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Turkey
Election Heads to Runoff
Turkish election authorities have confirmed the country’s presidential election will move to a runoff after neither of the two leading candidates managed to secure 50% of the popular vote. This is the most challenging election faced by incumbent president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has spent the last 20 years in power as both Prime Minister and President. His leading opponent, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, pulled together an alliance of six opposition parties to support his candidacy. With Erdogan holding 49.50% of the popular vote and Kılıçdaroğlu receiving 44.89%, it could be the endorsement of third-place candidate Sinan Oğan, who received 5.17%, to determine the runoff. Turkey’s geographical position reflects the crucial importance of its leadership beyond its borders. Turkey is a NATO member that maintains a close relationship with Russia and other former Soviet countries, while also being a majority-Muslim nation with a long history of secular governance. The runoff election is scheduled for May 28.
This map depicts the results of the first round of voting of Turkey’s presidential election yesterday. With neither of the two leading candidates winning 50% of the vote, the election will move to a runoff round on May 28. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Al Jazeera
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Myanmar
Cyclone Mocha Makes Landfall
Cyclone Mocha struck the coast of Myanmar yesterday, near the country’s border with Bangladesh, as a massive Category 5 storm. Six people are reported dead in Myanmar so far, with the military government declaring the entirety of the western state of Rakhine a disaster area. The capital of the Rakhine state, Sittwe, has been described as up to 90 percent destroyed. In neighboring Bangladesh, where 750,000 people were evacuated ahead of Mocha’s arrival, no casualties have been reported, however landslides and flooding are ongoing. The storm, which has moved inland to northern Myanmar, is now categorized as a Low Pressure Area and is no longer considered a threat.
This map depicts the path of Cyclone Mocha, which headed north through the Indian Ocean and struck Myanmar as a powerful Category 5 storm yesterday. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Barron’s
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China
Ice Age Migration from China
Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences published new findings in the journal Cell Reports evidencing two migration events from northern coastal China to the Americas. Using ancient mitochondrial DNA to trace a female lineage, with 100,000 contemporary and 15,000 ancient DNA samples across Eurasia, the team linked two migrations from China to the Americas, one during the last ice age and another during the subsequent melting period. Around the second migration, another branch of the same lineage had migrated to Japan, providing an explanation as to the Paleolithic archeological similarities found between the Americas, China, and Japan. Known Asian ancestry of Native Americans had previously been connected to Siberia, Austro-Melanesia, and Southeast Asia, however these new findings highlight the Native American gene pool also has roots in northern coastal China.
This map depicts migration routes from northern coastal China to the Americas and to Japan during the last ice age and the melting period that followed. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, what small Middle Eastern country’s geography had a pivotal role in turning it into a trading powerhouse?
A: Lebanon
A smaller country, Lebanon is a narrow sovereign state stretching along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. Lebanon’s physical geography is varied, with striking changes in the environment within short distances. The country is home to four distinct regions – a narrow coastal plain in the west, the Lebanon Mountains, the Al-Biqa valley, and the Anti-Lebanon and Hermon ranges (parallel to the Lebanon Mountains) in the east. Due to such a varied landscape and rugged terrain, the majority of the population live on the coastal plain, with fewer and fewer populations found in inland villages. Lebanon, and its capital city Beirut, was thought to be the most westernized of the Arab nations prior to 1975. The country served as a vital link between the Mediterranean world, India, and East Asia. During Ottoman rule, the Lebanese coast became an important trade spot with maritime republics such as Venice and Genoa. Merchants were exporting oil, textiles, pottery, and more to Western markets.
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Q: What ultra-clear blue river in Greenland is a result of meltwater from the Petermann Glacier and changes with the seasons?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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