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Explore the World 138
Amazing Animals 47
What If? Lab 11
How Things Work 1

Natural wonder Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains run about 2,500 kilometers from north to south through Russia, and they form most of the traditional boundary between Europe and Asia. They are very old mountains that have been worn down over a very long time; their highest peak, Mount Narodnaya, is 1,895 meters tall. The Urals stretch from icy Arctic tundra to dry steppe and are rich in metals and gems.
Natural wonder Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, or Rockies, stretch about 4,800 kilometers from northern Canada to New Mexico in the United States. They include more than 100 separate ranges, and their highest peak, Mount Elbert in Colorado, is 4,399 meters tall. Glaciers carved their peaks and valleys, and famous parks such as Banff, Jasper and Yellowstone protect their lakes, hot springs and wildlife.
Geography How mountains form Most mountains are built by moving tectonic plates. When continents collide, rock crumples and folds into ranges like the Himalayas. Where the crust stretches and cracks, blocks of rock tilt up along faults. Volcanoes build mountains from lava and ash. Then erosion slowly wears them all down.
What If? Lab What if Earth had no mountains? Mountains push moving air upward so it drops rain and snow on one side, leaving the other side dry. Many rivers begin high in the mountains, and mountains are home to many plants and animals. Imagine flattening them all, and follow what might change.
How Things Work How do mountains create rain shadows? Guide moist air over a mountain and compare its windward and sheltered sides.
Animal Mountain goat Mountain goats are white, woolly climbers that live on steep cliffs in the mountains of western North America. Grippy hooves let them cross icy rock where few predators dare to follow. Despite the name, they are not true goats.
What If? Lab What if a mountain wore away? Even the tallest mountains are slowly broken apart by ice, rain, plant roots and wind, and the pieces are carried away by rivers and glaciers. Imagine following a mountain as it wears away: its rock might end up as sand on a beach, mud on a farm or new land at a river's mouth, while moving plates push other mountains up.
What If? Lab What if you boiled water on a high mountain? Water does not always boil at 100 °C. Climb a mountain and the air pressure drops, so water boils at a lower temperature. In our model of the atmosphere, water 5 kilometers up boils at about 83 °C, which is why food cooked in boiling water takes longer high up.
Natural wonder K2 K2 is the world's second highest mountain, 8,611 meters tall, in the Karakoram Range of Asia. It got its short name in 1856, when a surveyor marked it as the second peak he measured in the Karakoram. It is one of the hardest mountains to climb, and its summit was first reached in 1954.
Animal Kea The kea is a big, olive-green parrot found only on the South Island of New Zealand. It lives in mountain forests and alpine meadows, digs for food with its long, curved beak, nests on the ground and is famous for being curious, playful and clever.
Natural wonder Alps The Alps are Europe's great mountain range, an arc about 1,200 kilometers long that runs from the Mediterranean coast near Nice, in France, to Vienna, in Austria. Their highest peak is Mont Blanc, which Britannica gives as 4,807 meters. The Alps rose when the plate carrying Africa pushed north into Europe, and Ice Age glaciers carved their sharp peaks and deep valleys.
Country Iran Iran is a country in southwestern Asia. A high, dry plateau fills its middle, with mountain ranges all around it, and about 92 million people (2025) live there. Long ago it was called Persia, and its capital today is Tehran.
Country Laos Laos is a landlocked country in mainland Southeast Asia, covered mostly by forested mountains. The Mekong River runs along its western side, and most people live in villages and grow rice. Its capital, Vientiane, stands on the Mekong.
Country Oman Oman is a country on the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, with long coasts on the sea and the huge Empty Quarter desert inland. People have watered their farms with ancient channels called aflaj for more than 2,000 years, and Oman was famous for frankincense. About 5.4 million people lived there in 2026.
Country Peru Peru is a country on the Pacific coast of South America. It has a dry desert coast, the high Andes mountains and the Amazon rainforest, and about 34 million people lived there in 2025, many of them in the capital, Lima.
Animal Puma The puma, also called the cougar or mountain lion, is a big, slender cat with plain tan fur and a long tail. It lives in more of the Americas than any other wild cat, from Canada all the way to the southern tip of South America, in mountains, forests, deserts and swamps.
Country Togo Togo is a small, narrow country in West Africa. It has only 51 kilometers of coast on the Gulf of Guinea but stretches about 515 kilometers inland, from beaches and lagoons to the Togo Mountains and northern savanna. About 8.6 million people lived there in 2025, and Lomé is the capital and main port.
Natural wonder Andes The Andes run down the whole western side of South America, from the Caribbean coast to the continent's southern tip, through seven countries. Britannica measures them at about 8,900 kilometers, and their highest peak, Aconcagua, rises to 6,959 meters. They are still growing as one plate of Earth's crust slides under another, which is why the Andes have so many volcanoes and earthquakes.
