Exploring the World: Unusual Geography Essay Topics

In geography studies, students have the opportunity to learn about the places that fill the world and the role that their positions have on the people that live there and the land itself. Considered a subsection of history, geography proves an interesting and engaging subject to those who seek an understanding of why the world has developed and works the way it does.

• Most expensive cities in the world. What role has geography played in the development of some of the world’s most expensive cities? (E.g., port cities, capital cities). Is location still an effective predictor of expensive a city will be 20 years from now?


• Least expensive cities in the world. What role has geography played in the development of some of the world’s least expensive cities? (E.g., landlocked cities). Can inexpensive cities remain that way in comparison to other cities?


• Israel and Palestine. Israel and Palestine have had a sad and troubled past with one another, and their close proximity with one another has sparked a conflict over borders and control. Can neighboring countries in such conflict ever find peace with one another?

Geography and poverty.

• Dictatorships in European nations. In the last century, dictatorship has greatly affected how nations and alliances have formed in the Europe. Hypothetically, how would European history of the 1900s have been different if more or less nations had been dictatorships?


• Greener urban spaces. As metropolitan areas continue to grow as they become more populous, there are less green urban spaces around for citizens to enjoy. How does this affect how people move to or from certain geographical areas?


• Egyptian protests. The protests of 2011 sparked political revolution in a number of North African and Middle-Eastern nations. What was it about the region that catered so much to such a vast change?


• The Trans-Siberian Railway. This is one of the largest networks of railways connecting the Russian far-east and the Sea of Japan with Moscow. Spanning all of Asia, how has this railway worked to affect how Russia’s history has developed in the last century?


• People’s geography of the American Empire. The American empire has effectively grown in the last 200 years. How has the empire’s growth been affected by the people in areas in which expansion occurred?


• Electoral geography. The president of the U.S. is elected through a system of electoral college votes. How does regionalism and the way the lines are drawn affect candidates’ chances of winning or losing.