OCEANS

OCEANS OF THE WORLD (by size)

Pacific (155,557,000 sq km)
Atlantic (76,762,000 sq km)
Indian (68,556,000 sq km)
Southern (20,327,000 sq km)
Arctic (14,056,000 sq km)
Note the Southern Ocean was approved in 2000 by the International Hydrographic Organization. It is now the fourth largest ocean.

OCEANS' GREATEST DEPTHS

Mariana Trench, Pacific Ocean 35,827 ft
Puerto Rico Trench, Atlantic Ocean 30,246 ft
Java Trench, Indian Ocean 24,460 ft
Arctic Basin, Arctic Ocean 18,456 ft

DEEPEST OCEANS & SEAS

Pacific Ocean (35,827 ft) (10,924 meters)
Atlantic Ocean (30,246 ft) (9,219 meters)
Indian Ocean (24,460 ft) (7,455 meters)
Caribbean Sea (22,788 ft) (6,946 meters)
Arctic Ocean (18,456 ft) (5,625 meters)
South China Sea (16,456 ft) (5,016 meters)
Bering Sea (15,659 ft) (4,773 meters)
Mediterranean Sea (15,197 ft) (4,632 meters)
Gulf of Mexico (12,425 ft) (3,787 meters)
Japan Sea (12,276 ft) (3,742 meters)
Note that official depths for the Southern Ocean are still not available at this time.

COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD

How Many Countries In The World?

Now that is a question that's somewhat difficult to answer, as there is no one right answer. Many sources offer different answers, and depending on the source, there are 189, 191, 192, 193, 194 or 195 independent countries in the world today.

As of May 1, 2008, the United Nations has 192 members (including Montenegro and Serbia - the two newest nations). That number does not include the Vatican, and it doesn't (yet) include Kosovo (disclaimer).

Regarding England, Scotland and Wales, though all are widely considered individual countries, they are all still a part of the United Kingdom (UK), a European country, and therefore included within the United Kingdom on our country list below.

The US State Department recognizes 194 independent countries around the world, but that list of countries reflects the political agenda of the United States of America. As an example, it includes Kosovo, but does not include Taiwan, as China claims that Taiwan (the ROC) is simply a province of China.

Most of the current World Almanacs use 193 countries, which is probably the best answer, but what about Kosovo? (disclaimer) Palestine? Greenland? Western Sahara? The political world is constantly changing and our list of independent nations is shown below. Note that we don't say that our list is the ONLY answer, just that it's our answer.

AFRICA (53)

Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Congo Congo (Dem. Rep.) Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda Sao Tome and Principe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe

ASIA (44)

Afghanistan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Burma (Myanmar) Cambodia China East Timor India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Korea (north) Korea (south) Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Nepal Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Russian Federation Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen

EUROPE (47)

Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom Vatican City

N. AMERICA (23)

Antigua and BarbudaBahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Rep. El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama St. Kitts & Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent & the Grenadines Trinidad & Tobago United States

OCEANIA (14)

Australia Fiji Kiribati Marshall Islands Micronesia Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu

S. AMERICA (12)

Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela

WORLD

CONTINENTS

(by size)

#1 Asia - (44,579,000 sq km)

#2 Africa - (30,065,000 sq km)

#3 North America - (24,256,000 sq km)

#4 South America - (17,819,000 sq km)

#5 Antarctica - (13,209,000 sq km)

#6 Europe - (9,938,000 sq km)

#7 Australia/Oceania - (7,687,000 sq km)

CONTINENTS (by population) 2006 est.

#1 Asia - (3,879,000,000)

#2 Africa - (877,500,000)

#3 Europe - (727,000,000)

#4 North America - (501,500,000)

#5 South America - (379,500,000)

#6 Australia/Oceania - (32,000,000)

#7 Antarctica - (0)

CONTINENTS (by the number of countries)

#1 Africa - (53)

#2 Europe - (46)

#3 Asia - (44)

#4 North America - (23)

#5 Oceania - (14)

#6 South America - (12)

EARTH

THE EARTH

Estimated Weight (mass) (5,940,000,000,000,000,000,000 metric tons)

Estimated Age 4.6 billion years

Current Population 6,446,131,714

Surface Area (510,066,000 sq km)

Land Area (148,647,000 sq km) 29.1%

Ocean Area (335,258,000 sq km)

Total Water Area (361,419,000 sq km) 70.9%

Type of Water (97% salt), (3% fresh)

Circumference at the equator (40,066 km)

Circumference at the poles (39, 992 km)

Diameter at the equator (12,753 km) Diameter at the poles (12,710 km)

Radius at the equator (6,376 km)

Radius at the poles (6,355 km)

Orbit Speeds The earth orbits the Sun at (66,700 mph), (107,320 km per hour)

Sun Orbit The earth orbits the Sun every 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds To convert km (kilometers) to miles, multiply kilometers by: 0.621371

To convert sq km (kilometers) to sq miles, multiply kilometers by: 0.386102