Geography Site: Geographical Superlatives - tallest, wettest, longest, etc

Geographical Facts and Superlatives
A collection of facts including the extremes of geography, such as the highest and lowest, hottest and coldest places on Earth.
If you know anymore send them to us and, if they are good enough, we'll add them to the page!
	GeoRat © Camilla Robinson

Human Geography

**Top Ten Largest And Smallest Countries**
LARGEST COUNTRIES (in sq miles): 2004			SMALLEST COUNTRIES (in sq miles): 2004
1.	Russia	6,592,735	1.	Vatican City	0.17
2.	Canada	3,855,081	2.	Monaco	0.75
3.	United States	3,717,792	3.	Nauru	8.11
4.	China	3,705,386	4.	Tuvalu	10.0
5.	Brazil	3,286,470	5.	San Marino	23.6
6.	Australia	2,967,893	6.	Liechtenstein	62.0
7.	India	1,269,338	7.	Marshall Islands	70.0
8.	Argentina	1,068,296	8.	Saint Kitts and Nevis	101.0
9.	Kazakhstan	1,049,150	9.	Maldives	116.0
10.	Sudan	967,493	10.	Malta	122.0

**Top Ten Countries By Highest And Lowest Population Density**
HIGHEST POPULATION DENSITY (per sq mile): 2004			LOWEST POPULATION DENSITY (per sq mile): 2004
1.	Monaco	42,861	1.	Western Sahara	2.6
2.	Singapore	16,279	2.	Mongolia	4.6
3.	Vatican City	5,362	3.	Namibia	6.1
4.	Malta	3,253	4.	Australia	6.7
5.	Maldives	2,930	5.	Botswana	6.7
6.	Bahrain	2,640	6.	Suriname	6.9
7.	Bangladesh	2,542	7.	Iceland	7.4
8.	Barbados	1,672	8.	Mauritania	7.5
9.	Taiwan	1,638	9.	Libya	8.3
10.	Nauru	1,580	10.	Canada	8.4

Largest Cities in the World

City	Country	Population size (in millions)
Shanghai	China	13.3
Mumbai (Bombay)	India	12.6
Buenos Aires	Argentina	11.92
Moscow	Russia	11.3
Karachi	Pakistan	10.9
Delhi	India	10.4
Manila	Philippines	10.3
Sao Paulo	Brazil	10.26
Seoul	South Korea	10.2
Istanbul	Turkey	9.6
Figures as of 01/01/2004

Continental Permanent Population Values

Continent	Population
Africa	778,000,000
Antarctica	0
Asia	3,674,000,000
Australia and Oceania	31,000,000
Europe	732,000,000
North America	483,000,000
South America	342,000,000

Top Ten Countries By Gross Domestic Product

HIGHEST GDP PER CAPITA : 2003			LOWEST GDP PER CAPITA : 2003
1.	Luxembourg	$55,100	1.	Somalia	$500
2.	United States	$37,800	2.	Sierra Leone	$500
3.	Norway	$37,700	3.	East Timor	$500
4.	San Marino	$34,600	4.	Tanzania	$600
5.	Switzerland	$32,800	5.	Malawi	$600
6.	Denmark	$31,200	6.	Congo, Dem Republic of	$600
7.	Iceland	$30,900	7.	Burundi	$600
8.	Austria	$30,000	8.	Ethiopia	$700
9.	Ireland	$29,800	9.	Eritrea	$700
10.	Canada	$29,700	10.	Congo, Republic of	$700

Top Ten Countries By Highest Inflation

HIGHEST INFLATION: 2003
1.	Zimbabwe	383.4%
2.	Angola	106.0%
3.	Myanmar	52.8%
4.	Haiti	37.3%
5.	Venezuela	31.1%
6.	Belarus	30.0%
7.	Iraq	27.5%
8.	Malawi	27.4%
9.	Ghana	26.4%
10.	Uzbekistan	21.9%

Where Do The Super Rich People Live?

