The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20100829012226/http://www.lefalaja.com:80/worldrecords1.html
Independent countries
Largest by population: China, 1.3 billion
Smallest by population: Vatican City, 783
(Note Pitcairn Islands, a British overseas territory, has a population of 67, but is not an independent country and thus not qualified for this record.)
Largest by surface area: Russia, 17,075,200 km?
Smallest by surface area: Vatican City, 0.44 km?
Most densely populated country: Monaco, 18,078/km?
Least densely populated country: Mongolia, 1.7/km?
(Note Greenland (a territory of Denmark) is even less dense, 0.03/km?)
Newest country (as a successor state): Serbia (declared independence on the 5 June 2006, the successor state to Serbia & Montenegro)
Newest country (otherwise): Montenegro (declared independence on 3 June 2006)
Oldest constitutional republic Country: San Marino, 3 September 301
Longest land boundaries: China, 22,117 km
Anatomy
Tallest: Robert Pershing Wadlow , 2.72 m
Shortest: Younis Edwan, 0.65 m
Heaviest Man: Jon Brower Minnoch, 635 kg
Heaviest Woman: Carol Yager, 725 kg
Longest fingernails man: Shridhar Chillal 6.18m
Longest fingernails woman: Lee Redmond 7m 51.3cm
Physiology
Oldest (verified): Jeanne Louise Calment (France), 122 years 164 days
Oldest (living): Yone Minagawa (Japan), 114 years 26 days (as of January 2007)
Sports
Longest fencing bout: Jonathan Tiomkin and Jedediah Dupree, 5 h
Longest Table Tennis Rally: Brian Seibel and Steve Seibel, 8 h 15 min 1 s
Longest Wrestling Bout: Martin Klein beat Alfred Asikainen, 11 h 40 min
Longest Cricket Marathon: Cheriton Fitzpaine Cricket Club, 27 h 34 min
Highest jump: Javier Sotomayor, 2.45 m
Most push ups on the back of hands in one hour is 1781 Doug Pruden
Most push ups on one arm in 30 minutes is 1382 Doug Pruden
Miscellaneous Human Achievements
Worlds deepest underwater concert: Katie Melua
The record for "Most T-Shirts Worn at Once" is 160, and is currently held by Aaron John Waltke of Bloomington, Indiana. Aaron achieved this feat on December 9, 2006, breaking the record previously held by Matt McAllister of Santa Barbara, California.
Highest Parachute Jump: Joseph Kittinger, 31,300 m on August 16, 1960.
Longest Freefall: Joseph Kittinger, 4? minutes on August 16, 1960.
Highest Freefall Velocity: Joseph Kittinger, 988 km/h on August 16, 1960.
General History
Largest empire: British Empire, 37 million km? (1912)
Military history
5 Largest naval battles:
The Battle of Salamis, 480 BC. 371 Greek ships defeated 1,271 Persian ships in this decisive battle. Greek triremes had a crew of about 200 while their small penteconters had 50 oarsmen. With 1,642 ships altogether, it is possible that 200,000 sailors, soldiers and marines may have taken part.
The Battle of Cape Ecnomus, 256 BC. Like Salamis, Ecnomus was also a single engagement where 680 ships were fighting in a very small area. Some historians accept Roman claims that Rome had about 100,000 personnel. If this is true, it is probable that at least 200,000 Roman and Carthaginian sailors and soldiers were involved.
The Battle of Yamen, 1279. The battle which ended the Mongolian conquest of China. More than 1,000 Song Dynasty warships were destroyed by the Yuan Dynasty.
The Battle of Lake Poyang, 1363. Claimed to be the largest battle in terms of personnel. The 200,000 sailors of the Ming rebel force, commanded by Zhu Yuanzhang, met the 650,000-strong Han rebel force, commanded by Chen Youliang, on Lake Poyang, China's largest freshwater lake.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf, 1944. The largest in terms of tonnage of ships and also in terms of the area in which the action took place. United States and Australian forces included 17 large aircraft carriers, 18 smaller escort carriers, 12 battleships, 24 cruisers, 141 destroyers, smaller ships, and around 1,500 planes. They won a decisive victory over Japanese forces, which consisted of four aircraft carriers, nine battleships, 19 cruisers, 34 destroyers and other ships and around 200 planes. About 200,000 personnel were involved. Leyte Gulf was also a major air battle, and saw the first use of kamikaze planes. It encompassed several distinct actions over the space of three days, linked by the strategies of the Allied and Japanese commanders.
