25 Unbelievable Extremes On Earth

Posted by , Updated on January 4, 2024

As far as planets are concerned, Earth is relatively moderate with its climate and geography. (Good thing, too!) However, our own world has many surprising and extreme places. Many of these places are uninhabitable or much too difficult for the average man to reach. Whether it’s the coldest place on Earth or the deepest trench in the sea, get ready to have your mind blown by 25 Unbelievable Extremes On Earth!

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25

Hottest Inhabited Place – Dallol, Ethiopia

ethiopia

With an average daily temperature of 34.4 °C (93.9 °F), it should come as no surprise that these days the city little more than a ghost town.

24

Deepest Cave – Krubera Cave

Voronija

Found in Abkhazia, the Krubera Cave is the only known cave on Earth deeper than 6,561 feet (2,000 meters).

23

Highest Point – Mount Everest

Mount Everest

Reached by roughly 3,000 climbers since the 1950’s, its summit elevation is 8,848 m (29,029 ft) above sea level.

22

Point Farthest From The Earth’s Center – Chimborazo, Ecuador

chimborazo

Although the peak of Mount Everest is the highest point above sea level, because Earth bulges at its equator due to its rotation, the summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is actually the point on Earth farthest from its center.

21

Most Remote Island – Bouvet Island

bouvet

This small uninhabited Norwegian island in the South Atlantic Ocean is almost 1,000 miles from Antarctica and nearly 1,500 miles from South Africa.

20

Most Remote Continental Point – Antarctic Pole Of Inaccessibility

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A pole of inaccessibility is the point on a continent that is farthest from any ocean. Of the seven continents, Antarctica’s is the most remote, and yes, that is a statue of Lenin you see there.

19

Flattest Place – Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Piles of salt

Formed out of several dried up lake beds, the world’s largest salt flat is 4,086 sq mi (10,582 sq km).

18

Highest Navigable Lake – Lake Titicaca

lake titicaca

At an elevation of 3,812 m (12,507 ft) this lake on the border of Peru and Bolivia is also the largest in South America.

17

Lowest Point On Dry Land – Shore of the Dead Sea

dead sea

418 m (1,371 ft) below sea level, this point is shared by Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank.

16

Longest Mountain Range – The Andes, South America

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Stretching for nearly 5,000 miles, this range extends through 7 South American countries.

15

Deepest Artificial Hole – Kola Superdeep Borehole

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With the intent of quite literally digging until they could dig no more, Russian scientists managed to reach a depth of 12,262 meters (40,230 ft) or about a third of the way through the Baltic continental crust.

14

Rainiest Place – Chocó, Colombia

Choco

This region in Colombia receives 11,770 cm (463.4 inches, or 38 ft, 6 inches) of rain per year, making it the world’s rainiest lowland.

13

Driest Place – Atacama Desert, Chile

chile

It is so dry here that between October 1903 to January 1918, not a single drop of rain fell on the desert town of Arica, which is the longest rainless period ever recorded.

12

Most Populous Landlocked Country – Ethiopia

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Not only is it home to the hottest inhabited place on Earth, it is also home to over 70 million people without a coastline, more than any other landlocked nation.

11

Greatest Vertical Drop – Mount Thor, Canada

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At 1,250 m (4,101 ft), with an average angle of 105 degrees, this drop makes Thor a favorite among climbers.

10

Coldest Inhabited Place – Oymkyakon, Russia

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With subzero temperatures for 7 months out of the year, this town of 400 people suffers long and brutally cold winters.

9

Windiest Place – Commonwealth Bay, Antarctica

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:F._Bickerton_looking_out_over_seas_near_Commonwealth_Bay.jpg

With winds that regularly exceed 150 miles (240 kilometres) per hour and an average annual wind speed of 50 miles (80 kilometres) per hour, Commonwealth Bay is the windiest spot on Earth.

8

Higest Waterfall – Angel Falls, Venezuela

Angel_Falls_in_Venezuela

With a height of 3,211 feet, this waterfall is the largest in the world. In fact, it’s so high that water evaporates before it even reaches the ground!

7

Highest Mountain Pass – Marsimik La, India

himalayas

At 18,314 feet (5,582 meters), this pass in northern India is often considered to be the highest navigable road in the world.

6

Largest Freshwater Lake – Lake Superior

Lake Superior

The largest body of freshwater in the world is found between the United States and Canada with a size of 31,820 square miles.

5

Longest Coastline of any Country – Canada

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With a coastline that stretches for 151,019 miles, if you were to walk its entire length at a pace of 12 miles per day, the journey would take you 33 years to complete.

4

Largest Gorge – Grand Canyon, United States

Grand Canyon, United States

Nearly 220 miles long and more than a mile deep, the Colorado River is responsible for carving out the world’s largest gorge.

3

Longest Glacier – Lambert-Fisher, Antarctica

glacier

Stretching for over 100 miles, this is by far the longest ice flow in the world.

2

Shortest River – Roe River, Montana

Springs

With everyone always talking about the longest river in the world, no one ever mentions anything about which one is the shortest. Well, no more. The Roe River that flows between Giant Springs and the Missouri River has been named by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the shortest river on Earth at only 200 feet long.

1

Lowest Point – Challenger Deep

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Located at the bottom of the Marianas Trench 35,797 ft (10,911 m) below sea level, only three people have ever reached the bottom.



Photo: Featured Image - Maarten Takens, Oymyakon forests, CC BY-SA 2.0 , 1. Nomi887 at English Wikipedia, Challenger deep size comparison Mt Everest, CC BY-SA 3.0 , 2. Montanabw, Giant Springs07, CC BY-SA 3.0 , 3. michael clarke stuff, HM2 12 HDR (3433521861), CC BY-SA 2.0 , 4. NPS.gov (Public Domain), 5. WikipediaCommons.com (Public Domain), 6. WikipediaCommons.com (Public Domain), 7. Pixabay.com (Public Domain), 8. Luis Carillo, Venezuela, Angel Falls in Venezuela, CC BY 3.0 , 9. WikipediaCommons.com (Public Domain), 10. Maarten Takens, Oymyakon forests, CC BY-SA 2.0 , 11. Peter Morgan from Nomadic, Mount Thor, CC BY 2.0 , 12. MaxPixel.net (Public Domain), 13. Pixabay.com (Public Domain), 14. Luis Pérez, Océano pacifico en el Choco, Colombia, CC BY 2.0 , 15. Andre Belozeroff, Кольская сверхглубокая скважина crop, CC BY-SA 3.0 , 16. Jonathan Lewis from London i ´spose....., Blighty, Andes bolivianos, CC BY-SA 2.0 , 17. Pixabay.com (Public Domain), 18. Alex Proimos from Sydney, Australia, Lake Titicaca - Road to Bolivia (8385839315), CC BY 2.0 , 19. Luca Galuzzi (Lucag), edit by Trialsanderrors, Piles of Salt Salar de Uyuni Bolivia Luca Galuzzi 2006 a, CC BY-SA 2.5 , 20. Cookson69 at English Wikipedia, Southern Pol of Inaccessibility Henry Cookson team n2i, CC BY-SA 3.0 , 21. WikipediaCommons.com (Public Domain), 22. Dabit100 / David Torres Costales Pictures of Ecuador, Vicuña - Chimborazo, Ecuador, CC BY-SA 3.0 , 23. shrimpo1967, Mount Everest as seen from Drukair2, CC BY-SA 2.0 , 24. Hanzs, Voronija, CC BY 3.0 , 25. pixabay (Public Domain)