67 Interesting Facts About Earth

By
 Editorial Staff

Last updated on March 6th, 2020

Earth is a beautiful place to live and explore. It has plenty of life-supporting

features and is constantly changing/evolving. Several scientists and
geologist have explored Earth and other planets. Here we have compiled a
list of some interesting facts about Earth that will help you learn more
about our mother planet.

Facts About Earth’s formation, location, speed,

composition, the existence of life
1. Earth is the third planet from the Sun and is the largest of the four
terrestrial planets namely Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars (Order of the
planets from the Sun: Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (the dwarf planet)).

2. The existence of water in the liquid phase on Earth is due to the

temperature span that exists on the Earth: 0 – 100 degree Celsius. Water
boils at 100 degree Celsius, thus converting it into gas and making it
unusable for consumption by living beings including humans, animals, and
birds, etc.

3. Earth is the only place in the solar system where water can be
present in all the three states – solid, liquid and gas.
 Full-hemisphere View of
Earth at Night. Image credit – NASA
4. We are all traveling around the Sun at an average velocity of 107,182
kilometers per hour. And at the same time, we are also spinning with an
enormous speed – that could be 1000 miles per hour depending on your
position on Earth.

5. Earth receives between 100 and 300 metric ton of cosmic

dust (the dust which exists in outer space, as well as all over planet Earth)
every day (data collected from satellite observations.) However, some other
estimates suggest that the incoming dust could be as low as 5 metric ton per
day.

6. Despite the fact that the earth is made up of more than 70% of

water, do not be surprised to learn that water accounts for less than 1% of
Earth’s mass.

7. In size, Earth is slightly larger than Venus.

8. Earth formed some 4.54 billion years ago.

9. The force of gravity in the Hudson Bay region of Canada is less than
that on the rest of the planet. There are various theories that scientists
associate with this effect but no one is sure as to why this is the case.

10. It is estimated that life came to existence on Earth some 4.1 billion

years ago.

11. It is also interesting to note that more than 95% of Earth’s ocean

are still unexplored.
 Earth, a pale blue dot,
from a distance of 6 billion kilometers – as seen by Voyager 1 spacecraft.
Image credit – NASA/JPL

About Earth and the Moon

12. Tides in oceans on Earth happen due to the force of gravitation
between the Earth and the moon. Moon pulls up water in oceans and even in
lakes, due to its gravitational force.
13. Earth has just one moon whereas Jupiter has 67 moons.

14. The moon (radius – 1,738 kilometer) is the fifth largest moon in the
Solar System after Ganymede (orbits: Jupiter), Titan (orbits: Saturn),
Callisto (orbits: Jupiter), and Io (orbits: Jupiter).

15. The Moon reflects Sun’s light on the Earth when the Sun is on the

other side of the Earth meaning when there is the night on one side of the
planet.

16. Another interesting fact about the earth is that that the same side of the
moon is always facing the Earth, meaning the moon is in synchronous
rotation with the Earth.

17. Moon is Earth’s only permanent natural satellite. (FYI – there are

181 known natural moons that are orbiting the full-size and dwarf planets in
our solar system)

18. Moon, earth’s natural satellite, is thought to have been formed from

Earth after the impact of a Mars-sized object, named Theia.
 Earth’s
magnetic field
Extinction of species, the naming of Earth, length of day, magnetic
field, the temperature at the core, density

19. It is a fascinating fact to note here that 99% of all species that ever
existed on the Earth are now extinct.

20. Earth is the only known planet that supports life. However,

attempts are underway to help life survive on other planets like Mars.

21. It is also the only planet not to be named after a Greek or Roman

god. Jupiter is named after the king of Roman gods and Uranus is named
after the Greek god of the sky. The name Earth comes from
English/German, which means the Ground.

22. The speed of rotation of Earth is gradually slowing down; meaning

that in some 140 million years from now, the length of a day on Earth would
be 25 hours.

23. Earth was once believed to be the center of the Universe and

scientists believed that the Sun and other planets revolved around it.
However, this assumption was proved incorrect.

