They are normally found between forest and deserts and are plane stretches of land covered with grass.

Before moving forward we need to see the types of grassland. Savanna, steppe, prairie and pampas, you might have come across one or more of these terms but probably don’t know the literal meaning of these terms.

It might amaze you:

All of the mentioned terms are basically different names given to grasslands in various different areas around the globe. South Americans address grasslands by Pampas. In Midwestern United States, they are addressed as Prairies. On other hand, Central Eurasian grasslands are known as Steppes and Africans term grasslands as Savannas.

You might be astounded by this fact:

Grasslands cover about one fourth of our mother Earth’s area.

Considering their importance, let us have a look on the top 10 largest grasslands in the world:

10-Hulun Buir Grassland

Situated in the Mongolian region, this grassland stretches over a vast area of 93,000 sq. km. Its name is characteristic of the two lakes it is named after: Hulun Lake and Buir Lake. It is surrounded by almost 3000 rivers and 500 lakes. Hulun Buir is amongst the top 3 most beautiful grasslands in the world. It is known as “The Grass Kingdom” because of the vast variety of vegetation it possesses. Approximately 120 different kinds of pastures are found in this grassland.  A seemingly endless lush-green carpet with colourful wild flowers makes the view of this grassland spectacular.

9-Great Hungarian Plain

Great Hungarian grassland stretches across South-eastern Hungary, Eastern Croatia, Northern Serbia and Western Romania. It covers more than 100,000 sq. km. About half of this area is in Hungary whereas the remaining part of this grassland is shared by Romania, Serbia and Croatia. The Hungarian prairies are widely utilized as cultivable land for crops, vegetables and fruits. There is a proper system of irrigation and flood-control that has made this utilization possible. The climate here is continental. The Romanian part of this grassland is one of the major grasslands in Europe considering the fact that there is a lack of grasslands in Europe. It consists of 28 different types of species of plants. This stretch of land is also used for small-scale farming.

8-Manchurian Plain

Sitting at the heart of the central lowland in North-eastern China, the Manchurian Plain, also known as Sung Liao Plain spreads over an area of 350,000 sq. km. The sea level of this grassland is very low. No part of this grassland is above 1000 ft.

It might be of particular interest:

Most part of this grassland area is covered by black fertile soil which comes down from the surrounding ranges of Da Hinggan on the west, Xiao Hinggan on the north and Changbai on the East. Towards the south, the Gulf of Liaodong surrounds it. Some major rivers related to this grassland are Sungari River, the Nen River and the Liao River. Government of China has utilized this vast grassland in many positive ways. It plays a vital role in the soybean production of China. In addition to this, corn, rice, wheat and other important crops are also cultivated in this grassland.

This grassland is so vast that three industrial cities are situated on this vast stretch of grassland: Harbin, Shenyang and Changchun.

7-Llanos Grasslands

Llanos is basically the Spanish word for “plains”. The Llanos stretch of grasslands are located across northern South America. They also enter western part of Venezuela and some part of North eastern Colombia. The Llanos grasslands have made into the biggest grasslands due to their vast area of 570,000 sq. km. These grasslands are encompassed by the Andes Mountains, Guiana Highlands and the famous Amazon River.

Llanos has two distinguishable areas of grasslands: areas that are considerably wet due to seasonal flooding and some relatively drier portions. The wet parts are populated by swampy grassy regions. On the other hand, long-stemmed grass covers most of the drier regions.

6-Pampas of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil

The vastness of these grasslands can be judged by the fact that it touches almost three countries. Its area of 750,000 sq. km comprises of Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Rios and Cordoba. It also covers a large area of Uruguay and covers a vast Brazilian part i.e. Rio Grande do Sul.

The warm temperate/climate, mild and even distribution of rain throughout the year makes this stretch of grassland very viable for agriculture. Pampa Grass is one of the most distinct type of grass found in these regions. The vegetation in Pampas, however, is often destroyed by wildfires. Susceptibility to flooding also hinders the utilization of this grassland region.

