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. 30 percent is covered by land.

Our Planet Earth’s 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. Here’s another Planet Earth fact- oceans cover around 70% of the Earth’s surface. The way the water vapor is distributed through the atmosphere results in the weather that is experienced on Planet Earth.

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.

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.

The Earth is about 4.5 billion years old.

The Moon formed soon after the Earth.

The astrological name for Earth is “Terra.”

The Earth is 93 million miles from the Sun on average.

The Earth has tectonic plates, which allow the crust to recycle itself.

The tectonic plates appear to exist because of massive heat and energy radiating out from the inner levels of the Earth.  The Earth’s 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 Earth’s crust is relatively thinner under the ocean floors and thicker in other areas.

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.

The orbit of the Earth is not a circle, which means it is closest to the Sun each January and farthest from it every July. There is about a three million mile difference.

Summer and winter are caused by the tilt of the Earth.

The Earth tilts at roughly 66 degrees.

When the North Pole is titled towards the Sun, it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Earth has the only known liquid water in solar system although other planets and moons may have frozen or underground sources.

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 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 Earth’s 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.