Come and discover this beautiful, glorious world with me! Discover This World brings the whole world to you, letting you explore all the countries. I created it out of my own sheer curiosity to know the world, and I hope you enjoy browsing it as much as I enjoy writing and sharing it.
The World, and Introduction
The world that we know has land area totaling 148.65 million sq km (57.4 million sq mi), which constitutes only 29.1% of the earth's surface.
The number of continents in the world can range from at little as four (America, Antarstica, Afro-Eurasia, Australia) to as many as seven (North America, South America, Antarctica, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia) depending on definition.
Hoodoos, Bryce Canyon National Park
Author: Michael Gäbler (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Most people in the English-speaking countries as well as China and India follow the seven-continent model. People in Japan as well as former states of the USSR define the world as comprising six continents namely North America, South America, Antarctica, Africa, Eurasia and Australia.
People in Latin America also define the world as comprising six continents, but follow a different model namely America, Antarctica, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia. Oceania or Australasia are often substituted for Australia to denote the Australian mainland and the islands of the Pacific Ocean. The Olympics define the world only as comprising inhabited continents namely North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania.
Waves at La Jolla, California
Author: Rmrfstar (public domain)
Oceans of the World
The oceans and other bodies of saline water cover some 71% of the world's surface. In terms of area, the biggest is the Pacific Ocean (165.2 million sq km/64.1 million sq mi), followed by Atlantic Ocean (106.4 million sq km/41.1 million sq mi), Indian Ocean (73.6 million sq km/28.4 million sq mi), Southern Ocean (20.3 million sq km/7.8 million sq mi) and the Arctic Ocean (14.1 million sq km/5.4 million sq mi).
The ten biggest seas in the world, in terms of area, are the Philippine Sea (5.2 million sq km/2 million sq mi), Coral Sea (4.8 million sq km/1.85 million sq mi), Arabian Sea (3.86 million sq km/1.49 million sq mi), South China Sea (3.5 million sq km/1.35 million sq mi), Weddell Sea (2.8 million sq km/1.08 sq mi), Caribbean Sea (2.75 million sq km/1.06 million sq mi), Mediterranean Sea (2.5 million sq km/965,000 sq mi), Tasman Sea (2.33 million sq km/900,000 sq mi), Bering Sea (2.26 million sq km/873,000 sq mi) and the Bay of Bengal (2.172 million sq km/838,970 sq mi).
Eight of the ten deepest ocean trenches are in the Pacific Ocean, while two are in the Atlanctic. The deepest in each of the major bodies of water are Mariana Trench (11,033 m/36,197 ft) in the Pacific Ocean; South Sandwich Trench (8,428 m/27,651 ft) in the Atlantic Ocean; Diamantina Deep (8,047 m/26,401 ft) in the Indian Ocean; Cayman Trough (7,686 m/25,238 ft) in the Caribbean Sea; Litke Deep (5,450 m/17,881 ft) in the Arctic Ocean; Manila Trench (5,400 m/17,700 ft) in the South China Sea; Calypso Deep (5,267 m/17,280 ft) in the Mediterranean Sea and Murray Canyon (5,000+ m/16,404 ft) in the Southern Ocean.
Yunnan Rice Terrace, China
Author: Jialiang Gao (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Countries of the World
There are presently 205 countries in the world of which 194 are members or observer states of the United Nations. The United Kingdom, though counted as one sovereign state under international law, is described as four countries namely England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Cook Islands is a country in free association with New Zealand, and is recognized only by Japan, the Netherlands and China. Countries who are not members of the United Nation, and whose sovereignty is disputed by at least one other country include Abhazia, Kosovo, Nagorno-Karabakh, Northern Cyprus, Palestine, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Somaliland, South Ossetia and Taiwan.
The ten largest countries in the world, in terms of area are Russia, Canada, China, the United States, Brazil, Australia, India, Argentina, Kazakhstan and Algeria. In terms of Gross Domestic Product, the ten largest countries of the world in 2010 are the United States, China, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Italy, India and Canada.
Times Square, New York City
Author: Terabass (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
World Population
As of January 2012, the world has a population of 6.989 billion people, of which 60% live in Asia (4.14 billion), followed by Africa (995 million), Europe (739 million), North America (529 million), South America (386 million) and Oceania (36 million).
The ten most populous countries of the world in 2011 are China (1.34 billion), India (1.20 billion), the United States (313 million), Indonesia (238 million), Brazil (196 million), Pakistan (178 million), Bangladesh (159 million), Nigeria (155 million), Russia (142 million) and Japan (127 million).