Largest air battle: Battle of Britain (1940)
Largest Tank battle: Battle of Kursk (1943)
Collections
Largest Collection of Aeroplane Sick Bags: Niek Vermeulen of the Netherlands has 5,034 airline sickness bags from 1,000 different airlines that he has accumulated since the 1970s.
Largest Collection of Bar Towels: Robert Begley of Chambersburg, United States, with 2,372 towels representing 27 different countries; which he has been collecting since 1990
Largest Collection of Traffic Cones: David Morgan (UK) has a collection of 137 different traffic cones. David owns a cone from about two thirds of all types ever made.
Largest Collection of Keychains: Emilio Arenas Florin of Colonia, Uruguay, with 25,630 non-duplicated key chains, collected since 1955.
Largest Collection of Model Cars: Sergio Goldvarg (Argentina) has a collection of over 7,000 cars which he has collected since 1962, all of which are on display in the Waffleworks restaurant, Hollywood, Florida, USA.
Largest Collection of Penguins: Birgit Berends of Germany, with 2,520 different items, which she has been collecting since 1990
Largest Collection of Condoms: Nicolas Mei of Essendon, Victoria, (AUS) has a collection of 17,921 different condoms from 73 different brands and from various places around the world.HIS collection also includes various flavors, including chocolate and banana.
Largest Collection of Converse Shoes: Joshua Mueller of Lakewood, Washington (USA) has a collection of 403 unique pairs of Converse Shoes which he has been collecting since 1991. Converse All Stars make up the bulk of the collection.
Radio
First radio news program: 8MK in Detroit, Michigan, USA (31 August 1920)
First college radio station: 2ADD from Union College, Schenectady, New York, USA (October 14, 1920)
Longest-running radio show: L?rdagsbarnetimen (lit. The Children's Hour on Saturday), running since 20 December 1924 on NRK, later NRK P1.
Television
First Live Internet Talk show Tom Green Live hosted by Tom Green
First Regular Television Service: Deutsche Fernsehefunk (1935)
Longest Continuously Operating Television Channel: BBC One, started on the 2 November 1936
Largest Audience For A TV Series: Baywatch, 1.1 billion viewers
Largest cash prize won on a TV game show: Brad Rutter at Jeopardy!, USD 3 255 102
Most Emmys For A TV Series In A Season: The West Wing, Nine Emmys
Most Expensive TV Mini Series: Band of Brothers, USD 125 million
Most Expensive TV Program: ER, USD 13.1 million per show
Most Hours on Camera: Regis Philbin, 15,188 hours
Most Unrecorded Hours on Camera: Carole Hersee, the girl who stars in the BBC's famous Test Card.
Most International Broadcast Children's Educational Program: Sesame Street, 180 countries
Most Internationally Broadcast TV Soap: Dallas, 90 countries
Most TV Spin-Off Series: Ultraman, 16 series
Most Seizures For One TV Episode: Pokemon: Denno Senshi Porygon, 685 Seizures
Longest Running Series
Mahabharat TV Series: Baldev Raj Chopra (1985-Present)
Chat Show: The Late Late Show (1962-Present), hosts Gay Byrne, Pat Kenny, Frank Hall
Live comedy show: Saturday Night Live (1975-Present)
Game Show: Countdown (1982-Present)
News Show: Meet The Press (NBC) (Started as a radio program in 1945 and debuted on television two years later, 1947-Present)
Science Fiction TV Programme: Doctor Who (1963-Present)
TV Soap: Guiding Light (1952-Present)
Programme with the same host: The Sky at Night presented by Patrick Moore; (1957-Present)
Movie
Longest Movie: The Cure for Insomnia, 5220 minutes (87 h)
Longest Stop-Motion Movie: Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, 85 minutes
Most Expensive Movie Made: X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), US$210 million: Production Costs estimated(not adjusted for inflation).
Highest paid actors: Chris Tucker, Will Smith, Tom Cruise, all earning $100+ million USD with only two or more movies.
