A recent study concluded that the United States is the most beautiful country in the world. Rounding out the top 10 countries are Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Norway, New Zealand, India, Italy, and Peru.
The objective of the research was to ascertain which country is the most beautiful on Earth. Each country earned points in 36 areas divided into five subcategories, landscape, coastal wonders, sightseeing, environmental friendliness, and biodiversity.
“Wherever possible, we calculated the answer per square kilometer [0.387 square miles] to ensure we didn’t reward size over substance,” reported The Telegraph. This is why smaller “but undoubtedly beautiful,” countries like New Zealand, Italy, and Japan are in the top 10 with the United States and Australia, the report declared. The United States earned 1,337 of the possible 2,000.
A continent masquerading as a country, the United States was always going to be a front-runner for the most beautiful country on Earth.
Yes, like other countries, America has good and bad qualities. Still, no one can argue against its glorious geographical jigsaw of mountains, islands, lakes, deserts, glaciers, canyons, everglades, and the expansive landscape found in its deserts.
The United States is home to over 17.1 thousand documented waterfalls, and many are noteworthy:
- Cumberland Falls in Kentucky is sometimes called the Niagra of the South or the Great Falls. Its total height is 68 feet with one drop. This waterfall is “the site of a rare natural phenomenon known as a moonbow:” They linger “above the falls for up to days as long as the sky is clear, on either end of a full moon,” explained Sarah McCosham.
- Tahquamenon Falls in Paradise, Michigan, has 77 drops before its final plunge of 48 feet. Then, it empties into Lake Superior.
- Havasu Falls is not a large or powerful waterfall, but its location on the Havasupai Indian Reservation in Arizona’s Grand Canyon makes it exceptionally glorious.
- Burney Falls, situated within McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park near Mt. Shasta, California, is 129 feet high with one drop.
- Multnomah Falls is in the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon (photo above). Of the 90 waterfalls in the Gorge, Multnomah Falls’ ease of access and its year-around 620-foot-drop makes it a favorite of residents and visitors alike.
Many community planners in the United States understood the need to maintain the country’s natural integrity. While every park or reserve fulfills the human-nature connection, some are magnificent.
For example, New York City’s Central Park’s wonders inspired countless romantics. Situated in the middle of one of the world’s largest cities, this 840-acre park is known for its impressive tree tunnel, rock formations, trails, 20-acre lake, and more.
The Florida Everglades National Park is another example of why the United States is considered the planet’s most beautiful country. The 1.5-million-acre wetlands preserve is an easily-accessible oasis with miles of hiking trails.
Known as the River of Grass, it is the third-largest national park in the lower 48 states and hosts a mosaic of ecosystems. The Everglades has freshwater sloughs and marl prairies, salt-tolerant mangrove forests, moss-draped cypress domes, and more.
When speaking of the Everglades National Park, President Harry Truman said:
Here are no lofty peaks seeking the sky, no mighty glaciers or rushing streams wearing away the uplifted land. Here is land, tranquil in its quiet beauty, serving not as the source of water but as the last receiver of it.
The United States is home to at least 15,500 different plant species, 860 bird species, and 400 mammals, according to The Telegraph.
Written by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
The Telegraph: Why the United States is the most beautiful* country on Earth (*according to science); by Greg Dickenson
The Telegraph: Why this big, brash and complicated country is the most beautiful on the planet; by Chris Leadbetter
Only In Your State: Step Into A Storybook When You Visit These 17 Destinations Across The U.S.; by Sarah McCosham
Evergreen National Park: About
Featured and Top Image by Another Believer Courtesy of Wikimedia – Creative Commons License
Inset Image by South Florida Water Management District Courtesy of Water Alternatives Photos’ Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
