Geography Now!
The Geography Now! logo on YouTube
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
Websitewww.geographynow.com
YouTube information
Channels
Created byPaul Barbato
Years active2014–present
GenreEducation
Subscribers3.29 million
Total views438 million
100,000 subscribers2016
1,000,000 subscribers2018
Last updated: 2 January 2023

Geography Now (also stylized as Geography Now!) is an American educational YouTube channel and web series created and hosted by Paul Barbato, profiling UN recognized countries in the world in alphabetical order as well as covering other topics regarding physical or political geography. The channel was started in 2014 and has since gained over 3.29 million subscribers.

Team

Main hosts, co-hosts, and crews

  • Paul Barbato (born in Minnesota), sometimes nicknamed as Barby or Barbs – creator and host. He started Geography Now! because he felt there were no channels with the specific goal of profiling every country, and thus decided to create one himself. He has stressed the importance of geography education and criticized the lack of it in American curriculums.[1]
  • Keith Everett – music segment
  • Hannah Bamberg, also known as "Random Hannah" – culture segment.
  • Noah Gildermaster – food segment
  • Kaleb Seaton, formerly known as "Gary Harlow" (a “knockoff Steve Irwin”) – wildlife segment
  • Arthur "Art" Napiontek – sports segment
  • Bill Rahko – theme music composer
  • Vincent Kierkels – graphics designer/ animator
  • Peadar Donnelly – graphics designer/animator
  • Jared Stevenson – graphics designer/ animator
  • Jason King – graphics designer (formerly)
  • Ken O’Donnell – animator (formerly)

If the specified co-host doesn't show up for their segment, then it will either be covered by Paul or filled in by another crew member of Geography Now!. Whenever possible, the channel will also feature guest contributors from the country being profiled.  

Channel

Geography Now!

The channel series started on October 15, 2014, with the country of Afghanistan and will conclude with the country of Zimbabwe. The member states of the United Nations are covered in alphabetical order with few exceptions, such as when Swaziland changed its name to Eswatini after E had already been passed.[2] However, the Republic of Macedonia, like in the UN, was titled "Macedonia (FYROM)" for "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" in order to prevent controversy from Greek viewers who identify the name "Macedonia" as purely Greek. As such, the Macedonia episode is on the "F" category. However, it was changed as the country changed its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. English names are also used, so an episode is "Ivory Coast" and not "Cote d'Ivoire." Barbato has said he ensures his videos keep a fairly fast pace while including visual graphics for accessibility.[1]

  • Flag Dissection, about the meaning and symbolism behind the country's flag. After signing with Studio 71, this segment was moved to Flag/Fan Fridays, later changed to Flag/Fan Days.
  • Political Geography, giving a closer look at the country's borders, enclave and exclaves, territorial disputes and anomalies, administrative divisions, overseas territories, notable places found inside the country and more.
  • Physical Geography, about the country's land makeup, demarcations, landscape, arable land, climate, biodiversity, and food.
  • Demographics, about the country's population, plug type, driving side, people, diversity, traditions, culture, government, notable people, and a quick history of the country if it wasn't covered already in a past segment.
  • Friend Zone, an analysis on the country's positive or negative relationship with other countries.[3]
  • Conclusion, wrapping up the entire episode into a 1-2 minute segment.

Flag/Fan Days

Flag/Fan Days, previously known as Flag/Fan Friday are companion videos to the main episodes. A country's flag and coat of arms are explained in these videos. Barbato also sometimes uses this as an opportunity to discuss topics he did not get to in the original video, or correct and clarify details. After that he calls crew members and opens fan mail. There is a recurring animation for most episodes of Flag/Fan Days where the red stands for the "blood of those who fight for their freedom", which has since became a running gag if the red on the countries flag represents the blood of those who fought for the countries past.

Geography Now! episodes

The countries discussed in each episode follow the United Nations alphabetical list of members and go through them in the respective order.

