Geography Now

American YouTube channel

Geography Now!

The Geography Now! logo on YouTube

Personal information
Nationality| American
Website| www.geographynow.com
YouTube information
Channels|

* Geography Now

Created by| Paul Barbato
Years active| 2014–present
Genre| Education
Subscribers| 3.75 million
Views| 603.5 million

Creator Awards

| 100,000 subscribers| 2016
| 1,000,000 subscribers| 2018

* * *

Last updated: August 3, 2025[1]

Geography Now (also stylized as Geography Now!) is an American educational YouTube channel and web series created and hosted by Paul Barbato. It profiled UN-recognized countries in the world in alphabetical order, a series which finished in October 2024. It now covers additional topics related to physical and political geography. The channel was started in August 2014, and as of August 2025, it has over 3.75 million subscribers and 603.5 million views.

## Team

[edit]

### Main hosts, co-hosts, and crews

[edit]

* Paul Barbato sometimes nicknamed Barby or Barbs – creator and host.
* Barbato was born in 1987 in Minnesota to Korean immigrant parents. His father was born in Gyeonggi-do and his mother was born in Daegu. Barbato describes his parents as Hapas \- half Korean and half white.[2] Barbato also has French, Irish, and Italian ancestry; the last is where his surname originates.[3] Barbato grew up on the Near North Side of Chicago and currently resides in Los Angeles. [4] Barbato started Geography Now! because he felt there were no channels specifically aimed at profiling every country, prompting him to create one himself. Barbato has emphasized the importance of geography education and criticized its scarcity in American curricula.[5] As of October 2024, the conclusion of the series, he has visited 99 countries.[6][7]
* Keith Everett – Music segment
* Hannah Bamberg, also known as "Random Hannah" – Culture segment
* Noah Gildermaster – Economy and 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 – Graphic designer/animator
* Peadar Donnelly – Graphic designer/animator
* Jared Stevenson – Graphic designer/animator
* Jason King – Graphic designer (formerly)
* Ken O'Donnell – Animator (formerly)

If the specified co-host does not appear for their segment, it will either be covered by Barbato or filled in by another crew member of Geography Now!.

Whenever possible, the channel also features guest contributors from the country being profiled. For example, Kierkels appeared in the Netherlands episode, Donnelly in the Ireland episode, and O'Donnell in the Philippines episode. Fellow internet personality Jay Foreman co-hosted the United Kingdom episode, while Barbato's mother co-hosted the South Korea episode.

Some episodes, especially ones with native co-hosts, were filmed in a makeshift studio inside the country. The Zimbabwe episode is the only one not filmed in a studio, instead taking place in the Zimbabwean countryside.

## Channel

[edit]

### Geography Now!

[edit]

The channel series began on October 15, 2014, with the country of Afghanistan and concluded on October 15, 2024, with the country of Zimbabwe. The member states of the United Nations were covered in alphabetical order, with a few exceptions, such as when the country formerly named Swaziland changed its name to Eswatini after the letter E had already been passed.[8] Another exception was the North Macedonia episode, which was released under F, because at the time, the UN listed its name as "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" to avoid controversy with Greek viewers, who consider the name "Macedonia" to be exclusively Greek. English names were also used for country titles; for example, the episode is titled "Ivory Coast" rather than "Côte d'Ivoire." Barbato has stated that he maintains a fast pace in his videos while incorporating visual graphics to enhance accessibility.[5]

* The Flag Dissection segment examined the meaning and symbolism behind each country's flag. After signing with Studio 71, this segment was moved to a separate video known as Flag/Fan Fridays, later changed to Flag/Fan Days starting with the Cuba episode, though it was brought back in the Zimbabwe episode. These segments included the opening of mail and packages sent by fans. In the current format, flag segments are separated into short-format videos, with fan mail openings held in separate live streams.

* Political Geography provided a closer look at each country's borders, enclave and exclaves, territorial disputes and anomalies, administrative divisions, overseas territories, notable locations, and more.

* Physical Geography explored each country's land makeup, demarcations, landscape, arable land, climate, biodiversity, and food.

* Demographics covered each country’s population, religious affiliation, ethnic makeup, plug type, driving side, people, diversity, traditions, culture, government, notable individuals, and a brief history (if not already discussed in a previous segment).

* Friend Zone analyzed the country's positive or negative relationships with other countries.[9]

* Conclusion wrapped up each episode into a 1-2 minute segment.

Over the course of the channel's history, the duration of the episodes increased, with more topics and information included in each episode. While early episodes typically lasted 7-10 minutes, later episodes usually ran 30-40 minutes. As of October 15, 2024, the Zimbabwe episode is the newest and final episode covering a UN-listed country. The episode on the United States of America lasted 65 minutes, making it the longest episode by far.

A "new chapter" was announced at the end of the Zimbabwe episode.[10]

#### Flag/Fan Days

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This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

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Flag/Fan Days, previously known as Flag/Fan Friday, were companion videos to the main episodes. In these videos, a country's flag and coat of arms are explained. Barbato also sometimes uses this opportunity to discuss topics he did not cover in the original video or to correct and clarify details. Afterward, he calls crew members and opens fan mail.

There is a recurring animation in most episodes of Flag/Fan Days where the red in a country's flag symbolizes the "blood of those who fight for their freedom", which has since become a running gag whenever the red on a country's flag is said to represent the blood of those who fought for the country in the past.

Following the release of the Venezuela–Zambia episodes, Paul Barbato decided to turn four Flag/Fan Day videos into YouTube Shorts due to the long time it took to research, film, and produce the videos.