Rank	Country	Number of Billionaires
1.	United States	269
2.	Japan	29
3.	Germany	28
4.	Italy	17
5.	Canada	16
6.	Switzerland	15
7.	France	15
8.	Hong Kong	14
9.	Mexico	13
10.	United Kingdom	12

Most Expensive Countries In Which To Live

Rank	Country
1.	Japan
2.	South Korea
3.	Russia
4.	Taiwan
5.	Norway
6.	Hong Kong
7.	Switzerland
8.	Denmark
9.	Argentina
10.	China

Top Ten Countries By Highest Infant Mortality Rate

HIGHEST INFANT MORTALITY RATE (deaths per 1000 births): 2004
1.	Angola	192.5
2.	Afghanistan	166.0
3.	Sierra Leone	145.2
4.	Mozambique	137.1
5.	Western Sahara	133.6
6.	Liberia	130.5
7.	Niger	122.7
8.	Somalia	118.5
9.	Mali	118.0
10.	Tajikistan	112.1

Top Ten Countries By Lowest Infant Mortality Rate

HIGHEST INFANT MORTALITY RATE (deaths per 1000 births): 2004
1.	Singapore	2.3
2.	Sweden	2.8
3.	Japan	3.3
4.	Iceland	3.3
5.	Finland	3.6
6.	Norway	3.7
7.	Malta	3.9
8.	Czech Republic	4.0
9.	Andora	4.1
10.	Germany	4.2

Top Ten Countries By Highest Life Expectancy

HIGHEST LIFE EXPECTANCY (in years): 2004
1.	Andorra	83.5
2.	Singapore	81.5
3.	San Marino	81.5
4.	Japan	81.0
5.	Switzerland	80.3
6.	Sweden	80.3
7.	Australia	80.3
8.	Iceland	80.2
9.	Canada	80.0
10.	Italy	79.5

Top Ten Countries By Lowest Life Expectancy

LOWEST LIFE EXPECTANCY (in years): 2004
1.	Botswana	30.8
2.	Zambia	35.2
3.	Angola	36.8
4.	Lesotho	36.8
5.	Mozambique	37.1
6.	Malawi	37.5
7.	Swaziland	37.5
8.	Zimbabwe	37.8
9.	Rwanda	39.2
10.	Namibia	40.5

Top Ten Countries By Lowest Literacy Rate

LOWEST LITERACY RATES: 1990
1.	Burkina Faso	18%
2.	Eritrea	20%
3.	Sierra Leone	21%
4.	Benin	23%
5.	Guinea	24%
6.	Somalia	24%
7.	Sudan	27%
8.	Gambia	27%
9.	Ethiopia	28%
10.	Niger	28%

Physical Geography

Continental Sizes and Highest / Lowest Points

Continent	Land area in sq km (approx)	Land area in sq miles(approx)	Percentage of the total land area	Heighest point	Lowest point
Africa	30,065,000	11,608,000	20.2%	Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, 19,340 ft. (5,895 m)	Lake Assal in Djibouti, 512 ft. below sea level (–156 m)
Antarctica	13,209,000	5,100,000	8.9%	Vinson Massif in the Ellsworth Mts., 16,066 ft. (4,897 m)	Lowest land point hidden within the Bentley Subglacial Trench (deeper than –2,538 m).
Asia	44,579,000	17,212,000	30.0%	Mt. Everest inTibet-Nepal, 29,035 ft. (8,850 m)	Dead Sea in Israel-Jordan, 1,349 ft. below sea level (–411 m)
Australia and Oceania	8,112,000	3,132,000	5.3%	Mt. Kosciusko in Australia, 7,310 ft. (2,228 m)	Lake Eyre in Australia, 52 ft. below sea level (–12 m)
Europe	9,938,000	3,837,000	6.7%	Mt. Elbrus in Georgia, 18,510 ft. (5,642 m)*	Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan 92 ft. below sea level (–28 m)
North America	24,474,000	9,449,000	16.5%	Mt. McKinley in Alaska, 20,320 ft. (6,194 m)	Death Valley in California, 282 ft. below sea level (–86 m)
South America	17,819,000	6,879,000	12.0%	Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina, 22,834 ft. (6,960 m)	Valdes Peninsula in Argentina 131 ft. below sea level (–40 m)

* An alternative and more traditional view of Europe does not include Georgia. Instead Mont Blanc, in France, is given as the heighest point in Europe, at 4000m

Largest and Smallest Countries (by land area)

