With this month’s release of brand-new Street View and 45° imagery throughout much of Brazil, we finally get a chance to take an up-close look at the stunning design of Brasília, the metropolis built in 1960 to serve as the new capital of Brazil.

The Mariana Islands are part of a great submerged mountain range that extends all the way from Guam north to Japan. While the southern Marianas are known worldwide as tourist destinations, the uninhabited northernmost islands are actually a long string of active volcanoes fed by the subduction of the Pacific Plate into the Mariana Trench, the deepest location on Earth.

Holding the distinction of being both the oldest and the smallest republic in the world, the tiny, scenic country of San Marino is over 1,700 years old. Surrounded entirely by Italy, 32,000 residents are packed into 61 sq km (24 sq mi) in the middle of the Apennine Mountains.

Each year during Desert Week, we take you around the world to show you the best sights from the world’s most arid spots. We’ve also noticed over the years the large number of regions that don’t actually have hot deserts…

They say hell is a pretty bad place to be, but this Hel is rather pleasant – at least in summertime. Poland’s Hel Peninsula is a 35-km (22-mile) long sand bar peninsula jutting into the Baltic Sea. Formerly used as a military installation due to its strategic location, today the peninsula is one of Central Europe’s most popular beach resort destinations.

Here at Google Sightseeing, our obsession with superlatives knows no bounds, whether it be the largest, the smallest, the funniest, or the strangest. Join us as we literally go in another direction with our look at ten items that have the right to be called the northernmost such things on Earth!