Jellybean Row is the nickname given to the brightly painted houses that are a landmark of St. Johns, Newfoundland. According to local lore, the unusual paint job was a way of helping the island’s fishermen find their way home in the fog. This may or may not be true, but the modern practice dates to the 1970s when someone had the idea to brighten up the town, and the trend caught on.

For centuries, the city of Jodhpur in northern India has been famous for its eye-catching indigo buildings along the walls of the old city. The color was once used to indicate that a Brahmin, a member of the religious caste, lived there. The blue paint was also thought to help to repel insects. In addition to its colorful hues, Jodhpur is known for its textile industry.

The red waters of Lake Natron in Tanzania are caused by a type of algae. The lake’s waters are highly alkaline (up to 10.5 on the pH scale) and are very caustic, capable of burning skin upon contact. Incredibly, some species have adapted to the harsh environment, and Lake Natron is a popular breeding ground for the lesser flamingo.

Originally painted red and white, St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow is now decorated in an array of vivid colors. The cathedral in Moscow’s Red Square was built in the 16th century but was adorned in its current color scheme some 100 years later. According to legend, St. Basil’s was designed to be a visual representation of Heavenly Jerusalem.

The Spanish arrived in what is now Izamal in the 1550s. The site of a Mayan settlement dating back some 2,000 years, the city has a name which means “dew that falls from the heavens.” But why is nearly every building in town painted yellow? No one is entirely sure. Some say it was painted in honor of a papal visit in 1993, while others say it was to honor the Mayan Sun God.

In 17th-century Greenland, there were no street names or numbers, so buildings were painted according to the purpose of each structure. For example, yellow represented a hospital or a doctor’s house; red buildings were schools or churches, and police stations were black. Green buildings were industry-related, while blue represented fishing. Today, Greenlanders keep the tradition alive by painting their houses all sorts of bright colors.

China’s Panjin Beach is better known as the “Red Beach.” Visitors flock to the area to see the stunning crimson landscape that some have likened to the surface of Mars. The color is due to a rare type of grass. Continuing the colorful theme, Panjin Beach is also home to the equally rare red crowned crane, a symbol of luck in China.

At the peak of its flowering season between December and February, the Dubai Miracle Garden features more than 150 million blooms covering an expanse of 775,000 square feet. The garden is home to multiple giant 3D sculptures all made of flowers — including a teddy bear, a reclining lady with her long hair flowing, a castle, a clock, and a tunnel of flower hearts and umbrellas.

Scientists are not entirely sure what gives Australia’s Lake Hillier its distinctive color. Some believe it is due to a specific microalga, while others suspect it may be caused by a chemical reaction between salt and sodium bicarbonate. The waters are entirely safe to swim in; however, the lake sits on private land and can only be viewed from the air.

The vibrant colors of Colombia’s Caño Cristales (also known as “the river of five colors” or the “liquid rainbow”) appear in the river from June through November. A rare plant called macarenia clavigera grows along the riverbed, and the color of the plant varies according to sunlight, temperature, and rainfall — meaning it changes from one year to the next.

Tourism in the tiny Andalucian village of Júzcar boomed in 2011 after the release of the Smurfs 3D movie. The reason? In a rather bizarre marketing move, every building in the village was painted blue to match the beloved characters. Even after the movie, the townspeople voted to keep the bright blue paint job.

Shortly after Chefchaouen was founded in 1471, the city attracted a large number of Jews who were fleeing the Spanish inquisition. The immigrants reputedly brought the tradition of painting their houses blue to mirror the sky and bring them closer to God. The tradition endured, and today visitors flock to Chefchaouen, nicknamed the “Blue Pearl.”

It’s known by multiple names, including Rainbow Mountain or the Mountain of Seven Colors, but to the people of the Peruvian Andes, it is Vinicunca. Rising 17,000 feet above sea level, this peak is layered in 14 different colors of minerals, ranging from lavender to gold. Until 2013, the mountain was completely covered in snow. Climate change caused the snow to melt, revealing the rainbow beauty beneath.

The world’s largest gypsum dunefield covers 275 square miles of desert in New Mexico. Millions of years ago, the entire area was under water, but as the climate changed, the waters receded, leaving a dry lake bed and crystalline formations, which have broken down to create the sand visitors can see today.

The pink terracotta walls of the buildings within Jaipur’s historic district date back to 1876, when Britain’s Prince Albert embarked on a 17-week tour of India. Keen to make a lasting impression on his guest, the Maharaja of Jaipur decided that his entire city should be painted pink. The continued use of the pink hue to decorate buildings is now enforced by local law.

Every spring, millions of tulips transform the Netherlands into a wash of color. The flower is a national symbol, and they are grown in huge quantities to be shipped around the world. The Dutch climate makes it an ideal place to grow the bloom, which is best viewed between March and May.

Although the blue and white colors of traditional Greek island homes are those of the national flag, the reason behind the color scheme is less patriotic and more practical. The limestone in the whitewash was once considered a disinfectant and helped to protect against cholera. Meanwhile, the blue was derived from a locally produced talcum powder, and was therefore cheap and readily available.

The widely photographed lavender fields of France’s Provence region cloak the countryside in a rich layer of purple through the summer months. Grown here for centuries, the fragrant blooms are an integral part of local life. The oil distilled from the plants is used in perfumes, soaps, and other scented products. Lavender oil from Provence has an AOP designation, meaning that it can only be grown here.

When the sun is at its highest in the summer months, its light catches the winding layers of sandstone in Arizona’s Antelope Canyon. The result is an illuminated display of layers of rose, orange, red, and gold rock. Formed by millennia of erosion, the canyon is named after the pronghorn antelope, which used to roam freely in this part of the state.

Many visitors come to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming to see the magnificent colored bands surrounding the Grand Prismatic Spring. Around the deep blue waters of the spring are concentric rings in shades of green, yellow, and orange. Each ring’s color is due to different types of bacteria in the different temperatures of the water.