LARGEST COUNTRIES				SMALLEST COUNTRIES
Rank	Country	Area in sq. km	Area in sq. miles	Rank	Country	Area in sq. km	Area in sq. miles
1	Russia	17,075,400	6,592,846	1	Vatican City	0.44	0.17
2	Canada	9,330,970	3,602,707	2	Monaco	1.95	0.75
3	China	9,326,410	3,600,947	3	Nauru	21.2	8.2
4	United States	9.166,600	3,539,242	4	Tuvalu	26	10
5	Brazil	8,456,510	3,265,075	5	San Marino	61	24
6	Australia	7,617,930	2,941,283	6	Liechtenstein	160	62
7	India	2,973,190	1,147,949	7	Marshall Islands	181	70
8	Argentina	2,736,690	1,056,636	8	Seychelles	270	104
9	Kazakhstan	2,717,300	1,049,150	9	Maldives	300	116
10	Sudan	2,376,000	917,374	10	St. Kitts and Nevis	360	139

Oceans by Size (Surface area)

Ocean	Surface Area (in sq. km)
Arctic	14,056,000
Atlantic	76,762,000
Indian	68,556,000
Pacific	155,557,000
Southern	20,327,000

Deepest Parts of the Oceans

Location	Ocean	Depth
Mariana Trench	Pacific Ocean	35,827 feet (6.8miles)
Puerto Rico Trench	Atlantic Ocean	30,246 feet (5.7 miles)
Java Trench	Indian Ocean	24,460 feet (4.6 miles)
Arctic Basin	Arctic Ocean	18,456feet (3.5 miles)
An airliner flying at 33,000 feet is 6.25 miles above you - so imagine the same sort of distance below you and you have the Mariana Trench

Longest Rivers

Rank	River	Length (in miles)	Location
1.	Nile	4160	North / East Africa
2.	Amazon	4000	South America
3.	Yangtze	3964	China
4.	Huang He	3395	China
5.	Ob-Irtysh	3362	Russia
6.	Amur	2744	Northeast Asia
7.	Lena	2734	Russia
8.	Congo	2718	Central Africa
9.	Mackenzie	2635	Australia
10.	Mekong	2600	Southeast Asia

The Largest Lakes

Rank	Lake	Size (in sq km)	Location
1.	Caspian Sea	371,000	Asia / Europe
2.	Superior	82,100	North America
3.	Victoria	69,500	Africa
4.	Huron	59,600	North America
5.	Michigan	57,800	North America
6.	Tanganyika	32,900	Africa
7.	Baikal	31,500	Asia
8.	Great Bear	31,300	North America
9.	Aral Sea	30,700	Asia
10.	Malawi	28,900	Africa

The Deepest Lakes

Rank	Lake	Depth (in feet)	Location
1.	Baikal	5315	Russia
2.	Tanganyika	4800	Africa
3.	Caspian Sea	3363	Asia / Europe
4.	Malawi	2317	Africa
5.	Issyk-Kul	2303	Kyrgyzstan

Largest Islands

Rank	Name	Size (sq km)
1	Australia	7,617,930
2	Greenland	2,175,600
3	New Guinea	792,500
4	Borneo	725,500
5	Madagascar	587,000
6	Baffin	507,500
7	Sumatra	427,300
8	Honshu	227,400
9	Great Britain	218,100
10	Victoria	217,300

Coldest Recorded Temperatures

Rank	Location	Temperature
1	Vostok , Antarctica	-128.6F
2	Plateau Station , Antarctica	-119.2F
3	Oymyakon , Russia	-96.0F
4	Verkhoyansk , Russia	-89.8F
5	Northice , Greenland	-86.8F
6	Eismitte, Greenland	-84.8F
7	Snag ,Yukon, Canada	-81.4F
8	Prospect Creek , Alaska, USA	-79.8F
9	Fort Selkirk , Yukon, Canada	-74.0F
10	Rogers Pass , Montana, USA	-69.7F

Hottest Recorded Temperatures

Rank	Location	Temperature
1	Al'Aziziyah , Libya	136.4 F
2	Greenland Ranch , Death Valley, California	134.0 F
3	Ghudamis, , Libya	131.0 F
4	Kebili , Tunisia	131.0 F
5	Tombouctou , Mali	130.1 F
6	Araouane , Mali	130.0 F
7	Tirat Tavi , Israel	129.0 F
8	Ahwaz , Iran	128.3 F
9	Agha Jari , Iran	128.0 F
10	Wadi Halfa , Sudan	127.0 F

Highest Mountains (Above Sealevel)

Rank	Name	Height	Location
1	Everest	8850m	Nepal
2	Qogir	8611m	Pakistan
3	Kangchenjunga	8586	Nepal
4	Lhotse	8501m	Nepal
5	Makalu	8462m	Nepal
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