Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest planet in the Solar System. Only the gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune surpass it in size. But among the terrestrial planets in our system, it has no equal. Earth is larger than Mercury, Venus and Mars.
Radius, diameter and circumference
The Earth's radius at the equator is 6378 km, according to the World Geodetic System, which is the standard used in cartography and navigation. However, the Earth is not quite a sphere. The planet's rotation makes it convex at the equator. The equatorial diameter is 12,756 km, but the diameter from pole to pole is 12,710 km - a difference of 46 km.
The equatorial circumference of the Earth is about 40,075 km. However, the meridional circle - from pole to pole - is only 39 930 km. This shape, caused by flattening at the poles, is called a flattened spheroid.
Density, mass and volume
According to NASA, the density of the Earth is 5513 grams per cubic centimeter. Our planet is the densest in the solar system due to its metal core and rocky mantle. Jupiter, which is 318 times more massive than Earth, is less dense because it is made of gases like hydrogen.
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The mass of the Earth is 6.6 sextillion tons (5.9222 × 10 to the power of 24 kilograms). Its volume is about one trillion cubic kilometers.
The total surface area of the Earth is 510 million square kilometers. About 71% is water and 29% is land.
Highest and lowest point
Mount Everest is the highest place on Earth. It rises above sea level to an altitude of 8848 meters. But the highest point on Earth, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is Mount Chimborazo in the Andes in Ecuador. Despite the fact that Chimborazo is 3048 m lower (relative to sea level) than Everest, this mountain is removed into space 2073 m more due to the planet's equatorial bulge.
The lowest point on Earth, according to NOAA, is the Challenger Deep, located in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean at a depth of about 11,034 m below sea level.