24. Because of the presence of inner Nickel-Iron core, Earth has a strong

magnetic field. This magnetic field is also responsible for preventing heavy
solar winds from blowing on the Earth and causing damage to various life
forms.

25. Earth’s inner core has a temperature between 5400 and 6000

degrees Celsius. Thus, making it hotter than the surface of the Sun
(surface temperature – 5500 Celsius).

26. The thickest of all the four layers of the earth is the mantle, which

is 2900 kilometers thick. This layer has a consistency of caramel and is
composed of a hot mixture of molten rock.

27. The thinnest of all the layers is the crust, which is on an average 30

kilometers deep on an average on the ground. 

28. Earth also has the largest natural satellite as compared to any

other planet considering the size of Earth and the moon (the Moon is
approximately 27% the size of the Earth.)

29. The Earth also has the credit of being the densest planet in the Solar
System. It has an average density of 5.51 grams per cubic centimeter.
Tectonic plates, the shape of the earth, bluish appearance,
atmosphere, oxygen

30. Earth is the only planet in the solar system that has tectonic

plates underneath its surface. These plates are floating on top of the magma
inside of the Earth. When these plates collide, earthquakes happen.
Movement of these plates is also very important for other geological and life-
supporting purposes.

31. The diameter of Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole is shorter
than its diameter across the Equator by 43 km. Thus, Earth is not a
perfect sphere and this difference in the diameter is the results of Earth’s
rotation.

32. Earth’s core is almost 85-88% iron and its crust is almost

47% Oxygen.

33. Earth is also known as the “Blue Planet” because of its bluish

appearance from the outer space. Almost 70% of Earth’s surface is covered
with water.
 The Earths
atmosphere structure with white clouds that rain, colourful satellite, flying
aircraft, red air-balloon etc. and names of layer above Earth planet.
34. There are five layers in Earth’s atmosphere including – the Troposphere,
the Stratosphere, the Mesosphere, the Thermosphere, and the Exosphere.
Earth’s atmosphere is the thickest from ground level up to a height of 50 km
and extends up to 10,000 km.

35. Airplanes fly at a maximum altitude of 60,000 feet which is almost

18.288 km.

36. The pressure and density go on decreasing as we move farther

away from the Earth’s surface and travel towards space.
37. The first 11 km from the Earth’s surface has 75% of the
atmosphere.

38. The last layer of the Earth’s atmosphere – the Exosphere – extends from
700 km above mean sea level to 10,000 km in outer space.

39. Did you ever wonder why we have a leap year every four years? This
is because a year on earth is not exactly 365 days but it is 365.2564 days.
This extra 0.2564 day is adjusted with an extra day (leap day) in the month
of February every four years.

Oxygen cycle
on earth illustration.
40. Earth is the only planet that contains 21% oxygen in its atmosphere
and liquid water on its surface.

. . . continue reading on the n

Craters, seasons, layers, oceans, rings

41. Earth does not have many craters (less than 200) on the surface as

the other planets have.

The Planet Earth

climate zones depending on angle of sun rays and major latitudes.
42. The seasons on Earth are due to its tilt against the Sun. Earth’s
axis of rotation is tilted 23.4 degrees with respect to its plane of rotation
around the Sun.

43. Earth is composed of four main layers – inner core, outer core,

mantle, and crust.

44. Earth is exactly at a distance of 1 AU from the Sun. AU (the

distance from the Sun to Earth) is the standard unit of measurement of the
distance of celestial bodies from the Sun. And Earth’s measurements are
used as a standard.

45. Earth is the fifth largest planet in terms of size and mass.

46. Earth has an Ozone layer which protects it from Sun’s powerful and

harmful UV rays.

47. Light from the Sun reaches the Earth in approximately 8 minutes

and 20 seconds.

48. Almost 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by oceans that

contain 97% of the planet’s water. These oceans are home to great
mysteries and tons of geographical features that are not even available on
the land. E.g. Earth’s longest mountain range is also underwater.

49. It is estimated that life initiated in the oceans some 3.8 billion

years ago. 

50. Earth has no rings. However, Jupiter has 4 sets of rings

and Saturn has 4 main groups of rings and 3 fainter groups of rings.

