It was mercifully blown up by rebels in 2002.
South Korea Camp Bonifas The bunkers on this golf course feature machine-guns and landmines.
Thailand Chao Mae Tuptim shrine A shrine dedicated to penises in Bangkok, built in the early 20th century by a Thai businessman, on the edge of his property.
Christmas Island Christmas Island A small island and external territory of Australia close to Indonesia that is mainly known for having up to 100 million crabs migrate to spawn there every year.
Bangladesh Dahala Khagrabari India inside Bangladesh inside India inside Bangladesh. Formerly the only third-order enclave in the world.
Turkmenistan Darvaza gas crater A flaming, 70 m (230 ft) wide, 30 m (98 ft) deep crater in the middle of the Karakum Desert, on fire since 1971.
Cyprus Dhekelia Power Station A Cypriot power station that provides power to a British military base that surrounds it.
  • Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
  • Alaska
Diomede Islands Two islands in the Bering Strait separated by 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) and 21 hours' time difference.
Bhutan Gangkhar Puensum The tallest mountain nobody has ever summitted, as the Bhutanese government has prohibited mountaineering since 2003.
Japan Gate Tower Building A skyscraper in Japan that has a highway offramp passing through its fifth, sixth and seventh floors.
China Hallstatt (China) An ongoing replica construction of a town in Austria.
South Korea Haesindang Park Also known as "Penis Park", this is a park on the Korean coast, known for being full of wooden statues of penises, apparently to do with local shamanic folklore.
Japan Hanazono Room An indoor swimming pool in Japan used as the site for many pornographic films.
Vietnam Hằng Nga Guesthouse Vietnam's most fantastical building?
Taiwan High-Heel Wedding Church A glass slipper that Prince Charming would struggle to find a fit for.
South Korea Imsil Cheese Theme Park I dunno, this place seems a little cheesy to me.
China Jackson Hole, China A planned resort town outside of Beijing that is based off a small town in Wyoming.
India Jatinga The Bermuda Triangle of birds.
Amur Oblast Jaxa (state) A 17th-century microstate located on the Amur River between the Tsardom of Russia and Qing China, with a population mostly consisting of Polish and Ukrainians.
Jewish Autonomous Oblast Jewish Autonomous Oblast In the depths of Eastern Siberia there's a place with street names in Yiddish, even though 99% of its population is not Jewish.
Afghanistan Kabul synagogue The last synagogue in Kabul was inhabited by two men, who both ended up being imprisoned by the Taliban because they got annoyed by the two constantly complaining about each other, before later being converted by one of the men into a kebab restaurant.
Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport A major international airport closed in 1998 where planes literally almost crashed constantly into the city due to a right-hand turn over the city.
India Karni Mata Temple A marble temple famous for 25,000 revered black rats that live in the temple who are considered the ancestors of Charans.
Pakistan Khewra Salt Mine One of the largest salt mines in the world, it was allegedly discovered by Alexander the Great's horses.
North Korea Kijong-dong Two unique Korean villages, separated by the DMZ and notable for their arms race of giant flagpoles. The North Korean village contains a propaganda-blasting loudspeaker and zero residents to hear it. Meanwhile its Southern counterpart forbids residency except to families that have been there since before the War, and grows "DMZ rice" that makes the farmers exceptionally wealthy.
South Korea Daeseong-dong
North Korea Korea Central Zoo A zoo with such wondrous animals as a chimpanzee with a smoking habit, a parrot that sings the praises of Kim Il-sung, and dogs.
Hong Kong Kowloon Walled City A former enclave in the city of Hong Kong, known for lawlessness and extremely cramped conditions before it was destroyed and turned into a park.
Hong Kong Li's field A supposed forcefield that explains why tropical cyclones swerve away from Hong Kong.
India Living root bridge Double-decker suspension bridges formed of living plant aerial roots of rubber fig trees by tree shaping common in the southern part of the Northeast Indian state of Meghalaya.
South Korea Love Land An erotic-themed sculpture park on Jeju island in South Korea.
China Maijishan Grottoes A massive complex of hundreds of man-made caves, stairways and thousands of Buddhist sculptures carved into the side of a mountain in the fifth century, high above the surface.
Iran Masuleh A village built on the side of a mountain in such a way that most of the walkable space in the village is on the rooftops of the buildings of the layer below.
Japan Missing Post Office Where all the world's undeliverable post goes.
Taiwan Modern Toilet Restaurant Wait, that isn't the kind of bowl I want to eat out of...
Emirate of Sharjah Nahwa One of only eight counter-enclaves (enclaves of enclaves).
Azerbaijan Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic A landlocked exclave of Azerbaijan (it is surrounded by three different countries rather than only one, so it is not an enclave).
China Nanjie A settlement in Henan Province that is often described as "China's last Maoist village", maintaining a collectively-owned economy and public displays and statues of historic Marxist-Leninist leaders.
India National Fisheries Development Board building Another example of mimetic architecture, this time in Hyderabad, in the form of a building shaped like a humongous fish.
India North Sentinel Island A small island in the Bay of Bengal, known for being inhabited by a virtually uncontacted isolationist tribe who attack all outsiders who attempt to land on their island. The Indian government leaves them alone, outlawing all travel to the island - although that hasn't stopped some foolish travellers from trying.
Japan National Route 339 A national highway with a staircase in the middle.
Turkmenistan Neutrality Monument A massive legged arch built in the capital of Turkmenistan by the eccentric former dictator to commemorate the fact that Turkmenistan is officially neutral. Also used to feature a gold-plated statue of him on top that constantly rotated so that it always faced the sun.
Japan Okinoshima (Fukuoka) An entire island that is considered a kami in the Shinto religion, and is continuously inhabited by lone Shinto priests who spend ten-day shifts guarding the shrine on the island. Women are prohibited due to their menstruation, as blood is considered impure in Shinto.
Japan Ōkunoshima An island between the Japanese home islands of Honshu and Shikoku formerly home to a chemical weapons plant in WW2, now home to a huge population of feral but largely tame rabbits.
India Om Banna An Indian shrine dedicated to a supposedly-sentient motorbike.
Russia Omsk Metro A metro system with only one station and a total length of zero kilometres.
Russia Peanut Hole A delightfully named patch of ocean in the Sea of Okhotsk that is totally surrounded by Russia's EEZ but not inside it. Often the subject of foreign overfishing.
China Porcelain Palace China's largest and most lavish palace - that is dedicated to the humble public toilet.
Hong Kong Rednaxela Terrace A street in Hong Kong, whose name was reportedly reversed due to a clerical error.
Thailand Robot Building That's not a giant robot looming in Bangkok; it's just a bank's headquarters.
