Geographical Facts

More than half of the coastline of the entire United States is in Alaska .

The Amazon rainforest produces more than 20% the world's oxygen supply.

Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country.

The etymology of Brazil's name is not well established, but one common belief is that Brazil got its name from the nut, not the other way around.

Canada has more lakes than any other country, making up much of the worlds fresh water. Canada is an Indian word meaning "Big Village."

Next to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world.

Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, carries the designation M-1, so named because it was the first paved road anywhere.

Damascus, Syria, was flourishing a couple of thousand years before Rome was founded in 753 BC, making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in existence.

Istanbul, Turkey, is the only city in the world located on two continents.

Los Angeles' full name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula -- and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.

The least populated jurisdiction in the world is Pitcairn in Polynesia, at just 1.75 sq. miles/4,53 sq. km, with a population of 50.

The first city to reach a population of 1 million people was Rome, Italy in 133 B.C. There is a city called Rome on every continent.

Siberia contains more than 25% of the world's forests.

The smallest sovereign entity in the world is the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (S.M.O.M). It is located in the city of Rome, Italy and has an area of two tennis courts, and as of 2001 has a population of 80, 20 less people than the Vatican. It is a sovereign entity under international law, just as the Vatican is.

In the Sahara Desert, there is a town named Tidikelt, Algeria, which did not receive a drop of rain for ten years.

Spain literally means "the land of rabbits."