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1/ If Antarctica's ice sheets melted, all of the worlds oceans would rise by 60 to 65 meters (200 - 210ft) - everywhere.

2/ Antarctica is pushed into the earth by the weight of its ice sheets.

If they melted, it would "spring back" about Scotland and Scandinavia are still rebounding today after the last ice age - at the rate of 50cm a century in the Northern Baltic - the fastest moving place. 500m (1 625 ft). It would do this v...e...r...y s...l...o...w...l...y taking about 10,000 years.

3/ Antarctica is the best place in the world to find meteorites.

Dark meteorites show up against the white expanse of ice and snow and don't get covered by vegetation. In some places, the way the ice flows concentrates meteorites there. The ice makes them gather in one place.

The picture shows some meteorites, they are attempting to blend in with some ordinary rocks as well, you need to know what you're looking for.

4/ The cold and dry conditions in the Dry Valleys region of Antarctica are so close to those on Mars that NASA did testing there for the Viking missions.

5/ There is a small lake in the Dry Valleys called Don Juan Pond that has the more concentrated salts than any other naturally occurring body of water on earth with 400g of solid per 1000g of pond water, the salts act as an anti-freeze and it remains liquid even at -30C!

6/ One of the biggest icebergs ever broke free from the Ross ice shelf, Antarctica in 2000. Given the catchy name, B-15, It was 295km (183 miles) long and 37km (23 miles) wide, with a surface area of 11,000 sq km (4,250 square miles) above water - and 10 times bigger below.

It was similar in size to The Gambia, Qatar, The Bahamas, Connecticut and some other places I'm not really sure about the size of. Over the next three years, it broke into several pieces called B-15A, B-15B etc.

- In 2005 the largest piece of B-15, B15A (100km by 30km by now) was broken up further by an ocean wave that originated more then 8,300 miles (13,500 km) away in the Gulf of Alaska during a huge storm. The wave generated took 6 days to travel the length of the Pacific Ocean to reach Antarctica.

It has been estimated that during the feeding season in Antarctica,
7/ a full grown blue whale eats about 4 million krill per day (krill are small shrimp-like creatures), that's 3600 kg or 4 tons - every day for 6 months. Having laid down a layer of fat from this feeding activity in Antarctica, they then starve for several months.

This daily intake would feed a human for about 4 years! If you could stomach it. Krill may be nutritious but they're not very nice as people food - which is lucky for the whales!

The
8/ Antarctic convergence is an upwelling of deep cold Antarctic water in the ocean in a very rough circle around Antarctica, it brings nutrients to the surface and forms a temperature barrier. Since it arose about 20 million years ago, there has been very little exchange of fish or other marine life in either direction. This means that fish and other animals have lived in their side of the ocean and have not crossed over to their neighbours side.

Antarctic marine organisms have lived at between +2°C and -2°C for 5 million years (-2°C is the freezing point of sea water, below zero because of the salt). They are therefore the best cold adapted animals that there are on the planet - now or probably ever.

A domestic deep freeze runs at about -20°C (-4°F). The mean summer temperature on the great East Antarctica icecap is -30°C (-22°F) and
9/ mean winter temperature around -60°C (-76°F). That's a lot colder than your freezer!

The lowest ever temperature recorded was at the Russian Vostok station. It was - 89.6°C (-129°F)

When the Antarctic sea-ice begins to expand at the beginning of winter, it advances by around 40,000 square miles (100,000 square kilometres) per day, and eventually doubles the size of Antarctica, adding up to an extra 20 million square kilometres of ice around the land mass.

That's one and a half USA's, two Australia's or 50 UK's worth of ice area that forms, then breaks up and melts each year.

Snow falling at the South Pole takes about 100 000 years to "flow" to the coast of Antarctica before it drops off the end as part of an iceberg. 11/

The Antarctic ice cap has 29 million cubic kilometres of ice. This is 90% of all the ice on the planet and between 60 and 70 % of all of the world's fresh water. Only about 0.4% of Antarctica is not covered by ice.

13/ Antarctica has a peculiar group of fish called the ice fish. These have no red pigment - haemoglobin - in their blood to carry oxygen around.

They get by perfectly well without it because the temperature is so low and oxygen dissolves better in cold temperatures. They just have a larger volume of clear blood instead and this gives them an unusually ghostly white colour, particularly their gills.

Recent research on the ice fish ahs shown that their DNA can be damaged by high levels of ultra violet light coming through the ozone hole. They have less pigment to stop the UV getting through so it is more damaging - in a similar way that fair skinned people get sunburnt more easily as their skin is damaged by the uv in sunlight. Many other Antarctic sea creatures including fish have antifreeze in their blood so they don't accidentally get frozen solid!

14/ The largest land animal in Antarctica is an insect, a wingless midge, Belgica antarctica, less than 13mm (0.5in) long.

There are no flying insects (they'd just get blown away), just shiny black springtails that hop like fleas and often live among penguin colonies.

15/ Samples of ice known as ice cores are regularly bored out of the ice in Antarctica by scientists. They are removed as a long cylinder of ice that gives an indication of the past going back tens and hundreds of thousands of years. The properties of the ice, of dust trapped in the ice, and even of air bubbles trapped in the ice give valuable information about the earth's climate at various times in the past.