India Roopkund A small lake in the Himalayas known for mysteriously having hundreds of ancient human skeletons along its edges.
North Korea Ryugyong Hotel Once, it would have been the world's tallest hotel – except it lacked windows, fittings, or fixtures for over twenty years.
San Serriffe A lesser-known island in the Indian Ocean, subject of the April 1, 1977 Guardian.
China Sansha A disputed prefecture-level city in Hainan consisting of a collection of atolls and reefs throughout the South China Sea.
Vietnam Kingdom of Sedang In the 1880s, a French adventurer created a kingdom in Vietnam.
Japan Seikan Tunnel Tappi Shakō Line The closed funicular that connects an underground train station inside the Seikan Tunnel with a museum.
India Shani Shingnapur A holy Hindu village that doesn't have any doors.
Japan Shingō, Aomori A town in Japan that is (supposedly) home to the tomb of Jesus. The story behind the supposed tomb is even odder.
Malaysia Snake Temple A Chinese temple most notable for having snakes (alive) within its compounds. It also has a snake breeding area.
Uzbekistan Sokh District An exclave of Uzbekistan enclaved within Kyrgyzstan with a 99% Tajik population.
China Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China The Communist Chinese government elects delegates to represent an island it has never owned or controlled.
Japan Tashirojima An island in Japan notable for being full of cats. Weirdly not the only cat island in Japan (see: Aoshima, Ehime).
China Thames Town An entire replica English-style town built as an upscale planned community near Shanghai. Mostly empty, but a popular destination for wedding photography.
Saudi Arabia The Line A planned city in Saudi Arabia that was originally planned to be a 110-mile long straight line and has been described by critics as "dystopian."
India Thimmamma Marrimanu A single tree with a canopy that covers 19,107 m2, and consequently is considered sacred among followers of several Indian religions.
Turkey Tomb of Suleyman Shah One of the burial sites of the first Ottoman emperor's grandfather is part of Turkey despite being 27 kilometres (17 mi) south of the country's border with Syria.
Indonesia Trunyan A village in Bali where residents openly lay corpses on the ground and wait for them to decompose instead of cremating or burying them.
Japan Tsu Station By kana, the tersest railway station in Japan, serving the capital of an almost as terse prefecture. By stroke count, the tersest in the world. By transliteration, only second-tersest.
China Underground City (Beijing) A massive complex of tunnels underneath Beijing, built in the Cold War as a nuclear bomb shelter, fitted with facilities such as schools, clinics, factories and even an ice rink.
Qatar Villaggio Mall A Qatari shopping mall built to resemble an Italian town, with Venetian canals and gondolas. Also notorious for being the site of a deadly nursery fire in 2012.
Thailand Wang Saen Suk A place in Thailand dedicated to materialized Buddist's hell scenes.
China Wonderland Amusement Park The largest abandoned amusement park in Asia.
Japan X-Seed 4000 The tallest building ever designed, standing 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) tall and housing 500,000 to 1,000,000 people on 800 floors. It is, however, "never meant to be built".
China Yongning Pagoda A 6th-century pagoda that was possibly the tallest structure in the world until it was destroyed by lightning 18 years after its completion.
China Zhangye National Geopark A national park known for its mountains with natural multicoloured stripes.
China Zheltuga Republic An illegal gold mining settlement that developed into a thriving unrecognised country, only surviving because the Chinese government was unaware that it existed.

Europe

[edit]
Workers of the galaxy, unite!
A postman's labor of love.
Make sure you're covered.
Careful where you put that lighthouse, Eugene...
Borders, courtesy of Pablo Picasso.
Welcome to the Principality of Sealand.
A chandelier, decorating the Sedlec Ossuary, made from human bones.
A mosaic of 4.6 million seashells. Who built it? When? For what purpose?
The name Shitterton, proudly displayed in stone.
The UK's northernmost and best-decorated bus shelter.
France Abode of Chaos An artist buys an old scenic house in a rural town and transforms it into a replica warzone that serves as an open-air museum of radical avant-garde art, angering locals enough to sue him in France's supreme court.
Sweden Ängelholm UFO memorial A memorial to a reputed UFO landing in Sweden.
England Argleton A non-existent town in Lancashire, England that appeared on Google Maps.
Flemish Region Baarle-Hertog Two municipalities, one of Belgium and one of the Netherlands, that surround each other twice and many times over. Some houses and shops are in both countries.
Netherlands Baarle-Nassau
Republic of Ireland Barack Obama Plaza A motorway service area in County Tipperary, Ireland celebrating the work and Irish heritage of U.S. President Barack Obama.
Spain Barcelona Supercomputing Center A supercomputer in a medieval chapel.
Svalbard and Jan Mayen Barentsburg A completely Russian town, inhabited by Russians, with Russian buildings, supported financially by the Russian government, located in Norway.
Scotland Barra Airport An airport that only operates when the tide allows.
England Battersea Power Station tube station A train station named after a non-train station.
England Beans and Bacon mine With such little ventilation, visitors may want to avoid any source of ignition. Nearby mines are not to be outdone and have the following names: Mule Spinner, Frogs Hole, Cackle Mackle, and Wanton Legs.
Brandenburg Berlin Brandenburg Airport An airport in Berlin whose construction is finished but which is unfinished in other areas. Construction was finished in 2012; however, the opening date was repeatedly pushed back as the fire suppression system was installed incorrectly. It finally opened in October 2020.
North Rhine-Westphalia Bielefeld conspiracy The Bielefeld-Verschwörung tries to hide the horrible truth about a city in Westphalia, Germany that doesn't exist ... well, maybe.
Saarland Brennender Berg A German coal mine on fire since 1668.
England The Broomway Perhaps the most dangerous path in the world. Would you join the hundred others who died walking the invisible path?
Grisons Brusio spiral viaduct The title says it all, really.
Schleswig-Holstein Bucket Lake A lake that only exists thanks to the wanton misuse of a plastic bucket.
Albania Bunkers in Albania Enver Hoxha loved them so much he decided to fill his country with over 173,000 of them.
Baden-Württemberg Büsingen am Hochrhein A German town that is fully contained within Switzerland.
England Butt Hole Road A tiny residential street in the UK that was so infamous for its name that it became a tourist attraction.
Bulgaria Buzludzha monument A futurist monument built by the Bulgarian Communist Party that looks like a communist spaceship – especially on the inside.
Ukraine Carpatho-Ukraine The third-shortest-lived state in history (see Benin Republic in Nigeria); it was independent for only 24 hours.
England Cerne Abbas Giant An indecent chalk man in the English countryside.
Scotland Clachan Bridge Walk across the Atlantic in just 30 seconds!
