Latest / Kidcast Daily / Ep112: World Geography Trivia

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Ep112: World Geography Trivia · Kidcast Daily

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Welcome to Kid Cast Daily, where we bring news, trivia, fun
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facts, and more just for curious kids like you.
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Today's episode is all about world geography trivia, so get
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ready to travel the globe with your imagination.
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Grab your explorers hat and let's dive into the amazing
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world of continents, countries, oceans, and some of the coolest
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places on earth. Let's start with the basics.
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What is geography? Well, geography is the study of
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places and the relationships between people and their
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environments. Imagine you have a giant map and
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you're looking at all the different places people live,
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the land forms like mountains and rivers, and even how far
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apart things are. Geography helps us understand
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our planet and how everything fits together like a giant
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puzzle. Speaking of puzzles, let's start
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with the biggest pieces, the continents.
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There are 7 continents on Earth. That's right, only 7 huge land
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areas where all the countries are grouped.
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Let's name them together. Africa, Antarctica, Asia,
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Australia, Europe, North America and South America.
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Each continent is like a different chapter in the
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storybook of our planet. Did you know that Asia is the
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largest continent? It's so big that more than half
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of the people on Earth live there.
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That means if you lined up everyone in the world, every
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other person would probably be from Asia.
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Now the smallest continent is Australia, but don't let its
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size fool you. Australia is packed with unique
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animals like Kangaroos, koalas and even the duck billed
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platypus. Let's talk a bit more about each
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continent. Africa is famous for its amazing
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wildlife like lions, elephants and giraffes.
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It also has the world's longest river, the Nile.
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The Nile River is so long it would take you months to walk
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along its banks. From start to finish, Antarctica
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is the coldest, windiest, and iciest continent.
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It's so cold there that hardly any people live in Antarctica,
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but plenty of Penguins call it home.
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Europe is known for its rich history, beautiful castles, and
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delicious foods like pizza, croissants, and chocolate.
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North America is home to the United States, Canada, and
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Mexico, and it's where you'll find cool places like the Grand
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Canyon, Niagara Falls, and even the world's largest freshwater
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lake, Lake Superior. South America is famous for the
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Amazon rainforest, which is so big and full of plants and
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animals that scientists are still discovering new species
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there every year. Now, let's not forget about the
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oceans. Our planet is called the Blue
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Planet because most of it is covered by water.
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There are five oceans, the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian,
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Southern, and Arctic. The Pacific Ocean is the biggest
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and deepest. It's so large that if you
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dropped Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world,
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into the Pacific's deepest spot, it would still be underwater.
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Here's a fun fact. The Atlantic Ocean is like a
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giant highway for ships traveling between North America
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and Europe. It's also where you'll find the
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mysterious Bermuda Triangle, a place where ships and planes
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have supposedly disappeared in strange ways.
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Spooky, right? But don't worry, it's mostly
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just stories and legends. Let's play a quick game.
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If you could visit any continent or ocean, which one would you
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choose? Maybe you'd want to sled with
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Penguins in Antarctica or swim with dolphins in the Pacific
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Ocean. The world is full of amazing
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places to explore. Now let's zoom in a little
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closer. Continents are made-up of
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countries. A country is like a house on the
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big St. called a continent. Each country has its own
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borders, language, and culture. There are about 195 countries in
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the world today. Some are huge, like Russia,
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which is the largest country and stretches across Europe and
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Asia. Others are tiny, like Vatican
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City, which is so small you could walk across it in less
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than an hour. Did you know that Canada has
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more lakes than any other country?
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In fact, Canada has so many lakes it could fill an entire
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swimming pool for every person on earth.
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And Brazil is the only country in South America where people
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speak Portuguese instead of Spanish.
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That's because of history and the explorers who visited there
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long ago. Let's talk about capitals.
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The capital city is where the government of a country is
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located, like the boss room of the country.
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For example, Washington DC is the capital of the United
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States, Ottawa is the capital of Canada, and Tokyo is the capital
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of Japan. Some capitals are super famous,
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like Paris, France where you can see the Eiffel Tower, or London,
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England where you can find Big Ben and the Queen's Palace.
