Strange places iceberg
Strange places iceberg is an iceberg chart topic. On r/IcebergCharts, the highest-scoring available chart on it, "Interesting/Lost/Mysterious Locations Iceberg", was posted by u/RafZelaria on 23 May 2021 and had about 1,299 upvotes when it was collected.[1] A text version, "Weird, Unusual, or Interesting Places (and anything related) Iceberg" by Googolplex, is hosted on IcebergThreads, where it had 1,243 views as of 29 October 2026.[2]
The IcebergThreads author describes it as: "Whether it'd be strange borders, towns with unusual backstories, or just places with funny names. This iceberg contains all of those, plus some extras. This iceberg is ordered in the traditional sense, meaning the most well-known are at the top, and the most obscure are at the bottom. (but lets be real everyone already knew that) (also we might update this whenever we can)"
Entries reflect the chart authors' choices and are not verified fact.
Tiers[edit]
Tiers and entries from the IcebergThreads version[2]. Notes after a dash are shortened from the author's explanations.
Layer 1[edit]
- Vatican City – The smallest country in the entire world and the home of the Catholic Church and the Pope. Surely everyone already knows this, right? Though, its buildings do show up as notable parts of the…
- Kaliningrad – Possibly the most well-known exclave in the world. It came in existence as a result of Russian annexation of a part of former East Prussia after WW2.
- Alaska – Well.. maybe Kaliningrad isn't the most iconic anomaly. Alaska is not only 800 km away from the contiguous USA, but is also the biggest state. This state only exists thanks to the US purchasing the…
- Mount Everest – The highest mountain on Earth that is above sea level. It's in the first tier for a reason.
- Chimborazo – Despite Mt. Everest being the highest mountain, Chimborazo is actually the closest point in Earth to the Moon, due to the Earth bulging out at the Equator area.
- Bermuda Triangle
- Cyprus
- Korean Demilitarized Zone – A 260 km (160 mi) long border between North and South Korea that is most-known for being the most armed border in the world. Technically both countries have never made peace after the Korean War,…
- Guantanamo Bay
- Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch – A village located in Anglesey, Wales that is most known for its extremely long name, being 58 characters long and the longest name for a town in the world.
- Flags with the Union Jack – All entities that use the Union Jack (or the UK flag) somewhere in their flags. Most notable examples being Australia and New Zealand.
- Chernobyl Exclusion Zone – A 30 km radius around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, formed after the Chernobyl explosion. It is heavily restricted to public access, and contains one of the most radioactively contaminated areas…
- Dead Sea
- Principality of Sealand
- Nepalese Flag
- North Sentinel Island
- Oklahoma Panhandle
- Easter Island
- Stonehenge
- Upper Peninsula
- Western Sahara
- Ceuta & Melilla
- Gibraltar
- Mont-Saint Michel
- Venice
- Double Landlocked Countries – A country is "doubly landlocked" or "double-landlocked" when it is surrounded entirely by landlocked countries (i.e. requiring the crossing of at least two national borders to reach a coastline).…
- Longyearbyen – Longyearbyen is the northernmost permanently habited human settlement and administrative centre of Svalbard, Norway
Layer 2[edit]
- Hashima Island – An abandoned island in Japan that used to host coal mines and military complexes, and also the site of forced labor during WW2. Its ruins have now become a tourist attraction
- Point Nemo – This place in the middle of the South Pacific is THE most remote place on Earth, and the furthest away from any piece of land.
- Truth or Consequences, New Mexico – A city in New Mexico formerly named "Hot Springs", whose name is a result of a contest on the radio program Truth or Consequences.
- Fugging – A small village in Austria that used to be called "Fucking" before changing its name in 2021 after repeated vandalism.
- Bir Tawil – A piece of desert in between Egypt and Sudan that both countries refuse to claim, leaving it as the only piece of land (outside Antarctica) to be officially unclaimed. This resulted from a dispute on…
- Hell, Norway
- Hell, Michigan
- Jericho – One of the oldest cities in the world, and also the lowest city in the world, sitting at around −258 m (−846 ft) relative to sea level.
- Caprivi Strip
- Fort Gay, West Virginia – Most known for Microsoft suspending a person's Xbox account for writing this place's name as their location.
- Liberian County Flags – Just look at the flags yourself...
- Spratly Islands
- Diomede Islands – A pair of two islands in between the Chukotka region of Russia and Alaska that are the two closest points between both countries. These two are also split by the International Date Line, meaning both…
- Svalbard
- Batman, Turkey
- Liberland
- Republic of Molossia
- Darvaza gas crater
- Baarle-Hertog / Baarle-Nassau
- Cabinda
- Centralia, Pennsylvania
- Flevoland – The smallest province in the Netherlands, it was established in 1986 and is composed of mostly artificial land reclaimed from the sea.
- Capital of Switzerland – Despite Bern being the de facto capital of Switzerland, the country actually has no de jure official capital city.
- Countries with Multiple Capital Cities
- Marie Byrd Land – The biggest piece of unclaimed territory in the entire world, located in Antarctica.