A glaciologist could easily give you a drink of water that was frozen during the time of the Roman Empire.

In 1981 a swarm of krill was tracked by scientists that was estimated at being up to 10 million tonnes! 16/

This is the equivalent of about 143 million people (at an average of 70kg each) or more than the entire populations of the UK and Germany combined (and wandering around together).

17/ Antarctica is the only continent with no native species of ants or reptiles.

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Antarctica Facts - Fun Facts for Kids About the Antarctic and South Pole

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1/ If Antarctica's ice sheets melted, all of the worlds oceans would rise by 60 to 65 meters (200 - 210ft) - everywhere. 2/ Antarctica is pushed into the earth by the weight of its ice sheets.

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avifauna

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List of Australian bird emblems - Wikipedia

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Map with states, territories and capital cities

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Map with states, territories and capital cities

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The following is the list of Australia states and capitals in alphabetical order. Australia is divided into six states, three internal territories and seven external territories.

Map of Australian Capital Cities

About Map: Map showing Australia States and their capital and major cities. Map Credit- theproofreader.com.au

Capital city of states and territories of Australia

There are eight capital cities in Australia, Canberra is the capital city of Australia.

Australia is divided into six states (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia), three internal territories (the Australian Capital Territory, the Jervis Bay Territory, and the Northern Territory), and seven external territories (Ashmore and Cartier Islands, the Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and Norfolk Island).

List of Capital Cities of Australia:

State / Territory

ISO Code

Type

Capital

Population (2020)

Area (sq km)

Australia Links

All Oceania Countries

About USA

World Countries

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The following is the list of Australia states and capitals in alphabetical order. Australia is divided into six states, three internal territories and seven external territories. About Map: Map showing Australia States and their capital and major cities. Map Credit- theproofreader.com.au There are eight capital cities in Australia, Canberra is the capital city of Australia.

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The Southern Ocean is very well-known as different names such as the Antarctic Ocean, the great Southern Ocean, or the South Polar Ocean. The Southern Ocean is among one of the largest oceans, ranking fourth in the world. It covers up to 4% of the world and surrounds Antarctica below 60° S. However, the specific boundaries of the Southern Ocean are still defined and continue to be a topic of discussion among the international community.

In this article, we are going to discuss a few amazing Southern Ocean facts. However, before moving forward to the facts, it is important to note down some basic information about the Southern Ocean, which is given below.

Name: The Southern Ocean

Location: Surrounding the land of Antarctica

Coordinates: 68.4380° S, 160.2340° W

Total Surface Area: 7850000 square miles

Max Length: 21000 km

Max Width: 2600 km

Average Depth: 4000 metres to 5000 metres

Max Depth: 7000 metres

Shore Length: 11164 miles

Southern Ocean facts
The Southern Ocean is very much unique from the other oceans. It is considered to be the second smallest ocean in the world. Here are some must-read amazing Southern Ocean facts:

Ever since the 18th century, the existence of the Southern Ocean has been a matter of debate among geographers and cartographers. Some people believe that the Southern Ocean is just an extension of the Indian ocean, Pacific ocean, and Atlantic ocean. Hence, the existence of the Southern ocean is still questioned as it is shown as an extension of the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans on different maps.

Other than this, the size of the Southern Ocean is also being questioned by many geographers. However, the research shows that the size of the Southern ocean is not fixed, as it is drifting by a few inches every year. It is believed that the spreading of the seafloor causes this kind of drifting. However, the fact that the ocean drifts due to the spreading of the seafloor is not yet proven.

The Southern ocean came into existence when the land of South America and Antarctica opened up a drake passage 30 million years ago. Among all the five oceans, the Southern Ocean is the youngest as per geology. The separation between the two lands led to the formation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.

The Southern Ocean is considered to be different from the other three oceans because of its water. It widely differs from that of the other oceans because of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that rotates in the Southern Ocean as the water transports swiftly around the ocean.

The Southern Ocean is located very close to the south pole. A south pole is a place where rapid climate change keeps taking place constantly. Hence, it experiences very extreme climatic conditions. The changing climatic conditions in the Southern Ocean lead to a lot of changes in the weather patterns across different regions and different time scales.

The sea temperature rises above the freezing point, which is around -2° Celsius to 10° Celsius. The changing temperature and the freezing effect in the sea harshly affect the ecosystem in and around the ocean. These changing climates lead to the formation of different species that are able to adapt to the climate there.

The Southern Ocean is one of the deepest oceans in the world. Hence, the ocean floor of the Southern Ocean is yet to be fully explored. However, the researchers believe that the ocean floor of the Southern Ocean includes huge deposits of minerals, oils, and natural gas. These minerals also include gold deposits and manganese nodules that are available beneath the southern ocean. Due to this, a lot of mining companies have been showing their interest in exploring the same.

As the Southern Ocean is located closer to the south pole, it experiences constantly changing freezing temperatures. The low freezing temperatures formulate huge gigantic icebergs. Some of these icebergs are more than a hundred feet long. These icebergs keep floating all over the ocean.