Piedmont Colletto Fava A 1,500-metre (4,900 ft) hill with a 61-metre (200 ft) stuffed pink bunny on top.
North Rhine-Westphalia Cologne sewerage system Probably the only sewers with a Chandelier Hall that hosts music performances. Probably.
Spain
Portugal
Couto Misto A de facto independent microstate on the border between Spain and Portugal that existed until the 19th century.
England Crinkley Bottom An unsuccessful series of three theme parks built across England, devoted to a grotesque and horrifying BBC children's TV character from the 90s. One of them collapsed within four months of opening due to a massive and costly legal dispute with the local council over funding and liquor permits, while the abandoned site of another was demolished after it was used to host illegal raves.
England The Crooked House A pub along the Staffordshire/Black Country border which was at an angle due to ground subsidence as a result of local mining activity, causing bottles rolled along tables to appear to roll uphill. It was destroyed in suspicious circumstances in August 2023.
Poland Crooked Forest A grove of pine trees that are all bent in the same direction just as they emerge from the ground, before going straight back up again as normal. Nobody knows why this is the case.
Netherlands Cube house A group of unusually-shaped houses designed to maximize their space.
Czech Republic Dancing House Also known as "Ginger and Fred" for its resemblance to a pair of dancers.
England Dartmouth railway station A train station that has been open since 1864 despite no trains ever stopping there.
Serbia Dry Bridge After the river that this bridge spanned was dried up, it remained, connecting two pieces of the same field that don't have any physical barriers between them.
England Dumb Woman's Lane A lane in East Sussex with a humorous name. Spike Milligan used to live there, and Paul McCartney wrote a poem about it.
Scotland Ebenezer Place, Wick The world's shortest street.
Baden-Württemberg Eichener See A lake in southern Germany that only occasionally contains water.
Netherlands Eurobridges Spijkenisse The generic bridges of the euro banknotes brought to reality.
Moscow Oblast Fallen Monument Park A Russian park best known for its toppled statues.
Republic of Ireland Father Pat Noise plaque O'Connell Bridge bears a tribute to a priest who was as dearly remembered as he was completely fictional.
France Ferdinand Cheval A postman, who, for thirty-three years, collected stones while making his rounds and used them to build a surreal Palais Idéal ("Ideal Palace") of astonishing proportions and intricate detail.
Sicily Ferdinandea Island The island that disappeared. And rose again. And sank again. And rose again. And sank again.
Scotland Flannan Isles Lighthouse Located on Eilean Mór, this lighthouse to the west of Scotland is the subject of an enduring mystery over the disappearance of its keepers in 1900.
Brandenburg Forest swastika A gigantic swastika made of larch trees that went unnoticed for nearly sixty years.
Hesse Free State of Bottleneck When occupation zones don't quite meet closely enough, you get a tiny slice of the Rhineland that acts as its own country.
Austria Fugging, Upper Austria A village in Austria that used to be called "Fucking", but changed its profane-sounding name after years of torment in the form of stolen road signs (some of which had to be enstoned in concrete) to something that still sounds kind of profane.
Croatia Galešnjak An island off the coast of Croatia that is naturally shaped like a heart symbol.
Ukraine Gammalsvenskby A Swedish village, populated by Swedes, who speak an ancient Swedish dialect, in Ukraine.
England Gants Hill tube station A station on the London Underground designed to look like a station on the Moscow Metro.
South Tyrol Graun im Vinschgau This village's most proud landmark is an underwater church tower, the last remnant of the old flooded village right next to it.
Hamburg Great Tower Neuwerk The oldest standing building "in" Hamburg is a lighthouse over 100 km away.
Poland Greetings from Jerusalem Avenue A giant artificial palm tree created to remind everyone of the name of the street it's on.
England Gropecunt Lane A street name found in English towns and cities during the Middle Ages.
Lithuania Grūtas Park Alternatively known as Stalin World, this park answers the little-asked question of "what should we do with all these Soviet-era statues and monuments from our oppressive past?" Won its creator, mushroom magnate Viliumas Malinauskas, the 2001 Ig Nobel Prize.
Hesse Gutsbezirk Reinhardswald A "village" that covers 180 square kilometres of uninhabited forest, with only two inhabitants: the owners of a restaurant.
Lithuania Hill of Crosses This small hill in northern Lithuania is home to over 100,000 crosses and other Catholic symbols planted in the ground.
England I Love You Will U Marry Me A graffiti proposal that has long outlasted the relationship, and is now marked by neon lights.
Iceland Icelandic Phallological Museum A museum in Iceland solely devoted to the collection of penis specimens and penis-related art.
England JASON reactor The only nuclear reactor in a 17th-century building.
Poland Kielce Bus Station A Polish bus station that was deliberately designed to look like a UFO.
Hungary Kőbánya cellar system Budapest has an expansive underground complex of beer and wine cellars that is so large it totals around 200,000 square metres (2,200,000 sq ft) in area.
Poland Krzywy Domek The most interesting house in Poland.
Saxony Kursdorf A village that was abandoned after being gradually encircled after a nearby major aiport, resulting in an average sound level of nearly 60 decibels. It earned the title of "the loudest village in Germany".
Lazio Lacus Curtius A pit in the middle of the Roman Forum; even the Romans didn't know why it was there.
Hesse Lahn A city so unpopular, not only did it only last 2 years, but its only local elections were won by the party that promised to wipe it off the map.
Chelyabinsk Oblast Lake Karachay Formerly a lake, it had so much nuclear waste dumped into it that it's now completely dry and possibly the most polluted place on earth.
Lower Saxony Leaning Tower of Suurhusen Beating the world-famous Leaning Tower of Pisa by 1.22 degrees.
Spain List of destroyed landmarks in Spain Over 60 interesting buildings, including larger castles, royal palaces, leaning towers, city gates which were completely or partially demolished and no longer exist, with their respective articles and images.
Listenbourg The European country most Americans can't point out on a map (because it doesn't exist).
Wales Llandegley International Airport When is an international airport not an international airport? When it's not an airport at all.
Wales Llanfairpwllgwyngyll Or Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, if you want to get technical.
Campania Lupanar A brothel preserved underneath the ashes of Pompeii, complete with 2000-year-old lewd grafitti.
England Magic Roundabout Only in the United Kingdom would you find a large roundabout with six mini-roundabouts. (Not to be confused with the "Magic Roundabout"s in Colchester, Swindon or High Wycombe – or, for that matter, this "Magic Roundabout".)
Belgium Manneken Pis
Jeanneke Pis
A statue in Brussels depicting a urinating child. And its female counterpart.
