Earth's Fun Facts

• Only 11 percent of the earth's surface is used to grow food.
• Inside the earth it gets 3 degrees hotter every 100m further down.
• Earth is tipped at 23 and 1/2 degrees in orbit. That axis is what causes our seasons.
• Switzerland is one of the only countries to have no mineral deposit in it.
• The largest known uncut emerald is 5 cm long and 5 cm in diameter.
• The largest lake in the world i.e. the Caspian sea measures about 980 km from North to South and 215 to 440 km in breadth, with an area of 371,800 sq.km.
• Earth is estimated to be 3-5 Billion Years old.
• Earth is estimated to weigh 6,585,600,000,000,000,000,000 tons.
• The area of the earth is almost 200 million square miles.
• Earth travels through space at 66,700 miles per hour.
• Earth's orbit around the sun makes a year at nearly 365 and 1/2 days
• The deepest point in the crust is the Mariana's Trench in the Pacific ocean which is 11km below sea level.
• One of the driest places on earth, Africa, Chile in South America gets an average rainfall of only about 0.5 mm.
• The most destructive earthquake occurred in September, 1923 in Japan. 143,000 people lost their lives and the cost of the damage was estimated at 1 billion pounds i.e. $30 billion or Rs.120,000 crores.
• Making a simple vase out of the precious stone- Jade, may take more than two years of work.
• The amount of gold in all the oceans together is estimated to be as much as 10 thousand million tonnes.
• Less than 1 gram of gold can be beaten into a sheet of nearly 2 sq.mt.
  The largest hailstone ever, was found in Kansas, USA. It was the size of a melon, 19cm wide and weight 758gms.
• Earth's oceans are an average of 2 Miles deep.
• Earth's rotation on its axis makes a day at 24 hours...
• The Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia is 2000km long and covers an area of 250,000sq-km. It has been constructed by stony corals over a period of 600 million years and supports more life than any other habitat on earth.
• Earth is referred to as the BLUE PLANET. WHY? Because from space, the oceans combined with our atmosphere make our planet look blue.
• Antarctica is the coldest place on earth. The continent is almost entirely covered in ICE
• Breeze carries about 100 Million tons of sand particles around the earth yearly.
  That means if you live in America-you could have Sand that came from the Gobi desert in China.