Practically, grassland region towards south and west of Buenos Aires is used for cultivation. Growing vineyards plays an important aspect in this region’s cultivation.

5-Kazakh Steppe

The Kazakh steppe, as its name suggests, is a large grassland region in Northern Kazakhstan. It also extends to some portions of Russia that are adjacent to Kazakhstan. The Kazakh steppe extends to a wide region having an area of 804,500 sq. km. This region lies south of the famous Ural Mountain Range. This range is famous because it acts as the natural dividing line between the two continents: Europe and Asia. This steppe slopes up moving towards the north. Amazingly, this steppe is surrounded by further steppes like Pontic Steppe and Emin Valley Steppe.

This steppe region experiences extreme cold weather i.e. as low as 18 degree Celsius. On other hand, in months of June and July there is a moderate weather with temperatures ranging from 20 to 26 degree Celsius.

4-Australian Savanna

The Australian Savanna, also known as Australian Tropical Savanna, is situated in Northern Australia. Its area stretches from Broome all the way to Townsville. Having an area of 1,769,160 sq. km, this savanna experiences extreme temperatures. Summer fires are common to Australian Savannas. Wildfires occur in the drier seasons i.e. May to October. This particularly becomes the reason of lack of dense forestation in this area.

It might astound you:

Temperatures in this savanna can reach as high as 50 degree Celsius! However, average temperature in warm seasons is around 30 degree Celsius.

Along with shrubs and dense grass, saltwater crocodile is a distinguishable animal that resides in the lakes adjacent to this savanna. The saltwater crocodile is famous for its extended length i.e. even 7 to 8 meters long!

See Also: Polish Photographer Takes a Drone to K2, Returns With Stunning Pictures

This savanna is unique in every aspect. Vegetation types, animals (some unique animals that can’t be found elsewhere reside in this savanna) and climate; every aspect is unique for this savanna compared to other savannas. This uniqueness is particularly due to the unique location of this savanna which unlike other savannas is not near the equator.

3-Canadian Prairies

Western Canada is home to the Canadian Prairies. This Prairie stretches from the north of Edmonton and covers 3 provinces towards the east of Manitoba-Minnesota border. The area of the Canadian Prairies is an amazing 1,780,650.6 sq. km. This extremely large area makes it the 3rd in the list of the largest grasslands in the world.

This prairie has three types of soil regions:

• Brown soil areas
• Dark brown soil areas
• Black soil areas

In the brown soil regions, semi-arid climate prevails. In the dark brown and black soil regions, humid continental climate prevails. Prairie areas towards Manitoba are the coldest with the possibility of thunderstorms and tornadoes in spring and summer.

The Canadian Prairies are unique in the elevation aspect relative to sea level. The elevation ranges from 0 feet to 12,293 feet.

2-Great Plains of North America

The vastness of the Great Plains of North America is inexplicable! These grasslands almost occupy one-fourth of the area of United States. It stretches over almost ten US states including Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. This grassland’s area is mind-boggling: 2,900,000 sq. km! The Great Plains are surrounded by the mighty Rocky Mountains on the west, Mackenzie River in the North and Rio Grande towards the South. The eastern side is surrounded by the well-known Canadian Shield.

Sudden changes in temperature with a continental climate is a major characteristic of the Great Plains. The sudden change in temperatures is due to a unique, warm and dry wind that blows. This wind can raise the temperatures up to 17 to 22 degree Celsius within few hours.

1-Nagqu Grassland in Tibet

This expansive and seemingly boundless region of grassland stretches over an area of 40,000,000 sq. km… 40 million square kilometres! Rising as high as 4500 meters, this grassland is unique due to its high elevation. This grassland is not generally cultivable but a small part of its eastern site is cultivable. This grassland is located between Tangula Mountain Range and Nyaingentanglha Range.

Since there is no industrial development in this grassland region, it is home to its own natural beauty. The Nagqu grassland is home to Tibetan antelopes, and some rare animals like yaks.

The maximum temperature in summer season is 23 degree Celsius whereas the lowest temperature is about -2 degree Celsius.

