Geography Facts for Kids
Cool facts about our planet
The equator — the imaginary line that divides the Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres — passes through 13 countries across South America, Africa, and Asia.
Antarctica holds about 70% of the world's fresh water, locked up in its vast ice sheets which are up to 4,776 metres thick in places.
The Gobi Desert in Central Asia is expanding every year due to desertification — a process driven by climate change and overgrazing that is called desertification.
New Zealand is one of the first countries in the world to see the sun rise each day, thanks to its position near the International Date Line.
The Hawaiian islands are slowly moving towards Japan at a rate of about 7.5 centimetres per year, carried on a moving tectonic plate.
Suriname in South America is the most forested country in the world, with over 93% of its land covered by tropical rainforest.
Around 6,000 years ago the Sahara Desert was a lush, green landscape with rivers, lakes, and abundant wildlife — a period scientists call the African Humid Period.
Australia is the only country in the world that occupies an entire continent, making it both a country and a continent at the same time.
The Alps mountain range stretches across eight countries in Europe — France, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia.
The Nile is one of the few major rivers in the world that flows northward — it begins near the equator and flows north to the Mediterranean Sea.