We live on a unique and distinctive planet, with numerous amazing facts that describe its greatness. Our planet is more than 4.5 billion years old, just a shade younger than the Sun. Recent evidence actually shows that Earth was formed much earlier than previously believed, just 10 million years after the birth of the Sun, a stellar event typically put at 4.6 billion years ago.

Let’s start with some of the basic facts that describe our planet Earth. The circumference of our planet is 24,901.5 miles long, with a diameter of nearly 8,000 miles. The surface area of Earth is 196,935,000 square miles, but only 30 percent of it is covered by land. The Earth’s oceans cover the other 70 percent. Then, 97 percent of the total water is salt water, leaving only 3 percent as fresh water. The highest point on Earth is located on Mount Everest at 29,028 above sea level. The lowest point is in the Dead Sea at 1,302 below sea level.

Here are some interesting facts about the chemicals that make up our planet. Oxygen is 46.6 percent of the composition, followed by silicon at 27.7 percent. Aluminum makes up 8.1 percent, iron 5 percent, calcium is 3.6 percent, sodium is 2.8 percent, magnesium is 2.1 percent and the remaining 1.5 percent is made up of various other elements.

When discussing amazing facts about Earth we should definitely talk about some of the extremes that make up our planet. For example, the hottest place on Earth is thought to be Death Valley, which is true on most days. However, El Azizia in Libya recorded a temperature of 136 degrees Fahrenheit (57.8 Celsius) on Sept. 13, 1922 — the hottest ever measured. In Death Valley, it got up to 134 Fahrenheit on July 10, 1913.

Conversely, the coldest temperature ever measured on Earth was -129 Fahrenheit (-89 Celsius) at Vostok, Antarctica, on July 21, 1983.

The largest volcano on Earth is the Mauna Loa in Hawaii. It rises more than 50,000 feet (9.5 miles or 15.2 kilometers) above its base, which sits under the surface of the sea.

The longest river on Earth is the Nile River in Africa. It is 4,160 miles long.

The driest place on Earth is Arica, in Chile, gets just 0.03 inches (0.76 millimeters) of rain per year.

The wettest place on Earth is Lloro, Colombia. It averages 523.6 inches of rainfall a year, or more than 40 feet (13 meters). That’s about 10 times more than fairly wet major cities in Europe or the United States.

The Grand Canyon holds the title as the largest canyon system on our planet. Its main branch is 277 miles (446 kilometers) long. However, the deepest canyon is Hell’s Canyon along the Oregon-Idaho border. It is more than 8,000 feet (2.4 kilometers) deep. In contrast, the Grand Canyon is less than 6,000 feet deep.

The largest ocean on Earth is the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ocean covers 64 million square miles (165 million square kilometers). It is more than two times the size of the Atlantic. It has an average depth of 2.4 miles (3.9 kilometers).

The largest lake on Earth by size and volume it is the Caspian Sea, located between southeast Europe and west Asia.

The fastest “regular” wind that’s widely agreed upon was 231 mph (372 kph), recorded at Mount Washington, New Hampshire, on April 12, 1934. But during a May 1999 tornado in Oklahoma, researchers clocked the wind at 318 mph (513 kph). For comparison, Neptune’s winds can rage to 900 mph (1,448 kph).

As you can see, there are many amazing facts recorded about Earth, the planet we call home.

Visit Disenchanted.com for another interesting theory on the Earth: You Can’t Blow Up The Earth

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