Below are some other famous grasslands, but in terms of largest grasslands, above are ranked as per there order.

• Pawnee National Grasslands
• Comanche National Grassland
• Thunder Basin National Grassland
• Buffalo Gap National Grassland
• Little Missouri National Grassland

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Caves are underground potholes that form by the gradual erosion of natural minerals and rocks. There are several kinds of caves that form over hundreds of years. Some are situated on dry land between mountains. These are called dry caves. Dry caves may consist of spectacular looking minerals lined on the walls of the cave. They may also consist of unique minerals that are rarely found. On the other hand, some caves are situated under the ocean, sea or river. Such caves are usually deep and a boat, canoes or diving services have to be used to enter these type of caves. These caves are known as underwater caves. Underwater caves might consist of various different fish species and much more.

Where is the longest cave located?

In the top 10 longest caves list mentioned below, We have classified these caves with respect to their lengths.

10-Holloch Cave, Switzerland

The Holloch cave is one of the few caves located in Switzerland. It stretches over a huge distance of 200.4 km or 124.5 miles. This landmark’s discovery happened in 1875. Till 1970, it maintained its title as one of the longest caves in the world. However, it still marks its fame by being the 2nd longest cave in Europe. The linings of this cave’s walls are mainly composed of limestone and composite materials. It is one of the deepest cave in the world. It’s location in a hilly area gives it a very long depth of 938.6 m or 3079 feet.

9-Fisher Ridge Cave, Kentucky USA

Stretching to a length of 200.5 km or 124.6 miles, the fisher ridge cave system is located close to the largest cave in the world i.e. Mammoth Cave system. It was first discovered in 1981 by the National Speleological Society. Researchers believe that upon further discovery, it might be linked through passageways to the Mammoth Cave. Fisher Ridge Cave ranked 1^st among caves in Kentucky.

See Also: 35 Mind-Boggling Universe Facts You Need to Know

8-Clearwater Cave, Sarawak, Malaysia

The Clearwater cave is located in Malaysia. It has a length of 215.3 km or 133.8 miles. It was first discovered in 1977 and till the present day, more and more passageways are being discovered. There are two ways that link to this cave. One way is by the means of a boat in Melinau River and other way is walking on foot on a 4 km track. It is renowned as the most interconnected cave consisting of a labyrinth of complex passageways.

7-Lechuguilla Cave, Eddy County, New Mexico

This cave ranges to a length of 222.6 km or 138.3 miles. Due to its bizarre geographical terrain, it’s not open for public visitors or tourists. It also earns its fame for being the deepest cave in United States. It has a depth of 1604 feet. The cave was named after a peculiar plant species at the opening of the cave called  “Agave Lechuguilla.” The untouched, spotless and shiny condition of this cave makes it a wonderful cave to look at though only in pictures and documentaries. Lechuguilla cave is the deepest cave in United States.

The cave has yet to be completely explored and mapped. Right now, only 156.5km or 101 miles of Lechuguilla have been mapped and explored, with no end in sight. Till yet the deepest part of the cave measured is 497 meters or 1,632 feet.

6-Wind Cave, South Dakota USA

This cave is renowned for its status of being the first cave to be established into a tourist spot and national park in 1903. The length of this cave stretches approx. 229.7 km or 142.7 miles. Surprisingly, on average, four miles are added to the discovered passageways of this cave each year. The cave has an area of 33,847 acres, lined with calcite and other minerals. This cave earns its name due to its small openings; the small openings mean that air pressure difference from the outside causes rush of cold winds into the large cave with narrow openings.

5-Optymistychna Cave, Ukraine

This cave is composed of Gypsum extending to a length of 236 km or 146.6 miles. Researchers have often called this cave as the maze cave. This is because of the puzzle of passageways of length 230 km twisting around in an enclosed area of just 2 square kilometers. This complex labyrinth of passageways was discovered in 1966. Due to its nomination as a natural wonder of Ukraine, it has been an attraction for explorers and expedition teams.