The researchers believe that these huge icebergs contain a large amount of freshwater, which would be sufficient for the whole world for many years. However, the existence of such huge icebergs can be hazardous for the ships sailing around the ocean, causing tremendous collusion and shipwreck.

Due to its constantly changing climatic conditions, the Southern Ocean has a wide and diverse range of birds and animals. The Southern Ocean is considered to have the existence of the largest mammals in the world.

A lot of blue whales are found in and around the Southern Ocean. These blue whales feed on the rich and abundant Antarctic krill. The Southern Ocean consists of marine animals other than blue whales, such as Weddell seals, leopard seals, orcas, Antarctic fur seals, etc. Marine fishes such as cod icefish and snailfish are also part of the Southern Ocean.

Other than these, many penguins are found in the Southern Ocean. These may include the king penguin, emperor penguin, and rockhopper penguin. Birds such as terns, gulls, petrels, albatross, etc are also found in the Southern Ocean.

The Southern Ocean is further subdivided into different seas, channels, gulfs, and passages. Some of these are the Weddell Sea, the drake passage, Ross Sea, Somov Sea, Lazarev Sea, Cosmonauts Sea, Davis Sea, Mawson Sea, Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, Cooperation sea, etc.

The Cosmonauts Sea, Somov Sea, and the Cooperation Sea were explored later in 2002. Hence, the names of these are not found on the maps of the leading geographical authorities, especially in Western countries. However, it is found in the maps of Russian and Soviet maps as the names of these seas were proposed by the Russian geographical authorities.

Conclusion

The Southern Ocean is the second smallest ocean in the world and surrounds the entire land of Antarctica. It is formed by the partition of the drake passage between the continents of Southern America and Antarctica. It is the only ocean that includes a wide range of diverse ecosystems in the entire world.

The Southern Ocean has a very rapidly changing freezing climate which later leads to the formation of gigantic icebergs. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current in the Southern Ocean leads to the formation of the strongest winds on the whole Earth. A massive proportion of the world's ice is present around the Southern Ocean and Antarctica.

These were some of the intriguing facts about the Southern Ocean, however, there are a lot of topics still arguable and under debate related to its existence.

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Interesting facts about the Southern Ocean

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Interesting facts about the Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean is very well-known as different names such as the Antarctic Ocean, the great Southern Ocean, or the South Polar Ocean. The Southern Ocean is among one of the largest oceans, ranking fourth in the world.

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Fauna

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List of Australian mammal emblems - Wikipedia

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"Guidelines on the Use of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Archived from the original on 2007-08-28.

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In South Asia, between China and India, lies Nepal. Here, you'll find lowlands, as well as the highest mountain peaks in the world. Nepal has endured years of war and many people live in poverty. The country is home to exotic animals, such as tigers, snow leopards, rhinos and fresh water dolphins. These animals are all endangered, though. As the population grows, people cut down forests for homes and farmlands, displacing the animals. When the trees are cut down, the soil blows away so crops don't grow as well.

Nepal is the birthplace of Buddhism, although many people in Nepal are Hindu. Like India, the people of Nepal have used a caste system - or social ranking system - for many years. Although illegal, the caste system endures, especially in poor, rural areas. The social rankings include the Hindu caste, the Bhotes, the hill tribes, including Sherpas, and the Newar.

Fun Facts

30.5 million people live in Nepal.

The country has 54,363 square miles of land.

Nepali is the official language.

Hinduism and Buddhism are the major religions.

The life expectancy is 63 years.

Vocabulary

1. Poverty: lacking basic resources, including money, food, health care, housing and

2. educational opportunities

3. Endangered: in danger of becoming extinct

4. Displace: leave homeless or without a place

5. Birthplace: place of birth

Learn More
Visit National Geographic to learn more about Nepal.
Extra Credit
Question: What do the social castes mean?

Answer: Sherpas live in the mountains and serve as guides for tourists trying to climb Mt. Everest and other high mountain peaks. They are usually Buddhist and love the land. The Bhotes, originally from Tibet, live in the northern mountains, while the Newar are the native people dwelling in the Kathmandu Valley.

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In South Asia, between China and India, lies Nepal. Here, you'll find lowlands, as well as the highest mountain peaks in the world. Nepal has endured years of war and many people live in poverty. The country is home to exotic animals, such as tigers, snow leopards, rhinos and fresh water dolphins.

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50 Amazing Facts About Nepal [Infographic] | Work the World

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This well-researched infographic from Work the World offers several facts and figures about Nepal - a country full of fascinating facets.

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This photo was taken just two hours after the earthquake in Nepal's ancient city of Patan, which dates back to the 3rd century.

Credit: © UNESCO/Christian Manhart

Nepal is a narrow, landlocked country directly north of India and below China. It is relatively remote with topography ranging from lowlands in the south, and hilly and mountainous regions in the north. The climate is just as varied and ranges from tropical to alpine.

"In the lowlands it can be very warm and humid, whereas in the temperate and alpine regions the temperatures are cool to cold, the latter supporting very few permanent settlements," said Dale Schneeberger, a professor of geology at Biola University in Mirada, California.

