The order of the continents of our planet starting with the largest. Continents and continents

The largest continent on our planet is Eurasia. This continent unites Asia and Europe, which, despite multiple differences in climate, topography and other characteristics, are a single whole and complement each other perfectly.

The name “Eurasia” was first applied to the continent by Eduard Suess (in 1880). Before him, this continent was called differently, for example, Alexander Humboldt preferred to call it Asia.

Eurasia sizes

Eurasia occupies 36 percent of the entire landmass of the Earth, which in square kilometers equals 54,759,000. There are 93 states on the continent. No other continent can “boast” of such a number of existing countries. The population of the mainland is 3/4 of all those living on our planet - 4,947 billion people (according to statistics from 2010).

Features of geographical location

As noted above, the continent consists of Asia and Europe. The distinction between these parts of the world is made by mountains, rivers, straits and parts of the seas (for example, Ural mountains, the Emba and Kuma rivers, the northwestern part of the Caspian Sea, the Bosphorus Strait, etc.). However, if we consider Europe and Asia from a natural point of view, then there are no sharp boundaries between them - the continent continuously extends as land for 8,000 km from north to south, and from west to east for 16,000 km.

This largest continent is washed by all the oceans on our planet (there are four in total). From the southern part it is washed by the Indian Ocean, from the northern part by the Arctic Ocean, from the eastern part by the Pacific Ocean, and from the western part by the Atlantic Ocean. In terms of washing the shores of all the world's oceans, the continent is the only one on the planet.

Relief features

The continent is distinguished by its rather diverse topography. The Tibetan Plateau, West Siberian and East European Plains (considered one of the largest) are located here. The continent on the entire planet is recognized as the highest - its average height is 830 meters. Approximately 65 percent of the continent's territory is covered by mountain peaks and plateaus. For example, Eurasia is home to the most high mountains our planet - the Himalayas.

Climatic and natural features

Due to the enormous size of the continent, all climatic zones and zones are present here. The islands and western part have a maritime climate. In the east and south of the continent the climate is monsoon. Moving inland, one can note the predominance continental climate(this is especially typical when moving from west to east in temperate climatic zone). This climate is most typical for Eastern Siberia.

AND natural areas there is diversity here. The highlands and islands in the northern part are covered with glaciers. Eastern Siberia And Far East represent the location of tundras and forest-tundras. Siberia is almost completely covered by taiga. In the center of the continent and its southwestern part there are deserts and semi-deserts. Stepnaya and forest-steppe zone inherent in the southern part Western Siberia and the Russian Plain.

What can Eurasia “boast” of?

On its territory, Eurasia has a lot geographical points, which are recognized as the largest: Lake Baikal, the Caspian Sea, Tibet, Chomolungma, the Arabian Peninsula, Siberia. In this regard, the continent can be called a kind of record holder in comparison with other continents that are present on our planet.

It seems that everything is similar even by definition. This is a large land mass, washed on all sides by oceans. But many scientists explain the difference between a continent and a mainland based on the theory of continental drift, which was presented in 1912 by the German geophysicist and meteorologist Alfred Lothar Wegener.

Continental drift theory

The essence of the theory is that a long time ago, in Jurassic period, 200 million years ago, all continents were a single landmass. And only then, under the influence of tectonic forces, they were divided among themselves.

The structure of the continents can serve as proof. Just look at the map to see: the relief of the western coast of Africa fits perfectly with the relief of the eastern coast of South America. The flora and fauna of the continents, which are separated by thousands of kilometers, are also similar. For example, the flora and fauna of North America and Europe. Wegener outlined his theory in the book “The Origin of Continents and Oceans.”

To be fair, it should be said that his idea had many critics. But by the end of the 60s of the 20th century, as a result of numerous studies, the theory turned into the doctrine of plate tectonics, which makes it possible to separate concepts such as continent and continent.

Continents

There are six continents on Earth:

• Eurasia is the largest of the continents, with an area of ​​54.6 million square meters. km.
• Africa is the hottest continent, with an area of ​​30.3 million square meters. km.
• North America- the continent with the most rugged coastline with many bays and islands, an area of ​​24.4 million square meters. km.
• South America is the rainiest continent, with an area of ​​17.8 million square meters. km.
• Australia is the flattest continent, with an area of ​​7.7 million square meters. km.
• Antarctica is the southernmost and at the same time the most cold continent, with an area of ​​14.1 million sq. km.

