The Planet Earth was formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago.

So far, our very own Planet

Earth is the only planet that harbors life. From the ancient years, there were many theories
regarding the shape of the earth and the many myths associated with it as well. Today, our Planet
Earth faces threat due to human intervention and activities. Have you ever wondered how this
name was derived? Or what is the approximate distance of the Planet Earth from the sun? Let us
now unearth some interesting facts about Planet Earth and know what makes this Planet really so
special to us.

Planet Earth Facts:
The Earth is not actually round in shape; in fact it is geoid. This simply means that the
rounded shape has a slight bulge towards the equator.
So what causes this geoid shape? This happens solely because the rotation of the Earth
which causes the bulge around the equator.
Earth is the third planet from the Sun. This is also the fifth largest planet in the entire
solar system.
Did you know this interesting fact about Planet Earth that it is the only planet whose
name has not been derived from the Roman or Greek mythology? The name has
originated from the 8th century Anglo Saxon word- Erda. This means ground or soil.
Heres another Planet Earth fact- oceans cover around 70% of the Earths surface. The
way the water vapor is distributed through the atmosphere results in the weather that is
experienced on Planet Earth.
The Planet Earth takes approximately 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.091 seconds to rotate
around its axis. Therefore, on an average, the Planet Earth takes around 24 hours to
complete a full rotation.
Our Planet Earth is divided into various layers that comprise the surface of the Earth. The
Earths crust varies in terms of thickness. The inner core and the crust of the Planet Earth
are solid in nature. Where as the outer core and the mantle layers are semi fluid in nature.
The Earths crust is relatively thinner under the ocean floors and thicker in other areas.
One can note that towards the surface, the air consists of around 78 percent nitrogen with
21 percent oxygen. This air also contains 1 percent of other ingredients. This is the kind
of atmosphere that greatly affects the weather of Planet Earth. It also helps to shield us
from harmful radiations that may emanate from the Sun.
Gravity is what keeps all living beings alive and prevents them from falling off the Planet
Earth as it completes its rotation.
Another interesting fact about the Planet Earth is that the gravitational pull between the
Earth and the moon is what causes the tides in the oceans and seas. This is also the reason
why only one side of the Moon always faces us; the period of rotation is equivalent to the
time it takes to orbit the Earth.
The Planet Earth moves around 18.5 miles in a second in the orbit around the sun. It
travels around 150 mikes per second in its rotation, which is around the center of the
Milky Way galaxy.
Explorer 6 first photographed our Planet Earth from space in the year 1959. Yuri Gagarin
was the first human to be able to view Planet Earth from space in the year 1961.
Our Planet Earths hydrosphere consists mainly of water and when one speaks about
water, it means oceans. This includes all the seas, lakes and even water bodies that flow
underground. This abundance of water is what sets the Planet Earth apart from other
planets.
The Earth is one such planet that provides an atmosphere, which helps to sustain life. It
has the requisite amount of water and other conditions that are so very essential for any
form of life to exist.
Our Planet Earth is only slightly larger than Venus. But due to the dense nickel core,
which is present in the center of the Earth, we can see that Venus has only 80 percent the
mass of Earth.
The four seasons that we experience on Planet Earth are a result of the Earths axis of
rotation. This is tilted at an angle, which is more than 23 degrees.
Did you know that the field of gravity is not the same in all areas over the surface of the
Earth? This is probably why you feel slightly heavier in certain areas.
Our planet is truly very interesting, indeed. While 70% of the planet is covered with water, the
most advanced life form on Earth is found on its land mass. That life form is responsible for the
life threatening damage, it does to the existence of life on Earth itself. Any guesses on who I'm
taking about? Yes, it's us, the mighty bipedal animals that rule this kingdom and slowly dragging
it to ruin. Anyway, take a look at some facts that truly make this blue planet unique. Read more
on earth science.

Interesting Facts About Earth, the Planet
Earth is the only planet in the solar system with plate tectonics. That means that while the
core is liquid the crust floats on the core of the planet.
Around 47% of the Earth's crust consists of oxygen.
Earth is a big magnet, with poles at the top and bottom of the planet.
It takes the Earth 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds to rotate on its axis. That means a
day is not exactly 24 hours.
A year on Earth is 365.2564 days and not 365 days. The extra .2564 days is why leap
years were created.
Earth is the only planet in the Solar System to have water in all three states of matter:
(solid) ice, (liquid) sea, rain, etc. and (gas) clouds.
It is believed that millions of years ago, a day on Earth was approximately 20 hours long,
so after a million years, a day on Earth will be 27 hours long.
The Earth will appear as the brightest of the 8 planets, if viewed from a specific distance
in space. This is because the water bodies on Earth reflect large amount of sunlight.
These were some facts about the planet, let's take a look at what truly makes this planet special.
Before that you may want to take a look at planet Earth facts.

Odd Facts About Earth, the Planet
El Azizia (Libya) is the hottest place on Earth, and Vostok (Antarctica) is the coldest.
Rain has never been recorded in some parts of the Atacama Desert in Chile.
Venice in Italy is gradually sinking in the water. It is built on 118 sea islets joined by 400
bridges.
A California bristlecone pine name 'Methuselah' is the oldest living tree. It is almost 4600
years old.
The Antarctic Notothenia fish can't freeze in the icy waters of its habitat as it has a
protein in its blood that acts like antifreeze and prevents freezing.
Tiger shark embryos fight each other in their mother's womb. The surviving embryo of
the shark is born.
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu, is the name for a hill,
305 meters (1,000 ft) high, close to Porangahau, New Zealand. It is the longest officially
recognized name of a place, the name has 85 letters.
There is one chicken for every human being on earth.
Humans grow by about 0.3 inches every night in sleep, but shrink back to normal during
the day.
Bones are five times stronger than steel.
So these were some other small facts about Earth or rather life on Earth. Some of these aren't odd
but apparently if you ate too many carrots, you'd turn orange. Now, I'm not making this up, I
actually came across this when I was surfing the internet! I don't think it's true though. I guess
one will have to eat a whole lot of carrots! You can take a look some more interesting facts here,
Amazing Facts About Earth
Facts About the Moon
Amazing Facts About the Universe
The Earth is the only planet with life on it. No surprise there! Everyone knows that yet for every
hundredth human who thinks that it's not their responsibility to care for this fragile planet, there
are only a handful of those who spend their time and energy conserving this beautiful world. To
conclude, I hope that one day when someone else from another planet is writing on interesting
facts about Earth, they don't mention this. "Earth the only planet with life in the milky way. The
most progressive life form of which were the Humans, who ironically brought about extinction
on the blue planet."