Geography Facts for Kids
Cool facts about our planet
Contrary to popular belief, the Great Wall of China cannot be seen from space with the naked eye. Astronauts have confirmed it is simply too narrow — about as wide as a road — to spot from orbit.
Finland is known as the Land of a Thousand Lakes, but that's actually a huge understatement — Finland has over 188,000 lakes. That works out to roughly one lake for every 26 people in the country.
Spain has more UNESCO-classified biosphere reserves than almost any other country in the world. Within its borders you can find tropical forests, glaciers, deserts, and lush Atlantic coastlines.
The city of Venice, Italy, is built on 118 small islands connected by over 400 bridges, with millions of wooden stakes hammered into the muddy seabed holding the buildings up.
The Congo River in Africa is the world's deepest river, with depths exceeding 220 metres in places. It is also the only major river that crosses the equator twice.
Tuvalu, a tiny Pacific island nation, could disappear entirely due to rising sea levels caused by climate change. Its highest point is only about 4.5 metres above sea level.
The Sahel is a semi-arid region in Africa that runs just below the Sahara Desert. The Sahara is slowly expanding southward into the Sahel at a rate of up to 48 kilometres per year in some areas.
The Tokyo metropolitan area in Japan is the world's largest city by population, home to over 37 million people. That's more people than the entire country of Canada.
Norway's famous fjords are long, deep inlets carved by glaciers during the last Ice Age. The Sognefjord is the world's deepest at over 1,300 metres — deeper than the tallest building ever built.
The Sahara Desert is the world's largest hot desert and is almost as big as the entire United States. It covers about 9 million square kilometres across 11 different African countries.