Coastal deserts sit beside cold currents: Atacama (Humboldt), Namib (Benguela).
Chile leads in copper; the Ruhr (Germany) is a coal–steel region.
Continents and oceans
There are seven continents — Asia (largest), Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia (smallest) — and five oceans: Pacific (largest and deepest), Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic (smallest). The Atlantic is S-shaped and the busiest ocean for trade; the Indian Ocean is the only ocean named after a country.
Superlative
Answer
Highest mountain
Mount Everest, Nepal–China border (8,848.86 m, as jointly announced in 2020)
Longest mountain range on land
Andes, South America
Deepest point
Challenger Deep, Mariana Trench, Pacific (about 11 km)
Largest island
Greenland
Largest lake (by area)
Caspian Sea
Largest freshwater lake (by area)
Lake Superior, North America
Deepest lake
Lake Baikal, Russia
Largest hot desert
Sahara, Africa
River with the largest discharge
Amazon
Largest coral reef system
Great Barrier Reef, off Queensland, Australia
Grasslands of the world
Type
Name
Region
Temperate
Prairies
North America
Temperate
Pampas
Argentina
Temperate
Steppes
Eurasia (Ukraine to Central Asia)
Temperate
Veld
South Africa
Temperate
Downs
Australia
Temperate
Canterbury
New Zealand
Tropical
Savanna
Africa
Tropical
Llanos
Venezuela and Colombia
Tropical
Campos
Brazil
Deserts
Hot deserts lie mostly between 15 and 30 degrees latitude on the western sides of continents, under subtropical high pressure: Sahara, Arabian, Thar, Kalahari, Great Australian, Mojave.
Coastal deserts form beside cold currents that cool the air and stop rain: Atacama (Chile, Humboldt Current), Namib (Namibia, Benguela Current).
Cold or rain-shadow deserts: Gobi (Mongolia–China), Patagonia (Argentina), Ladakh.
Straits and canals
Strait / canal
Connects or separates
Strait of Gibraltar
Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic; Spain (Europe) and Morocco (Africa)
Strait of Hormuz
Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman; Iran and Oman
Bab-el-Mandeb
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden; Yemen and Djibouti
Strait of Malacca
Andaman Sea and South China Sea; Malay Peninsula and Sumatra
Palk Strait
India and Sri Lanka
Bering Strait
Asia (Russia) and North America (Alaska)
Strait of Dover
England and France
Bosporus
Black Sea and Sea of Marmara; divides Istanbul
Suez Canal (1869)
Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea, in Egypt
Panama Canal (1914)
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, across the isthmus of Panama
Latitudes that cross many countries
The equator passes through South America (Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil), Africa (Gabon, Republic of the Congo, DR Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, plus Sao Tome and Principe) and Asia (Maldives' waters, Indonesia), as well as Pacific island nations like Kiribati. Africa is the only continent crossed by the equator, the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
Economic geography
Resource / region
Where
Copper
Chile (Chuquicamata, Escondida) and Peru in the Andes; the Copperbelt of Zambia and DR Congo
Iron ore
Mesabi Range (USA), Pilbara (Western Australia), Carajas (Brazil)
Petroleum
Persian Gulf region, Russia, the USA, Venezuela, Nigeria
Ruhr
Coal, iron and steel region of Germany along the Rhine
