Here’s presenting a list of the world’s most incredible extremes. These are some places and facts that’ll blow your mind completely!
Hottest Place on Earth: Lut Desert, Iran
NASA recorded the highest ever surface temperatures on Earth at the Lut Desert. The single highest temperature was recorded in 2005, measuring 70.7°C (159.3°F). The second highest temperature of 69.3°C (156.7°F) was recorded in the shrub lands of Queensland, Australia.
Lut Desert (by Hadi Karimi)
Death Valley, USA and Dallol, Ethiopia are the hottest inhabited places on Earth.
Coldest Place on Earth: Vostok Station, Antarctica
Vostok Station is a Russian research centre that sits on a gigantic sheet of Antarctic ice that is 4 km thick! The lowest recorded temperature here was −93.2 °C (−135.8 °F).
Vostok Station (by NSF/Josh Landis)
Shortest River in the World: D River, USA
So, everyone knows about the longest river in the world (Nile, Egypt), but did you ever think about the shortest river in the world? The D River is located in Lincoln City in Oregon, and connects Devil’s Lake to the Pacific Ocean. It is a mere 37 m (120 feet) long!
D River (by Sandivas)
Maximum Distance from the Centre of the Earth: Mount Chimborazo, Ecuador
Since Mount Everest is the tallest peak in the world, common sense dictates it should also be the farthest from the Earth’s centre, right? Wrong. This title is held by Mount Chimborazo, a volcano in Ecuador. This is because Earth is an oblate spheroid (bulges in the middle), and the volcano lies very close to the Equator.
Mount Chimborazo (David Torres Costales)
Mount Chimborazo is 6,384 km (3,967 miles) away from the Earth’s centre, about 2 km more than Mount Everest.
Deepest Point on Earth: Challenger Deep, Pacific Ocean
One of the world’s most incredible extremes is the Challenger Deep, the deepest point in the Earth’s seabed—10,908 metres (35,787 feet) below sea level. This means that if Mount Everest were to be immersed at this point, there would still be about 1.6 km of water above it!
Challenger Deep map location (by Wallace)
Challenger Deep is located on the southern end of the Mariana Trench.
Windiest Place on Earth: Commonwealth Bay, Antarctica
An open bay in Antarctica, Commonwealth Bay is listed as the windiest place on Earth according to the National Geographic Atlas. The Katabatic Winds created have speeds that regularly exceed 240 kmph (150 miph). On a regular day, the wind speed measures up to 80 kmph (50 miph)!
Commonwealth Bay (from the official website)
Remotest Place on Earth: Bouvet Island, Norway
Bouvet Island, a dependency of Norway located in the South Atlantic Ocean, is the remotest piece of landmass on Earth, more than 1700 km away from the nearest landmass—Queen Maud Land in Antarctica.
Cape Valdivia on Bouvet Island (by 1447)
93% of the island is covered with glacier, and has an inactive volcano at its centre. It is an important nature reserve with several different avian species residing here.
Wettest Place on Earth: Mawsynram, India
There are many different contenders for the wettest place on Earth, however, the powerful Asian monsoon makes the town of Mawsynram, in the Indian state of Meghalaya, a sure shot winner. The highest record was in 1985 with over 25 m of rainfall. The average rainfall remains around 13 m each year.
Driest Place on Earth: Atacama Desert, Chile
There are parts of the Atacama Desert that have never received a single drop of rainfall ever! The dry valleys of Antarctica can also be considered for the same title. The most amazing part is, both these places are situated very close to the coast.
Valle Luna in the Atacama Desert (by Reinhard Jahn)
Highest Waterfall in the world: Angel Falls, Venezuela
Angel Falls is the world’s highest uninterrupted waterfall falling from a height of 979 m (3,212 ft) and a plunge of 807 m (2,648 ft). Accredited as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the falls is so high that the water evaporates before it reaches the ground!
Angel Falls in Venezuela (by Poco a poco)
Angel Falls panorama (by Jlazovskis)
Longest Cave System in the World: Mammoth Cave, Kentucky
The Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System stretches for around 640 km (400 miles) below the state of Kentucky. This is by far the longest explored cave system, almost twice as long as the second longest—the Sac Actun underwater cave in Mexico.
Inside Mammoth Cave (by Beatrice M)
Oldest Crust on Earth: Jack Hills, Australia
Zircon crystals extracted from Jack Hills have revealed that the continents arose within 160 million years after the formation of the Solar System—much earlier than previously thought. Many parts of this place contain some of the oldest formed crust on Earth that are more than 4.4 billion years old!
Jack Hills (from the official NASA website)
Newest Island on Earth: Niijima, Tokyo
New islands are continuously being formed as a result of glacial rebound or volcanic eruptions. Niijima (part of Pacific’s “Ring of Fire”) is probably the newest formed island on Earth. It is currently administered as part of Tokyo.
by Taichi
Least Populated Place on Earth: Greenland, Denmark
The world’s largest island is also the least populated place on Earth with a population density of density 0.026 people per km sq.
Village of Tasiilaq in Greenland (by Christine Zenino)
Richest Place in the World: Monaco
Famed for its tax exiles, fast cars and luxury yachts, Monaco is now considered to be the wealthiest place on Earth. According to World Bank statistics, Monégasques earn more than any other country in the world.
Monaco coastline (by Katonams)
Just to give you an idea, the gross national income (GNI) per capita in Bermuda (which ranks 3rd) is $104,610 (£61,000, €76,500)!
These are some of the world’s most incredible extremes. Check out our list for the unique natural wonders of the world. Don’t forget to share and comment below.