Sweden
Finland
Märket A lighthouse built on this island led to a redefinition of the border between Sweden and Finland.
Moscow Oblast Metro-2 A purported secret metro line in Moscow.
Bavaria Monte Kaolino A ski resort without snow.
Greece Mount Athos An autonomous polity in Greece home to 20 monasteries, notable for being the only political subdivision in the world in which women (as well as female animals) are prohibited from entering for any reason.
Liechtenstein Municipalities of Liechtenstein The blotchy, angular borders between these divisions seem almost arbitrarily strange. The UAE's are similarly weird.
Croatia Museum of Broken Relationships Zagreb is home to this collection of things left behind by break-ups.
Republic of Ireland Nelson's Pillar Dublin used to have its own version of Nelson's Column, that ended up serving as a symbol of British imperialism up until the 1960s, when it was blown up by Irish republicans, leading to the creation of several celebratory folk songs.
Belgium Neutral Moresnet A tiny European region – approximately 1.4 square miles (3.6 km2) – that existed for a century as neutral territory between Germany and Belgium.
England Newhaven Marine railway station A railway station that was technically open between 2006 and 2020, despite (a) no passenger trains serving the station during that time, (b) an inability to buy tickets to the station and (c) the station itself being demolished in 2017.
Republic of Ireland New York-Dublin Portal An art exhibit visually connecting the streets of the two cities that was temporarily shut down after multiple instances of flashing, profanities, and showcasing images of the September 11 attacks.
Czech Republic Other World Kingdom A micronation and BDSM resort whose ultimate goal is "absolute matriarchy" – for all men to be enslaved by women.
Sweden Paradiskullen A ski jumping hill with a landing area that goes under one of Sweden's busiest railroads.
France
Spain
Pheasant Island An uninhabited river island which switches sovereignty between France and Spain every six months.
Romania Piața Romană metro station A station on the Bucharest Metro that was cancelled because the wife of Nicolae Ceaușescu was worried that the students nearby would get fat and need exercise. It was built in secret anyway and thus opened in 1988.
France Pierre-sur-Haute military radio station An unassuming military station in France became a cause célèbre after French Intelligence tried to threaten Wikipedia into deleting its article on it.
Slovenia Predjama Castle A castle built partially inside the mouth of a nearby cave.
England Principality of Sealand A micronation located 6 miles (9.7 km) off the coast of Suffolk, England whose population rarely exceeds ten.
Bremen (state) Punkendeich A former dyke that was once the home of prostitutes, and is now the site of a festival where a tailor walks across the river to check if it's frozen.
England Reality Checkpoint A lamppost with its own name.
Switzerland Röstigraben The "Coarsely Grated Potato Ditch" in Switzerland, dividing Swiss-German and Swiss-French cuisine.
Pskov Oblast Saatse Boot A piece of Russian territory through which a 900-metre (3,000 ft) stretch of Estonian road passes. Although people are allowed to drive on the road without a permit or visa, it is prohibited to travel on foot, or to stop the vehicle for any reason.
Berlin Schwerbelastungskörper A piece of Nazi architecture in Berlin, built with the sole purpose of being heavy.
Netherlands Scottish Court in the Netherlands A former Dutch NATO base called Camp Zeist was briefly ceded to Scotland to enable the trial of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombers.
Czech Republic Sedlec Ossuary A Christian chapel decorated by the bones of approximately 40,000 people.
Spain Sexi (Phoenician colony) An ancient ruins, also known as Sex or Ex, with several Roman-era suburbs, including Pænis, Socordia and Villa Fatuus Maximus.
England Shell Grotto, Margate A grotto with a mosaic of 4.6 million seashells, hidden underneath a backyard. Nobody knows who built it, when, or for what purpose.
Emilia-Romagna Shit Museum Don't worry, it's actually a good museum. For looking at excrement.
England Shitterton Its sign got stolen so often, they bought a 1.5 tonne stone with the town's name engraved in it. (Surprisingly, that rude name really does mean what you'd think.)
Wales Smallest House in Great Britain Only 5.49 square metres (59.1 sq ft) in size, in North Wales.
Finland SnowCastle of Kemi The world's largest snow fort and ice hotel, constantly rebuilt and redesigned each winter.
Sovereign Military Order of Malta Sovereign Military Order of Malta A sovereign state with no land? How is that possible?
Baden-Württemberg Spreuerhofstraße The world's narrowest street.
Svalbard Svalbard Global Seed Vault If a global famine occurs, you better hope you live in Svalbard.
Transnistria Transnistria An unrecognized state that broke away from Moldova during the fall of the Soviet Union due to ethnic tensions and has remained in limbo ever since, retaining Soviet-era aesthetics and even a hammer and sickle on its flag.
England Uffington White Horse A giant chalk figure that has to be hit with hammers regularly to maintain it.
Scotland Unst Bus Shelter The only of its kind on the island of Unst, Shetland. It is periodically refurnished and contains a sofa and TV.
Sweden Uppland Runic Inscription 53 An 11th century runestone which got accidental fame by being scavenged for the foundation of a 17th century building in the middle of Stockholm.
Hungary Vajdahunyad Castle A castle in Budapest that was originally partially built out of cardboard.
Vatican City Vatican Railway It consists of a 680-metre (2,230 ft) branch line and was constructed as a direct result of the Vatican's recognition as a country.
Belgium Vennbahn A disused railway in Belgium which separates five pieces of Germany from the rest of Germany.
Belarus Veyshnoria A nonexistent border country of Belarus invented for a Union State military exercise and adopted by the Internet. It's totally coincidental that the territory of this "enemy state" corresponds to the most Catholic, most anti-Lukashenko, and least Russian-speaking regions of Belarus, honest.
France Victor Noir A young journalist killed by the cousin of the French Emperor, who subsequently became a symbol of resistance prior to the fall of the regime... who also got a statue of himself with a massive bulge in his crotch that subsequently became a fertility symbol, with the bulge becoming rusted due to having been fondled by so many members of the public.
Lithuania
Poland
Vilnius-Lublin Portal A first-of-its-kind project connecting residents on the streets of the two cities, and the predecessor to a much more chaotic one.
Germany Weißwurstäquator The "White Sausage Equator" in Germany.
England White's London's oldest and most famous gentleman's club had several famous people as members, including King Charles III, Prince William, former prime minister David Cameron and so on. The club is pretty much top secret, so yes, the English illuminati definitely aren't lurking and drinking tea there. Also, no girls are allowed.
England Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate And the best street name has to go to this street in York, England. Also said to be the shortest street in the city too!
Romania Wooden Spoons Museum A museum with the largest collection of wooden spoons in the world, ranging from 3,500 to over 6,000. Ladles and 500 erasers can also be found!
