Hambantota is a coastal city in Sri Lanka’s Southern Province, set along a dry, sunlit stretch of the island’s southeastern coast. Its landscape combines the Indian Ocean, salt pans, scrubland, lagoons, and agricultural areas, giving the city a different character from the wetter coastal towns farther west. Hambantota is an important regional center and a gateway to several major wildlife destinations.

A series of gates surrounds the two centers of ancient, medieval Fez (sometimes spelled Fes). The principal axes link the center to the gates and a street surrounds the heart of the old city. The Kairouan quarter, which is longer, is crossed by an artery. Narrow, tortuous pedestrian streets, covered passages, stairs and numerous dead-ends make up the dense layout with few urban squares.

Upolu is the more populated of Samoa’s two main islands and is home to Apia, the country’s capital and principal urban center. The island stretches from volcanic mountains in the interior to a deeply indented coastline of bays, beaches, and coral reefs. Lush vegetation covers much of the landscape, with villages, plantations, and gardens occupying the lower slopes and coastal areas.

Yellowknife is the capital of the Northwest Territories, set on the rocky northern shore of Great Slave Lake amid the forests and exposed Canadian Shield of the subarctic. The city developed around gold mining and later became the territorial centre for government, commerce, transportation, and northern services. Today, Yellowknife serves as a gateway to the wider Northwest Territories and the Canadian Arctic. Its location beneath the auroral oval makes the northern lights a defining feature.

Ancient port and ship building center north of Edinburgh, it is now an important industrial center for Scotland.