50 Geography Facts So Crazy They’ll Change How You See the World

This video presents 50 incredible geography facts that challenge common perceptions about our planet (0:32).

Some of the highlights include:

• The River of Death (1:00): Located in Peru's Amazon rainforest, the Shennai Tempishka is a thermal river so hot (120°F to 200°F) it can cook animals alive, despite being 400 meters from the nearest volcano.
• Earth's Lost Continent — Zealandia (1:35): A continent twice the size of India, Zealandia is 94% submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean, with only New Zealand and New Caledonia visible. It was officially recognized as a continent in 2017.
• The Impossible Island (3:19): The Philippines hosts a unique geographical Russian nesting doll: Vulcan Point, an island within a lake (Crater Lake) on an island (Taal Volcano Island) within a lake (Tal Lake) on another island (Luzon Island).
• The Entire Town Under One Roof (3:55): In Whittier, Alaska, almost all 200 residents live in a single 14-story building that contains a post office, grocery store, school, and medical clinic.
• Russia Versus an Entire Planet (4:26): Russia is so vast it covers 17 million square kilometers, making it larger than Pluto's entire surface area (16.6 million square kilometers).
• The Dead Sea That Isn't (5:01): The Dead Sea is not a sea but a hypersaline lake, 10 times saltier than the ocean, allowing people to float effortlessly due to its extreme density.
• The Flattest Country on Earth (5:36): The Maldives has a highest natural point of just 2.44 meters above sea level, making it extremely vulnerable to rising sea levels.
• The Secret Underwater River (6:09): Beneath the Black Sea flows an underwater river with waterfalls and rapids, which, if on land, would be the world's sixth-largest river by volume.
• The Growing Mountain (6:37): Mount Everest grows approximately 4 mm taller each year due to the continuous collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.
• The Lake That Holds One-Fifth of Earth's Water (7:53): Lake Baikal in Russia contains nearly 20% of the world's total freshwater supply and is the deepest (1,642 meters) and oldest (25 million years) lake on Earth.
• The Pyramid Champion (11:43): Sudan boasts over 200 ancient pyramids, exceeding Egypt's 118 structures.
• The World's Largest Living Thing (12:25): The Great Barrier Reef stretches over 2,300 kilometers and is the largest living structure on Earth, visible from space.
• The Non-Rectangular Flag (13:11): Nepal is the only country with a non-rectangular national flag, featuring a unique double-triangle design.
• The Disappearing Country (14:40): The Maldives could be the first country to completely disappear due to climate change and rising sea levels within 50 to 100 years.
• The Door to Hell (18:03): Turkmenistan's Darvaza gas crater has been burning continuously since 1971 after Soviet engineers accidentally ignited the leaking gas.