Country Chile Chile stretches about 4,300 kilometers along the west coast of South America, between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, but it averages only about 180 kilometers wide. Its north holds one of the driest deserts on Earth, and its south is cold, wet and full of fjords and ice.
Country China China is the largest country in Asia, almost as big as all of Europe. The land steps down from the high, cold Plateau of Tibet in the west to plains and coasts in the east, and about 1.4 billion people live there, along with giant pandas in the mountains of south-central China.
Country Haiti Haiti covers the western third of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. Its name comes from an old word meaning mountainous land. In 1804, after enslaved people freed themselves, Haiti became independent, and its people created their own language, art and music. About 11.9 million people lived there in 2024.
Country India India is a huge country in South Asia, shaped like a big triangle pointing into the Indian Ocean. The Himalayas rise along its north, heavy monsoon rains arrive every summer, and about 1.46 billion people (2025) live there, speaking hundreds of languages.
Country Italy Italy is a country in southern Europe on a long peninsula that reaches into the Mediterranean Sea, often described as shaped like a boot. The Alps rise in the north, the Apennine mountains run down its length, and about 58.9 million people (2026) live there. Its capital is Rome.
Country Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Most of its land is steep mountains and forest, Mount Fuji is its tallest peak, and about 124 million people live there, many of them in big cities such as Tokyo.
Country Kenya Kenya is a country in East Africa, crossed by the equator. It has the snow-capped Mount Kenya, the deep Great Rift Valley, Lake Victoria and a long Indian Ocean coast, and about 54 million people live there, many of them speaking Swahili.
Animal Llama Llamas are South American cousins of camels, without the hump. People in the Andes Mountains bred them from wild guanacos thousands of years ago, and they still carry loads, give wool and even guard sheep. Llamas do not live in the wild: every llama lives with people.
City Mecca Mecca is a city in western Saudi Arabia, in a dry valley ringed by mountains, about 70 kilometers from the Red Sea. About 2.4 million people lived there at the 2022 census. Its Great Mosque surrounds the Kaaba, and in 2026 more than 1.7 million pilgrims came to the city for the hajj.
Country Nepal Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia, between India and China. It climbs from flat, warm farmland in the south to the snowy Himalaya in the north, where Mount Everest stands, and about 29.6 million people lived there in 2025.
City Sofia Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, lies in a valley near the middle of the Balkans, at the foot of Vitosha Mountain. The Romans called it Serdica, and an old church of St. Sofia later gave the city its name. About 1.2 million people lived there in 2025.
Country Spain Spain covers most of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. Its middle is a high, flat plateau, the Pyrenees mountains stand between it and France, and almost 50 million people live there, with Madrid as the capital.
Country Syria Syria lies on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea in southwestern Asia. Behind a short coast rise mountains, and beyond them stretches a wide, dry steppe crossed by the Euphrates River. Damascus, its capital, is considered one of the oldest cities in the world.
Country Yemen Yemen sits at the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. Its green, terraced highlands are unlike anywhere else in Arabia, its old towns have tall houses of stone and mud brick, and it was the first place where coffee was grown as a crop to sell.
Animal Alpaca Alpacas are small, woolly members of the camel family from the high Andes Mountains of South America. People bred them from wild vicuñas thousands of years ago, mainly for their soft, warm fleece. Every alpaca lives with people.
Country Bhutan Bhutan is a small, landlocked kingdom on the eastern ridges of the Himalayas, between India and China. Its land climbs from steamy forests in the south to snowy peaks over 7,300 meters in the north. About 790,000 people live there, mostly in villages in its green valleys.
City Bogotá Bogotá is the capital and largest city of Colombia, built on a high plain in the Andes, 2,625 meters above sea level. Founded by the Spanish in 1538 on land of the Muisca people, it is home to about 8 million people (2024) and a famous museum of ancient gold.
Country Canada Canada is the second-largest country in the world, stretching across the north of North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific and up into the Arctic. It has the Rocky Mountains, thousands of islands and about 42 million people, who speak English, French and many other languages.
Country Cyprus Cyprus is the third-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily and Sardinia. It has two mountain ranges with a flat plain between them, hot dry summers and rainy winters, and its first known village was built about 9,000 years ago.
Natural wonder Denali Denali is North America's highest mountain, 6,190 meters (20,310 feet) tall, in the Alaska Range. It rises about 5.6 kilometers from its base, more than Mount Everest does from its own high base. Huge glaciers spread from it in every direction, and the national park around it is home to grizzly bears, moose, caribou, Dall sheep and wolves.
Country France France is a country in northwestern Europe, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It has high mountains such as the Alps and the Pyrenees, long rivers such as the Loire and the Seine, and about 69.1 million people (2026). Its capital is Paris.