Though there are limitations as to where homes and villages can be built, Nepal has a population of 30,986,975, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Most people live in the capital, Kathmandu, or in the southern plains. Nepal has an area of 56,827 square miles (147,181 square kilometers), about the same as Arkansas. It is about 500 miles (800 km) long northwest to southeast and 125 miles (200 km) wide. The elevation in Nepal ranges from Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, at 29,029 feet (8,848 meters) above sea level, to only 230 feet (70 m) above sea level in Kanchan Kalan.

In April of 2015, the small county was rocked by a 7.8-magnitude quake. More than 6,000 people died as a result and over 13,000 injured, according to BBC News. The destruction was particularly deadly due to how the people in Nepal live.

"From my personal travels in the extreme northeastern part of India (Silchar, Assam), about 400 miles [644 kilometers] east-southeast of Kathmandu, it is apparent that there is a mix of quasi-modern and poor rural." said Schneeberger. "As with any part of the non-industrialized world, building codes, where they do exist, may or may not be enforced or are only partially followed. Many structures are of un-reinforced stone/brick (masonry), many of which can be very old and of historical significance."

Un-reinforced masonry is very susceptible to seismic shaking from an earthquake and is one of the most common reasons for injuries or deaths during these events, Schneeberger said. Without proper design and reinforcement, buildings and structures of this type fall during the main earthquake or from the many aftershocks that follow as people try to rescue survivors or personal items.

Samrat Upadhyay, the Martha C. Kraft professor of humanities at the Indiana University School of Global and International Studies, said the recent earthquake in Nepal is reminiscent of another that took place in 1934. That quake, with a magnitude of 8.1, killed 10,600 people. "We had been warned. In the early '90s, when I returned to live in Nepal for two years, the country experienced mild earthquakes," said Upadhyay, whose parents survived and are camping on the outskirts of Kathmandu.

The massive earthquakes are caused by movement of tectonic plates in the Himalayas. Similar seismic activity created the mountain peaks of the Himalayas, said Upadhyay. According to National Geographic, Nepal is one of the most earthquake-prone areas in the world because it is on a major fault line, where the Indian subcontinent meets the Asian continent. The Indian plate continues to push northward about 1.7 inches (4.5 centimeters) per year.

People of Nepal are called Nepalis. Nepali customs can usually be traced back to Hindu, Buddhist or other religious traditions, according to the Nepal Tourism Board. For example, Nepalis is divided by the pure and impure. Food or materials touched by someone else's mouth is considered impure. Cow dung, on the other hand, is considered to be pure and is used for cleansing purposes. Women are considered impure during menstruation and are kept in seclusion until a purification bath is taken on the fourth day.

Nepal is a patriarchal society, meaning that men are in charge. They usually work while women take care of the home and children. Marriages are often arranged by parents after the boy or girl comes of age, and most people only marry inside of their caste.

There are 101 ethnic groups that speak over 92 languages in Nepal. Nepalis speak mostly Nepali, which is the official language of the country. Other languages are also spoken in Nepal, including Maithali, Bhojpuri, Tharu, Tamang, Newar, Magar, Bajjika, Urdu, Avadhi, Limbu and Gurung, according to the CIA.

While Nepal is thought of as a Buddhist nation, many people who live there practice other religions. Nepal became a secular country by order of the parliament on May 18, 2006, according to the Nepal Tourism Board. Actually, most people - 81.3 percent - are Hindu, while 9 percent are Buddhist, 4.4 percent are Muslim, 3.1 percent are Kirant and 1.4 percent are Christian, according to the CIA.

Nepalis do not eat beef, typically because Hindus worship cow and cows are the national animal of Nepal, according to the Nepal Tourism Board. Nepali food is influenced by Indian and Tibetan styles of cooking. A typical meal consists of dal, a lentil soup, bhat, which is boiled rice, and tarkari, which is curried vegetables.

Nepalis also like to eat achar with their meals, which is a type of pickle. Curried meat is eaten on special occasions and momos, which are steamed or fried dumplings, are a popular snack.

A family stands outside their award winning toilet built with WaterAid's assistance in Beli, Terai region, Nepal

Credit: WaterAid / Marco Betti

Nepal is known for its beautiful temples. Unfortunately, many temples have been destroyed due to earthquakes. These temple were centuries old and were prized for their exquisite carvings. "Kathmandu Durbar Square is in ruins. Patan Durbar Square has been devastated. These were World Heritage sites so, in a very literal sense, the whole world has lost physical access to its cultural history, said Upadhyay.

The enclosed shops and businesses found in Western countries are not typically found in Nepal. "Life in this part of the world is way different than in the industrialized West," said Schneeberger. "Many things are available but not like the so-called first-world cities. Open markets with vendors selling various produce, meats and other goods (clothing, etc.) are common."

Many of the holidays in Nepal are Hindu festivals. These festivals have no set date and follow astronomical observations. For example, Makar Sankranti is a festival that is based on the solar calendar. During this festival, people celebrate by swimming in the Ganges River or other rivers.

Maha Shivaratri is considered the great night of Shiva. Followers of Shiva fast and offer Bael leaves to the Shiva, according to Hindu Online. Basant Panchami is held in January and celebrates the coming of spring.