Continents

Unlike continents, there are only 4 continents on Earth. Continent means “continuous” in Latin. Therefore, it is unlikely that Europe and Africa can be called separate continents, because they are separated by the artificially created Suez Canal.

The same goes for North and South America. They were separated in 1920 by the Panama Canal. It is interesting that the idea of ​​connecting Quiet and atlantic oceans across the narrowest isthmus was born in the 16th century, since the benefits of this for trade and navigation were obvious. However, King Philip II of Spain “cut down” the project, declaring: “What God has united, man cannot separate.” However, over time, common sense prevailed, and one continent was divided into two continents - North and South America.

There are four continents on the planet:

• old light(Eurasia and Africa).
• New World (Northern and South America).
• Australia.
• Antarctica.

The theory of continental drift and history allow us to answer the question “A continent and a mainland - what is the difference?” is a large area of ​​land washed by water. A continent is a continuous area of ​​land washed by water, which may include continents connected by land.

Interesting facts about the continents of the Earth.

What is a continent? This term itself sounds impressive. We involuntarily imagine something large-scale that cannot be grasped at once. When someone says this word, the thought comes to mind that we are talking about a huge earth mass that floats on our blue planet and supports a wide variety of living beings. No less interesting is the word “mainland”, but do we understand the meaning of these words correctly? Well, let's look at this, at first glance, not very easy question.

How many continents are there on Earth, in the world: list with names, area

Before we move on to the number of continents, let's look at what a continent actually is.

• According to the terminology, this, as stated above, is a large landmass that is practically not covered by ocean waters and is called land. Only the edges of this massif, going deeper, are affected by the ocean. Since they are underwater, these regions are inaccessible to the human eye (unless, of course, you are a scientist studying this side of the land with several submarines in stock).
• There is a well-known fact that on our planet we have only six continents. This list includes: Australia, Antarctica, the Old World (Africa and Eurasia) and the New World (North and South America).
• These earthen blocks are impressive in their size and the numbers indicating their area. Thanks to measurements, we know that the area of, for example, Australia is 7,692,000 km². And after all, Australia is the smallest continent on the planet, as we can judge from the world map, at least. By the way, this is the only continent that is occupied by one state!
• Although Australia is the most small continent, this does not prevent her from being first in other nominations. As it turns out, in Australia we can see the world's longest wall. And we are not talking about the Great Wall of China, which is considered to be the largest. This is the so-called “Dog Fence”, which divides the entire continent into two parts - in one of them there is natural environment habitat of wild dingo dogs, their gluttony forced the Australians to build this “fence” to protect their pastures. The length of this structure is amazing - 5614 km of a reliable obstacle for dingoes.
• Also, it is worth mentioning that Australia is the only continent, on which not a single active volcano has been discovered. And even if this is not too striking, it can also be said that it is on this continent that you can find the most fresh air on the planet, namely in Tasmania (this is one of the regions).
• Australia, as a continent, has many interesting places, which take first place in a variety of categories (for example, the Great Barrier Reef, as the largest coral structure; or the whitest sand of Hyams Beach, which is even listed in the Guinness Book of Records).
• As for Antarctica, it is a continent located in the very south of our planet Earth and is considered to be the kingdom of ice and cold. As you know, this is the highest continent in the world (altitude above sea level is more than 2000 m) and its area is 14,107,000 km², that is, almost twice as large as Australia.

