| Alaska
|
|
|
More
than half of the coastline of the entire
United States is in Alaska. |
| |
| Amazon
|
|
The
Amazon rainforest produces more than
20% the world's oxygen supply. The Amazon
River pushes so much water into the
Atlantic Ocean that, more than one hundred
miles at sea off the mouth of the river,
one can dip fresh water out of the ocean.
The volume of water in the Amazon river
is greater than the next eight largest
rivers in the world combined and three
times the flow of all rivers in the
United States. |
| |
Antarctica
|
|
Antarctica
is the only land on our planet that
is not owned by any country. Ninety
percent of the world's ice covers Antarctica.
This ice also represents seventy percent
of all the fresh water in the world.
As strange as it sounds, however, Antarctica
is essentially a desert. The average
yearly total precipitation is about
two inches Although covered with ice
(all but 0.4% of it, i.e.), Antarctica
is the driest place on the planet, with
an absolute humidity lower than the
Gobi desert. |
| |
Brazil
|
|
Brazil
got its name from the nut, not the other
way around. |
| |
Canada
|
|
Canada
has more lakes than the rest of the
world combined. Canada is an Indian
word meaning "Big Village." |
| |
Chicago
|
|
Next
to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish
population in the world. |
| |
Detroit
|
|
Woodward
Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, carries
the designation M-1, named so because
it was the first paved road anywhere.
|
| |
Damascus,
Syria |
|
Damascus,
Syria, was flourishing a couple of thousand
years before Rome was founded in 753
BC, making it the oldest continuously
inhabited city in existence. |
| |
Istanbul,
Turkey |
|
Istanbul,
Turkey, is the only city in the world
located on two continents. |
| |
Kola Peninsula, Russia |
|
The deepest hole ever made by humans is in Kola Peninsula in Russia, was completed in 1989, creating a hole 12,262 meters (7.6 miles) deep. |
| |
Los
Angeles |
|
Los
Angeles's full name is El Pueblo de
Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles
de Porciuncula --and can be abbreviated
to 3.63% of its size: L.A. |
| |
New York City |
|
The
term "The Big Apple" was coined by touring
jazz musicians of the 1930's who used
the slang expression "apple" for any
town or city. Therefore, to play New
York City is to play the big time -
The Big Apple. There are more Irish
in New York City than in Dublin, Ireland;
more Italians in New York City than
in Rome, Italy; and more Jews in New
York City than in Tel Aviv,  Israel. |
| |
Ohio
|
|
There
are no natural lakes in the state of
Ohio, every one is manmade. |
| |
Pitcairn
Island |
|
The
smallest island with country status
is Pitcairn in Polynesia, at just 1.75
sq. miles/4,53 sq. km. |
| |
Rome
|
|
The
first city to reach a population of
1 million people was Rome, Italy in
133 B.C. There is a city called Rome
on every continent. |
| |
Siberia
|
|
Siberia
contains more than 25% of the world's
forests. S.M.O.M.The actual smallest
sovereign entity in the world is the
Sovereign Military Order of Malta (
S.M.O.M.). It is located in the city
of Rome, Italy, has an area of two tennis
courts, and as of 2001 has a population
of 80, 20 people less than the Vatican.
It is a sovereign entity under international
law, just as the Vatican is. |
| |
Sahara
Desert |
|
In
the Sahara Desert, there is a town named
Tidikelt, which did not receive a drop
of rain for ten years. Technically though,
the driest place on Earth is in the
valleys of the Antarctic near Ross Island.
There has been no rainfall there for
two million years. |
| |
Spain
|
|
Spain
literally means 'the land of rabbits'.
|
| |
St.
Paul, Minnesota |
|
St.Paul,
Minnesota, was originally called Pig's
Eye after a man named Pierre "Pig's
Eye" Parrant who set up the first business
there. |
| |
Roads
|
|
Chances
that a road is unpaved in the U.S.A.:
1%, in Canada: 75% The Eisenhower interstate
system requires that one-mile in every
five must be straight. These straight
sections are usable as airstrips in
times of war or other emergencies. |
| |
United
States' Waterfalls |
|
The
water of Angel Falls (the World's highest)
in Venezuela drops 3,212 feet (979 meters).
They are 15 times higher than Niagara
Falls. |