A non-religious holiday is Constitution Day, which is Nov. 9. Children's Day is another non-religious holiday. It is a celebration and reminder of children's rights.

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Nepal is a narrow, landlocked country directly north of India and below China. It is relatively remote with topography ranging from lowlands in the south, and hilly and mountainous regions in the north. The climate is just as varied and ranges from tropical to alpine.

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Geography and politics

Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia, lying between China and India in South Asia.
The country ended its longstanding constitutional monarchy in June 2008 when King Gyanendra, who had come to power in 2001 after the tragic murder of the previous king, abdicated the throne. Nepal's first president was chosen by parliament the following month. This precipitous government transformation came after nearly 20 years of political turmoil, including an often violent Maoist insurgency from 1996 until 2005.

Economy

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. Industry includes tourism, carpets, textiles; small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills; cigarettes; cement and brick production. Agriculture is of rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane while exports include carpets, clothing, leather goods, jute goods, grain.

Everest

Nepal possesses the greatest altitude variation on the Earth, from the lowlands near sea level to Mount Everest at 8,850 meters (29,035 feet). Everest, named after British surveyor Sir George Everest, is known as Chomolungma by the local Sherpas, meaning "Goddess Mother of the World" - related to this is the Chinese name Qomolangma. The Nepali word for Everest, Sagarmatha, is often translated as "Forehead of the Sky."

People

With a population of 26.4 million, Nepal is a multiethnic nation with Nepali as the official language. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and largest city.
Most Nepalese live in the central, hilly region, which embraces the Kathmandu Valley, and in the southern plain known as the Terai.

Population: 26.4million

Capital: Kathmandu

Area: 147,181 square kilometers (56,827 square miles)

Language: Nepali, English, many other languages and dialects

Religion: Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim

Currency: Nepalese rupee

Life Expectancy: 59

Literacy Percent: 45

Population of Kathmandu Metropolitan City: 1,003, 285 (Wikipedia)

CHANCE for NEPAL focusses on the children of Nepal because, out of 100
Children in Nepal....

86 live in villages

14 live in cities

90 are immunized

40 are suffering from malnutrition and are affected by diseases through it.

40 belong to extremely poor families

80 are admitted to school, but only 51 complete the primary level

86 boys and 74.6 girls are enrolled in primary level school

Further Facts About The Children Of Nepal

32,000 children are working in stone quarries

Twelve thousand Nepali girls are sold in India every year.

The child mortality rate of children below 5 years of age is 61 per 1000 birth.

41% of the total population are children below 16 years of age

27, 000 children die of diarrhea every year - 52% of the population do not have toilets

Out of 2.5 million disabled people, 5% are children

There are approximately five thousand street children in Nepal.

There are 2.6 million child labors in Nepal.

HIV infects 1088 children below 19 years of age.

The infant mortality rate of below 1 year of age is 48 per 1000 birth.

Children aged below 16 years constitute 40.93 percent of the total population.

87.4% of children are admitted in primary level school. However, about

40% stop school before primary level complete.

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Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia, lying between China and India in South Asia. The country ended its longstanding constitutional monarchy in June 2008 when King Gyanendra, who had come to power in 2001 after the tragic murder of the previous king, abdicated the throne.

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Nepal is a country of breathtaking beauty and diversity of cultures like no other place on earth. Truly "the roof of the world", here are 71 interesting facts about Nepal covering its history, culture, people, economy, the Himalayas, earthquakes, poverty, Kathmandu, flora and fauna and more...

Facts about Nepal's History

#1. Nepal's ancient history began in the Kathmandu Valley and over the centuries its boundaries grew to include tracts of what today are neighboring countries such as India and China. It prospered as a crossroad resting place for two trade routes. As such, it became a cultural mixing pot.

#3. The Hindu Kiratis, a Mongoloid people, are recorded by history as the first known rulers of the Kathmandu Valley in the 7th or 8th century BC. People from northern India overthrew the Kiratis in AD 300 and the country became predominantly Hindu. They ushered in an age of more prosperous trade and cultural brilliance.

Flag of Nepal

#5. During the 9th century a new lunar calendar, the Bikram Sambhat, was introduced that is still used today. It is approximately 67 years, eight and a half months ahead of the Gregorian calendar Americans use. On it Nepal's New Year is in mid-April.

#6. The age of the Malla kings was a golden one architecturally. The 15th century architect Arniko traveled to Lhasa and Beijing with the design for the pagoda, and forever changed the look of Asia's religious temples. A 1255 earthquake killed a third of Nepal's population during the reign of the Mallas as well.

#8. Nepal's renowned Gurkha soldiers always successfully protected their country. Their motto is, "Better to die than be a coward." The British were so impressed with their fighting ability during the Indian wars; they have been an integral salaried part of the British Army since 1815.

Facts about Geography, the Himalayas, Flora and Fauna

#10. After struggling from a constitutional monarchy with a multiparty democracy to Maoist extremists to Royal assassinations to the present day, Nepal presently is led by an elected president and parliament.