• Interestingly, it is this continent that contains about 70% of the reserves fresh water planets. Where does so much water come from, you ask? Of course, it is there in the form of ice! Antarctica is considered to be not only the coldest continent, but also the driest. The strongest wind in the world walks freely through the arid deserts, which can carry you away like a feather. Wonderful place, is not it? It becomes even more remarkable when, during winter frosts, it doubles in size - the nearby seas are covered with a crust of ice with quite high speed– about 65 thousand km² per day!
• This continent is covered with ice masses so densely that only occasionally you can see the land itself. It is also known that the largest and most impressive iceberg in its size was found in Antarctica - its name is B-15 and this block of ice is 295 km long and 37 km wide. It's like a separate island made of nothing but ice.
• What about belonging to any state, this continent is completely free - it is a neutral zone that is accessible only to tourists and scientists. The second always has work there - despite the cold and dryness, in Antarctica we can find a variety of fauna that has adapted to such severe cold and feels quite comfortable in such conditions. You can spend a lot of time studying them. Oh yes, there is no time on this continent. How can this be? And so, this is also a neutral time zone - everyone who is on the continent lives according to the time of the country from which they arrived.
• From one of the coldest places we smoothly move to one of the warmest - a continent called Africa, which is part of the general group of the Old World. Africa's area is 30,370,000 km² and is the second largest among all existing continents.
• Africa itself is unique in that only on this continent there are places where no one has ever set foot. Completely untouched flora and fauna. Africa also boasts the world's largest desert, the Sahara, which every schoolchild has heard about. It covers as many as 10 countries of the African continent! And even if the desert does not surprise everyone, having learned that there are the largest deposits of diamonds and gold there, many may suddenly express a desire to go to this continent in search of wealth.
• Surely you have heard the legends about the mysterious Flying Dutchman, a mysterious pirate ship. And it is in Africa that the Cape of Good Hope is located, which is precisely connected with this legend.
• As for the real horrors, this is the fact about quicksand. It's creepy, isn't it? But their depth reaches about 150 m.
• From sand to water, the Nile River, which is also widely known, is the longest river in the world. Its length is 6,650 km and it flows through 11 countries throughout Africa.
• The next continent we will talk about is the New World. As mentioned at the beginning, it consists of two parts called continents - North and South America.
• North America has slightly different numbers regarding area. It all depends on whether nearby islands are included or not. In the first case, the area of ​​this continent is 24.25 million km², in the second – 20.36 million km²
• As you know, most of North America is occupied by Canada, which is the second largest country in the world.
• When it comes to truly impressive things, the North American continent is home to the world's largest and deepest canyon, called the Grand Canyon. This place is most popular among tourists; many want to take a memorable photo of the canyon and then brag about this fact.
• Many have heard about such a person as Christopher Columbus. It was he who was the first European to set foot on the soil of North America, although at that time he did not suspect that this was not the “land” where he was heading. Thanks to such a mistake, today we can see such a continent as North America with all its delights, which are especially closely associated with Canada. After all, when you mention this country, the thought of maple syrup and hockey immediately comes to mind, doesn’t it?

Continents of Earth

• It will be news to many that the reason for the frequent earthquakes in California is that it is in North America that two tectonic plates collide, which cause these tremors. It's not very pleasant, but it's very impressive.
• As for the fauna of this continent, only off the coast of North America can we see schools of dolphins that hunt in groups. You will not be able to see this on any other continent. Land animals differ little from those that inhabit the Eurasian continent; we will talk about it later. Wolves, deer, bears, squirrels and many other fauna live here.
• It may be mentioned that next to North America is the most huge island of our planet – Greenland, whose name literally translates as “Green Country”. But it’s covered with ice 340 m thick. Strange, isn’t it? And all because the Norman Eric the Red called “Green Country” only that part of the island that was covered with plants, and this area was not very large. But soon the whole island began to be called that, causing bewilderment among everyone who visited it and did not yet know the reason for such a strange name, which completely did not correspond to what they saw.
• Moving on to South America, it is worth saying that, like North America, it is part of the group New World, which is summarized in one name “America”. As far as we know, previously South and North America were not two continents included in one group, but a separate continent.
• The area of ​​South America is 17.8 million km². In area it is quite a bit larger than the well-known country of Russia. Also, South America includes clusters of islands.
• This continent can also surprise you with its interesting and unusual places. For example, here is the most salt Lake in the world - Salar de Uyuni, which is located in Bolivia. Just imagine how dense this water is. It is unlikely that there are any living creatures there. Although, we all know that fauna perfectly adapts to harsh conditions.
• We all remember horror films about huge snakes, feeding special love towards people in a not entirely pleasant sense. So, it is in South America that this type of snake lives with the frightening name “anaconda”.
• As for other attractions, this continent is home to the highest waterfall in the world - Angel. Its size is very impressive and both tourists and people living here always come to look at it. Agree, you will never get used to this, even if you live your whole life on the same continent with such a huge waterfall.

What is the largest continent on the globe and what is its area?

As promised, let's move on to the largest continent of planet Earth – Eurasia. It is part of the Old World. Its area is quite impressive - 54.3 million km². The population of this continent accounts for more than 70% of the entire planet's population.

• The continent itself is divided into two parts, united in its name - Europe and Asia. It is also the only continent that we know is washed by all four oceans.
• Eurasia also has something to boast about in the “best” category. For example, the narrowest strait in the world is the Bosphorus. The largest archipelago is the Sunda Islands.

