Visualising countries by share of Earth's surface.
There are over 510 million square kilometers of area on the surface of Earth, but less than 30 percent of this is covered by land. The rest is water.
If you're trying to decipher the above image on a mobile you'll no doubt be struggling. Maybe on a PC too. So, here are the headline facts and figures in writing:
The largest countries by surface area are Russia (3.35%), Canada (1.96%), and China (1.88%).
Russia is so big that even if we divided the country between its Asian and European sections, those new regions would still be the largest in their respective continents.
Antarctica, although not a country, covers the second largest amount of land overall at 2.75%. Meanwhile, the other nations that surpass the 1% mark for surface area include the United States (1.87%), Brazil (1.67%), and Australia (1.51%). The UK covers just 0.048%.
The remaining 195 countries and regions below 1%, combined, account for the other half of Earth’s land surface. Among the world’s smallest countries are the island nations of the Caribbean and the South Pacific Ocean. However, the tiniest of the tiny are Vatican City and Monaco, which combine for a total area of just 2.51 km².
The remaining 70% of Earth’s surface is water: 27% territorial waters and 43% international waters or areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Weirdly, the human body has roughly the same average percentage of water as our planet.
Global Forest Sound Map
This is brilliant but, be warned, you may start spending a lot of time tuning in to these incredible, soothing and captivating soundscapes. It's a Global Forest Sound Map and allows you to hear sounds from all over the world, from a monkey in China, to a river in Canada and way beyond. Time for a virtual holiday!?
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