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Vatican City
Conclave Begins Tomorrow
The conclave to elect the new head of the Catholic Church will begin tomorrow, May 7th. The next pope will be the 267th leader of the Roman Catholic Church, which numbers around 1.4 billion believers around the world. During a papal conclave, cardinal electors gather in the Sistine Chapel to vote in secrecy for a new pope following the death or resignation of the previous pontiff. Voting continues in multiple rounds each day until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority, with smoke signals indicating the outcome of each ballot. Only cardinals below the age of 80 are eligible to vote: this year, 133 out of 252 will vote for the new pope. The conclave generally lasts several days, but could take a number of weeks. The longest conclave in history lasted 1,006 days from 1268 to 1271.
This map depicts where in the world the cardinals who will vote for the next pope are from. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Al Jazeera
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United States
Tariffs Target Film Industry
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose a 100% tariff on all movies produced outside the country in an effort to revive domestic film production. However, he offered no details on how such a tariff would be implemented or enforced. The announcement has sparked confusion and concern across the film industry, where studios typically plan productions months or even years in advance, coordinating budgets, locations, and release schedules. Industry insiders say the sudden proposal could disrupt international partnerships and throw production timelines into uncertainty, adding another layer of volatility to an already unpredictable economic landscape.
This map depicts top filming hubs by production expenditures in 2024. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Reuters
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Antarctica
Unexpected Mass Gain in the East
For decades, the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) has been a significant factor in global sea-level rise, with its mass steadily declining. However, between 2021 and 2023, the AIS experienced an unexpected and remarkable reversal, gaining mass for the first time in decades, due to anomalous precipitation. Data collected from the GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) and its successor, GRACE-FO, have offered crucial insights into the changes in the AIS’s mass. East Antarctica saw notable changes in key glacier basins during this period. Four glaciers in the Wilkes Land-Queen Mary Land (WL-QML) region—Totten, Moscow, Denman, and Vincennes Bay—had experienced increased mass loss from 2011 to 2020. However, between 2021 and 2023, according to this study, these glaciers reversed their mass loss patterns and began to show significant gains. Despite the recent gain in mass, the AIS’ future stability remains a concern.
This map depicts spatial distributions of mass change rates over the AIS and its regions for three sub-periods. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What is the largest city in the Amazon basin?
A: Manaus, Brazil
Amazon’s most populous city, Manaus, dates back to 1669, when it was founded by European colonizers and given the official title of Fort of Sao Jose do Rio Negro. It was listed as a town in 1832, with its name being changed to Manaus, which literally translates to ‘Mother of Gods’. The Amazon region experienced an enormous rubber boom in the latter part of the 19th century, with Manaus being at the center of these activities. This was the most prosperous time in the history of Manaus. It wasn’t to last, however, and once the seeds of the rubber tree left the Amazon region, Manaus fell into crippling poverty, unable even to power the electricity lines that had been brought to the city during the more affluent era. In the 1950s, the city was declared a Duty-Free Zone, and that has helped buoy the city’s economy.
Source
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Q: What island has the largest number and density of high mountains (taller than 9842ft/3000m) in the world?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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