#11. The approximately 70 million year old Himalaya mountain range in Asia separates the Tibetan Plateau from the Indian subcontinent and is spread across five countries: Nepal, Bhutan, India, China, and Pakistan. It is the youngest mountain range in the world. The word "Himalaya" means "abode of snow" in Sanskrit. They are the home of the god Shiva, according to Hindu mythology.

#12. The three major river systems of the Asian continent (the Ganga- Brahmaputra, the Yangtze, and the Indus) all have the Himalayas as their beginning source. That's because the Himalayas are the world's third largest depository of snow and ice (after the two polar regions), with around 15,000 glaciers containing about 3,000 cubic miles of water.

#14. Many explorers and climbers were killed during their attempts to climb to the top of the peak before someone was successful. On May 29, 1953, British explorer Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay were the first to ever reach the summit of Mount Everest and thus permanently entered the history books.

#15. Twenty five years later, Reinhold Messner of Italy and Peter Habeler of Austria became the first to reach the summit without using supplemental oxygen, quite a feat in that thin atmosphere. Messner climbed Everest again in 1980.

#16. The Himalayas are home to the highest lake on earth (Tilicho at 4,800 meters/3 miles) and the deepest lake on earth (Shey Phoksundo). They are also home to eight of the top ten tallest mountains on earth in addition to Mount Everest. The zone around it is the Sagarmantha National Park, established in 1976 as a protected area.

#17. The Himalayan peak furthest east is Nameha Barwa and the one furthest west is Nanga Parbat.

#18. Nepal is geologically alive. The Indo Australian plate under Nepal is still moving and will travel 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) into Asia in the next 10 million years.

#19. Nepal's variation in altitudes is extreme. It boasts the highest valley in the world (Arun) as well as the deepest gorge (Kaligandaki), with altitudes ranging from a scant 59 meters to Everest's world topping 8,848 meters. Chitwan is the world's tallest grassland.

#20. With the variation in altitudes comes a variation in climates. Traveling from the south to the north, in a span of only 100 kilometers you will go from a hot tropical conditions to bone chilling arctic-level cold. The good news is that Nepal is definitely a four seasons destination.

#21. Nepal's Kaligandaki River is older than the Himalayas and is the major ecological dividing line between the western and eastern Himalayas.

#22. In Nepal grow 5,980 flowering plant species including two percent of the world's orchids (more than 360 species), six percent of the world's rhododendron species (and it's Nepal's national flower), and 250 species endemic to Nepal (and not found growing anywhere else on earth).This is one of the reasons Nepal is known as the Amazon of Asia.

#23. With almost 870 different species of birds, Nepal has more than the continents of North Africa and Europe combined. They are home to eight percent of the bird species of the world.

#24. Nepal is also home to over 650 different species of butterflies as well as the world's largest moth (the Atlas moth) and some of its largest wild honeybees.

#25. Nepal's endangered species include the beautiful snow leopard, the red panda, and the one horned rhino.

Facts about Nepal's Culture

#26. Nepal has never experienced any ethnic or religious clashes and riots. No blood has ever been spilled in the name of religion in the country. Instead, they are home to over 80 ethnic groups and their people speak 123 different languages.

#27. The people of Nepal greet each other with their palms placed together. They bow their foreheads and say "Namaste" as is done in neighboring India. This literally means, "I salute the God in you."

#30. Nepal has four properties inscribed on the World Heritage List. Two are cultural: Kathmandu Valley (1979) and Lumbini, the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha (1997); and two are natural: Chitwan National Park (1984) and Sagarmatha National Park (1979).

#31. Nepal's national flag is the only one in the world that isn't a rectangle or a square. It has two triangles; the top with a moon and the bottom with a sun. The triangles represent not only the Himalayas but Nepal's two major religions-Hinduism and Buddhism. Though the current design was made in 1962, the basic design has been used for over 2,000 years in the country.

#32. A popular and quickly made food dish is the Momo. They are flour and water dumplings filled with a variety of ingredients: meat, chicken, and/or vegetables (either fried or steamed) that are delicious and served with a dipping sauce.

#33. The national dish is Dal-bhat-tarkari, which means dal (lentils), bhat (rice), and a tarkari (vegetable). Many Nepali families eat it daily. A typical meal could be a green salad (cucumber and carrot), rice, mustard greens, potatoes, chicken gravy, ghee, black lentils and mutton curry.

#34. The Elephant polo game was originated in Meghauli, Nepal. Nepal's Tiger Tops is elephant polo's headquarters and the site of the World Elephant Polo Championships.

#35. Touching anything with your feet is considered offensive in Nepal. Never step over a person or any of another person's body parts. The left hand must not be used for eating in Nepal. The Nepali also consider the head to be sacred, so don't touch anyone else's.

#36. Mostly from the mountainous eastern part of Nepal, the Sherpas are an ethnic group frequently employed as porters for mountain expeditions as, due to their upbringing and genetics, they don't suffer the effects of altitude. Today it has become common to call all porters Sherpas.

Nepali People and Economy

#38. Half the population of Nepal survives on around one dollar per person per day, as Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world.