- Snake Island
- Kowloon Walled City
- Transnistria
Layer 3[edit]
- Sovereign Military Order of Malta – A sovereign entity operating out of Rome that holds relations with over 115 countries, despite having no official national territory. Instead, it operates mostly out of its extraterritorial…
- Plymouth, Montserrat
- Taumata Hill – Its full name being "Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu". It is the longest place name in the entire world.
- Point Roberts
- Northwest Angle
- Pheasant Island – A small river island located in the Bidasoa river at the French-Spanish border, whose administration alternates between the two nations every six months. It is administered by France from August 1 to…
- Saint Martin – Despite its small size, it is divided into two parts owned by France and the Netherlands respectively, it is also the only point where the two countries border.
- Llívia
- Alcohol and Drug Abuse Lake
- This Street, That Street, & The Other Street
- Taal Volcano
- Darién Gap
- Dildo, Newfoundland and Labrador – Self-explanatory as to why this is here. But they have a Hollywood-style sign overlooking the coastline.
- Lake Constance – A lake lying between the crosspoint of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It is most unique for its status of each countries' border in the region being disputed.
- Kazungala – A small border town in Zambia most known for being right next to a near quadripoint between Zambia, Bostwana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, before being decided in 2000 that Zambia and Botswana shared a…
- Bikini Atoll
- Boring, Oregon – Part of the Trinity of Tedium, along with Dull, Scotland and Bland, Australia.
- Dull, Perth and Kinross – Part of the Trinity of Tedium, along with Boring, Oregon and Bland, Australia.
- Bland Shire, New South Wales – Part of the Trinity of Tedium, along with Dull, Scotland and Boring, Oregon.
- Kholat Syakhl
- The Line, Saudi Arabia
- Deception Island
- The Bear Fell – A lake in Tigilsky District, Kamchatka Krai, Russia. It is still unknown why the lake is called so.
- Wonsan Kalma Tourist Area
Layer 4[edit]
- Neutral Moresnet
- Hans Island – A once-disputed island between Canada and Greenland, known as the Whisky War, that was resolved in 2022 by splitting the island between the two entities, thus technically forming a land border.
- Kentucky Bend
- Banana, Paris, London, & Poland, Kiribati
- Sexmoán, Philippines
- Carcross Desert – Widely regarded to be the smallest desert in the world, though experts say it is a series of sand dunes.
- Devon Island
- Togo flag ratio – The national flag of Togo has an aspect ratio of1:φ (approx. 1:1.618), making it a "rectangle of the golden section" as envisioned by its designer, Paul Ahyi.
- El Salvador flag ratio – Another case of weird flag aspect ratios, with El Salvador using a ratio of 189:335 for its national flag.
- Manicouagan Reservoir – A lake in Quebec that forms a ring formation that surrounds an island inside of it, as a result of an impact by a meteorite 214 million years ago.
- Nastapoka arc – A segment of the coastline across the Hudson Bay that is forms a near-perfect circular arc, and is still unexplained.
- Zone of Death – An area inside Yellowstone National Park in which, as a result of the Vicinage Clause in the Constitution of the United States, and that this park is a federal enclave, a person may be able…
- Nakhchivan
- Edinburgh of the Seven Seas – The most isolated permanent human settlement in the world, located in Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic Ocean. It lies 2,434 kilometres (1,512 mi) away from the nearest settlement.
- Chiṭmahals
- Monowi, Nebraska – An incorporated village in the United States that is the least populous town in the country, with a population of 1, being Elsie Eiler.
- Pitcairn Islands – A British territory in the middle of the Pacific where the residents are descended primarily from nine British HMS Bounty mutineers and twelve Tahitian women. In 2023, the territory had a permanent…
- Slab City, California
- Whittier, Alaska
- Å, Norway
- Flag of the Kingdom of Benin
- Hotel Arbez
- Okinoshima – Japanese island off of Fukuoka guarded by a single Shinto priest who is rotated every ten days.
Layer 5[edit]
- ToPikachu / Google, Kansas – The city of Topeka, Kansas once renamed its city to "ToPikachu" for one day during PokeMania in 1998, and another time in 2016 during Pokemon Go's peak popularity. It was also renamed to "Google" in…
- Ernst Thälmann Island
- Passport Island – An artificial island created around 1986 to connect Saudi Arabia and Bahrain through the King Fahd Causeway. Both countries have split the island, meaning Bahrain gained a border with another country…
- Kinmen Islands
- Mount Athos
- Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera – The shortest single segment of a land border, between Morocco and Spain. Its border is 85 m (279 ft) long. It used to be an island before 1930, where a massive storm made it become a peninsula.
- Samoa and Tokelau skipped a day – On December 29, 2011, both Samoa and Tokelau skipped December 30 by crossing the International Date Line, thus leading it to be December 31 in both entities immediately.
- Island of California myth – A misconception from the 16th century that claimed California was an entire island, due to mapping errors in Baja California and assuming it cut off California entirely to the mainland.
- Neum – The only city in Bosnia and Herzegovina to have a coastline, and by extension, the only part of the country to have sea access.
