Geography: interesting facts about the countries of the world

Thanks to the brave travelers who lived in the distant and recent past, there are almost no white spots on the world map. However, interesting facts from geography continue to occupy people's minds. Fortunately, today it is no longer necessary to go to distant lands in order to learn more about the planet.

Interesting facts from geography: rivers and lakes

Most of the surface of planet Earth is occupied by water bodies. Oceans, seas, rivers, lakes - people know a lot about them and do not know even more. What interesting facts from geography are dedicated to them?

Let us consider in more detail some of them:

1. In the past, the Nile River was considered the longest in the world. Relatively recently, the Amazon was named as such. Researchers have long worked to establish the source of this river. The main difficulty was that it flows through difficult terrain.
2. The Dead Sea - the name that bears a closed salt lake located in the Middle East. Its water is so salty that a person can easily lie on the surface. Diving in such a lake is not recommended, because salt penetrates the eyes.
3. In the African country of Ghana, there is only one lake - Bosumtvi. The pond has a round shape, and its diameter is 8 km. The lake formed in a meteorite crater.
4. Hillier Lake, located in Western Australia, is famous for its pink color. Scientists still have not been able to solve the riddle of this phenomenon.

Seas

The most interesting facts about geography relate to the seas. What is known about parts of the oceans:

1. The Sargasso Sea has no coast, it is part of the Atlantic Ocean. Presumably this area has become the sea due to the many algae floating near the surface of the water. This creates the illusion of proximity to land.
2. The Red Sea is a danger to inexperienced tourists. Divers should beware of large seashells, whose wings can squeeze their hand. It is not easy to get out of this trap in the water. It is also considered dangerous because of the many poisonous fish, predators.
3. The White Sea, washing the northern coast of Russia, is famous for its low temperature. Minus 2 degrees Celsius - such indicators were recorded in its waters.
4. The warmest water is in the Persian Gulf, which is the sea according to the hydrological regime. It is able to warm up to +35 degrees and even higher.

The mountains

Some interesting facts about the geography of the world are dedicated to the mountains. The longest mountain range is not at all on land. It is located at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The length of the ridge is over 18 thousand km, it is located approximately in the middle between America and Africa. The northern part of the mountain range rises above the water. It is about the island of Iceland.

The Andes are the longest mountains on the surface of the planet. Their length is more than 7 thousand km. The one who believes that Everest is the highest mountain in the world is mistaken. This title is held by Mauna Kea, located in Hawaii. The mountain rises above sea level at 4,205 meters. However, its height is 10 203 meters, if you count from the foot that went deep under the water.

Cities

Listing interesting facts about the geography of the world, one cannot but pay attention to its cities:

1. The Guinness Book of Records indicates the smallest city on the planet - Croatian Hum. In this village no more than 20 people live. Surprisingly, the territory of the city contains a restaurant, a shop, two temples. He even has his own mayor. The settlement arose on the site of the ruins of the fortress in the XI century.
2. The most populated city in the world is Chinese Chongqing. Over 40 million people live on its territory. Tokyo is a little behind, this city will intervene more than 35 million souls.
3. Hulunbuir is the largest city in the world by area. This settlement is located in Inner Mongolia (China). It occupies over 260 thousand square kilometers. Over 2.5 million inhabitants live in it.
4. Ordos is the world's largest ghost town. It is also located in the lands of Inner Mongolia. Initially, the settlement was designed for 1 million inhabitants. Now, no more than 20 thousand people live in it. Most of the buildings are empty.

States

What else is known about our planet from geography? Interesting facts about the countries of the world are contained below.

Let's consider them in more detail:

1. About 70% of Japan is mountains. Also in this state are 17 active volcanoes. The ruling dynasty of the country is considered the oldest on our planet. Emperor Akihito is a descendant of Emperor Jimmu, who came to power in 711 BC. Japanese streets have no names.
2. Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. This country was also four times recognized as the best place to live.
3. The smallest states of the planet are the Vatican, San Marino, Monaco, Nauru, Tuvalu. The Vatican has less than a thousand people.
4. Austria is the first country whose inhabitants began to send each other postcards.
5. Residents of Thailand never use a fork when eating, as they consider it indecent. It serves solely to shift food into a spoon from a plate.
6. Over 20% of the territory of Costa Rica is reserved for nature reserves and national parks. Tourism brings a stable income to the country; more than a million people visit it annually.

Russia

Our state occupies about one sixth of the land; its open spaces are truly enormous. Is it any wonder that quite interesting facts about the geography of Russia are known.

Here are some of them:

1. On the territory of the Russian Federation, Austria can be placed 202 times, Japan 45 times - Japan, 33 times - Spain.
2. Our country is only slightly inferior in area to Canada and China combined. These states follow her in size.
3. The most round lake in the world is in Chukotka. It has an unpronounceable name - Elgygytgyn. The lake arose in a meteorite crater.
4. About 2.8 million rivers flow through the territory of the Russian Federation. Their total length is 12.4 km. Also, our country is washed immediately by 13 seas.
5. Lake Baikal is the first in volume and the deepest. Lakes in the country over 2 million.
6. The Russian village of Oymyakon is the coldest point in the world. Once the temperature dropped to -77.8 degrees. Surprisingly, people constantly live in the territory of this settlement. “Pole of Cold” - he was awarded this nickname.
7. The Ural mountain range divides Russia into Asian and European parts. Two-thirds of the state is in Asia, while it is considered European.
8. In our country, about 157 thousand settlements. About 1,100 of them received city status.
9. From 60 to 65% of the territory of the state is occupied by permafrost.
10. The largest swamp in the world is in Siberia. This is a Vasyugan swamp. Interestingly, about 10% of the entire territory of the state falls on swamps.
11. The country has 11 time zones. This is due to the great length from West to East.
12. In Russia there are 84 reserves, 35 national parks.
13. The country has 13 million cities. About 20% of the state’s population lives in them.
14. The area of ​​Russia is over 17 million square kilometers. Its area is comparable to the surface area of ​​the planet Pluto.

Entertaining information

Interesting facts about geography do not end there. Here are some more facts:

1. The depth of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean is over 11 km. Surprisingly, living creatures live there.
2. Some place names contain only vowels. For example, one of the Italian mountains of Aeea, the Hawaiian city of Aiea.
3. The depth of the Kola well is over 12 km. This is the deepest well that people have been able to drill. It was supposed to be even deeper. But technical problems led to the fact that drilling was suspended.
   

Besides

The Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia is the longest railway in the world. Its length is more than 9 thousand km. The road passes through 87 cities, stretching from Moscow to Vladivostok.

Almost all continents of the planet are wider in the north than in the south. The only exception to this rule is Antarctica. It is also the only continent that does not have territories below sea level.

More than two thirds of the Earth’s land is located north of the equator.

At the North Pole, it is impossible to see the sun 186 days a year.