Denmark World Map at Lake Klejtrup After finding a rock shaped like the Jutland peninsula, a Danish farmer was inspired to create a map of the world out of the surrounding countryside over the next 25 years.
Poland Wrocław's dwarfs Gotta catch 'em all!
Bavaria Zeitpyramide To celebrate the 1200th anniversary of a Bavarian town, one artist decided to stack concrete blocks for 1200 years. The next block is scheduled for 2033.
Croatia Željava Air Base An abandoned air base, located on the border between Croatia and Bosnia, that's almost entirely underground.
France Zone rouge A series of areas in northeastern France that were so devastated by unexploded ordnance and toxins during World War I that they remain uninhabitable a century later.

Latin America and the Caribbean

[edit]
A desert with water in it. Or is it a lagoon with a desert in it? Hmmmm...
Americana, São Paulo.
Capital status + no people = Plymouth, Montserrat!
São Paulo (state) Americana, São Paulo A town in Brazil founded by Confederate farmers and soldiers in the aftermath of the American Civil War.
Quintana Roo Cancún Underwater Museum A place where works of art are kept several metres beneath sea level.
Rio Grande do Sul Cândido Godói A Brazilian town full of Germans that produces five times as many twins as the national average; these two facts combined to create theories that Josef Mengele had conducted experiments there.
Rio Grande do Norte Cashew of Pirangi Seventy times larger than an average cashew tree, this tree covers approximately two acres of land by itself.
Michoacán Cherán A Mexican town where the residents decided to abolish their own local government and police force in 2011 due to rampant corruption and ties to organized crime. They don't appear to have any regrets.
Ecuador Ciudad Mitad del Mundo This park marking the equator in the country named after it was just a bit off when it was built.
Chile Colonia Dignidad A rural community in Chile that has a story that not even the most insane writer could think of.
Colombia
Panama
Darién Gap This journey is impossible with the modes you have selected.
French Guiana Devil's Island A notorious penal colony off the coast of French Guiana.
Cuba Ernst Thälmann Island An island off the coast of Cuba that was (sort of) ceded to East Germany and thus (sort of) remains part of East Germany, which doesn't exist anymore (sort of).
Espírito Santo Guarapari A Brazilian town with beaches that are naturally radioactive.
Pará Fordlândia The man himself was not without his abject failures in Brazil.
California
Baja California
Friendship Park (San Diego–Tijuana) Where people can shake hands and interact across the Mexico–United States border.
Colombia Hacienda Nápoles The luxurious estate of the deceased drug lord Pablo Escobar, from which an invasive hippopotamus population spread in Colombia.
Venezuela Heladería Coromoto Held the world record for most ice cream flavors served, including chili, garlic, crab, macaroni and cheese, egg, beef, and many alcoholic flavors.
Misiones Province Isla Apipé An Argentine island in the Paraná River surrounded by Paraguayan waters.
Mexico City Island of the Dolls Located in Mexico City, this is an island full of broken and deteriorated dolls of various styles and colors, originally placed by the former owner of the island.
Cuba John Lennon Park A park with a statue of John Lennon, in a country that used to ban his music in the 60s as it was a Western bloc cultural import. Also noteworthy for the fact that his statue doesn't normally wear glasses, as the glasses on the statue keep getting removed or vandalized, although the park now has a security guard whose job is to hang around near the statue and give him a pair of glasses upon request.
Maranhão Lençóis Maranhenses National Park Wait, deserts don't seasonally flood. They just don't. Or do they?
Chile Mano del Desierto A massive sculpture of a hand rising from the middle of the Atacama Desert, meant to symbolize human vulnerability and oppression.
Peru Nazca Lines A line museum, exhibited outdoors in southern Peru.
Buenos Aires Province El Ojo An almost perfectly circular, constantly rotating island in the marshes of Argentina. Its name is Spanish for "The Eye".
Michoacán Parícutin A volcano that suddenly erupted out of a farmer's cornfield.
Rio de Janeiro (state) Penedo, Itatiaia A Finnish resort town... in the middle of Brazil.
The Bahamas Pig Beach A place where you can swim with pigs.
Guatemala Pizza Pacaya While many would run from an active volcano, one Guatemalan chef turned one into his own personal kitchen.
Montserrat Plymouth, Montserrat A national capital with zero population, as it was abandoned due to a volcanic eruption.
Paraguay Presidente Hayes Department What happens when a U.S. President is vastly more famous in a South American country than in the actual United States.
Tamaulipas Río Rico, Tamaulipas A city that was ceded by the United States to Mexico in 1977 due to an earlier diversion of the Rio Grande.
Colombia Santa Cruz del Islote A tiny artifical island off the coast of Colombia that is said to be the most crowded island on Earth, with its own school, restaurant and other amenities, but without any crime nor police.
Quintana Roo Spiral Island An artificial island, now destroyed, built from thousands of empty floating plastic bottles.
Peru Vinicunca Also known as Montaña Arcoíris (Rainbow Mountain), different minerals in the soil of this mountain made it look truly unique.
Chubut Province Y Wladfa A group of settlements in Argentine Patagonia home to the largest Welsh-speaking population outside of the British Isles, and the location of the Patagonian Welsh dialect.
Bolivia Yungas Road An incredibly deadly mountainside road in Bolivia, only 3 meters wide in places and with no guardrails.

North America

[edit]
This bridge is a bit low, isn't it?
Oh no, this windowless skyscraper is definitely not a massive surveillance centre!
"That says "MALL"... doesn't it...?"
When California hadn't quite joined the United States.
"Are you sure you want to build here?"
Wait a minute...This isn't the River Thames...
Mill Ends Park,
the smallest park in the world.
This lake hides many islands. And lakes in those islands. And islands in those lakes.
It's about reaching out, closing up the distance.
A laboratory beneath the waves.
North Carolina 11 foot 8+8 Bridge Also known has the "Can Opener", this is a bridge that slices the roof off of trucks that have fallen victim to it.
New York (state) 33 Thomas Street A windowless skyscraper in New York and suspected NSA mass surveillance hub. Not suspicious at all.
Arizona A Mountain Also known as Sentinel Peak, this hill in Tucson, Arizona literally has a big letter "A" on it.
New York (state) Agloe, New York A fictional town in New York. Originally a phantom settlement, created as a copyright trap for a mapmaker, that ended up developing into an actual landmark.
South Carolina Alcohol and Drug Abuse Lake Supposedly named after the treatment center nearby.
Washington (state) Aroma of Tacoma "What an incredible smell you've discovered" could have been this Washington city's motto.
