world map
Welcome to our world map learning resources! Below you can learn a bit more about some of the exciting places, icons and animals featured on our world map design. Happy colouring!
If you want to join us on our journey around the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, simply click on the image below to explore these magnificent monuments with our blog ‘Take a journey with eatsleepdoodle to explore the Seven Wonders of the Modern World!’
After you’ve visited the incredible Seven Wonders, come along with us as we discover fun facts about the fascinating icons and animals featured on our colour in world map design.
There are so many wonderful wild animals and icons to choose from, so we thought we’d share a select few favourites with you. You can always visit National Geographic or the WWF website for more fun facts!
Acropolis
The name means high city and many cities in ancient Greece would have an acropolis at their highest point, where people could retreat for defence during invasions.
This is the most famous acropolis, in the Greek capital Athens. It was built by Pericles in the 5th century BC as a monument to the goddess Athena and the glory of the city of Athens.
The buildings in the acropolis include the Parthenon – decorated with sculptures thought to be come of the best in the world.
Chain Bridge in Budapest, Hungary
The beautiful and famous suspension bridge across the River Danube between the west and east sides of Budapest – Buda and Pest – in the capital of Hungary. Opened in 1849, after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, it was the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Budapest. It was designed by English engineer William Tierney Clark.
The Great Sphinx of Giza
A sphinx is a creature of ancient mythology with a lion’s body and a human hear. Built by the Egyptians, often to guard tombs and sacred temples, the most famous and one of the oldest and biggest is the Great Sphinx of Giza.
Probably carved about 2500 years BC, it is 241 feet long and over 60 feet high – the eyes themselves are 6 feet tall!
Originally the sphinx would have been painted in bright colours and had a long beard, but these have been eroded over time.
The Statue of Liberty
The statue – whose full name is Liberty Enlightening the World was created by French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi. It was a gift from France to America in 1886.
The statue was positioned on Bedloe Island, which was renamed Liberty Island in New York Harbour.
There are 354 stairs to the top where you can see the view from the 25 windows in the crown, and the seven spikes on the crown represent the seven oceans and continents.
Did you know that Lady Liberty wears a size 379 sandal!
The Golden Gate Bridge
The suspension bridge in San Francisco, USA, is 1.7 miles long – the longest span of any bridge in the world at the time of its opening 1937.
It weighs 887,000 tons and has 600,000 rivets in each of its two towers.
Its name comes from the body of water it crosses – the Golden Gate Strait – and not from its colour. The colour is called International Orange.
Mount Fuji
Mount Fuji is the highest and most famous mountain in Japan. In fact, it’s an active volcano but it hasn’t erupted for over 30 years.
It’s 3776 meters high and is located 100km southwest of Tokyo. It’s very famous in Japanese art – it has been painted by many artists including Hiroshige and Hokusai.
Je suis la Tour Eiffel!
That’s the Eiffel Tower to you and me! Originally built as the entrance arch for the World’s Fair in 1889, this famous building is 1050 feet high and was the world’s tallest man-made structure at the time it was completed.
It’s names after Gustave Eiffel whose company was in charge of the project. The tower is made of iron, weighs over 10,000 tons and took over 2 years to build. You can walk to the top but there are 1665 steps – so you might want to take the lift!
The London red bus – all aboard!
Red London buses are one of Britain’s most recognisable icons. The originals – called Routemasters – were introduced in 1954 and almost 3000 were built.
In 2005 routemasters were replaced by new models – still red but no bus conductors.
Two routemasters are still in use today – the number 9 and the number 15.
Sydney Opera House, Australia
The Sydney Opera House was designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon and opened in 1973 in Sydney Harbour.
The architectural style is called Expressionist Modernism which involves using new shapes and materials.
The iconic roof is covered with more than a million tiles and the building has 6225 square meters of glass. It is Sydney’s most famous landmark, visited by seven million people each year.
Niagara Falls, USA and Canada
The Niagara Falls are actually three great waterfalls – the American Falls, the Bridal Veil Falls and the Horseshoe Falls – on the border of Ontario, Canada and New York, USA.
