The Largest U.S. Cities Named After a Food: And Other Mind-Boggling Geography Lists from Around the World - Softcover

Brandt Maxwell is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. He has a B.S. and M.S. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Kansas. Maxwell has traveled extensively throughout the world, having visited more than 50 countries and 49 of the 50 U.S. states. This book is the result of his life-long passion for a variety of geographical topics. He lives in San Diego, California.

This quirky work will reel in geography aficionados and trivia buffs like nothing else. It reveals ordinary, extreme and surprising facts about places around the world, including their names, topography, transportation, idiosyncrasies, climates, demographics, finances, recreational pursuits and politics. Among the facts readers will glean: Argentina’s highest speed limit is 130 km/hr (81 mph); East Orange, NJ, is the most populous U.S. city or town with a population that’s less than 5% white; Seoul, South Korea, is the largest world city with a one-syllable name; Lake Forest, Ill., is the richest city in the U.S. (with a per capita income of $77,092); and Socorro, Tex., is the poorest (its per capita income is $7,287). Like census figures, these pieces of information beg for analysis, which Maxwell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, does not provide. Yet the facts he presents (which come from the CIA World Factbook, the 2000 U.S. Census and elsewhere) still fascinate.
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