Creative Vision Christian Academy

Social Sciences Department

Basic Geography - 2011
Basic Geography and Factoids about the Earth as of May 2010
Human Population of the Earth: 6,820,000,000 (6.82 billion) as of May 2010
World Population Growth: 1.13% - 2009 estimate (this means at the current rate of growth, the
earth's population will double in about 62 years)
Countries of the World: 195
Earth's Circumference at the Equator: 24,901.55 miles (40,075.16 km)
Earth's Circumference Between the North and South Poles: 24,859.82 miles (40,008 km)
Earth's Diameter at the Equator: 7,926.28 miles (12,756.1 km)
Earth's Diameter at the Poles: 7,899.80 miles (12,713.5 km)
Average Distance from the Earth to the Sun: 93,020,000 miles (149,669,180 km)
Average Distance from the Earth to the Moon: 238,857 miles (384,403.1 km)
Highest Elevation on Earth - Mt. Everest, Asia: 29,035 feet (8850 m)
Tallest Mountain on Earth from Base to Peak - Mauna Kea, Hawaii: 33,480 feet (rising to 13,796
feet above sea level) (10204 m; 4205 m)
Point Farthest From the Center of the Earth - The peak of the volcano Chimborazo in Ecuador
at 20,561 feet (6267 m) is farthest from the center of the earth due to its location near the
equator and the oblateness of the Earth.
Lowest Elevation on Land - Dead Sea: 1369 feet below sea level (417.27 m)
Deepest Point in the Ocean - Challenger Deep, Mariana Trench, Western Pacific Ocean: 35,840
feet (10924 m)
Highest Temperature Recorded: 135.8F - Al Aziziyah, Libya, September 13, 1922 (57.7C)
Lowest Temperature Recorded: -128.5F - Vostok, Antarctica, July 21, 1983 (-89.2C)

Water vs. Land: 70.8% Water, 29.2% Land

Age of the Earth: 4.5 to 4.6 billion years
Atmosphere Content: 77% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and traces of argon, carbon dioxide and
water
Rotation on Axis: 23 hours and 56 minutes and 04.09053 seconds. But, it takes an additional
four minutes for the earth to revolve to the same position as the day before relative to the sun
(i.e. 24 hours).
Revolution around Sun: 365.2425 days
Chemical Composition of the Earth: 34.6% Iron, 29.5% Oxygen, 15.2% Silicon, 12.7%
Magnesium, 2.4% Nickel, 1.9% Sulfur, and 0.05% Titanium

Geography
The science of geography is likely the oldest of all sciences. Geography is the answer to the
question that the earliest humans asked, "What's over there?" Exploration and the discovery of
new places, new cultures, and new ideas have always been basic components of geography.
Thus, geography is often called the "mother of all sciences" as studying other people and other
places led to other scientific fields such as biology, anthropology, geology, mathematics,
astronomy, chemistry, among others. (See other Definitions of Geography)
Divisions of Geography
Today, geography is commonly divided into two major branches - 1) cultural geography (also
called human geography) and 2) physical geography.
Cultural geography is the branch of geography dealing with human culture and its impact on the
earth. Cultural geographers study languages, religion, foods, building styles, urban areas,
agriculture, transportation systems, politics, economies, population and demographics, and
more.
Physical geography is the branch of geography dealing with the natural features of the earth,
the home of humans. Physical geography looks at the water, air, animals, and land of the planet
earth (i.e. everything that is part of the four spheres - the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere,
lithosphere.) Physical geography is closely related to geography's sister science - geology - but
physical geography focuses more on the landscapes at the surface of the earth and not what is
inside our planet.

Other key areas of geography include regional geography (which involves the in-depth study
and knowledge of a particular region and its cultural as well as its physical characteristics) and
geographic technologies like GIS (geographic information systems) and GPS (global positioning
system).

7 Billion - 31 Oct 2011

The United Nations has proclaimed October 31, 2011 to be the day that the seven billionth
human will be born on earth. The selection of October 31 is somewhat ceremonial and arbitrary
as it is purely an estimate; the Population Reference Bureau places the world population as of
this writing at 7.013 billion.
The significance of this most recent billion, in which the world's population has grown from six
billion in 1999 to seven billion in 2012, is not lost on politicians, geographers, humanitarians,
and others who are looking forward to further population growth.
With the ceremonial date of October 31, the United Nations is supporting a plethora of activities
to mark the threshold when the earth's population odometer crosses from 6,999,999,999 to
7,000,000,000. Events are planned for October 31 at UN Headquarters in New York City; expect
innumerable news stories to mark the event. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
remarked on the upcoming population transition on United Nations Day, October 24, "Let us
unite, seven billion strong, in the name of the global common good." That sentiment will be the
common goal over the next few months as global leadership seek to understand the
significance of seven billion. In that vein, the UN recently launched a campaign, 7 Billion
Actions, focused on humanity's ability to positively change. On that site, one can view a counter
showing the "current" estimated global population as it rolls toward seven billion.
Current estimates expect that the world's population will hit the eight billion mark in 2025, 14
years from now. Soon after the world's population reaches eight billion, India's population is
likely to exceed that of China's.