Country Greece Greece is a country in southern Europe, at the bottom of the Balkan Peninsula, with sea on three sides and more than 2,000 islands. Most of it is mountains. About 10.4 million people lived there at the start of 2025, and its capital is Athens, a city with ruins more than 2,400 years old.
Country Norway Norway stretches along the western side of the Scandinavian Peninsula, far into the Arctic. Deep, narrow inlets of the sea called fjords cut into its mountains, and about 5.6 million people live there, many of them near Oslo, the capital.
Country Poland Poland lies near the center of Europe, between the Baltic Sea and the Carpathian Mountains. Most of it is low, flat land shaped by Ice Age glaciers, and about 37 million people live there. Its capital, Warsaw, stands on the Vistula River.
Country Taiwan Taiwan is an island in the western Pacific Ocean, about 160 kilometers off the coast of southeastern China. Mountains cover about two-thirds of it, and most of its 23 million people live on the flatter west side. It has its own government, based in Taipei. The People's Republic of China, governed from Beijing, says Taiwan is part of China, and Taiwan's status is disputed.
City Tehran Tehran, the capital of Iran, spreads up the slopes of the Alborz Mountains, with snowy peaks to the north and desert to the south. Once a small village, and later a market town known for its pomegranates, it became the capital in 1786. Today it is a huge, modern city with an old roofed bazaar, a palace that is a World Heritage Site and the 435-meter Milad Tower.
City Tirana Tirana is the capital and largest city of Albania, on a plain about 27 kilometers from the Adriatic Sea. Founded in the early 1600s, it became the capital in 1920. About 389,000 people lived in the city in 2023.
Country Uganda Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa, on the shores of Lake Victoria, Africa's largest freshwater lake. The Victoria Nile flows out of the lake here, snowy mountains rise in the west, and its forests are home to mountain gorillas and chimpanzees. About 51.4 million people lived there in 2025.
Country Albania Albania is a small, mountainous country on the Balkan Peninsula, facing Italy across the Adriatic Sea. About three-fourths of it is mountains and hills, the coastal plains are its most crowded part, and its language has no close relatives.
Country Algeria Algeria is a country in North Africa and the largest country on the whole continent. More than four-fifths of it is the Sahara Desert, so most of its 47 million people (2025) live in the greener north, along the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is Algiers.
Country Andorra Andorra is a tiny country high in the Pyrenees mountains, between France and Spain. It is made of steep mountain valleys, its official language is Catalan, and about 89,750 people lived there in 2026.
Country Armenia Armenia is a small, landlocked country just south of the Caucasus mountains. Most of it is high mountains and plateaus, its tallest peak is Mount Aragats, and about 3.1 million people lived there in 2025.
Country Austria Austria is a landlocked country in central Europe. The Alps cover much of it, the Danube River flows across the north, and about 9.2 million people live there. Its capital, Vienna, is famous for its music and palaces.
Country Georgia Georgia is a country at the eastern end of the Black Sea, below the high, icy Greater Caucasus mountains. It has warm, wet coasts, dry eastern plains and old monasteries, and about 3.9 million people lived there at the start of 2026.
Country Lebanon Lebanon is a small country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Snowcapped mountains rise steeply behind its narrow coast, and its coast holds some of the oldest settlements in the world, such as Byblos. Arabic is the official language, and the capital is Beirut.
Country Morocco Morocco is a country in the northwest corner of Africa, with coasts on both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The Atlas Mountains cross its center, and its 2024 census counted about 36.8 million people, in cities such as Casablanca, Rabat, Fez and Marrakesh and in mountain villages.
Country Myanmar Myanmar, also called Burma, is the northernmost country of Southeast Asia. Snowy mountains rise in the far north, and the long Irrawaddy River flows south through its heartland to a huge delta of rice fields. About 55 million people live there.
Country Romania Romania is a country in southeastern Europe. The Carpathian Mountains curve around its middle, the Danube River runs along its southern edge to a huge delta on the Black Sea, and about 19 million people lived there at the start of 2026.
Country Bulgaria Bulgaria is a country on the eastern side of the Balkan Peninsula, with the Danube River to the north and the Black Sea to the east. Mountains cross it from west to east, and about 6.4 million people lived there at the end of 2025.
Country Colombia Colombia is in the northwest of South America, with coasts on both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Three ranges of the Andes run through it, and most people live in the cool mountains, where the capital, Bogotá, sits on a high plateau. About 53.4 million people lived there in 2026, according to DANE, the national statistics office.
Country Ethiopia Ethiopia is a country on the Horn of Africa with no coast. Much of it is high, rugged land cut by the Great Rift Valley, it is one of the world's oldest countries, and more than 110 million people live there.
Country Honduras Honduras is a mountainous country in Central America, with the Caribbean Sea to the north and a short Pacific coast to the south. Its forests are home to jaguars and macaws, the Maya city of Copán stands in the west, and about 10.2 million people live there (official 2026 estimate).