World Records of Geography: fun facts and quiz

Mount Everest, on the border of Nepal and China, is the highest point on Earth, about 8,849 m above sea level.

Key fact
Measured from base to peak, Hawaii’s Mauna Kea is taller.

The Nile, about 6,650 km long, is usually called the longest river, though some measurements give the Amazon the edge. The Amazon carries by far the most water.

Key fact
The Amazon carries about a fifth of all river water reaching the oceans.

Deserts are defined by low rainfall, not by heat. Antarctica is the largest desert; the Sahara is the largest hot one.

Key fact
Chile’s Atacama is one of the driest places on Earth.

The Caspian Sea is the largest lake by area. Siberia’s Lake Baikal is the deepest, at about 1,640 m, and holds around a fifth of the world’s unfrozen fresh surface water.

Key fact
Lake Baikal is over 25 million years old.

Venezuela’s Angel Falls is the tallest waterfall, with a drop of about 979 m. Victoria Falls, between Zambia and Zimbabwe, has one of the largest curtains of falling water.

Key fact
Much of Angel Falls turns to mist before it reaches the bottom.

Greenland is the world’s largest island. Australia is bigger still, but it counts as a continent.

Key fact
About 80% of Greenland is covered by ice.

Mawsynram, in India, is among the wettest places on Earth, with about 11,800 mm of rain a year. Antarctica recorded −89.2 °C, the coldest temperature ever measured at a weather station.

Key fact
Parts of the Atacama may have gone centuries without significant rain.