Most paid actresses: Beyonc?, Julia Roberts, and Meryl Streep all estimated worth 100 Million Dollars counting first 5 Films
Most Expensive Movie Made (adjusted for inflation): War and Peace, $100 million USD in 1968; $500 million USD in 2006
Most Oscars Won by a Film: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (won all of its nominations), Ben-Hur, and Titanic, 11 each
Most Portrayed Character In Horror Movies: Dracula, 162 films
Most Swearing in a Movie: Casino, 534 swear words
Most Swearing in an Animated Movie: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, 399 swear words
Star of Most Films Earning Over $20 Million USD: Harrison Ford, 15 films
Longest Movie Title: Night of the Day of the Dawn of the Son of the Bride of the Return of the Revenge of the Terror of the Attack of the Evil, Mutant, Alien, Flesh Eating, Hellbound, Zombified Living Dead Part 2: In Shocking 2-D
Most Translated (Dubbed) Movie: Jesus, 971 languages
Widest opening in the US: Shrek 2, 4,163 screens
Highest Grossing Film (adjusted for inflation): Gone With the Wind, $3,785,107,801 USD
Highest Grossing Film (unadjusted for inflation): Titanic $1.8 billion USD worldwide
Biggest Opening Weekend Gross: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, $135,634,554 USD
Biggest Opening Day Gross: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, $55,830,600 USD
Biggest One Day Gross: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, $ 55,830,600 USD
Fastest Movie to Gross 100 Million US$: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, 2 Days
Fastest Movie to Gross 200 Million US$: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, 8 Days
Fastest Movie to Gross 300 Million US$: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, 16 Days
Fastest Movie to Gross 1 Billion US$: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, 9 Weeks
Fastest selling live action DVD: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, six units per second in the UK on release day March 20, 2006
Highest grossing film per screen: The Lion King, $793,376 USD in two screens
Longest First-Run of a Film in One Cinema: Romance on Lushan Mountain, From July 12, 1980 up to present
Most prolific screenwriter: Safa ?nal, 395 film scripts between 1969 and 2004
Biggest simultaneous premiere: Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, premiered in 115 regions across the world on May 19, 2005
Largest film studio: Son Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, India: 674 ha.
Music
Sales
Best Selling Group: The Beatles
Best Selling Female Group: Destiny's Child
Best Selling Male Artist: Elvis Presley
Best Selling Female Artist: under dispute Celine Dion, Madonna, or Mariah Carey
Best Selling Rap/Hip-Hop Artist: under dispute 2Pac or Eminem (both approx. 75 million).
Best Selling Album: Michael Jackson - Thriller
Best Selling Album by a Female: Shania Twain - Come On Over
Best Selling Debut Album by a Female Artist: Baby One More Time by Britney Spears; (14.0 million in U.S., 28.0 million Worldwide)
Best Selling Soundtrack: Saturday Night Fever by Various Artists (40 million)
Best Selling Gospel Album: The Preacher's Wife soundtrack - Whitney Houston (6 million copies)
Best Selling Non-English Album: Vuelve - Ricky Martin (8 million copies)
Best Selling Single: "Candle in the Wind 1997" by Elton John and "White Christmas (song)" by Bing Crosby.
Best Selling Christmas Album: White Christmas - Bing Crosby (25 million)
Best Selling Holiday-themed digital Single: All I Want For Christmas Is You (500,000 downloads) (Mariah Carey)
Best Selling Dance Single: Believe, Cher.
Best Selling Remix Album: Blood On The Dance Floor, Michael Jackson.
Fastest Selling Download Single: Leona Lewis (UK) of ITV's the X-Factor sold 50,000 copies after being available for just 30 minutes online.
Fastest Selling Female Album: Oops I Did It Again by Britney Spears 1.32 million in its first week
Fastest Selling Male Album: Marshall Mathers LP by Eminem 1.7 million in its first week
Fastest Selling Rap/Hip-Hop Artist: Eminem
Earnings
Highest grossing tour: $437 Million USD A Bigger Bang Tour - The Rolling Stones
Highest grossing tour by a Female Artist: $400 Million USD Farewell Tour - Cher
Highest earning female singer of all time: Madonna
Number Ones
Youngest Person to have a #1 single: Jordy (4? years) - "Dur dur d'?tre b?b?" ("It's Tough to Be a Baby")
Youngest Person to have an album: Cleopatra Stratan (3 years) - "La v?rsta de trei ani" ("At the age of 3").