The falls were created by a glacier about 12,000 years ago.
The highest drop is 50 meters and over 3000 tons of water flow over the falls every second! Together, the falls product the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the world. You can go on a tour of the falls on boats called Maid of the Mist.
Mano de Punta del Este in Uruguay
The hand (La Mano) is a sculpture by Mario Irrazabal, an artist from Chile. He made it in 1982 on the beach in Punda del Este – a coastal city in Uruguay.
The sculpture took 6 days to finish and is made from concrete and plastic reinforced with steel. It’s also called Los Dedos (The Fingers) or Hombre Emergiendoa la Vida (Man Emerging into Life) but in English it’s just The Hand – a bit more boring we think!!
The Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a mountain range in Canada and the USA. They are 76 million years old and 3000 miles long.
The highest peak is Mount Elbert in Colorado at 4401 meters or 14,400 feet high.
There are more than 280 different species of birds that like in the mountains (wow!!), as well as moose, porcupines and elk.
Sea turtles
Did you know there are seven different species of marine turtle? These are hawksbill, loggerhead, leatherback, olive ridley, green, flatback, and kemp's ridley. Unfortunately, six out of these seven are listed as endangered.
When migrating, marine turtles sometimes swim very far - the longest recorded swim was over 13,000 miles in 647 days!
Their bones help them float! A turtles’ shell is actually made of their bones and they are similar to a humans ribs. Whilst turtles can be heavy, their bones are actually quite light and spongy, helping them to float!
Penguins
Some penguins are experts in the cold! Emperor penguins live in Antarctica, where temperatures can be as low as -60°C! To keep warm, emperor penguins have lots of body fat and many layers of scale-like feathers to protect them from the harsh winds. They also huddle together in groups, sometimes with over 5000 individuals!
Whilst they waddle around on land, it's no surprise that most penguins are very good swimmers, and many species of penguin are faster than you would think. The Gentoo penguin can reach stunning speeds of up to 22mph!
Did you know that penguins can deep dive? Emperor penguins can dive to depths of up to 500m, for up to 22 minutes at a time!
Rhinos
There are 5 remaining species of Rhino in the world! Two of these live in Africa - the white and black rhino - meanwhile the remaining three rhinos reside in Asia and are the greater one–horned, Sumatran and Javan rhinos.
Did you know that rhinos communicate in funny ways? From honks, sneezes, and sounding like an alarm, rhinos make some funny noises when they are angry, scared, or relaxed.
A group of Rhinos is called a 'crash'! Male rhinos are also known as bulls, and females as cows.
Leopards
Whilst not the fastest big cat, leopards would certainly still win some races, with recorded speeds of over 36mph! They have also been seen to jump over 6m forwards in the air.
Like many big cats, leopards are nocturnal creatures that are most active at night. During the day, they sleep in trees or hide away in caves.
Did you know that despite its name as a ‘leopard’, the snow leopard is more similar, and more closely related to tigers!
A leopard’s spots are named after roses - the famous spots that make up the markings of a leopard are known as ‘rosettes’ due to their similarity to the shape of a rose.
Manta Rays
Did you know that manta rays can fly? We don’t fully understand why they do it, but they have been known to jump out of the water as they are swimming! This phenomenon is known as ‘breaching’, and can see rays jump up to 2m above the water’s surface.
Manta rays are, on average, between 3-5m wide – which is bigger than many cars. What’s more, the largest manta ray ever recorded was over 7m wide…wow!
The marvellous manta ray has the largest brain-to-body ratio of all fish, with brains the same size as a human fist. It comes as no surprise that they are thought to be the most intelligent marine animals!
Lions
Young lions actually start off spotty with rosettes on their sandy coats but these disappear as they mature.
Did you know that lions can get their water from plants? The highly adaptable lion can live in very dry areas, which means they can get most of their water from their prey and will even get water from plants like melon!
A group of lions is called a 'pride' and they are the only cats who roar together. A calling sequence lasts for around 40 seconds and they use this to mark their territory. It can be heard from five miles away!