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And here's a did you know moment.
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Not every country's largest city is its capital.
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For example, Sydney is the biggest city in Australia, but
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the capital is Canberra. Can you think of any other
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capitals that aren't the biggest cities in their country?
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Now let's talk about mountains. Mountains are like the
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skyscrapers of nature. The tallest mountain in the
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world is Mount Everest, which is in the Himalayas in Asia.
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It's so tall that if you stacked about 20 Statues of Liberty on
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top of each other, you'd still have a little more to go before
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reaching the top. Climbers from all over the world
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try to reach the summit, but it's very tough and cold up
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there. But not all mountains are super
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tall. Some are famous for other
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reasons. For example, Mount Fuji in Japan
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is a volcano and is known for its perfectly round shape and
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beautiful snow capped top. And in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro
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is famous because it stands all alone, like a giant ice cream
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cone rising above the plains. Let's not forget about rivers.
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Rivers are like the veins of the earth, carrying water across
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continents. We already mentioned the Nile,
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but there's also the Amazon River in South America, which is
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the widest and has the most water.
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The Mississippi River in North America is so long it passes
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through 10 different states. Imagine floating down a river
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that takes you through so many different places and landscapes.
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Here's another fun fact. The Yangtze River in China is
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the longest river in Asia and the third longest in the world.
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Along its banks, you'll find cities, farms, and even ancient
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temples. Now what about desserts?
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Deserts are places that get very little rain, so they're often
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sandy and dry. The Sahara Desert in Africa is
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the largest hot desert in the world.
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It's so big it's almost the size of the United States.
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But not all deserts are hot. Antarctica is actually the
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largest desert on Earth because it hardly ever rains or snows
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there. So deserts can be hot or cold.
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What matters is how dry they are.
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Let's talk about islands. An island is a piece of land
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completely surrounded by water. Some islands are tiny, just big
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enough for a single palm tree. Others, like Greenland, are
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huge. Greenland is the world's largest
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island that's not a continent. And did you know that Indonesia
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is made-up of over 17,000 islands?
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That's like having 17,000 puzzle pieces scattered across the
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ocean. Speaking of islands, have you
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ever heard of Madagascar? It's an island off the coast of
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Africa and is famous for its unique animals like lemurs,
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which you can't find anywhere else in the world.
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Now let's talk about the equator.
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The equator is an imaginary line that goes around the middle of
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the Earth, like a belt holding up the planet's pants.
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Countries near the equator are usually warm all year round, and
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the days and nights are about the same length.
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That's why places like Ecuador, Kenya, and Indonesia have
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tropical climates with lots of rainforests and amazing plants
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and animals. Here's a did you know moment.
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If you stood on the equator, you'd be spinning around the
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Earth faster than someone standing near the North or South
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Pole. That's because the Earth is
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widest at the equator, so it has to go faster to make a full turn
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every day. Now let's learn about time
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zones. The Earth is divided into 24
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time zones, one for each hour of the day.
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That's why when it's daytime in New York, it might be night time
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in Tokyo. Imagine you're calling your
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friend who lives on the other side of the world while you're
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eating breakfast. They might be getting ready for
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bed. Time zones help everyone know
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what time it is in different places.
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Let's talk about some record-breaking places.
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The Dead Sea, located between Israel and Jordan, is the lowest
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place on land in the world. It's so salty that you can float
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on top of the water without even trying.
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Then there's the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, which is
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the deepest part of the ocean. It's so deep that if you dropped
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Mount Everest into it, there would still be more than a mile
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of water above the mountain's peak.
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Now, let's visit some of the world's most famous landmarks.
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The Great Wall of China is the longest wall in the world.
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It's so long that it could stretch across the United States
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from coast to coast. The Pyramids of Giza in Egypt
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are some of the oldest buildings on Earth, built thousands of
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years ago as tombs for the Pharaohs.
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And let's not forget about the Taj Mahal in India, a beautiful
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white palace built as a symbol of love.
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Here's a fun game. Try to imagine what it would be
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like to visit each of these places.