Oldest female Singer at #1 in Billboard and World Charts: Cher (52 years) - "Believe"
Most expletives in a #1 song: "F*** It (I Don't Want You Back)" by Eamon
Music with more number ones in different charts (approximately 51) : "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira
Length
Longest Violin marathon by an individual: L. Athira Krishna, 32 hours
Longest Music Video: Ghosts, by Michael Jackson. (35 min)
Longest-Running Rock Group Fan Club: Queen
Longest run at #1: "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", Bryan Adams (39 weeks at #1, Canadian Singles Chart)
Longest Running Artist at Billboard's Hot 100 In a Year: Usher 28 weeks at Number One
Longest Running Female Artist at Billborad's Hot 100 In a Year: Beyonc? 17 weeks at Number One
Longest Running Song at Number One on Billboard's Hot 100 for a Female Group: Independent Women, Destiny's Child 11 weeks
Longest Running Single at Number One for a Rap Artist: Eminem, "Lose Yourself"
Longest Stay on the United World Charts for Singles: Beyonc? with "Crazy in Love" 128 weeks on the world charts
Awards
Most Awarded Recording Artist: Michael Jackson 538 Awards
Most Awarded Female Artist: Whitney Houston 411 Awards
Most Awarded Recording Artist Under 30: Beyonc? 320 Awards (Including With Destiny Child)
Music Videos
Most aired music video: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana from 1991 album Nevermind.
Most expensive Music Video ever: "Scream" by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson
Miscellaneous
Loudest band of all time (loudest recorded performance): Manowar (129.5 decibels)
Loudest musical instrument and biggest organ in the world: Boardwalk Hall Organ, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Largest vocal range: (8 octaves) Georgia Brown
Largest vocal range for a male artist: (5-7 octaves) Adam Lopez
Most successfull non-english music: Shakira, "La Tortura"
Most double bass drum beats, 1407 by Tim Waterson
Most Weeks at #1 on Billboard Hot Latin Tracks: Shakira, "La Tortura"
Highest number of people's voices recorded in a single song: "Have You Ever", by S Club 7
Highest number of songs sung by an individual : S P Balasubramaniam
Most Public Appearances By A Popstar In 24 Hours (7 performances) : Rachel Stevens
The largest rock star benefit concert: The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
Most covered song: "Yesterday", by The Beatles, (more than 3000 covers)
The Most performed song ever: "Imagine" by John Lennon
Longest Album Title: When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight And He'll Win the Whole Thing 'Fore He Enters the Ring There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand And Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights And If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where to Land And If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You'll Know That You're Right, by Fiona Apple. (90 words)
First completely sampled album: Endtroducing....., by DJ Shadow (1996).
Most Successful Virtual Band: Gorillaz
Fastest rapper in the world: Ricky Brown with his song "No Clue" at over 700 syllables in about 50 seconds
Most Successful German speaking band of all time: Rammstein (as of 2004)
Highest ever concert, fastest ever concert, highest ever recorded performance, fastest ever recorded performance, highest gig in a plane, fastest gig in a plane: Jamiroquai (Gig in the Sky, 2007)
Eating and Drinking Records
Bicycle: (Monsieur Mangetout),10 bicycles consumed between 1966 and 1990
Beer speed drinking record (1 liter in 1.3 seconds).
Painting
Largest collection of fake masterpieces: 3,500, owned by Christophe Petyt
Youngest professional artist: 3-years old record held by Dante Lamb.
Largest Group of fully painted people: Sydney Body Art Ride
Towns and cities
Largest city in population: Greater Tokyo Area, 35,327,000
Most densely populated city: Mal?, Maldives 48,007/km?
International Organisations & Treaties
Largest international organization: United Nations, 192 nations
Largest trade bloc (in the number of people): South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (1,467,255,669)
Largest trade bloc (in terms of GDP (PPP)): North American Free Trade Agreement (USD 12,889,900 million)
Oldest alliance treaty still in operation: Treaty of Windsor between England and Portugal (1386)
Parliaments and Parliamentarians
Oldest parliament: Althing, Iceland (founded 930)
Largest parliament: National People's Congress, China 2,937 members
Smallest parliament: National Council, Monaco, 24 members
Largest cabinet: State Council, China, 50 members
First country to allow women the vote: New Zealand (1893)
First country to allow women to stand for election, Norway (1907)
Oldest parliamentarian to win an election: Senator Strom Thurmond (South Carolina for the Republicans, United States of America, 1996), aged 94.
