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Planet Earth
Hottest, coldest, wettest and windiest places, the deepest lakes, and what lies under your feet.
This page lists 14 source-checked comparisons in Planet Earth, ranked from the biggest value to the smallest. Each table shows its unit, the year the figures describe, how sure we are, the date we last verified it and the sources behind it.
Topics: Weather extremes, Lakes, Deserts, Inside the Earth, Earthquakes, Underground.
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Hottest air temperature ever measured (°C)
Confirmed Weather extremes · As of WMO, 2025 · Verified 2026-11-01 · WWV-CP-EA-001
| # | Name | Value (°C) |
|---|
| 1 | Furnace Creek, USA North America, 1913 | 56.7 °C |
| 2 | Kebili, Tunisia Africa, 1931 | 55 °C |
| 3 | Mitribah, Kuwait Asia, 2016 | 53.9 °C |
| 4 | Oodnadatta, Australia Oceania, 1960 | 50.7 °C |
| 5 | Rivadavia, Argentina South America, 1905 | 48.9 °C |
| 6 | Siracusa, Italy Continental Europe, 2021 | 48.8 °C |
| 7 | Verkhoyansk, Russia Inside the Arctic Circle, 2020 | 38 °C |
| 8 | Esperanza Station Antarctic mainland, 2020 | 18.3 °C |
Highest official reading found in each region. The 56.7 °C world record from Death Valley (1913) is still listed by the WMO.
Sources
Coldest air temperature ever measured (°C below zero)
Confirmed Weather extremes · As of WMO, 2025 · Verified 2026-11-01 · WWV-CP-EA-002
| # | Name | Value (°C below zero) |
|---|
| 1 | Vostok, Antarctica 1983 | 89.2 °C below zero |
| 2 | Klinck, Greenland 1991 | 69.6 °C below zero |
| 3 | Oymyakon, Russia 1933 | 67.8 °C below zero |
| 4 | Snag, Canada 1947 | 63 °C below zero |
| 5 | Ust'-Shchugor, Russia Continental Europe, 1978 | 58.1 °C below zero |
| 6 | Sarmiento, Argentina 1907 | 32.8 °C below zero |
| 7 | Ranfurly, New Zealand 1903 | 25.6 °C below zero |
| 8 | Ifrane, Morocco 1935 | 23.9 °C below zero |
Shown as degrees below zero so bars can be compared. Vostok's reading is the lowest air temperature measured at a weather station.
Sources
Wettest places: average rain per year (mm)
Confirmed Weather extremes · As of WMO, 2025 · Verified 2026-11-01 · WWV-CP-EA-003
| # | Name | Value (mm) |
|---|
| 1 | Mawsynram, India Asia | 11,872 mm |
| 2 | Mount Waialeale, Hawaii Pacific | 11,640 mm |
| 3 | Debundscha, Cameroon Africa | 10,287 mm |
| 4 | Quibdó, Colombia South America | 8,990 mm |
| 5 | Bellenden Ker, Australia Queensland | 8,034 mm |
| 6 | Henderson Lake, Canada North America | 7,000 mm |
| 7 | Crkvice, Montenegro Europe | 4,593 mm |
Long-term yearly averages (29 to 38 years of records), the wettest place on each region's list.
Sources
Most rain ever recorded in a set time (mm)
Confirmed Weather extremes · As of WMO, 2025 · Verified 2026-11-01 · WWV-CP-EA-004
| # | Name | Value (mm) |
|---|
| 1 | In 12 months Cherrapunji, India, 1860 to 1861 | 26,470 mm |
| 2 | In 96 hours Commerson Crater, La Réunion, 2007 | 4,936 mm |
| 3 | In 72 hours Commerson Crater, La Réunion, 2007 | 3,930 mm |
| 4 | In 48 hours Cherrapunji, India, 1995 | 2,493 mm |
| 5 | In 24 hours Foc-Foc, La Réunion, 1966 | 1,825 mm |
| 6 | In 12 hours Foc-Foc, La Réunion, 1966 | 1,144 mm |
| 7 | In 1 hour Holt, USA, 1947 | 305 mm |
| 8 | In 1 minute Unionville, USA, 1956 | 31.2 mm |
Each bar is the world record for that length of time. Tropical cyclones produced most of the multi-day records.