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What would you see, smell and hear?
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Maybe you'd hear the wind whistling across the Great Wall,
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or see the sparkling white stones of the Taj Mahal shining
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in the sun. Let's take a quick trip to the
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world's largest cities. Tokyo and Japan is the biggest
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city in the world by population. More than 37 million people live
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in and around Tokyo. That's like the entire
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population of Canada packed into one city.
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Other giant cities include New Delhi in India, Shanghai and
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China, and Sao Paulo in Brazil. Cities are like beehives,
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buzzing with activity, lights and people from all walks of
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life. Now let's talk about climates.
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The world has many different climates, from the freezing cold
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of the Arctic to the hot and steamy jungles of the Amazon.
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Some places get lots of snow, like Siberia and Russia, while
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others are warm and sunny all year, like Hawaii.
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The climate of a place effects what plants and animals live
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there and even the kinds of clothes people wear.
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Here's a did you know moment. The Atacama Desert and Chile is
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the driest place on earth. Some weather stations there have
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never recorded any rain ever. On the other hand, Masanraman
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India is the wettest place with rain almost every day.
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Imagine needing an umbrella all the time.
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Let's not forget about languages.
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There are over 7000 languages spoken around the world.
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Some countries have many languages like India where
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people speak Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and dozens more.
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In Switzerland, there are four official languages, German,
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French, Italian and Romanche. That's like having four
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different ways to say hello in one country.
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And here's a quick quiz question for you.
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What is the most widely spoken language in the world?
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The answer is English, but Mandarin Chinese has the most
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native speakers. That means more people grow up
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speaking Mandarin as their first language than any other
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language. Now let's talk about borders.
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Borders are the invisible lines that separate countries.
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Sometimes borders are marched by rivers, mountains, or even
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walls. For example, the border between
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the United States and Canada is the longest international border
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in the world, and you can actually visit places where you
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can stand in two countries at once.
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Here's a did you know moment. There's a town called Barrel
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that sits on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands.
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The border is so zigzaggy that some houses are split in half,
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with one part in Belgium and the other in the Netherlands.
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Talk about an international house.
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Let's talk about flags. Every country has its own flag,
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which is like its own Team. Jersey.
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Flags come in all colors and designs.
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The flag of Nepal is the only one that isn't a rectangle or
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square. It's made of two triangles.
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And the flag of Switzerland is a perfect square, which is pretty
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rare. Now let's travel to some unique
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places. Did you know there's a country
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made-up of over 1000 coral islands called the Maldives?
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It's the lowest country in the world, just a few feet above sea
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level. And then there's Mongolia, which
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has more horses than people. That's a lot of neighing and
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galloping. Let's talk about natural
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wonders. The Great Barrier Reef in
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Australia is the largest coral reef system in the world.
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It's so big you can see it from space.
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The Northern Lights, or Aurora borealis, are beautiful lights
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that dance across the sky in places near the North Pole like
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Norway, Canada and Alaska. It's like a natural fireworks
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show. And here's a did you know
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moment. The Amazon rainforest is often
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called the lungs of the Earth because it produces so much of
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the oxygen we breathe. It's home to millions of
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different plants, animals, and insects, many of which haven't
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even been discovered yet. Now let's talk about some fun
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world records. The highest waterfall is Angel
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Falls in Venezuela. The water drops so far that
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before it hits the ground, much of it turns into mist.
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The hottest recorded temperature on Earth was in Death Valley,
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CA, where it reached 134°F. That's hotter than most ovens.
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Let's wrap up our world journey with a quick recap.
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Today we learned that geography is the study of places and how
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everything fits together on our planet.
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We talked about the seven continents and five oceans and
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discovered some of the world's largest, smallest, highest, and
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lowest places. We learned about countries,
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capitals, languages, and even some record-breaking landmarks
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and natural wonders. We also discovered that the
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Earth is full of amazing climates, cultures and
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creatures, from the icy Penguins of Antarctica to the wild lemurs
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of Madagascar. And we found out that there's
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always something new to learn about our world, whether it's a
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new animal, a new language.