#39. Lumbini International Airport was developed to promote tourism in the area of Buddha's birthplace. Many Buddhist monks from China, Tibet and Japan travel here annually. Similarly, Pashupati Temple is visited by many Indian neighbors and is a great prospect for its economic and religious value. The temple complex itself is a grand and splendid vision for visitors, with its ponds, various temples and wandering monkeys.
Continue reading on the next page...

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71 Interesting Facts About Nepal - The Fact File

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Nepal is a country of breathtaking beauty and diversity of cultures like no other place on earth. Truly "the roof of the world", here are 71 interesting facts about Nepal covering its history, culture, people, economy, the Himalayas, earthquakes, poverty, Kathmandu, flora and fauna and more... #1.

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Antarctica for Kids: Cool Facts About Antarctica for Children - FreeSchool

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Area

Overall: 14,000,000 km² (5,400,000 sq mi)

Ice-free: 280,000 km² (100,000 sq mi)

Ice-covered: 13,720,000 km² (5,300,000 sq mi)

Population

0 (about 1000 people living temporarily)

Dependencies

Time zones

None

Internet TLD
.aq

Antarctica is the Earth's southernmost continent. It is on the South Pole. It's almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle. Around Antarctica is the Southern Ocean. At 14.0 million km ² (5.4 million sq mi), it is the fifth-largest continent in area after Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice. This ice averages at least 1.6 kilometers (1.0 mi) in thickness.

Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent. It is also the highest of all the continents. Antarctica is considered a desert. It has yearly precipitation of only 200 mm (8 inches) near the sea and far less inland. No humans live in Antarctica permanently. However, about 1,000 to 5,000 people live through the year at the science stations in Antarctica. Only plants and animals that can live in cold live there. The animals include penguins, seals, nematodes, tardigrades and mites. Plant life includes some grass and shrubs, algae, lichen, fungi, and bacteria.

The first known sighting of the continent was in 1820. Antarctica was mostly forgotten for the rest of the 19th century. This was because of its hostile environment, few resources, and isolation. The first official use of the name Antarctica as a continental name in the 1890s is said to have been used by Scottish cartographer John George Bartholomew.

Geography and geology

Antarctica is covered by an ice sheet about four kilometres thick. Under the ice it is mostly land, although the ice shelves are over the ocean. The Transantarctic Mountains divide the land between East Antarctica in the Eastern Hemisphere and West Antarctica in the Western Hemisphere.

Antarctica is the coldest of Earth's continents. It used to be ice-free until about 34 million years ago, when it became covered with ice. The coldest natural air temperature ever recorded on Earth was −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) at the Soviet (now Russian) Vostok Station in Antarctica on 21 July 1983.

Antarctica is a frozen desert with little rain; the South Pole itself receives less than 10 cm (4 in) per year, on average. Temperatures reach a minimum of between −80 °C (−112 °F) and −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) in the interior in winter and reach a maximum of between 5 °C (41 °F) and 15 °C (59 °F) near the coast in summer.

Sunburn is often a health issue as the snow surface reflects almost all of the ultraviolet light falling on it. Given the latitude, long periods of constant darkness or constant sunlight create climates unfamiliar to human beings in much of the rest of the world.

East Antarctica is colder than its western counterpart because of its higher elevation. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, leaving the centre cold and dry. Despite the lack of rain over the central portion of the continent, ice there lasts for extended periods. Heavy snowfalls are common on the coastal portion of the continent, where snowfalls of up to 1.22 metres (48 in) in 48 hours have been recorded.

At the edge of the continent, strong katabatic winds off the polar plateau often blow at storm force. In the interior, wind speeds are typically moderate. During clear days in summer, more solar radiation reaches the surface at the South Pole than at the equator because of the 24 hours of sunlight each day at the Pole.

Antarctica is colder than the Arctic for three reasons. First, much of the continent is more than 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above sea level, and temperature decreases with elevation in the troposphere. Second, the Arctic Ocean covers the north polar zone: the ocean's relative warmth is transferred through the icepack and prevents temperatures in the Arctic regions from reaching the extremes typical of the land surface of Antarctica. Third, the Earth is at aphelion in July (i.e., the Earth is farthest from the Sun in the Antarctic winter), and the Earth is at perihelion in January (i.e., the Earth is closest to the Sun in the Antarctic summer). The orbital distance contributes to a colder Antarctic winter (and a warmer Antarctic summer) but the first two effects have more impact.

The aurora australis, commonly known as the southern lights, is a glow observed in the night sky near the South Pole created by the plasma-full solar winds that pass by the Earth. Another unique spectacle is diamond dust, a ground-level cloud composed of tiny ice crystals. It generally forms under otherwise clear or nearly clear skies, so people sometimes also refer to it as clear-sky precipitation. A sun dog, a frequent atmospheric optical phenomenon, is a bright "spot" beside the true sun.

Life in Antarctica

Few land plants grow in Antarctica. This is because Antarctica does not have much moisture (water), sunlight, good soil, or a warm temperature. Plants usually only grow for a few weeks in the summer. However, moss, lichen and algae do grow. The most important organisms in Antarctica are the plankton which grow in the ocean.