Florida Aquarius Reef Base A real-live underwater laboratory.
Alberta Badlands Guardian A natural topographic feature in Alberta, Canada, which, when viewed from above, looks remarkably like a human wearing a Native American headdress and earbuds.
Ohio Beatosu and Goblu Two non-existent towns that appeared on Michigan's official highway map as a reference to the University of Michigan and its rival, Ohio State University.
Rhode Island Big Blue Bug Officially named Nibbles Woodaway, this 58-foot long termite overlooking I-95 is a Providence landmark and is claimed to be the world's largest artificial bug.
Colorado Bishop Castle A rocky castle in the Rocky Mountains! This fire-breathing construction project seems to endlessly... drag on.
New York (state) Borscht Belt For those who love borscht and find the Bible Belt and Rust Belt too boring.
California Bubblegum Alley 70 feet of alleyway with its walls covered in used chewing gum.
Illinois Bubbly Creek The branch of the Chicago River that was so contaminated with blood from the Stock Yards that it gained this appetizing moniker.
Nevada Bullfrog County, Nevada A former county in Nevada established around a mountain which was to become a radioactive waste disposal site. As of 2022, it is the only uninhabited county-equivalent to ever be created in the United States.
Massachusetts Busta Rhymes Island Otherwise unnamed island because it had "rope-swinging, blueberries, and ... stuff Busta would enjoy."
Quebec
Vermont
Canusa Street A road that's in both Canada and USA.
Washington (state) Capitol Hill mystery soda machine A machine that offered rare drinks with nobody knowing who operated it. It was in operation from the 1990s to 2018, when it disappeared and a note was left saying: "Went for a walk".
Colorado Cat Girl Manor A manor described as "the Playboy Mansion of the kitten play community".
Pennsylvania Centralia, Pennsylvania A town that's been on fire since 1962.
Massachusetts Citgo Sign This advertisement for an oil company was placed in the perfect spot for it to become a recognizable landmark of the Boston skyline.
New Jersey Clinton Road (New Jersey) In addition to having the longest traffic light in the country, the road is also notorious for reported occurrences of paranormal activity.
California Colma, California A town where the dead outnumber the living by 1000 to 1.
Florida Conch Republic As a protest against the actions by the United States federal government, Key West in Florida seceded from and then declared war on the United States, surrendered one minute later and then applied for $1 billion in foreign aid.
Delaware Corporation Trust Center A small single-story building where over 285,000 companies, or over 15% of all companies in the United States, are legally based.
Texas Crush, Texas A temporary "city" established as the site of an 1896 publicity stunt, a staged train wreck. The wreck unexpectedly caused two deaths and numerous injuries among spectators.
South Dakota Crazy Horse Memorial The Native American answer to Mount Rushmore, started in 1948 and still nowhere near completed.
Ohio Cuyahoga River Environmentalism in the United States essentially started because a river in Cleveland kept on catching fire.
Washington, D.C. Dave Thomas Circle A six-way intersection in Northeast D.C. with a Wendy's restaurant located in the middle until 2021. The site of numerous traffic fatalities, it's currently being converted into a city park.
Maine Desert of Maine A 20-acre patch of sand right in the middle of the most forested state in the U.S.
Illinois Dixie Square Mall A shopping mall that stood abandoned for over twice as long as it was in business until it was finally demolished in 2012. It was featured in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers and became a popular target for urban explorers.
New York (state) Donald J. Trump State Park The most tremendous, fantastic, amazing state park you've ever seen. The media wants to say it has poor upkeep, it should be renamed, that it's not even a real state park; but they're all liars and very bad people, believe me.
Minnesota Dorset, Minnesota A town that, on multiple occasions, has had a child as their "mayor".
British Columbia Dude Chilling Park Originally a sign placed in a Vancouver park as a prank, now officially recognized public art.
California eBART An extension of the BART system that, despite functioning as its own railway line and is powered by unique diesel trains, is officially shown as an extension of the Yellow Line.
Washington, D.C. Exorcist steps A set of steps in 36th Street most famous for having the character of Father Karras fall to his death after being possessed.
Iowa Fenelon Place Elevator The shortest and steepest railroad in the world, (supposedly) located in a town of around 60,000 people.
Kentucky Florence Y'all Water Tower A Northern Kentucky town's unique "welcome" sign.
Virginia Foamhenge An exact recreation of Stonehenge made entirely out of styrofoam.
Virginia List of former counties, cities, and towns of Virginia All the places that are no longer found in Virginia, such as Illinois County, and a few that never were (including Walton's Mountain).
South Dakota Gann Valley, South Dakota The county seat of Buffalo County, South Dakota, despite nearby Fort Thompson having a population more than 120 times larger than Gann Valley.
Wyoming Greater Green River Intergalactic Spaceport Consists entirely of a deeply rutted unmanned strip of soil/gravel and a windsock.
Washington (state) Gum Wall A brick wall in Seattle burdened by chewing gum. Cleaned in 2015, only to be turned into a memorial for Paris.
Quebec Habitat 67 A futuristic residential complex built in the 1960s that resembles a mass of cuboids haphazardly balanced on top of each other.
CanadaGreenland Hans Island A deserted Arctic island fought over by Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark for decades. The 2022 settlement created a land border between a North American and a European country.
Maine Hawaii 2 A quaint island in Maine purchased by Cards Against Humanity in 2014.
Alberta Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Life lesson: if you see hunters chasing buffalo off a cliff, don't stand at the bottom.
New York (state) Hess triangle This used to be part of a bigger plot of land but a road destroyed it but the planners couldn't plan correctly so it left this piece of land.
Tennessee Horace Burgess's Treehouse A tree house built by a minister who claimed to have received a vision from God.
Indiana Indianapolis Catacombs Despite the name, never used as a burial place.
Wyoming Interstate 180 (Wyoming) An Interstate Highway that isn't really a freeway at all.
Arizona Interstate 19 The only U.S. highway marked in metric units, a relic of a historical push for metrication.
California Island of California The third-largest U.S. state was formerly an island – at least on paper.
Nevada Jackass Flats The aptly named test site for the world's first and only nuclear-powered rocket engines.
Rhode Island Jerimoth Hill The highest natural point in Rhode Island. For years, one of the toughest highpoints in the U.S. to scale, not because of its 812-foot (247 m) height, but because of an angry old man who lived nearby.
Connecticut John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant A sewage plant in Danbury, Connecticut named after John Oliver after he satirically insulted the city on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
New York (state) Joker Stairs We live in a society where a movie can make a star out of flight of stairs.
New York (state) Just Room Enough Island This island is about one-thirteenth of an acre in size but that didn't stop the Sizeland family from building a house on it.
