"What's the tallest mountain in the world?" sounds like a one-word answer. It's actually three, depending on what you mean by "tallest". Many of the world's records are like that, and knowing why is what makes them stick.
Three answers for "tallest"
- Highest above sea level: Mount Everest, 8,849 metres (a 2020 survey by Nepal and China).
- Tallest from base to peak: Mauna Kea, in Hawaii. Most of it is under the sea; measured from the sea floor it's over 10,000 metres.
- Farthest from the centre of the Earth: Chimborazo, in Ecuador. The Earth bulges at the equator, so a peak near the equator sticks out farther into space.
Rivers
- Longest: usually the Nile, about 6,650 km. Some studies make the Amazon longer; it depends on where you decide each river begins.
- Most water: the Amazon, by a huge margin.
Deserts
A desert is defined by how little rain or snow falls, not by heat. That makes Antarctica the largest desert. The largest hot desert is the Sahara, roughly the size of the United States.
Water, land and people
- Largest ocean: the Pacific. Deepest point: the Challenger Deep, about 10,900 m down.
- Largest lake: the Caspian Sea, which is a lake despite its name. Deepest: Lake Baikal.
- Largest country: Russia. Smallest: Vatican City.
- Most people: India, since 2023, according to United Nations estimates.
- Largest island: Greenland, because Australia counts as a continent.
- Lowest land: the Dead Sea shore, more than 430 m below sea level.
Easy ones to mix up
- Everest is the highest, but not the tallest from its base.
- The Sahara is the largest hot desert, not the largest desert.
- China held the population record for decades, but no longer.
Try it
Say each record before you flip. Where in the world could you stand on the ground farther below sea level than anywhere else on land?