Episodes

# Country Date published
1  Afghanistan[lower-alpha 1] October 15, 2014
2  Albania October 21, 2014
3  Algeria October 30, 2014
4  Andorra November 12, 2014
5  Angola November 26, 2014
6  Antigua and Barbuda December 17, 2014
7  Argentina January 5, 2015
8  Armenia January 16, 2015
9  Australia January 24, 2015
10  Austria February 6, 2015
11  Azerbaijan February 26, 2015
12  The Bahamas March 16, 2015
13  Bahrain April 10, 2015
14  Bangladesh April 18, 2015
15  Barbados April 25, 2015
16  Belarus May 15, 2015
17  Belgium May 20, 2015
18  Belize May 25, 2015
19  Benin May 31, 2015
20  Bhutan June 26, 2015
21  Bolivia June 30, 2015
22  Bosnia and Herzegovina July 9, 2015
23  Botswana July 18, 2015
24  Brazil August 15, 2015
25  Brunei August 29, 2015
26  Bulgaria September 6, 2015
27  Burkina Faso September 15, 2015
28  Burundi October 1, 2015
29  Cambodia October 10, 2015
30  Cameroon October 21, 2015
31  Canada November 10, 2015
32  Cape Verde December 12, 2015
33  Central African Republic December 21, 2015
34  Chad January 8, 2016
35  Chile January 17, 2016
36  China February 7, 2016
37  Colombia February 27, 2016
38  Comoros March 9, 2016
39  Democratic Republic of the Congo March 29, 2016
40  Republic of the Congo April 14, 2016
41  Costa Rica May 7, 2016
42  Croatia May 11, 2016
43  Cuba May 18, 2016
44  Cyprus May 25, 2016
45  Czech Republic (Czechia) June 1, 2016
46  Denmark June 15, 2016
47  Djibouti June 22, 2016
48  Dominica June 29, 2016
49  Dominican Republic July 6, 2016
50  East Timor August 3, 2016
51  Ecuador August 10, 2016
52  Egypt August 24, 2016
53  El Salvador August 31, 2016
54  Equatorial Guinea September 21, 2016
55  Eritrea September 28, 2016
56  Estonia October 5, 2016
57  Ethiopia October 12, 2016
58  Fiji November 15, 2016
59  Finland November 23, 2016
60  North Macedonia[lower-alpha 2] November 30, 2016
61  France December 7, 2016
62  Gabon January 18, 2017
63  The Gambia January 25, 2017
64  Georgia February 1, 2017
65  Germany February 8, 2017
66  Ghana March 22, 2017
67  Greece March 29, 2017
68  Grenada April 5, 2017
69  Guatemala April 12, 2017
70  Guinea May 10, 2017
71  Guinea-Bissau May 17, 2017
72  Guyana May 24, 2017
73  Haiti May 31, 2017
74  Honduras June 28, 2017
75  Hungary July 5, 2017
76  Iceland July 12, 2017
77  India July 19, 2017
78  Indonesia August 2, 2017
79  Iran August 9, 2017
80  Iraq August 16, 2017
81  Ireland August 30, 2017
82  Israel September 20, 2017
83  Italy September 27, 2017
84  Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) October 4, 2017
85  Jamaica October 11, 2017
86  Japan October 20, 2017
87  Jordan November 1, 2017
88  Kazakhstan November 15, 2017
89  Kenya November 22, 2017
90  Kiribati November 29, 2017
91  North Korea (DPRK) December 13, 2017
92  South Korea (ROK) December 20, 2017
93  Kuwait January 17, 2018
94  Kyrgyzstan January 24, 2018
95  Laos January 31, 2018
96  Latvia February 7, 2018