4-Sistema Ox Bel Ha, Quintana Roo Mexico

This cave’s discovery came in the late 1990’s i.e. 1996. This cave comes in the category of underwater caves. Amongst underwater caves yet discovered, it is considered largest underground cave in the world and ranked 4th in the list of longest caves. It extends a length of 257.1 km or 159.8 miles. This cave largely constitutes limestone.

See Also: Polish Photographer Takes a Drone to K2, Returns With Stunning Pictures

3-Jewel Cave, South Dakota USA

This cave gets its name “Jewel” due to the shining calcite crystals that it consists. It extends to a length of 289.8 kilometers or 180.1 miles. The area of this cave is approx. 1273 acres. This cave was given the status of a national monument in 1908 and since then it is a great tourist attraction in United States. As an estimate, there were 77,146 visitors in 2011. This cave gets its main attention due to its lighted passageways. Moreover, the frosted-looking shiny crystals attract tourists from all over the world.

2-Sistema Sac Actun and Sistema Dos Ojos, Quintana Roo, Mexico

This cave is classified amongst the underwater caves. First of all, the name of this cave network is to be clarified. The name is in Spanish and translating it into English makes its meaning as the “White Cave System.” On the other hand, Dos Ojos means “Two Eyes” referring to the openings of the cave. The underground depth of this cave network reaches up to 119 meters. The cave length spans to about 335 km or 208.2 miles. This huge length makes it 2nd on the list of the top 10 longest caves in the world.

1-Mammoth Cave, Kentucky USA

The longest cave system in the world is right in the US in the state of Kentucky. As the name “mammoth” suggests, this cave is by far the longest cave yet discovered! It extends to a length of 651.8 kilometers or 405 miles. It is almost doubled in length to the 2^nd longest cave system. Not only its length but also it has an extensive area stretching out up to 52,830 acres. This cave has an extensive layout of several passageways and is totally made up of limestone. The history of this cave dates back to almost 6000 years! It stands out amongst all the caves regarding its extensive length and considered as biggest cave in the world. This is why it tops the list of longest caves in the world.

And the bonus:

Hang Son Doong Cave, Vietnamese

One of the largest cave in the world is 5 Km long, 200m high and 150 m wide. It is also known as “Cave of the mountain river”. It is so big that it has its own forest, river and climate. One of the great tourist attraction in Vietnam this cave was first discovered in 1991. This cave possess the largest cave passage system in the world by volume. Hang Son Doong Cave open for tourist between February to August as after August rain raises the river levels and make the cave inaccessible.

World’s Top 10 Longest Caves

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Since the start of mankind, we have seen us, humans, complain against the huge difficulties humanity have faced or is going to face. What we don’t realize is that we are creating all these troubles from within ourselves. From the acute shortage of water that the world fears in the near future to the fear of nuclear weapons, all were indeed created by humans themselves. Explaining the roots of all the dilemmas is fairly easy. Just take one issue faced in human societies, i.e. RACISM. Every one of us might have regularly heard the news about humans murdering their fellow humans over color, social status and many other sleek factors that were created within us. Pay attention to human nature- it has always been in the complexity of feeling superior or inferior, which sometimes makes certain humans, so barbaric that they might kill fellow humans over such piffling differences.

Taking the topic of racism to a national level, racism doesn’t necessarily exist on the same scale everywhere. Every country has its own kind of people and conditions. Many of the nations might be the ones are normally considered as superior nations with no downfalls. We have classified the top 10 most racist countries, which are known for the large scale of racism, in the following rundown:

10-South Africa

Despite the great Nelson Mandela devoting his life to end racism in South Africa, unfortunately, some groups still haven’t accepted the government’s policies to end racism. The prices of products and goods in some specific areas of South Africa may vary depending on your race, color and many other social factors. Pathetic isn’t it. While you are going in a mall and get a thing in 5 USD while a negro get the same thing in 10 USD.