Youngest parliamentarian to win an election: Anna L?hrmann, (elected to the Bundestag, Germany, for the Alliance '90/The Greens, 2002) aged 19 years (born 14 June 1983).
First transexual parliamentarian: Georgina Beyer, (Wairarapa for the Labour Party, New Zealand, 1999)
Most elections lost: John C. Turmel, 63 times
Heads of State
Oldest monarchy: Imperial House of Japan, Japan (said to go back to 11 February 660 BC)
Longest currently serving head of state: King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, since 9 June 1946
Longest serving head of state ever: Pharaoh Pepi II of Egypt, c. 2278 BC - c. 2184 BC (94 years).
Oldest serving President of a country: Ratu Josefa Iloilo Uluivuda of the Fiji at 86 years as of year 2006.
Most number of heads of state: Technically, all the seven members of the Federal Council in Switzerland. They are Micheline Calmy-Rey (who is the president of the council in 2007), Pascal Couchepin, Samuel Schmid, Moritz Leuenberger, Christoph Blocher, Hans-Rudolf Merz and Doris Leuthard.
Longest monarchy by age: King Louis XIV at age 5, rule lasted 72 years.
Origami
The smallest paper origami frog was made by 12 year old Josiah Hamilton on 30 March 2007. It was made with no tools but only his fingers and is kept on the end of a pencil. Its length is 2 mm and can jump to a length of 10 cm.
Money
| The highest valued currency unit
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Kuwaiti dinar (KWD), (KWD 1 = USD 3.457 815, EUR 2.696 590)
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| The lowest valued currency unit
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Vietnamese dong (VND), (VND 1 = USD 0.000 062 243, EUR 0.000 049 126)
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| Highest rate of inflation
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Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD), 1 729.9% (Feb 2007)
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| Highest rate of inflation (historical)
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Hungarian pengo (HUP), 41 900 000 000 000 000% (1946)
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| Lowest rate of inflation
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Barbadian dollar (BBD), -0.5% (2005)
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| Highest GDP per capita
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Luxembourg, USD 72 945, EUR 57 573 (2005)
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| Lowest GDP per capita
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Malawi, USD 596, EUR 470 (2005)
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| Highest rate of income tax
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Denmark, the top rate of income tax is 59%
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| Highest rate of income tax (historical)
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Sweden, the top rate of income tax was 102%
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| Lowest rate of income tax
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Andorra, Bahamas, Bermuda, Bahrain, Brunei, Cayman Islands, Kuwait, Monaco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, UAE and Vanuatu, all have no income tax
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| Highest general rate of sales tax/VAT
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Norway, Sweden and Denmark, 25%
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Language
| Language with most number of speakers
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Mandarin Chinese (1.08 billion)
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| Language isolate with most number of speakers
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Korean (78 million)
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| Constructed language with most number of speakers
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Esperanto (between 100,000 and 2 million)
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| Most widespread spoken language
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English
(73 countries and territories)
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| Largest language family in terms of number of languages
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Niger-Congo languages, 1514 languages
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| Longest Alphabet (with individual letters)
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Cambodian alphabet
(74 letters)
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| Shortest Alphabet
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Rotokas alphabet,
(12 letters, A E I G K O P R S T U V)
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| Language with the most number of words
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English, (990 000 words)
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| Country with most number of languages
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India, at least 800 different languages and around 2000 dialects have been identified
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| Country with the most number of official languages
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India with total 22 official languages
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Buildings
Largest single-roof building: Millennium Dome, diameter 365 m
Largest wooden structure: Daibutsuden (Great Buddha Hall), Todai-ji, Nara
Oldest wooden structures: Horyu-ji, Nara
Fastest wooden roller coaster: Son of Beast
Fastest and tallest roller coaster: Kingda Ka
Largest and Longest man-made structure: Interstate Highway System
Pyramids
Largest: Great Pyramid of Cholula, 4.45 million m?
Tallest: Great Pyramid of Giza, 138.8 m (height today), 146.6 m (formerly height)
Food
Longest hot dog and bun: World's Longest Hot Dog,Hill Meat Co. and Franz Family Bakery, 31.93 m.
