Natural Wonders of the World

GRAND CAYNON

- is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is contained within and managed by 
Grand Canyon National Park, the Hualapai. Tribal Nation, and the Havasupai Tribe. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area, and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,000 feet or 1,800 metres). Nearly two billion years of the Earth'sgeological history has been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateua was uplifted. While the specific geologic processes and timing that formed the Grand Canyon are the subject of debate by geologists, recent evidence suggests the Colorado River established its course through the canyon at least 17 million years ago.Since that time, the Colorado River continued to erode and form the canyon to its present-day configuration.

For thousands of years, the area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon ("Ongtupqa" in Hopi language) a holy site and made pilgrimages to it.The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was Garcia Lopez de Cardenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.

GREAT BARRIER REEF

-  is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea off the coast of Queenisland, Australia.

The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. It supports a wide diversity of life and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981.

The Great Barrier Reef has long been known to and used by the Aboriginal Australian  and Torres strait Islander peoples, and is an important part of local groups' cultures and spirituality. The reef is a very popular destination for tourists, especially in the Whitsunday Islands and Cairns regions. Tourism is an important economic activity for the region, generating over $3 billion per year.

RIO DE JANEIRO

-commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper,making it the 6th largest in the Americas, and 26th in the world.Part of the city has been designated as World Heritage Site named "Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea", identified by UNESCO on 1 July 2012 in the category Cultural Landscape.

The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1815 during the Portuguese colonial era 1815 to 1821 as the capital of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves, and 1822 to 1960 of Brazil as an independent nation. Rio is nicknamed the Cidade Maravilhosa or "Marvelous City"

MT. EVEREST

- Mount Everest is the Earth's highest mountain, with a peak at 8,848 metres above sea level and the 5th tallest mountain measured from the centre of the Earth. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. 

Elevation: 8,848 m First Ascent: May 29, 1953 Prominence:  8,848 m

AURORA

- An aurora (plural: aurorae or auroras; from the latin word aurora, "sunrise") is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude (Arctic and Antartic) regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere (thermosphere). The charged particles originate in the magnetosphere and solar wind and, on Earth, are directed by the Earths magnetic field into the atmosphere. Most aurorae occur in a band known as the auroral zone, which is typically 3° to 6° in latitudinal extent and at all local times or longitudes. The auroral zone is typically 10° to 20° from the magnetic pole defined by the axis of the Earth's magnetic dipole. During a geomagnetic storm, the auroral zone expands to lower latitudes.

Aurorae are classified as diffuse or discrete. The diffuse aurora is a featureless glow in the sky that may not be visible to the naked eye, even on a dark night. It defines the extent of the auroral zone. The discrete aurorae are sharply defined features within the diffuse aurora that vary in brightness from just barely visible to the naked eye, to bright enough to read a newspaper by at night. Discrete aurorae are usually seen in only the NIGHT SKY, because they are not as bright as the sunlit sky. Aurorae occasionally occur poleward of the auroral zone as diffuse patches^[or arcs (polar cap arcs^[4]), which are generally invisible to the naked eye.

PARICUTIN VOLACANO

- Parícutin (or Volcán de Parícutin, also accented Paricutín) is a cinder cone volcano the Mexican state of Michoacan, close to a lava covered village of the same name. The volcano is unique in the fact that its evolution from creation to extinction was witnessed, observed and studied by human beings. It appears on many versions of the  Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

VICTORIA FALLS

-  "Victoria" is one of the most spectacular attractions of Africa and one of the most unusual waterfalls in the world. It is created by the Zambezi River that suddenly plummets into a narrow, 100-meters deep chasm. At the same time, Victoria - is the only waterfall in the world that is over one kilometer wide and over one hundred meters deep. 

Its roar can be heard from 40 kilometers away, while the spray and mist from the falling water rises up to 400 meters and is visible from the distance of 50 kilometers. Even the rainbows are incredible here - they are of the "moon" kind: produced by the light reflected off the surface of the Moon.

Great places indeed.