Amazing Earth

Quick Facts
About the Seven Natural Wonders

Mount Everest, Nepal

Mount Everest, Nepal 10

  • named after Sir George Everest, the British surveyor-general of India
  • highest mountain on Earth
  • elevation of 29,035 feet (8,850 meters) determined using GPS satellite equipment in 1999
  • part of the Himalaya range along the border of Nepal and Tibet
  • first climbed on May 29, 1953 by Edmund Percival Hillary of New Zealand & Tenzing Norgay Sherpa of Nepal
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe/Zambia

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe/Zambia 11

  • locally referred to as Mosi-oa-Tunya, meaning ‘the Smoke that Thunders’
  • located on the Zambezi River bordering Zambia and Zimbabwe
  • largest waterfall in the world in both width and height
  • 1708 meters wide and a 90 meter to 107 meter drop
  • 550,000 cubic meters of water run over the falls every minute
The Grand Canyon, USA

The Grand Canyon, USA 12

  • created by the Colorado River in the state of Arizona in the United States
  • 277 miles long
  • 6000 feet deep from rim to river at its deepest point
  • 18 miles wide at its widest point
  • not the deepest or widest canyon in the world but recognized as a natural wonder for its overall size and colorful landscape
The Great Barrier Reef, Australia

The Great Barrier Reef, Australia 13

  • located off the north-east coast of Australia
  • only living thing on earth visible from space
  • stretches over 1800 miles
  • made up of over 3000 individual reefs
  • contains world’s largest collection of coral (more than 400 different types) and over 1500 species of tropical fish
The Northern Lights, Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Lights, Northern Hemisphere 14

  • also called Aurora Borealis
  • bright, colorful, dancing lights that result from collisions between gaseous particles from the Earth’s atmosphere and electrically charged particles from the sun’s atmosphere
  • appear over the magnetic north pole
  • can occur in many different shades (red, yellow, green, blue, violet) but pale green and pink are the most frequent
  • variations in color are determined by the types of gas particles that are colliding
Paricutin Volcano, Mexico

Paricutin Volcano, Mexico 15

  • 1391 foot high cinder cone volcano located in the state of Michoacan in central Mexico
  • began as a fissure in farmer Dionisio Pulido’s cornfield on February 20, 1943
  • designated as one of the seven natural wonders because it is the only volcano on the planet born in modern times and witnessed by humans
  • buried nearby villages of Paricutin and San Juan Parangaricutiro, forcing residents to relocate
  • dormant since 1952 and not expected to erupt again
The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 16

  • Portuguese sailors chose the name Rio de Janeiro (‘River of January’) because in January 1502 they reached what they thought to be the mouth of a great river
  • the Harbor of Rio de Janeiro is actually not on a river but on Guanabara Bay off the south-east coast of Brazil
  • created by erosion by the Atlantic Ocean
  • surrounded by stunning mountains and formations including Sugar Loaf Mountain, Corcovado Peak and the hills of Tijuca
  • The Statue of Christ the Redeemer stands upon the Corcovado Peak and is one of the Seven Manmade Wonders of the World.
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This project was created for educational purposes, and is in no way intended for commercial gain, or as a source of public information.