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Mount Everest
Nepal and China (Tibet Autonomous Region) · Mountains · UNESCO: Sagarmatha National Park, inscribed 1979
The highest point on Earth's surface rises on the border between Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
Height: 8,848.86 m above sea level (Nepal–China survey, announced 2020)
Range: Mahalangur Himal, Himalaya
First recorded ascent: 29 May 1953, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary
The Himalaya formed, and are still rising, because the Indian plate keeps pushing north into the Eurasian plate. Rocks near Everest's summit are limestones that formed on an ancient sea floor, which is why marine fossils are found close to the top of the world.
Its height is measured from mean sea level. Measured from Earth's centre, the summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is farther out, because the planet bulges at the Equator.
Northeastern Africa, flowing through 11 countries to Egypt · Rivers
Usually listed as the world's longest river, the Nile flows north from equatorial Africa to the Mediterranean Sea. The globe marker shows where its two great branches meet.
Length: About 6,650 km
Drainage basin: About 3.3 million km²
Main branches: White Nile and Blue Nile, meeting at Khartoum, Sudan
The White Nile rises in the Lake Victoria region and gives a steady flow. The Blue Nile rises at Lake Tana in Ethiopia and brings most of the summer flood water and silt.
Before the Aswan High Dam was finished in 1970, that yearly flood left fertile soil along a narrow valley through the desert. This made farming possible in Egypt and northern Sudan for thousands of years.
South America, mostly Brazil, across nine countries and territories · Forests · UNESCO: Central Amazon Conservation Complex, inscribed 2000
The largest tropical rainforest on Earth covers much of the Amazon River basin.
Area: About 5.5 million km² of forest
Largest share: Brazil, about 60%
Main river: Amazon River and its tributaries
The forest holds one of the largest collections of plant and animal species on the planet. It also stores a huge amount of carbon in its trees and soils.
Much of its rain is recycled. Trees release moisture into the air, and that moisture falls again as rain farther west. This is why clearing large areas can change rainfall across the region.
North Africa, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea · Deserts
The Sahara stretches across about a third of Africa, through more than ten countries.
Area: About 9.2 million km²
Type: Largest hot desert in the world
Surface: Mostly rocky plateaus and gravel plains; sand seas (ergs) cover a smaller share
The Sahara has not always been dry. Between about 11,000 and 5,000 years ago, a wetter climate brought lakes, grasslands and people. Rock art of cattle and giraffes in places such as Tassili n'Ajjer records that time.
Dust from the Sahara is carried across the Atlantic by the wind. It brings minerals to the oceans and to the Amazon Basin.
Arizona, United States · Canyons · UNESCO: Grand Canyon National Park, inscribed 1979
The Colorado River carved this canyon through the layered rocks of the Colorado Plateau.
Length: About 446 km along the Colorado River
Depth: About 1.8 km (one mile)
Width: Up to about 29 km
The canyon's walls show almost two billion years of geological history. The oldest rocks at the bottom are about 1.8 billion years old, while the top layers formed about 270 million years ago.
Most of the cutting happened over the last few million years. As the plateau rose, the river cut down into it, and wind, rain and frost widened the canyon.
Coral Sea, off Queensland, Australia · Oceans & seas · UNESCO: Great Barrier Reef, inscribed 1981
The world's largest coral reef system is built by billions of tiny coral animals.
Length: About 2,300 km
Size: More than 2,900 reefs and about 900 islands
Marine park area: About 344,400 km²
Each coral polyp builds a limestone skeleton. Over thousands of years these skeletons pile up into reefs large enough to see from space.
Corals depend on algae living in their tissues. When the water stays too warm, they push out the algae and turn white. This is called bleaching. The reef has had several mass bleaching events since 2016.
Zambezi River, Zambia and Zimbabwe · Waterfalls · UNESCO: Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls, inscribed 1989
The Zambezi River drops into a narrow chasm here, making one of the largest curtains of falling water on Earth.
Width: About 1,708 m
Height: Up to about 108 m
Local name: Mosi-oa-Tunya, "the smoke that thunders"
The falls lie on a thick layer of basalt that cracked as it cooled. The river wears away these cracks, so over thousands of years the falls have moved upstream, leaving a zigzag of gorges below them.
In the rainy season the spray can rise hundreds of metres and be seen from far away. It keeps a small patch of rainforest alive beside the falls.
Siberia, Russia · Lakes · UNESCO: Lake Baikal, inscribed 1996
This crescent-shaped lake fills a deep rift in southern Siberia.
Maximum depth: About 1,642 m, the deepest lake on Earth
Fresh water: About 20% of the world's unfrozen surface fresh water
Age: About 25–30 million years
Baikal sits in a continental rift, where Earth's crust is slowly pulling apart. That is why the lake is so deep and still getting wider.
Because it is so old and isolated, many of its plants and animals live nowhere else. One example is the Baikal seal, one of the few seals that live only in fresh water.
Northeastern Tanzania, near the Kenya border · Volcanoes · UNESCO: Kilimanjaro National Park, inscribed 1987
Africa's highest mountain stands alone on the plains of East Africa.
Height: 5,895 m at Uhuru Peak, the highest point in Africa
Type: Stratovolcano with three cones: Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira
Status: Dormant (Kibo)
Kilimanjaro is a volcano built from layers of lava and ash. Kibo, the youngest cone, still gives off gas from small vents in its crater.
Climbing it passes through very different climates in a few days, from farms and rainforest to alpine desert and the summit ice fields. Those ice fields have shrunk sharply since the early 1900s.
These volcanic islands straddle the Equator in the eastern Pacific.
Distance from mainland: About 1,000 km west of Ecuador
Origin: Volcanic islands above a hotspot
World Heritage: Among the first sites inscribed, in 1978
The islands formed over a hotspot, where hot rock rises from deep in the Earth. As the sea floor moves, new islands form in the west, and older ones in the east slowly wear away.
Because they are so far from the mainland, their animals developed in isolation, including giant tortoises, marine iguanas and many kinds of finches. Charles Darwin's visit in 1835 helped shape his theory of evolution by natural selection.
Measurements come from the sources listed under each entry and were checked in November 2026. Some values, such as river lengths and forest area, vary between sources because they depend on how they are measured. See also Sources.
