World Records


Temperature
  • Coldest place on earth: Vostok, Antarctica; Antarctica has the coldest average annual temperatures, and the lowest temperature ever recorded on earth, -89.2 C (-128.6 F), was at Vostok on July 21, 1983.  It has been unofficially reported that Vostok reached the temperature of -91 °C during the winter of 1997.
  • Hottest place on earth: 57.7 degrees Celsius (136 F) at Al Aziziyah, Libya on September 13, 1922
  • Hottest place in North America: Death Valley (134 F, July 10, 1913)
Elevation
  • Highest place on earth: Mount Everest (roughly 29,000 ft)
  • Highest place in the US: Mount McKinley (roughly 20,300 ft), Alaska
  • Highest place in the 48 contiguous US states: Mt. Whitney (roughly 14,500 ft), California
  • Lowest place on earth: The Dead Sea (water surface roughly 1,300 ft below sea level), between Israel and Jordan
  • Lowest place in North America: Death Valley (282 ft below sea level)
  • Deepest place in ocean: Challenger Deep, in the Mariana Trench (roughly 36,000 feet below sea level), western Pacific Ocean
  • Deepest lake: Lake Baikal (roughly 5,300 feet deep), Russia (Siberia)
Land
  • Largest continent: Asia (roughly 17,000,000 sq mi)
  • Smallest continent: Australia (roughly 3,000,000 sq mi)
  • Largest island: Greenland (840,000 sq mi)
  • Largest atoll (Land Area): Christmas Island (94 sq mi), Pacific Ocean
  • Largest archipelago: Indonesia (3,500-mile stretch of 13,000 islands)
  • Largest gorge: Grand Canyon (277 miles long, 1-18 miles wide, 1 mile deep), Colorado River, Arizona, U.S.
  • Deepest gorge: Hells Canyon (7,900 feet), Snake River, Idaho
  • Longest mountain range: Andes (5,000 miles), South America
Water
  • Largest ocean: Pacific Ocean (roughly 64,000,000 sq mi)
  • Smallest ocean: Arctic Ocean  (5,400,000 sq mi)
  • Largest saltwater lake: The Caspian Sea (roughly 145,000 sq mi), Europe-Asia
  • Largest freshwater lake: Lake Superior (roughly 32,000 sq mi), US-Canada
  • Tallest waterfall: Angel Falls, in Venezuela, with a total height of 979 meters
  • Largest River: Amazon (2,720,000 square miles), South America
  • Longest river: Nile (4,145 miles), Africa
  • Driest desert: The Patagonia Desert, found in the southernmost region of South America.
Countries
Size
  • Largest country (land area) (note: China & USA are reversed if lake area is included)
               Land Area (km2)   Total Area (km2)
               ---------------   ----------------
 1  Russia     17,000,000        17,080,000
 2  Canada      9,090,000         9,980,000
 3  China       9,330,000         9,600,000
 4  USA         9,170,000         9,630,000
 5  Brazil      8,460,000         8,510,000
 6  Australia   7,620,000         7,690,000
 7  India       2,970,000         3,290,000
 8  Argentina   2,740,000         2,770,000
 9  Kazakhstan  2,670,000         2,720,000
10  Sudan       2,380,000         2,510,000
  • Smallest country: Vatican City (0.17 sq mi)
Population
  • Largest population
 1  China          1,295,000,000
 2  India          1,065,000,000
 3  United States    293,000,000
 4  Indonesia        238,000,000
 5  Brazil           184,000,000
 6  Pakistan         154,000,000
 7  Russia           144,000,000
 8  Bangladesh       141,000,000
 9  Nigeria          137,000,000
10  Japan            127,000,000
  • Country with greatest population density: Monaco
Animals
Size
  • Largest animal ever: Blue whale (110 feet long, 209 tons)
  • Largest land animal ever: Argentinosaurus, a long-necked, long-tailed, plant-eating dinosaur from Argentina. (130-140 feet long, 80-100 tons)
  • Largest land mammal ever: Baluchitherium, a hornless rhinoceros (26 feet long, 18 feet tall, 17 - 18 tons)
  • Largest land animal: African bush elephant (13 feet high, 8 tons)
  • Largest North American land animal: Bison (buffalo)
  • Largest kind of bear: Kodiak bear
  • Heaviest kind of bear: Polar bear (the largest bear measured in the wild was a Polar bear tipping the scales at 2200 something pounds; the biggest Kodiak was about 1600 pounds)