Sources
Strongest winds ever measured (km/h)
Confirmed Weather extremes · As of WMO, 2025 · Verified 2026-11-01 · WWV-CP-EA-005
| # | Name | Value (km/h) |
|---|
| 1 | Tornado, Bridge Creek Radar-measured, 1999 | 486 km/h |
| 2 | Barrow Island gust Cyclone Olivia, 1996 | 408 km/h |
| 3 | Mount Washington gust USA, 1934 | 372 km/h |
| 4 | Typhoon Nancy and Hurricane Patricia Sustained, 1961 and 2015 | 342 km/h |
WMO figures are in meters per second; here they are multiplied by 3.6 and rounded. Gusts are brief bursts; the cyclone entry is a sustained wind.
Sources
Deepest lakes (meters)
Confirmed Lakes · As of 2024 · Verified 2026-11-01 · WWV-CP-EA-006
| # | Name | Value (m) |
|---|
| 1 | Lake Baikal Russia | 1,642 m |
| 2 | Lake Tanganyika Africa | 1,470 m |
| 3 | Caspian Sea Counted as a lake by convention | 1,025 m |
| 4 | Lake Malawi Africa | 706 m |
| 5 | Lake Superior USA and Canada | 406 m |
Maximum depth. Lake Vostok in Antarctica is buried under ice and its depth is only estimated, so it is left out.
Sources
Largest lakes by surface area (km2)
Estimated Lakes · As of 2024 · Verified 2026-11-01 · WWV-CP-EA-007
| # | Name | Value (km2) |
|---|
| 1 | Caspian Sea Counted as a lake by convention | 389,000 km2 |
| 2 | Lake Superior USA and Canada | 82,100 km2 |
| 3 | Lake Victoria Africa | 59,900 km2 |
| 4 | Lake Huron USA and Canada | 59,600 km2 |
| 5 | Lake Michigan USA | 57,800 km2 |
| 6 | Lake Tanganyika Africa | 32,900 km2 |
| 7 | Lake Baikal Russia | 31,700 km2 |
Rounded. Sources differ by a few percent, and Lake Victoria is quoted anywhere from about 60,000 to 69,000 km2 depending on the method.
Sources
Largest deserts (million km2)
Estimated Deserts · As of 2024 · Verified 2026-11-01 · WWV-CP-EA-008
| # | Name | Value (million km2) |
|---|
| 1 | Antarctic Desert Polar | 14.2 million km2 |
| 2 | Arctic Desert Polar | 13.9 million km2 |
| 3 | Sahara Africa | 9 million km2 |
| 4 | Arabian Desert Middle East | 2.6 million km2 |
| 5 | Gobi Desert China and Mongolia | 1.3 million km2 |
| 6 | Patagonian Desert Argentina | 0.67 million km2 |
| 7 | Great Victoria Desert Australia | 0.65 million km2 |
| 8 | Kalahari Southern Africa | 0.56 million km2 |
Rounded. A desert is a place with very little rain, so the two biggest are polar. The Arabian Desert is quoted between 2.3 and 2.6 million km2.
Sources
Thickness of Earth's layers (km)
Estimated Inside the Earth · As of USGS · Verified 2026-11-01 · WWV-CP-EA-009
| # | Name | Value (km) |
|---|
| 1 | Mantle Hot, slowly flowing rock | 2,900 km |
| 2 | Outer core Liquid | 2,200 km |
| 3 | Inner core Solid, center to edge | 1,250 km |
| 4 | Continental crust Average | 30 km |
| 5 | Oceanic crust Under the sea floor | 5 km |
Rounded averages. The crust varies a lot from place to place, and the inner core is a solid ball, so its figure is its thickness from center to edge.