• As for the depth, it is Eurasia that owns the lowest point of land - this is a depression at the bottom of the Dead Sea. And since we are talking about the seas, it is worth mentioning that only this continent has seas of “four colors” - Black, White, Yellow and Red. Quite an unusual variety.
• There is an interesting fact that it was on this continent that the science of geography was formed. And it’s not surprising, because the scientists had enough territory to start studying it and drawing some conclusions, creating terms, etc.
• And it is on the shores of Eurasia, which, as mentioned, is surrounded on all sides by water, that the largest ports in the world are located. All conveniences for travel, import and export to other continents.

Continent and mainland: what is the difference, what is the difference?

Meanwhile, I would like to ask: “Do you know the difference between the often mentioned words “mainland” and “continent?”

• Above, these words were mentioned chaotically, mixing when talking about the same part of the land. As far as we know, these terms are considered synonymous words, since they imply one meaning - land surrounded by water. Regardless of usage, the only difference between “mainland” and “continent” is that they are pronounced phonetically differently, the semantic load does not change from this.
• Therefore, all of the above parts of the world are essentially both continents and continents; this will not be considered an error.

So, we have looked at all the continents of our planet, with all their pleasant and not so pleasant details, which will be interesting both to an ordinary person, as well as for a tourist or a scientist. The continents are not particularly different in scale, but are completely different in terms of other criteria. Each is unique in its own way and deserves to be interesting not only to scientists, but also to ordinary people.

Video: Traveling across the continents of the Earth

As a child, I dreamed of traveling around the world, but I was terribly afraid of airplanes. When dad asked how I would travel around the world then, I confidently declared: “By train.” Grinning, he told me that the land is not continuous, but is divided into continents. Then I found out how many times I would have to fly or swim across oceans during trip around the world. - in other words, how many continents are there?

How many continents are there on our planet?

To avoid confusion, I remembered it like this: We take all the fingers on one hand (that is, 5) and add one. And we get six continents.

They are called like this:

• Africa.
• North America.
• Eurasia.
• Antarctica.

If you “glue” two Americas together, and cut Eurasia in half (into Asia and Europe), you get parts of the world.

Every continent is full of all sorts of interesting things. I will tell you about them below.

Africa

There is a lot of interesting things in Africa. For example, here there is a lake in which no fish, no algae, or other living creatures live. This is because instead of water it hfilled to the brim with real ink. Locals are afraid to approach him, calling him "Eye of the Devil"

Australia

– a fun place: meets here more than anything else in the world there are dangerous and poisonous animals. At the same time, they do not sit quietly and peacefully in nature. Snakes crawl into shopping centers, homes, and can even crawl out of toilets. I probably wouldn't sleep there at all.

South America

But poisonous animals are not only found in Australia. Lives in South America one of the most poisonous animals on the planet. No, it's not a snake or a spider, but a tiny one frog. Simply touching this yellow cutie is enough to say goodbye to life forever. They produce poison by eating insects in the tropical jungle, so if you keep it at home, over time you can even pick it up.

North America

You know, what animal kills the most people in North America? Crocodiles or scorpions - pass by. Grizzly bears are also passing by. According to statistics, the most dangerous creatures here for people are deer. Crossing the road they cause terrible accidents.

Eurasia

On the territory of this continent there is the most big country . Of course, this is our vast homeland - Russia.

Antarctica

This - the only continent within which time zones do not change. And this is the only place on the planet that does not belong to any state.

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I, like many other people, became acquainted with the continents back in early childhood. My parents tried in every possible way to teach me to read and constantly gave me different books with colorful drawings. What fascinated me most were books about animals. All sorts of incomprehensible words constantly flashed in them: Australia, Africa and others. To deal with unknown words, I turned to my parents for help. Without thinking twice, my parents bought me a small globe. I opened a book about representatives of flora and fauna and began to spin the globe.

Child's questions about continents

Communication with the globe did not work out for me right away. It became clear that I couldn’t cope with the spinning ball without help. Grandma, who was once a teacher, came to the rescue junior classes. We divided all the unclear marks on the globe into three groups:

• continents;
• islands;
• peninsula.

I realized that from this group largest continents in size. But there were so many of them and it was unclear how to remember all these names.

How to remember the names of all continents

To remember the names of the continents, I used associations. I associated each continent with its characteristic representatives of the animal world:

• Africa I associated it with the huge Sahara Desert and camels, which could live for weeks without water.
• Australia remembered by my marsupial representatives. I still dream of seeing a kangaroo and a platypus in natural habitat their habitat.
• Antarctica imagined a huge white desert with polar bears and penguins.
• South America associated with the long Amazon River and giant anacondas.
• North America I associated it with the huge dams and the beavers who built them.
• Eurasia I imagined it filled with pandas and elephants.

