Geography — Page 4
Wonders of our planet
220 facts
In Hammerfest, Norway, the sun does not set for about 76 consecutive days in summer.
Hammerfest is above the Arctic Circle. In summer, the sun remains visible 24 hours a day for more than two months. In…
The Sahara Desert was once green and had giant lakes about 10,000 years ago.
About 10,000 years ago, the Sahara was a savannah with lakes, rivers and abundant vegetation. The period, known as…
La Rinconada, in Peru, is the highest permanent settlement in the world.
La Rinconada is at an altitude of about 5,100 metres, in the Peruvian Andes, near a gold mine. About 50,000 people…
Angel Falls in Venezuela is the world's highest waterfall.
Angel Falls, in Venezuela, has a total height of 979 metres, of which 807 metres are an uninterrupted drop. It is the…
The Dead Sea is the lowest point of dry land on the planet.
The Dead Sea is located about 430 metres below sea level, on the border between Israel and Jordan. It is also one of…
Russia has 11 time zones, the highest number in the world.
Russia has 11 time zones, the highest number in the world. The country stretches more than 9,000 kilometres from east…
Africa is the only continent that extends across all four hemispheres of the Earth.
Africa is crossed by the equator and the Greenwich meridian, which means the continent has territory in the northern…
The Pacific Ocean is shrinking by a few centimetres per year.
The Pacific Ocean is shrinking by a few centimetres per year due to the movement of tectonic plates. The Pacific and…
The Bahamas are made up of more than 700 islands.
The Bahamas archipelago is made up of about 700 islands and more than 2,000 cays. Only about 30 islands are…
Mount Everest grows a few millimetres per year.
Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, grows about 4 millimetres per year. The growth is caused by the…
Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt.
Sudan has about 200 to 255 pyramids, built by the Kingdom of Kush at Meroë, while Egypt has about 138. The Sudanese…
Canada has more lakes than all other countries in the world combined.
Canada has about 62 per cent of the world's lakes, with more than 3 million lakes. The country has more lakes than…
Vatican City is the smallest country in the world, with about 0.44 square kilometres.
Vatican City has an area of just 0.44 square kilometres, making it the smallest country in the world. The population…
Lesotho is one of three countries in the world completely surrounded by a single other country.
Lesotho is a mountainous enclave completely surrounded by South Africa. It is one of three countries in the world in…
Bolivia has a navy, despite having no sea coast.
Bolivia lost its access to the sea to Chile in 1884, during the War of the Pacific. It still maintains a navy of…
Alaska is both the easternmost and westernmost state in the United States at the same time.
Alaska s Aleutian Islands cross the 180th meridian, which marks the international date line. That is why Alaska is…
Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world.
Lake Titicaca, between Peru and Bolivia, is at an altitude of 3,812 metres and is the highest navigable lake in the…
Canada has about 62 percent of the world's lakes.
Canada has about 62 percent of the world's lakes, with more than 3 million registered lakes. It is estimated that the…
The most isolated point in the ocean is called Point Nemo.
Point Nemo, in the South Pacific, is the point in the ocean farthest from any land. The nearest human is often aboard…
Blood Falls in Antarctica are caused by red algae.
Blood Falls in Antarctica owe their red colour to iron oxide, not algae. The salty, iron-rich water flows from a…
Reno is east of Los Angeles.
Reno, in Nevada, is about 650 kilometres northeast of Los Angeles, but its longitude is more westerly. This happens…
Lake Baikal contains about 20 percent of the planet's liquid fresh water.
Lake Baikal, in Siberia, is the deepest lake in the world, at 1,642 metres. It contains about 23,000 cubic kilometres…
La Paz, Bolivia, is the highest capital in the world.
La Paz is at an altitude of about 3,640 metres, making it the highest administrative capital in the world. Although…
The largest mountain range in the world is underwater.
The Mid-Ocean Ridge is the largest mountain range on the planet, about 65,000 kilometres long. It crosses all the…