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France
Macron Re-elected
French President Emmanuel Macron successfully won his re-election bid in a runoff vote yesterday, making him the first sitting French president in 20 years to win re-election. Macron took 58.55% of the vote, while right-wing rival Marine Le Pen took 41.45%. While promising to serve as a president for all the people of France in his acceptance speech, Macron faces the challenge of an increasingly divided populace. Le Pen's vote count represents the highest percentage taken by a Le Pen since her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the National Rally party, first ran for president in 1974. Additionally, Sunday's runoff vote saw the smallest percentage of French voters, with 72% going to the polls and over 3 million voters casting ballots with votes for neither candidate, and exit polling finding most of those were cast in protest of the sitting president.
This map depicts the percentage of votes cast for French President Emmanuel Macron or Marine Le Pen by commune in yesterday's presidential election runoff. Macron was re-elected with 58.55% of the vote. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: BBC
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Nigeria
Oil Refinery Explosion
A fire broke out on Friday night at an illegal crude oil refinery in Nigeria, spreading quickly to two fuel storage areas and causing an explosion. Thus far, officials have uncovered 109 bodies while many others still remain missing. Women and children are included in the growing death count. Deemed a "catastrophe and a national disaster" by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, this explosion has caused a clampdown on other illegal oil refinery operations in Southern Nigeria. Hidden oil refinery operations are common in the country's delta region and rely on tapping oil from major companies' pipelines. An estimated 400,000 barrels of crude oil is lost daily to theft in Nigeria. The operations are dangerous, and 25 people were killed in a similar explosion at another illegal refinery in the Rivers state in October.
This map depicts the region where a violent explosion at an oil refinery in the Imo state of Southern Nigeria occurred. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Barron's
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Sudan
Violence in Darfur
At least 168 people have been killed and 98 others wounded in clashes between Arabs and non-Arabs in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region on Sunday. Violence began when an armed group attacked non-Arab Massalit minority villages in retaliation for the killing of two tribesmen. Images posted online Sunday depicted burning houses with thick black plumes of smoke and scorched patches of earth where homes stood before being set on fire. Much of this unrest started when last year's military coup upended Sudan’s transition to democracy, after longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir was forcibly removed in 2019.
This map depicts the war-torn region of Darfur in Sudan. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Which common fruit owes its domestication to merchants along the Silk Road?
A: Apples
Modern cultivated apples originated in the Tien Shan mountain ranges in today’s southeastern Kazakhstan. The apples we know today, Malus domestica, are descendants of species of wild apples from Central Asia, known as Malus sieversii. As traders and people traveled along the Silk Roads and ate these apples, they either planted the seeds purposefully, or discarded the apple cores along these routes; apple trees began growing along the Silk Roads and cross pollinated with wild species in the area. The modern apple is unique in that it did not develop based on movement in one single direction. Apples from Kazakhstan were also carried eastward, and the domestication of apples in the region resulted in China’s softer, sweeter dessert apples. Eventually, humans began cultivating apples deliberately, leading to 7,500 types of apples.
Source
Keep up with DG as we examine the vital role geography plays in our food systems and go to geography2050.org to get ready for this year's Geography2050 Symposium: The Future of Food!
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Q: Which is the only river in the world to cross the equator twice?
Stay tuned for the answer to today's question in tomorrow's DailyGeo.
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