  • Largest dog: Mastiff & St. Bernard
  • Largest carnivorous dinosaur: Spinosaurus (40-50 feet long, 4-8 tons)
  • Largest reptile: Saltwater crocodile (16 feet long, 1,150 pounds)
  • Largest snake: Anaconda (27 feet, 9 inches long, 500 pounds)
  • Longest snake: Reticulated python (26-32 feet long)
  • Largest lizard: Komodo dragon (9-10 feet long, up to 300 pounds)
  • Largest bird: Ostrich (9 feet tall, 345 pounds)
  • Largest insect: Stick insect (15-22 inches long)
  • Largest fish: Whale shark (40-46 feet long)
  • Largest dolphin: Killer whale (orca) (32 feet long, 21,000 pounds)
  • Largest carnivorous shark: Great white shark (up to 21 feet, over 2 tons)
  • Largest carnivorous shark ever: Megalodon (up to at least 50 feet long)
  • Largest Invertebrate: Giant squid (up to at least 60 feet long)
  • Largest Jellyfish: Lion's mane jellyfish; their bells (jellyfish's round, umbrella-like bodies) can reach 8 feet across and their tentacles can be more than 200 feet long
  • Tallest animal: Giraffe (19 feet tall)
  • Smallest mammal: Bumble-bee bat
  • Smallest bird: Hummingbird (2.5 inches long, 0.06 oz)
Speed
  • Fastest animal: Peregrine falcon (100-200 mph)
  • Fastest land animal: Cheetah (70 mph)
  • Fastest dog: Greyhound (45 mph)
  • Fastest fish: Sailfish (68 mph)
  • Fastest bird: Peregrine falcon (100-200 mph)
  • Fastest running bird: Ostrich (43 mph)
  • Fastest insect: Dragonfly (36 mph)
Lifespan
  • Longest-living animal: Giant tortoise (up to 177 years)
Venom
  • Most venomous animal: Sea wasp (marine stinger) (jellyfish)
  • Most venomous spider: Sydney funnel web spider
Legs
  • Animal with the most legs: Millipede (750)
Loudness
  • Loudest animal: Blue whale
  • Loudest land animal (second-loudest animal): Howler monkey
People
  • Tallest person ever: Robert Wadlow (American) (8' 11")
  • Tallest people: the Watusi tribe (Tutsi) (average 6' 5"),  found in parts of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi
  • Shortest people: the Mbuti (or Bambuti) of Zaire (Pygmies) (men and women average 4' 8" and 4' 5", respectively)
  • Most common native language: Mandarin Chinese
  • Most common non-water beverage in the world: Tea
Trees
Tallest
  • Coastal Redwoods, tallest living organism
  • Mendocino Tree, Montgomery State Reserve, Ukiah, California, USA
Height       367 ft       172 m
Diameter      10 ft         3 m
Largest
  • Sequoias, largest living organism
  • General Sherman Tree, Sequoia National Park, California, USA
Height       275 ft        84 m
Diameter      37 ft        11 m

Volume    52,500 ft3    1,490 m3
Weight     1,400 tons
Oldest
  • Bristlecone Pines, oldest living organism
  • Methuselah Tree, White Mountains, California, USA
Age        4,768 years
Exploration
  • First to climb Mount Everest: Sir Edmund Hillary, 1953
  • First to reach north pole: Admiral Robert E. Peary, 1909; or possibly Dr. Frederick Cook, 1908
  • First to reach south pole: Roald Amundsen, Norwegian, Dec. 17, 1911
  • Deepest ocean exploration ever: Two men in 1960 descended seven miles to the ocean floor
Airplanes and space
  • First airplane flight: Wilbur (and later Orville) Wright; December 17, 1903; Kittyhawk, NC, USA; 12 seconds
  • First to fly solo across the Atlantic ocean: Charles Lindbergh, 1927
  • First woman to fly solo across the Atlantic ocean: Amelia Earhart, 1932
  • First to fly solo across the Pacific ocean: Amelia Earhart, 1935
  • First artificial satellite: Sputnik, USSR, October 4, 1957
  • First in space: Yuri Gagarin, USSR, April 12, 1961
  • First American in space: Alan Shepard, May 5, 1961
  • First to walk on moon: Neil Armstrong, July 20, 1969; Apollo 11; lunar module: the Eagle
  • Number of humans that walked on the moon: 12
  • Number of non-Americans that walked on the moon: 0
Airports
  • Largest airport in the world: Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport; Texas, USA
  • Busiest airport in the world: Hartsfield International Airport; Atlanta, GA, USA