Mongolia’s capital city of Ulaanbaatar occupies a valley along the Tuul River. Roughly 1,350 meters above sea level, and over 47 degrees north of the Equator, the city rests atop a sporadic permafrost zone, and ranks among the world’s coldest national capitals.
In the Jordan rift valley, the continents of Africa and Asia are pulling apart from each other, and the land in between has been subsiding for millennia. The sinking has created the Dead Sea.
Acquired January 8, 2010, this true-color image shows part of Karachi, Pakistan, a city of over 12 million residents. Heavily urbanized areas mix with rivers and mangroves, especially near the Port of Karachi.