One important source of food in the Antarctic is the krill, which is a general term for the small shrimp-like marine crustaceans. Krill are near the bottom of the food chain: they feed on phytoplankton and to a lesser extent zooplankton. Krill are a food form suitable for the larger animals for whom krill makes up the largest part of their diet. So whales, penguins, seals, and even some of the birds that live in the Antarctic, depend on krill.

Whales are the largest animals in the ocean, and in Antarctica. They are mammals, not fish. That means that they breathe air and do not lay eggs. Many different kinds of whales live in the oceans around Antarctica. Whalers have hunted whales for hundreds of years, for meat and blubber. Nowadays most whaling is done in the Antarctic area.

History of its discovery

For a long time, people had believed that there was a great continent in the far south of Earth. They thought this Terra Australis would "balance" the lands in the north like Europe, Asia and North Africa. People have believed this from the times of Ptolemy (1st century AD). He suggested this idea to keep the balance of all known lands in the world. Pictures of a large land in the south were common in maps. In the late 17th century, people discovered that South America and Australia were not part of the mythical "Antarctica". However, geographers still believed that Antarctica was much bigger than it really was.

European maps continued to show this unknown land until Captain James Cook's ships, HMS Resolution and Adventure, crossed the Antarctic Circle on 17 January 1773, in December 1773. They crossed it again in January 1774. In fact, Cook did come within about 75 miles (121 km) of the Antarctic coast. However, he was forced to go back because of ice in January 1773.

The first confirmed sighting of Antarctica were by three different men. According to different organizations, ships captained by three men saw Antarctica in 1820. The three men were Fabian von Bellingshausen (a captain in the Russian Imperial Navy), Edward Bransfield (a captain in the Royal Navy), and Nathaniel Palmer (an American seal hunter out of Stonington, Connecticut). The first recorded landing on mainland Antarctica was by the American sealer John Davis. He landed on West Antarctica on 7 February 1821. However, some historians are not sure about this claim.

People began discovering different parts of Antarctica and mapping them. This was slow work because they could only work in the summer. At last a map was made, and people began to talk about exploring the land, not only the sea. However, this would have been very hard work. They would have to break through the ice that was around Antarctica. Then they would have to land on it and bring in enough things to live on while they explored the land.

The first serious exploration of the Antarctic land was the Nimrod Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton in 1907-09. They were the first to climb Mount Erebus and to reach the South Magnetic Pole. Shackleton himself and three other members of his expedition made several firsts in December 1908 - February 1909. They were the first humans to cross the Ross Ice Shelf, and the Transantarctic Mountain Range (via the Beardmore Glacier). They were the first to set foot on the South Polar Plateau.

Robert Falcon Scott, the most well known of all of the explorers, wanted to be the first man to reach the South Pole. At the same time, another team from Norway lead by Roald Amundsen started. They both raced each other to the South Pole, but in the end Amundsen won because he had made a good use of his sleigh dogs. Scott had used ponies and motor sleds, but when he got to the South Pole he found a message from Amundsen, showing that he had beaten Scott.

On his way back, Scott and three companions met a blizzard and froze to death while waiting for it to finish. The people who found him eight months later also found his records and diary, which he had written to the day he died.

Climate change and global warming are showing effects in Antarctica, particularly the Antarctic Peninsula.

Today people explore Antarctica using snowmobiles, which are faster than dogs and can pull heavier loads. Many come to Antarctica just for a short visit, as a trip. There are companies in South America that have vacations to Antarctica, so people pay to go there in a ship. Some people may just take their own boats.

Related pages

Related pages

Images for kids

In Spanish: Antártida para niños

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State and Territory Flags

The Commonwealth of Australia consists of six states that were originally separate colonies of the United Kingdom. The Constitution provides for the Federal Government to create Territories, some of which have responsible self-government. In addition, some states have island dependencies, the most significant of which are Lord Howe Island (NSW) and Macquarie Island (Tasmania).

The state flags consist of the British Blue Ensign, each with a badge that represents the state. This flag pattern was introduced in 1865, when the British Admiralty determined that vessels maintained by the colonies would each use a flag bearing its seal or a badge. In 1868 the use of these badges was extended to the centre of the Union Jack, for use by the Colonial Governor. By 1875 all of the Australian states (then colonies) had adopted badges for use on the blue ensign and the Governor's flag, though several were subsequently changed. Gradually the flags came to be used on land by the state governments and from the 1970s their wider public use as a state flag was encouraged.

As the territories were never separate British colonies, they have progressively adopted flags that are not based on the colonial pattern. Several territories have no flag: the Australian National Flag is used for the Australian Antarctic Territory, Jervis Bay Territory, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Coral Sea Islands Territory and Heard and McDonald Islands.

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State and Territory Flags The Commonwealth of Australia consists of six states that were originally separate colonies of the United Kingdom. The Constitution provides for the Federal Government to create Territories, some of which have responsible self-government. In addition, some states have island dependencies, the most significant of which are Lord Howe Island (NSW) and Macquarie Island (Tasmania).

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Flora

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List of Australian floral emblems - Wikipedia

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After the Federation of Australia that took place in 1901, the upsurge in nationalism led to the search for an official national floral emblem. Archibald Campbell had founded the Wattle Club in Victoria in 1899 to promote interest in and profile of the wattle as a unique Australian flower.