Louisiana Lake Peigneur A 10-foot-deep swimming lake at one time, it was turned into the deepest lake in Louisiana thanks to a salt mining accident.
Newfoundland and Labrador Landsat Island A lonesome island with a frankly humorous tale.
United States List of gaps in Interstate Highways Traffic-lighted intersections, drawbridges, and other oddities in the Interstate Highway System which violate the standards.
Nevada List of Las Vegas casinos that never opened What happened on the drawing board stayed on the drawing board.
Massachusetts Lizzie Borden House The location of one of the most famous ax murders in history, which was turned into a B&B in 1996. According to the building's former owner, the room where Abby Borden was murdered is its "most requested room."
Arizona London Bridge An over century year old authentic English bridge...that now resides in the middle of the desert.
Michigan M-185 (Michigan highway) The only state highway in the country that bans motor vehicles. It's also the only state highway to not have an accident until 2005.
New Jersey Mary Ellis grave A grave that found itself in the middle of a movie theater parking lot.
Tennessee Memphis Pyramid The tenth-largest pyramid in the world, located in Memphis, Tennessee, and home to a Bass Pro Shops megastore.
Michigan Michigan left Directions are more complicated in Michigan.
Florida Mickey pylon A powerline pylon with a shape reminiscent of a certain fictional rodent.
Oregon Mill Ends Park The smallest park in the world – 452 in2 (0.292 m2) – in Portland, Oregon.
California Mojave phone booth A public phone booth that stood for several decades in the middle of a desert, miles away from any roads or other structures.
Idaho Mountain Home Air Force Base A Singaporean air force base in Idaho.
Utah Mollie's Nipple The name of multiple places in Utah... including at least one butte.
Nebraska Monowi A village in Nebraska with a population of one. Hi, Elsie!
Maryland Mr. Trash Wheel A trash interceptor with giant googly eyes that patrols the Baltimore Inner Harbor, consuming trash. Has its own Instagram page.
Georgia (U.S. state) Murder Kroger A supermarket with a dark story.
Nevada Nataqua Territory A failed U.S. territory that was, quite literally, beside itself.
Wisconsin National Mustard Museum Collecting and chronicling the common condiment.
California National Raisin Reserve Created after World War II to control raisin prices. Run by the Raisin Administrative Committee, of course.
Oregon Ned Flanders Crossing A bridge over Interstate 405 in Portland, Oregon, which was originally called Flanders Crossing, but was renamed after a fictional character himself named after the road.
Nunavut Nettilling Lake Located on Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada. It's the largest lake on an island and also contains the largest lake on an island on a lake on an island, which in turn contains the world's largest island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island.
New York (state) New York-Dublin Portal An art exhibit visually connecting the streets of the two cities that was temporarily shut down after multiple instances of flashing, profanities, and showcasing images of the September 11 attacks.
California Nitt Witt Ridge A house in California, built out of beer cans, abalone shells, car parts, and other garbage previously tossed out by local residents, is now a historic landmark.
Greenland Northeast Greenland National Park The world's largest national park consists of over a quarter of Greenland's total land area, is larger than 166 sovereign states, and has no permanent human population.
Minnesota Northwest Angle This little spoke jutting out of northern Minnesota was created as the result of a surveying error, and its land is completely cut off from the rest of the U.S. by the Lake of the Woods.
New Hampshire Old Man of the Mountain A rock formation in northern New Hampshire resembling the side profile of a person. Collapsed in 2003, but is immortalized on the state's license plates, highway signs and state quarter.
Ontario Peter Camani A (now retired) Canadian art teacher who built a massive complex of sculptures of screaming faces on his property in his spare time, and converted his house into a castle with a turret of a screaming face.
Washington (state) Point Roberts, Washington When defining international boundaries, sometimes a straight line isn't the best solution.
Manitoba Polar Bear Holding Facility A prison for polar bears.
Arizona Poozeum A museum dedicated to coprolites.
Texas Prada Marfa, Texas For your luxury shopping bug, a Prada store in the desert.
Pyramid mausoleums in North America Arizona Governor George Hunt will hereafter be addressed as "Pharaoh George I".
Kentucky Rabbit Hash, Kentucky A town whose mayors, since 1998, have all been dogs.
Illinois Raising of Chicago During the 1850s, the city was raised on jacks, building by building.
Michigan Rainbow Farm The only place where gay married couples could guard their marijuana plants with guns. Notably visited by Merle Haggard and Tommy Chong.
New Hampshire Republic of Indian Stream An area of land in northern New Hampshire that was an independent country from 1832 to 1835.
Nevada Republic of Molossia A 34-person micronation in Nevada which takes the meaning of the phrase "a man's home is his castle" to new extremes.
Illinois Rock N Roll McDonald's A rock 'n roll-themed McDonald's restaurant located in Chicago, famous for being the subject of a song by outsider musician Wesley Willis.
Pennsylvania Rocky Steps Thanks to their appearance in a certain movie, the steps leading up to the main entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art is as popular of a tourist attraction as the museum itself.
California Rough and Ready, California This mining town seceded from the Union in 1850, but came back three months later because they realised they couldn't celebrate Independence Day.
Arizona Santa Claus, Arizona In Mohave County, visit an abandoned tourist trap deep in the desert where Santa Claus, of all people, allegedly resides!
British Columbia Sam Kee Building Known as the world's narrowest commercial building.
California Slab City, California A massive off-the-grid trailer park on a former military base in the Sonoran Desert, that became a large-scale alternative community of misfits and wanderers that has persisted for decades, complete with various displays of colourful experimental sculptures made from whatever the residents can get their hands on.
Pennsylvania S.N.P.J., Pennsylvania A municipality consisting solely of a Slovenian fraternity's recreation center, established (in part) to get around liquor laws.
Tennessee State of Franklin A proposed state in Eastern Tennessee that tried its hand at independence and fell into debt to Spain.
Tennessee State of Scott Scott County in northern Tennessee seceded and formed its own state in opposition to Tennessee joining the Confederacy. It remained this way for over a century until it rejoined Tennessee in 1986.
Washington (state) Statue of Lenin (Seattle) How a statue of Lenin made its way from Czechoslovakia to Seattle's Fremont neighborhood.
Texas Texas State Highway 165 The only state highway in the country specifically designated to serve a cemetery...and nothing more. It's also the only state highway in the country to be partially closed every night.
West Virginia The Greenbrier A luxury resort that, for three decades, housed an emergency bunker for Congress to work from if a nuclear war broke out.
New York (state) Track 61 (New York City) A secret train platform located below the Waldorf Astoria New York designed for use by U.S. Presidents when they would visit the hotel.