Sculpture
Heaviest and tallest sculpture: "The Motherland", Volgograd, Russia: 7900 tons, 85 meters from top of pedestal. The Statue of Liberty in New York harbor weighs 156 tons, and is 46 meters tall from top of pedestal.
Commercial aircraft
Largest: Antonov An-225
Largest passenger aircraft: Airbus A380
Military
Largest infantry: People's Liberation Army, China
Navy
Largest displacement: Nimitz class aircraft carrier, 101,000 to 104,000 tons full load
Longest: USS Enterprise (CVN-65), 342.3 m
Largest battleship: Japanese battleship Yamato, 65,000 metric tons (63,970 long tons)
Airforce
Largest air force: United States Air Force, United States of America
Largest military aircraft: Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, Length: 75.3 m Wingspan: 67.89 m Height: 19.84 m
Infrastructure
Steepest street: Baldwin Street, Dunedin, New Zealand
Shortest Street Ebenezer Place, Wick , Scotland
Islands
Largest: Officially, Greenland. Australia is sometimes considered an island but is more commonly defined as a continental mass.
Remotest inhabited: Tristan da Cunha
Fresh water lakes
Deepest: Lake Baikal, 1,637 m
Largest by surface area: Lake Superior, 82,000 km?
Largest by volume: Lake Baikal, 23,000 km?
Salt water lakes
Largest: Caspian Sea, 371,000 km?
Lowest (unfrozen): Dead Sea, -418 m - below sea levels.
Mountains
Highest: Mount Everest, 8,848 m
Highest from base up: Mt. McKinley, 5,500 m from base up. Although the peak of Mt. Everest is the highest above sea level, it rests on the tibetean plateau, which is 5,200 m high, giving it a real vertical rise of little more than 3,700 m.
Highest known mountain in the Solar System: Olympus Mons, Mars (approx: 27 km)
Smallest: Taal Volcano, Philippines
Waterfalls
Highest: Angel Falls, 979 m
Highest single drop : Kaieteur Falls, 226 m
Widest: Victoria Falls, ~1 mile
Highest Volume: Boyoma Falls, 17,000 m?/s
Rivers
Largest average discharge: Amazon, 219,000 m?/s
Longest: Nile, 6,695 km
Shortest: Roe River, (61 m)
Longest canal: Grand Canal of China 1,794 km
Caves
Deepest: Voronya Cave, 2,080 m
Largest cave system: Mammoth Cave, (213.83 km?)
Largest open space: Sarawak chamber 700 m long, 400 m wide and at least 70 m high.
Diamonds
Largest cut diamond: The Golden Jubilee, 545.67 carats (109.13 g)
Largest uncut diamond: Cullinan Diamond, 3,106.75 carats (621.15 g)
Rubies
Largest cut ruby: Rajaratna Ruby, 2,475 carats (495.0 g)
Smallest genome
Mycoplasma genitalium, 580,000 base pairs
Animals
Largest land animal: African Elephant, 7 tons
Hottest: Pompeii worm, thrives at temperatures of up to 80?C
Invertebrates
Largest: Colossal Squid
Longest: Arctic Lion's Mane Jellyfish tentacles up to 40 m long
Birds
Largest: Ostrich, up to 155 kg
Greatest wingspan: Wandering albatross, up to 3.7 m
Mammals
Fastest: Cheetah, up to 100 km/h
Largest: Blue whale, 127 tons
Smallest: Pygmy Shrew, 2.5 g
Smallest cattle: Vechur cow 1.24 m long, 0.87 m tall.
Smallest breed of dog: chihuahua
Tallest dog: Irish Wolfhound, up to 2.4 m upright; the tallest recorded was 1.5 m at the shoulders.
Bacteria and archea
Largest: Thiomargarita namibiensis, 0.75 mm
Largest number of genes: Streptomyces coelicolor
Smallest genome of a free-living organism: Mycoplasma genitalium, circa 580,000 base pairs
Smallest genome of a symbiotic organism: Candidatus Carsonella ruddii, 159,662 base pairs
Plants
Largest: General Sherman tree
Largest flower: Rafflesia arnoldii, 11 kg
Largest seed: Coco de mer
Oldest: Bristlecone Pine, Methuselah, 4,700 years
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