Water

Adriatic Sea

The long Mediterranean arm between Italy and the Balkans

Aegean Sea

The island-strewn sea where Greek civilization was born

Amazon River

The greatest river on Earth by volume, draining half a continent

Amur River

The border river of the Russian Far East and Manchuria

Angel Falls

The world's tallest waterfall, plunging nearly a kilometre from a Venezuelan tepui

Arabian Sea

The monsoon-driven sea linking Arabia, Africa, and India

Aral Sea

An endorheic saline lake that all but vanished within a lifetime

Arctic Ocean

The smallest and shallowest ocean, capped by sea ice

Atlantic Ocean

The world's second-largest ocean and great highway of history

Baltic Sea

Northern Europe's brackish, ice-fringed inland sea

Bay of Bengal

The world's largest bay and cradle of the deadliest cyclones

Bering Sea

The cold, fish-rich gateway between Asia and the Americas

Black Sea

A vast, near-landlocked sea with a lifeless deep

Brahmaputra

The mighty trans-Himalayan river, partner of the Ganges

Caribbean Sea

The tropical sea of pirates, coral, and a thousand islands

Caspian Sea

The world's largest enclosed body of water, a salty inland sea fed by the Volga

Colorado River

Carver of the Grand Canyon, hardest-working river of the American West

Congo River

The deepest river on Earth, draining the heart of Africa

Coral Sea

The South Pacific sea that holds the Great Barrier Reef

Danube

Europe's second river, flowing through ten countries

Dead Sea

A hypersaline lake at the lowest point on Earth's land surface

Euphrates

The longer river of Mesopotamia, cradle of cities

Ganges

India's sacred river, holiest waters of Hinduism

Great Barrier Reef

The largest living structure on Earth, a 2,300-kilometre coral system off Australia

Great Bear Lake

The largest lake lying entirely within Canada

Gulf of Mexico

North America's great basin of oil, hurricanes, and shrimp

Gullfoss

Iceland's thundering Golden Falls, plunging in two stages into a rugged canyon

Iguazu Falls

A vast chain of hundreds of waterfalls on the Argentina-Brazil border

Indian Ocean

The world's third-largest and warmest ocean

Indus River

Cradle of an ancient civilization, lifeline of Pakistan

Kaieteur Falls

The world's most powerful single-drop waterfall, deep in the rainforest of Guyana

Lake Baikal

The world's deepest, oldest, and most voluminous lake

Lake Balkhash

The Central Asian lake that is half fresh and half salt

Lake Eyre

Australia's largest lake, a salt pan that floods only rarely

Lake Geneva

The great crescent lake of the Alps, shared by Switzerland and France

Lake Huron

The Great Lake of Georgian Bay and the world's largest freshwater island

Lake Ladoga

The largest lake in Europe, beside Saint Petersburg

Lake Malawi

The African rift lake with more fish species than any other

Lake Michigan

The largest lake lying entirely within one country

Lake Nicaragua

The largest lake in Central America, home to freshwater sharks

Lake Superior

The largest freshwater lake on Earth by surface area

Lake Tanganyika

The world's longest freshwater lake and second deepest

Lake Titicaca

The highest navigable lake in the world, high in the Andes

Lake Victoria

Africa's largest lake and a source of the Nile

Lena River

The great river of eastern Siberia, frozen highway to the Arctic

Loch Ness

Scotland's deep, dark loch and home of a legend

Mediterranean Sea

The cradle sea of Western civilization, locked between three continents

Mekong River

Southeast Asia's lifeline, from the Tibetan Plateau to the sea

Mesoamerican Barrier Reef

The largest reef in the Americas, arcing along four Caribbean nations

Mississippi River

North America's great central artery, from Minnesota to the Gulf

Murray River

Australia's longest river, lifeline of a parched continent

Niagara Falls

Thundering falls on the US-Canada border, famed for sheer volume rather than height

Niger River

West Africa's great river, looping through the desert's edge

Nile

The world's longest river, lifeblood of ancient Egypt

North Sea

Europe's stormy shelf sea of fishermen and oil rigs

Pacific Ocean

Earth's largest and deepest ocean

Parana River

South America's second river, the heart of the Rio de la Plata basin

Persian Gulf

The shallow, oil-laden sea at the heart of the Middle East

Red Sea

A young ocean in the making, splitting Africa from Arabia

Red Sea Coral Reef

Heat-resistant reefs lining 2,000 kilometres of one of the world's warmest seas

Rhine

The Rhine, Europe's busiest waterway from the Alps to the sea

Sea of Japan

A deep marginal sea cradled between Asia and the Japanese archipelago

South China Sea

Asia's contested crossroads of shipping and reefs

Southern Ocean

The youngest-named ocean, encircling Antarctica

Sutherland Falls

New Zealand's tallest waterfall, a three-tiered cascade from a glacial lake in Fiordland

Tasman Sea

The stormy stretch of ocean dividing Australia and New Zealand

Tigris

The swifter river of Mesopotamia, past Baghdad and Mosul

Tugela Falls

A towering tiered cascade in South Africa's Drakensberg, among the tallest on Earth

Victoria Falls

The largest sheet of falling water on Earth, where the Zambezi plunges into a chasm

Volga River

Europe's longest river and the soul of Russia

Yangtze

Asia's longest river, the spine of China

Yellow River

China's muddy mother river, cradle of Chinese civilization

Yenisei

The mightiest river to reach the Arctic, splitting Siberia in two

Zambezi River

Africa's fourth river, master of Victoria Falls