Greenland: island or seventh continent

For a long time I couldn't understand why Greenland it's just an island, because it's so big. Even my grandmother was unable to explain to me what it was tectonic plates and that Greenland is part North American Plate.

That's how I met six continents on planet Earth, and I still use association as a way to remember information.

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When I was at school, I absolutely loved geography lessons. Large colorful maps, bizarre landscapes and a magnificent world - I learned all this while sitting at my desk. I recognized most of the beauty after the initial acquaintance with the relief and land.

Continents of the Earth

The continent is a huge part of the landmass of our planet. Each such part has its own characteristics, characteristic location and, of course, unique flora and fauna.

There are six continents in total: Eurasia, North America, South America, Africa, Australia and Antarctica. The largest is Eurasia, and the smallest is Australia. Also, the largest one is washed by all 4 oceans (if you don’t take into account South ocean).

The status of the hottest continent belongs to Africa, the wettest to South America, and the coldest to Antarctica.

Facts about continents

It is noteworthy that in Russian society it is customary to consider the words “mainland” and “continent” to be synonymous, although the latter term denotes parts of the world.

I think everyone has seen the Olympic rings. They symbolize the unity of the five parts of the world (continents), as well as the athletes participating in the games.

Antarctica is the only continent that is depoliticized and demilitarized, that is, no country in the world has the right to own part of the continent. The corresponding agreement was signed in 1959 and came into force in 1961.

Animal world

The flora of the continents is so diverse and amazing that a week is probably not enough to list them all. Here are some majestic animals:

• The star-nosed mole is a North American mole with a tentacle-like nose.

• The Surinamese pipa is notable for the fact that it lays its eggs in special depressions on its back.
• Bearded vultures are birds of the hawk family with black and white feathers coming from under the lower part of the beak.

• The leaf-tailed gecko is a true guru of camouflage and deception; the reptile is famous for its tail and amazing color.
• Chinese giant salamander- an unsightly and unattractive reptile, is in danger of extinction due to the environmental situation.

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I remember my stories school teacher in geography about a super continent called Pangea. It turns out that previously all the continents were connected together, and they were washed by the World Ocean, which also did not divide. But, over time and due to various factors, separate continents were formed, which I can observe on a globe or map.

Continents of the Northern Hemisphere

I’ll start right away with Eurasia, because it is the largest of all the continents, and, to be precise, it accounts for just over 35 percent of all land. The population is also huge and ahead of all other continents (5.1 billion people). I would like to note that previously Eurasia was called simply “Asia”, and modern name went back to 1880.

If we talk about the Northern Hemisphere, then I can’t help but mention North America, which, by the way, is also of considerable size - 24 million square kilometers. This continent has many islands, but I want to highlight Greenland, which is the largest in the world. Compared to Eurasia, the population does not stand out so much - 500 million people.

Continents of the Southern Hemisphere

Continents in Southern Hemisphere:

• Africa;
• South America;
• Australia;
• Antarctica.

After Eurasia, it is Africa that is distinguished by its territories (just over 30 million km²). The population has exceeded one billion. This continent is considered the birthplace of humanity itself thanks to the numerous remains found.

I will move on to the “sister” of the above-mentioned America, namely, South America, which is inferior in territory to all previous ones (almost 18 million km²). The population is also not very large - 387 million people. By the way, the name America was first used by Martin Waldseemüller.

Australia - unique continent, because it is a country and a continent at the same time. The population is just over 24 million, and the area is 7.5 million km². The name of the continent comes from the word Austrlis - southern. The last one is Antarctica, which is the southernmost and coldest. The area is 14 million km², but essentially there is no population. Thus, there are six continents that exist on planet Earth.

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I remember how in the 11th grade I came across a globe, which depicted something from the realm of science fiction: a giant continent with several small ones. inland seas and a solid blue space covering the rest of the surface. In response to my question, our physics teacher (I’m still wondering why this miracle globe was in his room and not in the geography classroom) explained that it looked like this our Earth in ancient times. Single protocontinent Pangea- that’s what he called this huge piece of land. I honestly admit that after hearing what I heard, it was difficult for me for a long time to answer offhand how many continents there are on Earth - I was always trying to answer “one”.

