Records of the Earth

Mount Everest

Mount Everest lies in the Himalayas on the border between Nepal and Tibet. It was first climbed in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

💡 Did you know? Its summit, at around 8849 metres, is so high that only about a third of the oxygen available at sea level is there.

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific is the largest and deepest ocean on Earth, reaching from the Americas to Asia. It holds thousands of islands and the deepest point on the planet.

💡 Did you know? The Pacific is larger than all the land masses of the Earth put together.

Russia

Russia is by far the largest country in the world by area and stretches across both Europe and Asia. Even so, fewer people live there than in some much smaller countries.

💡 Did you know? Russia is so large that it spans eleven time zones.

Rhine

The Rhine, about 1,230 km, flows from the Alps through Germany into the North Sea.

💡 Did you know? The German section of the Rhine is about 865 kilometres long.

Volga

The Volga, about 3,530 km, is Europe's longest river and drains into the Caspian Sea in Russia.

💡 Did you know? The Volga empties into the Caspian Sea, the largest lake on Earth.

Nile

At about 6,650 km, the Nile is the longest river on Earth, flowing north from East Africa through Egypt into the Mediterranean.

💡 Did you know? The Nile and the Amazon compete for the title of longest river.

Amazon

The Amazon, about 6,400 km, is by far the world's largest river by discharge, crossing South America to the Atlantic.

💡 Did you know? The Amazon is by far the most water-rich river on Earth.

Yangtze

The Yangtze, about 6,300 km, is Asia's longest river and hosts the world's largest dam (Three Gorges).

💡 Did you know? The Yangtze is the third-longest river in the world.

Atlantic

The Atlantic is the second-largest ocean and separates the Americas from Europe and Africa. The most important routes of exploration and trade of modern times crossed it.

💡 Did you know? The Atlantic grows a little wider each year as the Americas and Europe drift apart.

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third-largest ocean, lying between Africa, Asia and Australia. It is known for its monsoon winds, which have shaped seafaring for thousands of years.

💡 Did you know? The Indian Ocean is on average the warmest of the great oceans.

Mariana Trench

The Mariana Trench in the western Pacific is the deepest known point in the world's oceans, reaching almost eleven kilometres down. There the water pressure is enormous and it is permanently dark.

💡 Did you know? The Mariana Trench is so deep that Mount Everest would sink into it completely.

Vatican City

Vatican City is an independent state in the middle of Rome and the seat of the Pope. It is at the same time the smallest recognised country in the world.

💡 Did you know? The entire state is smaller than some city parks: only about 0.44 square kilometres.

Antarctica

Desert means extremely little precipitation. Antarctica qualifies with under 50 millimetres a year: drier than the Sahara.

💡 Did you know? So the largest desert on Earth is a cold one. The Sahara is merely the largest hot desert.

Greenland

Around 2.2 million square kilometres. Australia is bigger but counts as a continent, not an island.

💡 Did you know? On the common Mercator world map Greenland looks the size of Africa. In reality it fits into Africa fourteen times: the projection inflates everything near the poles.

Angel Falls

It drops almost 1000 metres, 807 of them in free fall.

💡 Did you know? Much of the water turns to mist on the way down and never reaches the bottom as a stream.

Mauna Kea

Over 10,000 metres from the sea floor to the summit: Everest manages 8,849 metres above sea level.

💡 Did you know? Measured from the centre of the Earth a third contender wins: Chimborazo in Ecuador. The planet bulges at the equator, so its summit sits furthest out.

Caspian Sea

Around 371,000 square kilometres, larger than Germany. The name misleads: it has no connection to the oceans.

💡 Did you know? Whether it counts as a lake or a sea is not pedantry but law: the status decides how the bordering states divide up oil and gas.