Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the ocean’s deepest point, about 10,935 meters below sea level. NEW
Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is the world’s largest salt flat, so flat and reflective that it can act like a giant mirror.
The Dead Sea is so salty that people float, but it’s shrinking fast and may vanish in a few decades.
Mongolia’s population is so small compared to its land size that only about 2 people live in each square kilometer.
Mawsynram in Meghalaya, India, is the wettest place on Earth, with about 11,800 mm of rain each year.
El Niño warms and La Niña cools Pacific Ocean waters, triggering global shifts in rainfall, droughts, and hurricanes.
Iceland has no mosquitoes: despite its lakes and wetlands, its cool climate prevents mosquitoes from breeding.
Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador is the farthest point from the center of the Earth, even farther than Mount Everest!
Mount Everest grows about 4 millimeters every year due to the shifting of tectonic plates.
The Grand Canyon is over 270 miles long and exposes 2 billion years of Earth’s geological history.
More than 6,000 languages are spoken across the globe: many of them are at risk of extinction.
Istanbul is the only major city in the world located on two continents: Europe and Asia.
The Amazon Rainforest is so dense and vast that some areas never see direct sunlight.
The Sahara Desert was once a lush, green landscape with lakes and forests!
Our planet’s inner core is as hot as the surface of the Sun: about 5,400°C (9,800°F).
Some mountains grow taller each year due to tectonic movement: the Himalayas rise by about 1 cm annually.
About 90% of the world’s population lives in the Northern Hemisphere.
Greenland is the world’s largest island that’s not a continent: it covers over 2 million km².
Lake Baikal in Russia holds about 20% of all unfrozen freshwater on Earth: it’s also the deepest lake in the world.
The Atacama Desert in Chile is so dry that some weather stations have never recorded rain.
The Earth’s crust is thinnest under the oceans and thickest under mountains: it ranges from 5 to 70 kilometers thick.
About 70% of Earth’s surface is covered by oceans: yet we’ve explored less than 20% of it.
In India, more people live in a single state like Uttar Pradesh than in most entire countries: it has over 200 million residents.
Venice is built on over 100 small islands connected by canals: it’s slowly sinking due to rising sea levels.
Mount Everest isn’t Earth’s tallest mountain when measured from the ocean floor: that title goes to Mauna Kea in Hawaii!
Antarctica is technically a cold desert: it receives less than 2 inches of precipitation per year.
The Magnetic North Pole is constantly shifting: it moves around 40 kilometers per year.
The Ring of Fire in the Pacific Ocean has over 75% of the world’s volcanoes.
Over half the global population lives within a 3,000 km radius of India: it’s one of the most densely populated zones.
Russia spans 11 time zones: it’s the largest country by land area in the world.
Banff National Park in Canada is known for its vibrant turquoise lakes: their color comes from glacial silt.
In Death Valley, USA, temperatures once reached 56.7°C (134°F): it’s the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth.
The Earth’s tilt of 23.5 degrees is responsible for our seasons: without it, we’d have year-round uniform weather.
The Gobi Desert in Asia is a cold desert: it often drops below −40°C in winter.
More people live in urban areas than rural ones: the shift to cities is one of the biggest trends in human geography.
Lake Titicaca in South America is the world’s highest navigable lake: it lies at over 3,800 meters above sea level.
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral system on Earth: it’s visible from space.
The equator experiences almost equal day and night year-round: it’s the most consistent climate zone on Earth.
If Earth were the size of an apple, the crust would be thinner than its skin.
Plateaus are flat elevated landforms: the Tibetan Plateau is the highest and largest in the world.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has one of the youngest populations: about 46% are under age 15.
Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa has glaciers near the equator: they’re rapidly melting due to climate change.
Bioluminescent bays glow at night due to microscopic organisms: you can see them in places like Puerto Rico.
Microclimates exist even in small areas: one side of a mountain can be rainy while the other is dry.
The Earth’s circumference is slightly larger at the equator: it’s not a perfect sphere but an oblate spheroid.
Archipelagos are groups of islands: the Philippines has over 7,000 of them.
The most spoken native language is Mandarin Chinese: over 900 million people speak it as their first language.
Luxembourg is one of the world’s smallest countries: but it has one of the highest GDPs per capita.
Desert varnish is a dark coating on rocks caused by microbes and dust: it’s found in arid places like Arizona.
Some clouds can weigh over 1 million pounds: they stay afloat due to the spread of water droplets.
The moon’s gravity causes Earth’s tides: the ocean rises and falls daily because of this pull.
Antarctica spans over 5.5 million square miles and is the largest desert on Earth by area.
More than one in eight people worldwide live in slums or informal settlements.
Singapore is a city-state in Southeast Asia: it’s one of the few countries that is also a single city.
The Amazon River discharges more water than the next 7 largest rivers combined: its plume can be seen from space.
Urban areas create heat islands: cities can be several degrees warmer than nearby rural areas.
Powerful earthquakes can shift Earth’s axis and slightly shorten the length of a day.