| Tokyo is the largest city in the world with a population over 37 million |
Cities |
| La Rinoconada in Peru is the highest city, with an elevation of 5100 m |
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| Jericho is the lowest city in the world. It's 258 m below sea level |
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| Reykjavik in Iceland is the world's northernmost capital city |
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| Puerto Williams in Chile is the southernmost permanently inhabited place |
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| The largest desert is in Antarctica with an area of 5.5 million square miles |
Deserts |
| Deserts cover one-third of earth's land surface |
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| 120,000 square km of land turn to desert every year due to climate change |
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| In 6 hours deserts get more energy from the sun than humans use in a year |
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| Death Valley is the hottest desert. Temperatures can reach 56.7⁰C |
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| Trees in forests communicate with each other through a fungal network |
Forests |
| Not all rainforests are tropical. There are some rainforests in the UK |
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| The largest UK forest is Galloway Forest, with an area of 770 square km |
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| Almost half of all bluebells in the world are found in the UK's forests |
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| Forests are home to 80% of the world's terrestrial biodiversity. |
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| Stalactites are created by the continuous dripping of mineral rich water |
Caves |
| Stalagmites are created as the water droplets fall to the cave floor |
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| The longest cave system is Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, USA, at 651.8 km |
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| The deepest known cave is Krubera Cave in Georgia, at 2,197 m |
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| Altamira caves in Spain contain 20,000-year-old prehistoric paintings |
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| Magma is liquid rock inside a volcano. Lava is liquid rock outside |
Volcanoes |
| The largest volcano on earth is Mauna Loa on Hawai'i. It's 17,000 m tall |
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| There are approximately 1,900 volcanoes on Earth. Most in the "Ring of Fire" |
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| When Krakatau erupted it released the energy of 15,000 nuclear bombs |
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| Lava from a volcano can reach 1,250°C |
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| Thirty of the world’s highest mountains are in the Himalayas |
Mountains |
| The longest mountain range in the world is the Andes in South America |
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| Any land mass 1,000 feet above the surrounding area is a mountain |
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| There’s a mountain in Australia called Mount Disappointment |
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| There are thought to be 100,000 uncharted mountains under the sea |
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| 71 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by ocean |
Oceans |
| The Pacific is the largest ocean, making up over a third of the planet's surface |
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| The Mid-Atlantic Ridge beneath the Atlantic is Earth's longest mountain range |
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| The deepest part of the oceans is the Mariana Trench at almost 11 km deep |
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| The Arctic Ocean around the North Pole is the smallest and shallowest ocean |
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| The Nile is the longest river. It is over 6,650 km long |
Fresh water |
| Second longest is the Amazon at 6,575 km. It is the largest river by volume |
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| The Caspian Sea is actually a lake. It's the world's largest inland body of water |
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| The Great Lakes in North America hold 21% of the worlds surface fresh water |
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| The Congo is the deepest river. In places it is 230 m deep |
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| Earthquakes are vibrations of Earth's crust caused by movement of its plates |
Earthquakes |
| The magnitude of an earthquake is measured on the Richter scale from 0-10 |
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| There are millions of minor earthquakes every year |
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| The world’s deadliest earthquake killed 830,000 people in China in 1556 |
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| In 2010 an earthquake in Chile moved the city of Concepción 3 m to the west |
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| Russia is the largest country, with an area of 6.6 million square miles |
Countries |
| Istanbul is the only city in the world that is spread across two continents |
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| Mongolia has the lowest population density with 4 people per square mile |
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| South Sudan is the world's youngest country. It was founded in 2011 |
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| Monaco is the most densely populated country with 26,000 people per km² |
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