9-United States of America

The United States is usually thought of as a place of peace, happiness and prosperity. However, a general assumption might not be the true face of every area of the United States. Particularly, towards the Deep South and Mid-West regions of the United States. Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and Tennessee are considered most racist states in US where racism has become a routine. It is practiced against Asians, Africans, South Americans and even the natives of USA i.e. the Native Americans, racism exists in the United States though on a small scale.

8-United Kingdom

While analyzing most racist countries in Europe,United Kingdom is on top. The racial generalizations are not another thing around the Britain. The racial uproars are basically in the groups of Indigenous whites. Around 87,000 individuals from dark profile admitted to have been confronted a racially roused scene in their schedules while 92,000 whites have likewise been acknowledged to get a racial imprint. These large figures make UK in the list of most racist countries.

7-Australia

Australia doesn’t appear like a nation that can be bigot however the real side is on the contrary. The vast majority of the general population who live in Australia have relocated there from different nations. But then, they feel that any new individual who relocates or moves to Australia to bring home the bacon ought to come back to their nations of origin. In 2009, there were numerous cases in Australia wherein Indians were focused on and bugged. Just about 100 cases were recorded and in 23 cases, there were racial connotations. The laws were made stricter and the circumstance has become much better at this point.

6-Russia

Why did rebellion groups like Chechnya and Dagestan originate in Russia? Well the answer to this lies in the fact that in Russia the Non-Russians need to confront the fierceness of the conservative Russians. Africans, Chinese and Caucasians are the real ethnic casualties. The vagrants need to confront the truths and the results of the devotion and pigeonhole.

5-Japan

Japanese despite the fact that they claim to have an ethnically liberal and shunning state, yet have never done what’s necessary to limit the bullheaded thoughts and xenophobic dispositions winning in the general public. The outside nationals and exiles are confronting a portion of the most noticeably awful situations as they are stopped to specific exercises and administrations being offered by the legislature. The U.N has distributed a report a few years back highlighting the bigot society thriving in the Japan. According to the report, the affected include the American Japanese and Brazilian Japanese who are the ones most influenced with the low acknowledgment and consistent pyramidal bigotry.

4-Germany

The obsession developed by the Hitler has never kicked the bucket in the United Germany. To explain racism in Germany, let’s take the example of National Democratic Party in the country which is repeatedly prosecuted for inducing the Neo-Nazi account on their part and power. The gatherings like Free German Worker’s Party and National Activists are most likely banned, however, are still yet spreading through underground networks. Black individuals are additionally treated with most exceedingly terrible state of mind.

3-Rwanda

Very few people might have heard of Rwanda but when classifying the most racist countries, the name of this state cannot be ignored. The Rwanda genocide of 1994 is a sign of disgrace in the mankind’s history. It was a horrible time where two ethnic races of Rwanda were at loggerheads and this contention brought about the inside and out and outright butchering of more than 800,000 individuals in Rwanda. The two tribes, Tutsi and Hutu were the ones included where the Tutsi tribe faced the casualties and the Hutu tribe was the culprit. Strains exist between the two even today and even a little start can touch off the fore of blood and abhor in the nation.

2-Israel

One of the most racist country in the world. Israel has been amidst debate for some numerous years now. What’s more, it has been so due to the wrongdoings conferred against the general population of Palestine and the Israeli Arabs. Their unjust interference into the land of some other nation has sparked up a race war. After the World War 2, another state was cut for the Jews and the first tenants of the area were compelled to end up displaced people in their own territory. Consequently started the continuous clash amongst Israel and Palestine. Be that as it may, today, we can extremely well perceive how Israel has been abusing the general population and segregation on many racial and social grounds.

1-India

India, a place where there are so many assorted types of nations living together is likewise the most supremacist nation on the planet. India is the most racist country on the planet and even today, a youngster conceived in the Indian family is taught to love anybody with white skin and look downward at anybody with dim skin. Furthermore, hence was conceived the Indian prejudice against Africans and other dim colored individuals. A reasonably cleaned outsider gets treated like a divine being and a dull cleaned one is dealt with extremely bad attitude.

