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| | NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Earth (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21) |
 | | The Earth's shape is that of an oblate spheroid, with an average diameter of approximately 12,742 km (~ 40,000 km / π). |
 | | The theory has revolutionized the earth sciences comparable in its unifying and explanatory power for diverse geological phenomena as was the development of the periodic table for chemistry, the discovery of the genetic code for biology, and quantum mechanics in physics. |
 | | In China and Japan Earth was represented by a turtle; in the Aztec religion, by a house; to the Hindus, a lotus; to the Scythians, a plough; to the Greeks, a wheel; and in Christian iconography by a bull. |
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