51. Did you know that a magnetic field reversal takes place every 40,000
years on average? At the time of this reversal, the magnetic polarity of
the earth will change that will bring a change in the direction of Earth’s
magnetic field.

Highest and deepest points on Earth

52. The highest point: The peak of Ecuador’s Mount Chimborazo, located

just one degree south of the Equator is the highest point on Earth. At this
point, the Earth’s bulge is greatest.

53. The deepest known place: “Challenger deep” – near a trench called

the “Mariana Trench” beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean to the
southeast of Japan — is the deepest known place on Earth. This trench
is nearly seven miles deep.

Hottest and coldest locations

54. The highest recorded temperature: it is 56.7°C (134°F), measured on

10 July 1913 at Greenland Ranch, Death Valley, California, USA.

55. The coldest permanently inhabited place: Oymyakon, a village in

Siberia, Russia, is where the temperature reached -68 degree Celsius. And
the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was at Antarctica’s Vostok
station – minus 89.2 degree Celsius.

Flattest, wettest and driest places

56. Wettest place: Mawsynram in Meghalaya, India is the wettest place on

land on Earth. It receives an average annual rainfall of 11,871 mm. This
place is just 10 miles away from the town of Cherrapunji (another record
holder for the wettest month and year ever.)
57. Driest place: Dry Valleys in Antarctica is the driest place on Earth. This
place has seen no rainfall for the past 2 million years. This is a 4800 square
kilometer region with no ice, snow or water.

58. Flattest country: the Maldives is the flattest country in the world with

an average highest above sea level of 2.4m.

59. The Nile is the longest river on Earth that extends 6,695 km from its
source in Burundi to the Mediterranean sea. However, Amazon is the biggest
river in the world in terms of the water that flows down it.

60. Unknown minerals: scientists have recently calculated that there are

more than 1500 minerals that are still undiscovered in the Earth. We are
aware of more than 5000 minerals but many are still unknown. Another
captivating fact here is that the Earth’s mineral diversity is unique to itself
and is not duplicated on any other planet, not even the rocky exoplanets.

61. Carbon-di-oxide spitting lakes: there are three crater lakes – Nyos,

Monoun, and Kivu, that sit in Cameroon and on the border of Rwanda and
the Democratic Republic of Congo. These lakes spit carbon dioxide at an
enormous level and have been the cause of deaths of hundreds of people in
the past. This phenomenon happens because of the presence of magma
below the surface of the lakes and this magma releases carbon dioxide into
the water which causes the resulting spewing of the gas into the
atmosphere.

62. Rocks that move by themselves: Some rocks on our planet Earth

move by themselves. However, scientists have failed to capture the actual
motion of these rocks because they move so little but their movement is
certain.

63. Out of Earth: The boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer

space is known as the Karman Line. This boundary lies at a distance of 100
km from Earth’s sea level. Anyone who goes beyond this line is considered
an astronaut.

64. The Earth and the Sun: The minimum distance between the earth and

the Sun (perihelion) is 147.1 million kilometers and the maximum distance
(aphelion) between the earth and the Sun is 152.1 million kilometers.

65. There is a possibility that some asteroid/comet may hit earth and

cause devastation to life. A similar event 65 million years ago happened
and wiped out the dinosaurs from the planet.

66. Since record keeping for temperature began in 1880, 2016 was

recorded as the hottest year ever. The temperature recorded in 2016
was 1.69 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average.

67. Scientists have recently estimated that an ocean of water exists at a

distance of 1,000 km under the surface of the Earth. And this water is
important for volcanic activity, which in turn is responsible for generating
soil.

Quick facts about Earth

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Orbit size around the Sun 149,598,262 km

Mean orbit velocity 107,218 km/h

Equatorial Radius 6,371.00 km

Equatorial Circumference 40,030.2 km

 Orbit size around the Sun 149,598,262 km

Volume 1,083,206,916,846 cubic kilometer

Mass 5,972,190,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg

Density 5.513 gram per cubic centimeter

Surface area 510,064,472 kilometer square

Surface Gravity 9.80665 meter per second square

Surface Temperature -88/58 (min/max) °C

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