The ten most densely populated countries in the world in 2011 are Singapore (7,331 per sq km), Bangladesh (1,069), the Palestinian Territories (702), Mauritius (631), Taiwan (640), South Korea (497), Lebanon (404), Netherlands (403), Rwanda (380) and Israel (371). Although more densely populated, Macau (48,092) and Hong Kong (16,576) are not included as they are counted as part of China.
Skyline of Seoul's New Downtown at dusk
Author: Tranquilantus (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Major Cities of the World
According to the National Geographic (December, 2011), the ten most influential cities in the world are New York City, London, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong, Chicago, Los Angeles, Singapore, Sydney and Seoul.
The ten biggest cities in the world, as defined by city proper (without suburbs) are Shanghai (17.8 million people), Istanbul (13.2 million), Karachi (12.9 million), Mumbai 12.5 million), Beijing (11.7 million), Moscow (11.5 million), São Paulo (11.3 million), Guangzhou (11.07 million), Delhi (11.01 million) and Seoul (10.6 million).
The ten biggest metropolitan areas in the world, defined by a main city and its surrounding townships, including the populated urban area and less populated surrounding territories, are Tokyo (32.5 million people), Seoul (20.6 million), Mexico City (20.5 million), New York City (19.7 million), Mumbai (19.2 million), Jakarta (18.9 million), São Paulo (18.8 million), Delhi (18.6 million), Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto (17.3 million) and Shanghai (16.6 million).
Octavio Frias Bridge in São Paulo, Brazil
Author: RobertoZimme (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Wealth
The ten countries of the world with the highest Gross Domestic Product in 2010 are the United States, China, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Italy, India and Canada. The ten with the highest GDP per capita in 2011 are Luxembourg ($122,272), Qatar ($97,967), Norway ($96,591), Switzerland ($84,983), Australia (66,984), United Arab Emirates ($66,625), Denmark ($63,003), Sweden ($61,098), the Netherlands ($51,410) and Canada ($51,147).
The ten countries of the world with the lowest GDP per capita in 2011 are all located in Africa: Burundi ($197), Democratic Republic of the Congo ($211), Liberia ($258), Sierra Leone ($347), Malawi ($350), Ethiopia ($351), Niger ($428), Madagascar ($428), Guinea ($438) and Uganda ($453).
Angels Landing, Zion National Park, Utah, USA
Author: Diliff (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Major Mountains of the World
Mount Everest (8,848 m/29,029 ft) on the border between Nepal and China is the tallest mountain in the world. It is located in Asia, as are all the mountains of the world over 7,000 m (23,000 ft) in height. This includes over one hundred of the tallest mountains of the world. The highest mountains on the other continents are Aconcagua (6,960 m/22,830 ft) in Argentina, South America; Mount McKinley (6,198 m/20,335 ft) in Alaska, United States, North America; Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m/19,341 ft) in Tanzania, Africa; Mount Elbrus (5,633 m/18,481 ft) in Russia, Europe; Vinson Massif (4,892 m/16,050 ft) in Antarctica; and Puncak Jaya (4,884 m/16,024 ft) in Papua, Indonesia, Oceania.
Asia also has the lowest point in the world, being the Dead Sea (-422 m/-1,384.5 ft) in Israel. The lowest points in the other continents include Lake Assal (-155 m/-508.5 ft) in Djibouti, Africa; Laguna del Carbón (-105 m/-344.5 ft) in Argentina, South America; Death Valley (-86 m/-282.2 ft) in the United States, North America; Deep Lake (-50 m/-164 ft) in Antarctica; Caspian Sea (-28 m/-91.9 ft) in Europe; and Lake Eyre (-15 m/-49.2 ft) in Australia.
Kaindy Lake, Kazakhstan
Author: © Jonas Satkauskas
Major Rivers of the World
The ten longest rivers in the world are the Nile (6,650 km/4,132 mi), Amazon (6,400 km/3,976 mi), Yangtze (6,300 km/3,917 mi), Mississippi-Missouri-Jefferson (6,275 km/3,902 mi), Yenisei-Angara-Selenge (5,539 km/3,445 mi), Huang He (5,464 km/3,395 mi), Ob-Irtysh (5,410 km/3,364 mi), Paraná-Río de la Plata (4,880 km/3,030 mi), Zaire River (4,700 km/2,922 mi), and the Heilongjiang River (4,444 km/2,764 mi).
The ten biggest rivers according to the amount of discharge are the Amazon-Marañón (173,000 cubit m per second), Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (42,470 cu m/s), Congo (41,200 cu m/s), Yangtze (35,000 cu m/s), Orinoco (33,000 cu m/s), Madeira (31,200 cu m/s), Rio Negro (28,400 cu m/s), Paraná (25,700 cu m/s), Yenisei (18,040 cu m/s) and Lena (16,200 cu m/s).
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