Among Indians themselves too, there are clashes amongst standings and individuals from various locales like the issue between Marathi Manoos and Biharis. Last but not the least, the frequent vicious attacks by Hindus on Muslims plays a major part in making India a land of complexities and racism. Even racism is taught in Hinduism, Whereas Brahmans are classified with gods while Sudras are categorized with animals:

” The murder of a Sudra by a Brahman is equal only to killing a cat or a frog or a cow “

[ Stat ] [ Wilk.248 ].

Thus, India tops the list of the 10 most racist countries in the world.

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Kaszlikowski captured some of the jaw dropping images, of the worlds 2^nd highest mountain K2 and Baltoro glacier in a manner never seen before. Adventurer photographer used his best modern imaging tools including Canon 5D Mark III and a drone.

The Polish photographer excitedly said

The place was special, making a very clean graphic frame,” he says. “It was disappearing, melting, changing its form every day. It was quite obvious nobody will photograph it again like me; nobody will see it the same way the next season.

Check out these pictures and surely you will fell in love with these charismatic Pakistani mountains.

1-Photographer uses LED light to ‘paint’ the snow at Karakoram.

2-At the heart of Karakoram, a glacier formation found at Concordia at the very beginning of one of the longest glaciers on the planet, Baltoro.

3-The porters’ tent at K2’s base camp is just a tarpaulin stretched over the stones, left, while the other tents belong to expedition members.

4-Expedition members meander between crevasses with the Gasherbrum IV massif visible in the background.

5-A view of the Gasherbrum IV massif.

6-Balti porters carrying loads which range from 25kg to 50kg, a task they undertake often wearing only basic rubber sneakers filled with fresh grass to stop their feet slipping.

7-The porters photographed outside at base camp. They sometimes light fires using rubbish from the expeditions.

8-K2 mountain captured on a clear night just before sunrise.

9-K2 is the second highest mountain in the world at 8,611 meters above sea level.

10-Training climb on the ice features of the Baltoro glacier.

The article originally appeared in The Guardian.

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Can you guess which is the most polluted city in the world? You might answer “Beijing”, but in reality it is half polluted than the city at number one spot.

According to the most recent statistics by WHO, 13 out of top 20 most polluted cities in the world are from India. These stats are combined from observing more than 1,600 cities from 2008 to 2013.

Air pollution is measured with the density of fine particles suspended in the atmosphere. WHO advises that these fine particles of less than 2.5 mm in diameter should not exceed 10 ug/cubic meters.

Delhi, at number 1 spot in the list of most polluted cities in the world has 153 ug/m3 (micrograms per cubic meters of air). This is 6 times more than the recommend by World Health Organization (WHO).

This list covers mostly Indian, Pakistani and Iran’s cities. The top four cities belong to India. Air pollution damages lungs permanently. There are 1.3 million deaths occur annually due to toxic air only in India. This makes air pollution seconds biggest killer in India after heart disease.

Emission of toxic gasses has been reached the highest level in our atmosphere. These toxic gasses affected more than 00 million people, in the form of air pollution. It is estimated that there was 3.7 million premature deaths happened due to the air pollution only in 2012.

Chinese capital Beijing continuously made his name at the top, in the list of world’s most polluted cities. But now due to aggressive and consistent effort by Chinese government, they overcome air pollution up to great extent. Even now we did not find its name in the top 20 list. That is a great achievement. Other countries should follow Chinese government’s policies and methods to improve air quality.

Most polluted cities in the world

via: Weforum

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Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (USA) is the most busiest airport in the world since 2000.It facilitate total 101,491,106 passengers in only 2015.

Beijing Capital International Airport China came at 2nd place with total 89,938,628 passengers travel through it in 2015. It is considered as on of the busiest airport in Asia.

London Heathrow Airport scored 3rd place with total 73,408,442 passengers used it’s facility. It is the the most busy busiest airport in Europe. If you combine the passenger traffic of all the airports in a city, London Heathrow Airport has the world’s busiest city airport system.

Here is a complete list of 50 busiest airports in the world with number of passengers traveled through them.

Top 50 Busiest Airports In The World

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