### Geography Now! episodes

[edit]

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

#### Episodes

[edit]

#  | Country  | Date published

|
|

1  |  Afghanistan | 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 | 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 | 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 (& Palestine Territories)  | September 20, 2017
83  |  Italy | September 27, 2017
84  |  Ivory Coast | 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 | December 13, 2017
92  |  South Korea | 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 | 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 | 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  |  Saint Kitts and Nevis | February 19, 2020
147  |  Saint Lucia | March 11, 2020
148  |  Saint 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 | 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 | February 6, 2024
190  |  Vietnam | April 3, 2024
191  |  Yemen | June 19, 2024
192  |  Zambia | August 13, 2024
193  |  Zimbabwe | October 15, 2024
| Gray Zone (Partially Recognized)
194  |  Kosovo | July 29, 2025

### Other content

[edit]

Filler week videos occurred when the team was in the process of researching and creating scripts for upcoming episodes. Topics discussed in these videos included states or subregions of countries, current or cultural events, physical geography, specific ethnic groups, and infrastructure innovations.

Geography Go is the channel's travel vlog series. Countries visited include Qatar, Finland, Estonia, Greenland, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Indonesia, Singapore, and many more. Paul Barbato 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 others.

A Geograbee is the geography equivalent of a spelling bee, where participants are tested on geography. So far, Barbato has hosted these events in Hargeisa in Somaliland, Somalia, and Alaska.[11] Other educational content is also uploaded.[12]

For April Fools' Day, Geography Now! uploaded videos profiling fictional countries created by Barbato (with the exception of the 2016 and 2017 videos). These included:

* 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 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.
* Geolandia (2024), a federation comprising all previous April Fools' countries. Citizenship is acquired by subscribing to Geography Now and purchasing its merchandise.

## Reception

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Geography Now! generally receives positive feedback from newspapers and magazines in the countries covered, such as Japan Today,[13] Télérama,[14] Dutch Metro,[15] RTL,[16] Nezavisne Novine,[17] Life in Norway,[18] Lovin Malta,[19] and Zoznam.[20] It has also received endorsements from educators and travel writers.[21][22] The channel has appeared on several lists of recommended educational YouTube channels,[23][24][25] including one by the Van Andel Institute.[26][27]

A few criticisms typically relate to tone and pronunciation, particularly in earlier episodes.[28]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Geography Now". YouTube. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
2. ^ "My DNA Heritage test results (I WAS SHOCKED)". YouTube. May 8, 2022.
3. ^ "Paul 'Barbs' Barbato on the importance of geography & exploration". October 22, 2024.
4. ^ "I've traveled to 99 countries and learned we all seek the same things". Newsweek. October 15, 2024.
5. ^ a b "Episode 19 - Geography Now!". The Lost Geographer (Podcast). Archived from the original on January 23, 2022. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
6. ^ Barbato, Paul (October 15, 2024). "I Traveled to 99 Countries and Learned We All Seek the Same Things". Newsweek. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
7. ^ Heath, Victoria (October 22, 2024). "Paul 'Barbs' Barbato on the importance of geography & exploration". Geographical. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
8. ^ Aronow, Sam (June 22, 2018). "Geography Now! Night Thread". The Avocado. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
9. ^ "Educational YouTuber Covers the Philippines". DG Briones. October 3, 2019. Archived from the original on January 23, 2022. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
10. ^ Glaze, Virginia (October 15, 2024). "Meet the YouTuber who spent 10 years profiling every country on Earth". Dexerto. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
11. ^ 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.
12. ^ "GEOGRAPHY NOW: BARBS' 10-YEAR GLOBAL JOURNEY – EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW". The Travel Pocket Guide. October 15, 2024. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
13. ^ Ruide, Koh (February 17, 2018). "Informative video condenses everything about Japan into 16 minutes of pure gold". Japan Today. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
14. ^ "La France vue de l'extérieur". Télérama (in French). December 9, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
15. ^ Visser, Jemel (February 27, 2019). "Geography Now lanceert uitlegvideo over Nederland". Metro (in Dutch). Retrieved June 12, 2019.
16. ^ "Kako nas Amerikanci vide: pogledajte što sve znaju o nama". RTL (in Croatian). May 16, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
17. ^ "Kako stranci vide BiH: Icar konzerve, piramide i tri jezika". Nezavisne Novine (in Bosnian). July 10, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
18. ^ Nikel, David (May 23, 2019). "Geography Now Comes To Norway". Life in Norway. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
19. ^ Micallef, Chiara (August 19, 2018). "WATCH: Malta Featured On Popular Youtube Series About Countries And Geography". Lovin Malta. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
20. ^ "Státisíce videní za pár dní: Toto video o Slovensku je absolútnym hitom!". Zoznam: Hashtag (in Slovak). January 4, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
21. ^ "YouTube Excellence #2: Geography Now". Tome of Trovius. March 27, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
22. ^ "Geography Now Videos". Laddingford St Mary's C of E Primary School. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
23. ^ Nicholas Pardini, Brian Peotter (September 15, 2018). "82. Geography Now with Paul Barbato". Nothing Exempt (Podcast). Retrieved May 21, 2019.
24. ^ Stoyanof, Tania (December 14, 2016). "Lights, Camera, Action….Geography Now!". Black Label. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
25. ^ Lawton, Georgina (February 2, 2017). "7 YouTube Channels Everyone Should Follow, According To Reddit". Bustle. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
26. ^ "5 Useful (and Fun) YouTube Channels for Your Classroom". Van Andel Institute. February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
27. ^ 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.
28. ^ "My thoughts about Geography Now". Medium. January 26, 2019. Retrieved June 12, 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website