97  Lebanon February 28, 2018
98  Lesotho March 7, 2018
99  Liberia March 14, 2018
100  Libya March 21, 2018
101  Liechtenstein March 28, 2018
102  Lithuania April 25, 2018
103  Luxembourg May 2, 2018
104  Madagascar May 23, 2018
105  Malawi May 30, 2018
106  Malaysia June 6, 2018
107  Eswatini[lower-alpha 3] June 27, 2018
108  Maldives July 4, 2018
109  Mali July 11, 2018
110  Malta August 15, 2018
111  Marshall Islands August 22, 2018
112  Mauritania August 29, 2018
113  Mauritius September 5, 2018
114  Mexico September 26, 2018
115  Federated States of Micronesia October 10, 2018
116  Moldova October 17, 2018
117  Monaco November 7, 2018
118  Mongolia November 14, 2018
119  Montenegro December 5, 2018
120  Morocco December 12, 2018
121  Mozambique December 19, 2018
122  Myanmar January 9, 2019
123  Namibia January 16, 2019
124  Nauru January 30, 2019
125    Nepal February 6, 2019
126  Netherlands February 27, 2019
127  New Zealand (Aotearoa) April 3, 2019
128  Nicaragua April 10, 2019
129  Niger April 24, 2019
130  Nigeria May 1, 2019
131  Norway May 22, 2019
132  Oman June 12, 2019
133  Pakistan June 19, 2019
134  Palau July 31, 2019
135  Panama August 7, 2019
136  Papua New Guinea August 28, 2019
137  Paraguay September 4, 2019
138  Peru September 25, 2019
139  Philippines October 2, 2019
140  Poland October 30, 2019
141  Portugal November 6, 2019
142  Qatar December 4, 2019
143  Romania December 11, 2019
144  Russia January 15, 2020
145  Rwanda January 29, 2020
146  St. Kitts and Nevis February 19, 2020
147  St. Lucia March 11, 2020
148  St. Vincent and the Grenadines March 18, 2020
149  Samoa April 15, 2020
150  San Marino May 6, 2020
151  São Tomé and Príncipe May 18, 2020
152  Saudi Arabia June 3, 2020
153  Senegal July 1, 2020
154  Serbia July 22, 2020
155  Seychelles August 12, 2020
156  Sierra Leone September 2, 2020
157  Singapore September 23, 2020
158  Slovakia December 30, 2020
159  Slovenia January 6, 2021
160  Solomon Islands January 20, 2021
161  Somalia February 24, 2021
162  South Africa March 17, 2021
163  Spain April 21, 2021
164  Sri Lanka May 26, 2021
165  Sudan June 23, 2021
166  South Sudan August 4, 2021
167  Suriname September 1, 2021
168  Sweden September 22, 2021
169   Switzerland October 28, 2021
170  Syria December 8, 2021
171  Tajikistan January 19, 2022
172  Tanzania February 23, 2022
173  Thailand March 27, 2022
174  Togo April 29, 2022
175  Tonga June 9, 2022
176  Trinidad and Tobago July 6, 2022
177  Tunisia August 4, 2022
178  Turkey (Türkiye) September 3, 2022
179  Turkmenistan October 19, 2022
180  Tuvalu November 23, 2022
181  Uganda January 18, 2023
182  Ukraine March 9, 2023
183  United Arab Emirates March 30, 2023
184  United Kingdom May 30, 2023
185  United States of America July 4, 2023
186  Uruguay September 4, 2023
187  Uzbekistan October 31, 2023
188  Vanuatu December 7, 2023
189  Venezuela TBA
190  Vietnam TBA
191  Yemen TBA
192  Zambia TBA
193  Zimbabwe TBA