Sources
Hardness of minerals on the Mohs scale
Confirmed Inside the Earth · As of Mohs scale · Verified 2026-11-06 · WWV-CP-EA-014
| # | Name | Value (Mohs) |
|---|
| 1 | Diamond Hardest | 10 Mohs |
| 2 | Corundum Ruby and sapphire | 9 Mohs |
| 3 | Topaz | 8 Mohs |
| 4 | Quartz | 7 Mohs |
| 5 | Orthoclase A feldspar | 6 Mohs |
| 6 | Apatite | 5 Mohs |
| 7 | Fluorite | 4 Mohs |
| 8 | Calcite | 3 Mohs |
| 9 | Gypsum | 2 Mohs |
| 10 | Talc Softest | 1 Mohs |
The ten reference minerals of the Mohs scratch hardness scale, from 1 (softest) to 10 (hardest).
Sources
Largest earthquakes ever measured (magnitude)
Estimated Earthquakes · As of 2026 · Verified 2026-11-06 · WWV-CP-EA-015
| # | Name | Value (magnitude) |
|---|
| 1 | 1960 Valdivia earthquake Magnitude | 9.4 magnitude |
| 2 | 1964 Alaska earthquake Magnitude | 9.2 magnitude |
| 3 | 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake Magnitude | 9.2 magnitude |
| 4 | 2011 Tōhoku earthquake Magnitude | 9 magnitude |
| 5 | 1952 Severo-Kurilsk earthquake Magnitude | 8.8 magnitude |
| 6 | 2010 Chile earthquake Magnitude | 8.8 magnitude |
| 7 | 2025 Kamchatka earthquake Magnitude | 8.8 magnitude |
| 8 | 1965 Rat Islands earthquake Magnitude | 8.7 magnitude |
Moment magnitude from the cited list; where a range is given, the first value is shown.
Sources
Deepest caves (meters)
Estimated Underground · As of 2026 · Verified 2026-11-06 · WWV-CP-EA-016
| # | Name | Value (meters) |
|---|
| 1 | Krubera-Voronja Cave Depth | 2,224 meters |
| 2 | Veryovkina Cave Depth | 2,209 meters |
| 3 | Sarma Cave Depth | 1,830 meters |
| 4 | Tovliani Cave Depth | 1,760 meters |
| 5 | Lamprechtsofen Depth | 1,727 meters |
| 6 | Gouffre Mirolda Depth | 1,661 meters |
| 7 | Gouffre Jean-Bernard Depth | 1,612 meters |
| 8 | Sistema del Cerro del Cuevón Depth | 1,589 meters |
Surveyed depth from the cited list.
Sources
Longest caves (km)
Estimated Underground · As of 2026 · Verified 2026-11-06 · WWV-CP-EA-017
| # | Name | Value (km) |
|---|
| 1 | Mammoth Cave Length | 685.6 km |
| 2 | Sistema Ox Bel Ha Length | 541.7 km |
| 3 | Shuanghedong Cave Network Length | 481.5 km |
| 4 | Sistema Sac Actun / Sistema Dos Ojos Length | 387.1 km |
| 5 | Jewel Cave Length | 354.59 km |
| 6 | Wind Cave Length | 270.4 km |
| 7 | Clearwater Cave System Length | 268.6 km |
| 8 | Optymistychna Cave Length | 264.5 km |
Surveyed passage length from the cited list.
Sources
Deepest mines (km)
Estimated Underground · As of 2026 · Verified 2026-11-06 · WWV-CP-EA-018
| # | Name | Value (km) |
|---|
| 1 | Mponeng Gold Mine Depth | 4 km |
| 2 | TauTona Mine Depth | 3.9 km |
| 3 | Savuka Gold Mine Depth | 3.7 km |
| 4 | East Rand Mine Depth | 3.58 km |
| 5 | Driefontein Mine Depth | 3.42 km |
| 6 | Kusasalethu mine Depth | 3.39 km |
| 7 | Empire Mine Depth | 3.35 km |
| 8 | Kloof mine Depth | 3.35 km |
Depth below the surface from the cited list.
Sources