- Campione d'Italia – An Italian-owned enclave located on the shores of Lake Lugano that is surrounded by Swiss territory.
- Abyei
- Nahwa
- Baikonur – A city in Kazakhstan that is leased and administered by Russia until 2050 that hosts the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a Russian spaceport.
- Ogurja Ada
- Büsingen am Hochrhein
- Bouvet Island
- Märket
- Haskell Free Library and Opera House
- Communication Station Harold E. Holt
Layer 6[edit]
- Yathkyed Lake – A lake in Canada that contains the only fourth order island in the world, or an island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island in a lake.
- Oecusse
- Fitz Roy – A mountain between Chile and Argentina where the border between the two countries is undefined.
- Hy-Brasil – A phantom island that myths claimed existed somewhere west of Ireland, and was supposedly visible only occasionally through fog.
- Wikipedia used an incorrect Vatican flag – Wikipedia once used an incorrect version of the Vatican flag from 2017 to 2023, which, as you can imagine, lead to many places using the incorrect Vatican flag.
- Adam's Bridge
- Rockall
- Međurečje
- Yanjin, China – A city in Yunnan that is known for being the "World's Narrowest City", due to its elongated, narrow settlement along the Heng River.
- Saudi Arabian-Iraqi neutral zone – A piece of desert between the border of the two countries where its border was undefined until 1991.
- Saudi Arabian-Kuwaiti neutral zone – Same thing with the neutral zone at the Iraqi border, but it was resolved in 1970.
- Northeast Greenland National Park – The largest national park in the world. It protects 972,000 km2 (375,000 mi2), and is bigger than 166 countries.
- Sitangkai, Philippines
- Ngerulmud, Palau – The capital city of Palau, with a permanent population of 0, being the least populous capital city in the world.
- Taos, New Mexico – A city in New Mexico where a mysterious, ongoing low-frequency noise is heard from somewhere.
- Jungholz – A village in Austria that is nearly an exclave and only connects though the peak of a mountain, and the only feasibly access to the region from Austria is through Germany.
- Canusa Street
- Khlong Yai
- Islands of Refreshment
Layer 7[edit]
- Null Island – The point on Earth where the coordinates (0°N 0°E) lie, and also the intersection point between the Prime Meridian and the Equator.
- Lost Peninsula
- Union Territory of Puducherry
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
- Saatse Boot
- Moldauhafen
- Haparanda Golfklubb – A golf course that lies between the border of Tornio in Finland and Haparanda in Sweden. Not only that, the two countries are separated by different time zones, meaning playing golf can technically…
- Republic of Indian Stream
- Republic of Rose Island – A short-lived micronation located on a man-made platform off the coast of Italy, that was eventually occupied and demolished by Italian forces in 1969.
- Fordlândia – A settlement in Brazil created by Henry Ford to secure a source of rubber for production.
- Grand-Popo, Benin
- Municipalities surrounding Mt. Etna – The borders of 10 municipalities that surround Mt. Etna meet at a single point on the summit of Mt. Etna, forming a 10 multipointed border.
- Senador José Porfírio
- Amazonas Volcano
- Vozrozhdeniya Island
Layer 8[edit]
- Sandy Island – A phantom island (or an island that isn't real) near New Caledonia that used to appear in many maps, and was only recently removed from databases like National Geographic and Google Maps in 2012.
- Oklo Mine
- Vennbahn – A former railway line that was built partly across what was then German territory by the Prussian state railways. It is now entirely in Belgium, and formed five German exclaves on the Belgian side.
- Auf Aderich 33 – The smallest of the German exclaves in Belgium, it is the address of a residential building owned by Germany that is only 1.5-hectare in area and only a few meters separated from mainland Germany.
- Moselle River Condominium – A territory where parts of the Moselle, Sauer, and Our rivers are jointly owned and governed by both Germany and Luxembourg, forming a condominium.
- Barangay 76, Philippines – The smallest barangay (smallest administrative division) in the Philippines by population, having zero people. It is only encompassed by the Araneta Square Mall.
- Brezovica Žumberačka
- Principality of Outer Baldonia
- Gouloungoussi canton – A long, thin strip along the border with Burkina Faso and Togo that, at the closest point between Ghana and Burkina Faso, is only 130 km at its narrowest point in the salient. It is required to cross…
See also[edit]
- Iceberg chart
- R/IcebergCharts
- Bizarre towns iceberg
- Google Street View iceberg
- Fictional places iceberg
Sources[edit]
- Featured Reddit chart: u/RafZelaria. Interesting/Lost/Mysterious Locations Iceberg. Reddit (r/IcebergCharts). 23 May 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2026.
- IcebergThreads version: Googolplex. Weird, Unusual, or Interesting Places (and anything related) Iceberg. IcebergThreads. 3 September 2026. Retrieved 29 October 2026.
References[edit]
- ↑ u/RafZelaria. Interesting/Lost/Mysterious Locations Iceberg. Reddit (r/IcebergCharts). 23 May 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Googolplex. Weird, Unusual, or Interesting Places (and anything related) Iceberg. IcebergThreads. 3 September 2026. Retrieved 29 October 2026.