At a closer look, the geography of the world we live in offers plenty of interesting things that you wouldn’t think of in the first place. Take a moment to discover some curious facts that will make your imagination fly and thoughts wander across the globe. For instance, did you know that:
- The name “Earth” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “erda”, which means ground or soil.
- The earth’s glaciers contain about 70% of the world’s fresh water reserves.
- The average elevation of Turkey is 1,100 m (3,600 ft).
- With a total length of 7,000 km (4,350 mi), the Andes is the longest continental mountain range.
- One fifth (20%) of the earth land area is represented by the deserts.
- With an area of 53,000 square km (20,463 square mi), the Vasyugan swamp from western Siberia is the largest swamp in the northern hemisphere.
- The Sea of Marmara connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea and it is the smallest sea in the world.
- With a height of 3,718 m (12,198 ft), Mount Teide located in the Canary island of Tenerife is the heighest elevation in Spain.
- With an elevation of 4,892 m (16,050 ft), the Vinson Massif is the highest mountain in Antarctica.
- Ross Island is an island formed by four volcanoes in the Ross Sea near the continent of Antarctica. It is considered the world's 6th highest island.
- Located in the southern part of the Russian region of Siberia, the Baikal lake is the oldest and deepest lake on earth. This lake is 30 million years old and has an average depth of 744.4 m (2442,2 ft).
- Indonesia is the largest archipelago on earth. It contains over 17,000 islands.
- The highest tides on planet Earth occur near Wolfville, in Nova Scotia's Minas Basin, the water level at high tide can be as much as 16 metres (52 feet) higher than at low tide.
- With 9.4 million square km (3.6 million square mi), Sahara is the world largest desert. Its area is comparable with that of Europe or the United States of America.
- The three main rivers of Africa are: Nile, Congo and Niger.
- Lake Chad, in Central Africa, has an average depth of 1,5 metres.
- The lowest point in Africa is lake Assal in Djibouti with 156 m (512 ft) below the sea level.
- The highest temperature ever recorded in Kuweit was 60 degrees C (140 degrees F) and it happened in July 2010.
- The highest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica was 14.6°C (58.3°F).
- Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. This island has an area of 25,711 square kilometers (9,927 square mi) and a population of 5 million.
- With an average elevation of about 300m, Australia is the flattest continent.
- On the other hand, Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth with an average elevation of 2500 m.
- Australia is the biggest island on Earth and it is the only country that represents a continent to.
- The Caspian Sea has a surface elevation of -28 m (-92 ft) and it is considered the world’s largest lake because it is an enclosed body of water.
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