New Mexico Truth or Consequences, New Mexico A New Mexico town that chose to rename itself after the Truth or Consequences game show in 1950, then never bothered changing back.
New York (state) U Thant Island An island in the East River with a surprisingly in-depth history for only being 2,000 square feet (190 m2) in area.
Pennsylvania U.S. Route 19 Truck (Pittsburgh) A road in Pittsburgh that features a number of wrong way concurrencies, including one with itself.
West Virginia Vulcan Bridge A bridge in rural West Virginia whose repairs were almost funded by the Soviet Union after a local mayor, tired of the West Virginia state government ignoring his requests for funding, reached out across the Iron Curtain.
Newfoundland and Labrador Weather Station Kurt That time when the Nazis landed in North America.
Delaware Wedge It's harder than you think to construct the state of Delaware with a ruler and compass.
Alaska Whittier, Alaska A city in Alaska where (almost) all of its residents live in one building: Begich Towers.
California Winchester Mystery House A house believed to be haunted by the ghosts of individuals killed by Winchester rifles.
Texas World's littlest skyscraper The result of a fraudulent investment scheme, it's a four-story brick building constructed in 1920 in downtown Wichita Falls, Texas that has only one room on each of its four floors.
Michigan Zilwaukee, Michigan "Is this Milwaukee?" "Uh...yeah, it sure is!"
Idaho Zone of Death The part of Yellowstone National Park in Idaho, where any crime can technically be committed without punishment – but don't tempt fate!

Oceania

[edit]
Baldwin Street, Dunedin.
Watch your step around Coober Pedy.
American Samoa American Samoa Despite having a functional legislature (the Fono) and a population of 46,366, American Samoa is considered an 'unincorporated unorganized' territory. It is also the only U.S. territory where people are not automatically born citizens, despite much of the population being involved in the military.
New Zealand Baldwin Street A short suburban road in Dunedin, New Zealand, reputedly the world's steepest street.
New South Wales Ball's Pyramid A nearly 600-metre-tall (2,000 ft) stone stack in the middle of the ocean.
Western Australia Banjawarn Station Did a Japanese apocalypse cult test a nuke in the middle of rural Australia?
Western Australia Bayswater Subway Bridge in Perth that has been hit by trucks 50 times between 2014 and 2020.
New South Wales Burning Mountain A straightforwardly named mountain that has been on fire for over 6000 years.
New Zealand Cardrona Bra Fence An eccentric tourist attraction in New Zealand.
South Australia Coober Pedy A mining town where most of the residents live underground.
Australian Capital Territory Concrete bus shelters in Canberra These brutalist cylindrical bus shelters are an icon of Australia's capital city.
New Zealand Egmont National Park This national park's boundaries created a circular forest.
Western Australia Horizontal Falls This pair of Australian "waterfalls" appear to be falling straight across the land.
New Zealand Hundertwasser Toilets Why the town of Kawakawa is the world's best place for a rest stop.
Tonga Hunga Tonga An island that was created in 2015 after a volcano erupted between two islands and connected them until another volcanic explosion in 2022 split them up again.
Palau Jellyfish Lake A lake where jellyfish have evolved without stingers due to a lack of predators.
Jervis Bay TerritoryAustralian Capital Territory Jervis Bay Territory Briefly ceded to the ACT to give it access to the sea despite not bordering the ACT.
Hawaii Kalawao County, Hawaii The second-least populous county in the United States (after Loving County, Texas), with a population of 90 as of the 2010 United States Census. Established as a leper colony in 1866, it occupies a peninsula on Molokai and is not connected by road to the rest of the island.
United States Minor Outlying Islands Kingman Reef It's designated as its own US overseas territory despite having an area of only 0.03 square kilometres (0.012 sq mi) and being almost entirely underwater during low tide.
Tasmania Macquarie Island The only place on earth where rocks from the Earth's mantle get exposed to the surface.
Victoria (state) Montague Street Bridge A bridge in Melbourne that has had so many trucks crash into it and get stuck under it, the government used millions of dollars to install prevention measures (it did nothing).
Victoria (state) Mount Wycheproof Considered a mountain when only 43 metres (141 ft) above surrounding terrain and 143 metres (469 ft) above sea level. There are parts of Sydney which have a higher elevation and are not considered a mountain.
New South WalesVictoria (state) Murray Valley Highway A 671-kilometre (417 mi) road that has a road route number of B400 for 668 kilometres (415 mi) in the Victorian section and unmarked for 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) in the New South Wales section making the Victorian road network not connected to the New South Wales Network in that area.
New Zealand Nelson–Blenheim notional railway A road that was officially considered to be a railway by the New Zealand Government for 22 years.
New Zealand New Zealand State Highway 78 A road in Timaru, New Zealand, that is designated a highway despite being only 900 metres (3,000 ft) long.
New Zealand Ninety Mile Beach A 55-mile beach.
New South Wales Octopolis and Octlantis A pair of settlements built by octopuses, discovered on the seabed off the coast of the aforementioned Jervis Bay.
United States Minor Outlying Islands Palmyra Atoll The United States' only 'incorporated unorganized' territory, despite there being no government and virtually no permanent residents for the Constitution to apply to...
Pitcairn Islands Pitcairn Islands A British Overseas Territory where the entire population is Seventh-day Adventist and descended from the mutineers from the HMS Bounty. The entire population moved to Norfolk Island for three years in the 1850s and is currently at risk of going extinct due to the high number of emigrants. Also the site of a scandal where 13 Pitcairn Islands men, almost a third of the islands' population, were convicted in a sex abuse scandal, giving the islands the highest rate of sex offenders in the world.
Western Australia Pink Lake A lake that is naturally pink, but suddenly turned blue in 2010.
Victoria (state) Princes Freeway (east) A freeway with houses, traffic lights, and a 60-kilometre-per-hour (37 mph) limit in some areas. What are VicRoads thinking?
Indonesia Carstensz Pyramid The tallest mountain in Australia is administrated by the Republic of Indonesia.
New Caledonia Sandy Island An island which was shown on Google Maps satellite view until 2012 despite not existing.
New Zealand That Wānaka Tree A tree named after a hashtag on Instagram.
New Zealand Taumata With a full name consisting of 85 characters, this hill may be the longest place name in the world.
New Zealand Te Urewera A forested area in New Zealand that is also a legal person (see below).
New Zealand Whanganui River A river in New Zealand that is legally a person.
New South Wales Wedding Cake Rock A rock that looks exactly like a wedding cake.
New Zealand Whangamōmona A township in New Zealand that also happens to be a self-declared republic, whose past presidents include a goat and a poodle.