Places
Mount Everest peak, 29,035 ft (8,850 m) high, on the border of Tibet and Nepal, in the central Himalayas. It is the highest elevation in the world. Called Chomolungma or Qomolangma [Mother Goddess of the Land] by Tibetans and Sagarmatha [head of the sea] by Nepalis, it is named in English for the surveyor Sir George Everest . It was first climbed on May 28, 1953, when Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal reached the summit. The body of George H. L. Mallory , who died in an earlier attempt (1924), was found on the mountain in 1999. Bibliography: See S. B. Ortner, Life and Death on Mt. Everest (1999).
Sahara [Arab.,=desert], world's largest desert, c.3,500,000 sq mi (9,065,000 sq km), N Africa; the western part of a great arid zone that continues into SW Asia. Extending more than 3,000 mi (4,830 km), from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, the Sahara is bounded on the N by the Atlas Mts., steppelands, and the Mediterranean Sea; it stretches south c.1,200 mi (1,930 km) to the Sahel , a steppe in W and central Africa that forms its southern border. The desert includes most of Western Sahara, Mauritania, Algeria, Niger, Libya, and Egypt; the southern portions of Morocco and Tunisia; and the northern portions of Senegal, Mali, Chad, and Sudan. The E Sahara is usually divided into three regions—the Libyan Desert , which extends west from the Nile valley through W Egypt and E Libya; the Arabian Desert , or Eastern Desert, which lies between the Nile valley and the Red Sea in Egypt; and the Nubian Desert , which is in NE Sudan. Regions of sand dunes (erg) occupy only about 15% of the Sahara; "stone deserts," consisting of plateaus of denuded rock (hammada) or areas of coarse gravel (reg), cover about 70% of the region; mountains, oases, and transition zones account for the remainder. Sparse vegetation is found in most parts of the Sahara, with the exception of the sand dune regions. High mountain massifs rise in the central regions; they are the Ahagger (Hoggar) in S Algeria, which rises to more than 9,000 ft (2,740 m); the Tibesti Massif in N Chad, which rises...
Where in the world is this category? Everywhere. There are places on the planet where one can see geysers, glaciers, deserts, mountains, rain forests, and oceans. Starting in Africa, you’ll discover the world’s longest river, the Nile, as well as the world’s largest desert, the Sahara. The legendary trading post of Timbuktu is located in the middle of this desert. Throughout the rest of the contin ... Read more
ent you’ll find a diverse range of cultures, countries, cities, and people.Asia is the world’s most populous continent and contains the countries of the former Soviet Union along with others including China, India, Japan, and Turkey. This vast continent stretches from the Arctic Circle to the equator and contains the world’s tallest mountain, Mt. Everest, as well as the world’s lowest point, the Dead Sea.
Sometimes considered a peninsula of the Eurasian landmass, Europe has a climate that ranges from subtropical to polar and includes mountain ranges like the Alps and the Pyrenees. It is also the birthplace of Western civilization and home to cities like London, Paris, Gdansk, Stockholm, and Lisbon. Europe was also the main theater of conflict for World War I and also for much of World War II.
In North and South America, you’ll find places ranging from the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Park, to the Amazon Rain Forest and the Andes Mountains. North America is home to the United States, Mexico, and Canada. South America is where one can find the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Santiago, and Caracas.
Australia is the only continent that holds only one country while Antarctica is the only continent that doesn’t contain any countries.
These are just a few of the places you’ll be able to explore below.
- Africa
- Asia
- Australia and Oceania
- Britain, Ireland, France, and the Low Countries
- Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic Nations
- Germany, Scandinavia, and Central Europe
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- Oceans, Continents, and Polar Regions
- Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and the Balkans
- United States and Canada