Antarctica is the only continent that does not have land areas below sea level.

The states of Arizona and Hawaii have never adopted Daylight Savings Time, Neither has Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, or American Samoa.

Before 1903 Panama was part of South America. After 1903 it was part of North America. This was due to an arbitrary Decision of the Panamanian government, which in 1903, after staging the last of fifty revolutions (perhaps a record in itself) against its parent country, Colombia, gained its freedom, both to dissociate itself from Colombia and to Decide which continent it wished to be part of. After less than a year's consideration, the government Decided that the country should be North American, and so it has remained ever since.

Juneau, Alaska, has a greater Land Area than any other city in the Western Hemisphere. In 1977 the main city and outlying districts were consolidated, making Juneau officially 3,108 square miles in size. Of this area, 1476 square miles are dry land, 928 are an icecap, and 704 comprise water. Compare this 3,108 square miles with other large cities Jacksonville. Florida, traditionally considered the largest American city, has an Area of 840 square miles. Houston, Texas, boasts 450, Los Angeles 455, and New York City 320.

Of the twenty-five highest Mountains on earth, nineteen are in the Himalayas.

The highest Mountain in all the British Isles, Ben Nevis in western Scotland, is only 4,406 feet high. In many other countries a "Mountain" of this size would be considered something less than a large hill.

The needle of a compass does not point directly north. It points either a little to the east or a little to the west, not enough to make any difference to the average hiker. The difference is known to navigators as the "variation of the compass," and they take it into consideration when making critical geographical calculations. The phenomenon is due to the fact that the magnetic north and south poles do not coincide with the geographic north and south poles.