Geographical Records


Amazing Geographical Records List

It’s often hard to verify geographical records, partly because they change over time and partly because of conflicting information from different sources. We’re always on the lookout for new geographical records to add to the list so please do add your suggestions.

  • ADDucation’s geographical records list was compiled by Robert Junker, last updated 04 Sep 2023.
Superlative Geographical Records
Highest mountain Mount Everest in the Himalayas (Nepal, Tibet): 29,000 feet (8,848 m).
Second highest mountain K2 in the Karakoram (Pakistan): 28,250 feet (8,611 m).
Biggest mountain range The Himalayas: 1,550 miles (2,500 km) long and 95-175 miles (150-280 km) wide.
Longest mountain range Longest mountain range above sea level: Andes, about 4,300 miles (7,500 km) long.
Longest mountain chain Longest mountain chain below sea level: Mid-ocean ridge (Atlantic): up to 4,970 miles (8,000 km) long and 3,730 miles (6,000 m) high.
Highest active volcano Ojos del Salado (Chile, Atacama): 22,595 feet (6,887 m).
Longest river Nile (Source: Ruandaberge): 4,145 miles (6,671 km) long.
Largest river by area Amazon: about 2,7 million square miles (7 million km2).
Highest waterfall Angel Falls (Venezuela): 3,209 feet (978 m).
Biggest ocean Pacific Ocean: 70 million sq miles (181.4 million km2).
Biggest lake Caspian Sea (RUS / KAZ / IRAN): 149,000 sq miles (386,500 km2).
Largest freshwater lake Lake Superior in Canada: 84,130 km2.
Saltiest lake Don Juan Lake in East Antarctica: 44.2% (compared with the Dead Sea: 27%).
Deepest lake Lake Baikal (Russia): -5,375 feet (-1,638 m).
Largest lake in the world Caspian Sea: 18,880 cubic miles (78,700 km3).
Largest tropical rainforest Amazon rainforest (aka Amazonia): Covers 2,123,562 sq miles (5,500,000 km2) including parts of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Venezuela and Suriname.
Largest tropical wetland Pantanal: Between 54,000 and 75,000 square miles (140,000 to 195,000 km2) located mostly in western Brazil extending into Bolivia and Paraguay.
Largest island Greenland, part of Denmark: 822,500 sq miles (2.13 million km2).
Largest island and continent Australia: 2,934,375 sq miles (7.6 million km2).
Largest island in a lake Manitoulin in Lake Huron in Canada: 1,072 sq miles (2,777 km2).
Biggest country Russia: 6,592,695 sq miles (17,075,000 km2).
States on Earth 206, of which 193 are recognized states of the United Nations (UN).
Largest city in the world
 Tokyo is the largest city (metropolis) with a population around 38 million (December 2016).
Largest continent Asia: 17,220,156 sq miles (44.61 million km2), 47 countries with a total of 4 billion people (60.5%).
Second largest continent Africa: 11,698,900 sq miles (30.3 million km2), 54 countries with a total of 1 billion people (15%).
Largest canyon Grand Canyon: Between 3,280-5,905 feet (1,000-1,800 m) deep and between 277-217 miles (446-350 km) long.
Deepest canyon It depends what you mean by deepest and where you measure from. The Indus gorge (at the confluence of the Indus and Gilgit rivers) is 23,360 ft (7,120 m) deep from peak to river which is 2,000 ft (600 m) deeper than the Kali Gandaki Gorge and 5,000 ft (1,500 m) deeper than the Yarlung Tsangpo Gorge which measures 19,714 feet (6,009 m) at its deepest point. These make up the three deepest canyons in the world – probably!
Deepest point on Earth Vitiaz Deep (formerly Challenger Deep) in the Mariana Trench (western Pacific): -36,000 feet (-11,000 m).
Hottest places Al Azizia in Libya: 58° (measured Sep 13, 1922) and Death Valley (USA): 56.7°.
Coldest places Probably “Ridge A” located between Dome Argus (Dome A) and Dome Fuji in Antarctica where -93.2°C (-135.76 F) was measured by satellite data on 10 August 2010. Vostok Station, Antarctica directly measured -89.2°C (-128.6 F) at ground level on 21 July 1983.
Wettest location Mount Waialeale on Kauai in Hawaii: 493 inches (1254 cm) rain/year.
Driest area Atacama (Chile): virtually no rain.
Biggest desert Sahara: 3,500,000 sq miles (9 million km2) which is almost as large as the entire USA or 37 times larger than the UK.
Temperatures in the Sahara Daytime up to 60 °C, nights below 0°.

See also: Gemstones & Jewels | Cloud Names & Types

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