Other content

Filler week videos happen when the team is in the process of researching and creating scripts for the next few videos. Topics discussed include states or sub regions of countries, current or cultural events, physical geography, specific ethnic group of peoples and infrastructure innovations.

Geography Go is the channel's travel vlog series. Countries visited include Qatar, Finland, Estonia, Greenland, Iceland, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Ukraine, Indonesia, Singapore and many more. Paul also later started posting YouTube Shorts on his channel about his travels to other countries like Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Croatia, the Central African Republic, Togo and many other countries.

A Geograbee is the geography equivalent of a spelling bee in which people are tested on geography. He has so far hosted them in Hargeisa in Somaliland, Somalia, and Alaska.[4]

For April Fools' Day, Geography Now! uploads videos profiling fictional countries made up by Barbato. These include:

  • Bandiaterra (2015), a Danish-speaking island nation in the Indian Ocean.
  • Limberwisk (2018), a Nordic country whose language consists entirely of whispers.
  • Patch Amberdash / Datcsh (2019), a confederation of islands spread across three continents.
  • Qitzikwaka (2020), a former Russian colony situated mostly underground in the Sahara.
  • Sovonthak (2021), a country situated on eight shallow reefs with a legally-recognized and taxed bartering system.
  • Volanca (2022), a country with no territory founded by UN interpreters with citizens' residences serving as legal lodging.
  • Ululiona-Linulu (2023), a sovereign Native American country created as a buffer between Mexico and the United States after the Mexican–American War.
  • TBA (2024)

Reception

Geography Now! generally receives positive feedback from newspapers and magazines in the countries covered, such as Japan Today,[5] Télérama,[6] Dutch Metro,[7] RTL,[8] Nezavisne Novine,[9] Life in Norway,[10] Lovin Malta,[11] and Zoznam.[12] It also receives endorsements from educators and travel writers.[13][14] The channel has appeared on several lists of recommended educational YouTube channels,[15][16][17] including one by the Van Andel Institute.[18][19] The few criticisms are usually to do with tone and pronunciation, particularly in earlier episodes.[20]

The top 10 country episodes with the most views as of January 2024 are:

1. Germany (8.424 million)

2. Indonesia (7.135 million)

3. Japan (7.084 million)

4. Israel (6.151 million)

5. China (PRC) (6.046 million)

6. North Korea (6.040 million)

7. India (5.392 million)

8. Russia (4.926 million)

9. Denmark (4.852 million)

10. Philippines (4.405 million)

Notes

  1. ↑ As of January 2024, no country has formally recognized Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as de jure legitimate government of Afghanistan.
  2. ↑ At the time known as the Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia
  3. ↑ Out of the usual alphabetical order due to the country changing its English name from 'Swaziland' to 'Eswatini'

References

  1. 1 2 "Episode 19 - Geography Now!". The Lost Geographer (Podcast). Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  2. ↑ Aronow, Sam (June 22, 2018). "Geography Now! Night Thread". The Avocado. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Educational YouTuber Covers the Philippines". DG Briones. 3 October 2019. Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  4. ↑ Schirm, Cassie (March 3, 2018). "Youtube star hosts GeograBee at Gruening Middle School". KTVA. Archived from the original on October 19, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  5. ↑ Ruide, Koh (February 17, 2018). "Informative video condenses everything about Japan into 16 minutes of pure gold". Japan Today. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  6. ↑ "La France vue de l'extérieur". Télérama (in French). December 9, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  7. ↑ Visser, Jemel (February 27, 2019). "Geography Now lanceert uitlegvideo over Nederland". Metro (in Dutch). Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Kako nas Amerikanci vide: pogledajte što sve znaju o nama". RTL (in Croatian). May 16, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Kako stranci vide BiH: Icar konzerve, piramide i tri jezika". Nezavisne Novine (in Bosnian). July 10, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  10. ↑ Nikel, David (May 23, 2019). "Geography Now Comes To Norway". Life in Norway. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  11. ↑ Micallef, Chiara (19 August 2018). "WATCH: Malta Featured On Popular Youtube Series About Countries And Geography". Lovin Malta. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Státisíce videní za pár dní: Toto video o Slovensku je absolútnym hitom!". Zoznam: Hashtag (in Slovak). 4 January 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  13. ↑ "YouTube Excellence #2: Geography Now". Tome of Trovius. March 27, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Geography Now Videos". Laddingford St Mary's C of E Primary School. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  15. ↑ Nicholas Pardini, Brian Peotter (September 15, 2018). "82. Geography Now with Paul Barbato". Nothing Exempt (Podcast). Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  16. ↑ Stoyanof, Tania (December 14, 2016). "Lights, Camera, Action….Geography Now!". Black Label. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  17. ↑ Lawton, Georgina (February 2, 2017). "7 YouTube Channels Everyone Should Follow, According To Reddit". Bustle. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  18. ↑ "5 Useful (and Fun) YouTube Channels for Your Classroom". Van Andel Institute. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  19. ↑ Lee, Joshua (January 12, 2018). "From maths and science to liberal studies, these are the 7 best YouTube channels that will improve your grades". YoungPost. South China Morning Post. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  20. ↑ "My thoughts about Geography Now". Medium. January 26, 2019. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
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