Earth: 6 officially recognized continents

In fact, the answer to this question is not so obvious. The difficulty lies in what is meant by the word “mainland”. Usually this term refers to a large landmass surrounded on all sides by water. From this point of view, there are 6 real continents on our planet:

1. Eurasia– the largest in area and occupying a unique position in many ways. Its main part lies in Eastern Hemisphere, and the eastern tip (Chukchi Peninsula) is in the Western.
2. NorthernAmerica, which usually includes Greenland- a large island off its northern shores.
3. South America.
4. Africa.
5. Australia.
6. AND Antarctica.

The latter is often forgotten. But, from the point of view of science, it is precisely a continent: it lies on a separate continental plate, separated from other parts of the world by the ocean. In addition, it ranks second in area among all land fragments existing on Earth. And so what if an impressive part of this very landmass is many kilometers of ice?

There may be only 4 continents on Earth

"Continent" is often (and erroneously) considered synonymous with the term "continent", which means a part of land that is located on a separate lithospheric plate and, again, surrounded by the ocean on all sides. And there are only 4 such territories on Earth:

• Afro-Eurasian(yes, from a geological point of view, these two continents are one, and before the construction of the Suez Canal there was no natural water barrier between them);
• American(on which the Americas are located, connected by a narrow Isthmus of Panama);
• Antarctic;
• And Australian.

These plates gradually move, occasionally “creeping” on top of each other. And, scientists predict, continental drift will inevitably lead in 200 million years to the formation of a new supercontinent. One large piece of land instead of the usual six – how do you like that?!

Mainland Islands: Geographical Injustice

The “official” view of purely continents is the most common, but not the only point of view on the number of continents. Many geographers insist that it would be fair to classify such large islands as continents as Greenland(it is only slightly smaller in size than Australia), Madagascar and New Guinea.

So, if they are ever recognized, there will be not 6 continents, but 9!

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I knew the answer to this question before school, so in class geography dedicated to this topic, I did not expect to hear anything new. But still, the teacher managed to interest me by talking about how and when new continents.

Continents of planet Earth

The way it looks World map nowadays, is the result of the labors and exploits of many travelers and sailors. These were people of different eras, religions, nationalities, but they were all united by an uncontrollable craving for knowledge of the boundaries of the world. Nowadays, everyone knows that on our planet 6 continents:

• Eurasia;
• Africa;
• Antarctica;
• North America;

About the fact that almost all Eurasia has been known since ancient times, I think it’s not even worth mentioning. Of greater interest is the discovery of other continents unknown to Europeans.

Africa

Despite the fact that this continent was known back in the days Antiquity, very little was known about its size and outline. The first to circumnavigate it by sea were Phoenician sailors around the 7th century BC. As for the Europeans, the first to circumnavigate the continent from the south was Vasco da Gama in the 16th century.

America

Official version. Christopher Columbus became the first to discover the New World. At the end of the 15th century, his ships reached Antilles.

Alternative version. Many historians are inclined to believe that the mainland was discovered long before Columbus. Many traditions and legends indicate that in the 10th century Vikings knew about the existence of land in the west. Moreover, traces of their settlements were discovered in Greenland and on east coast Canada.

Australia

Official version. The smallest continent was discovered at the end of the 17th century by an Englishman James Cook.

Alternative version. There are two more versions. According to the first, the mainland was already known Egyptiansm. An analysis of mummies speaks in its favor, showing that the balm contains Australian eucalyptus oil. The second version says that the first Europeans were Portuguese at the beginning of the 16th century, as evidenced by those found in the area of ​​the northern coast ship guns.

Antarctica

Official version. The mainland was discovered at the beginning of the 19th century by a Russian expedition Lazarev and Bellingshausen.

Alternative version. Finds discovered by archaeologists suggest that the ice continent was known back in the 16th century. Dwellings and utensils indicate that the whalers who hunted in those parts became the first Europeans to set foot on the icy land.

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I'm from Perm and one day my friend living in Yekaterinburg, responded to my invitation to come visit that he trip to another part of the world he doesn't have time yet. I didn’t understand him right away (you can get from Kater to Perm by car in just 4 hours), but when it dawned on me that he meant a trip from Asia to Europe, then I decided to find out how it happened that we ended up in different parts light, being on the same continent. And at the same time I refreshed my school knowledge About, how many continents are there on Earth in general and how many parts of the world are there on it?, and how these principles of dividing the earth’s land differ.

How many continents are there on Earth

The division of the landmass of our planet into continents is a geographical and geological division, it is connected with the structure earth's crust. A continent is a gigantic section of it, rising above the level of the World Ocean and surrounded on all sides by its waters, straits or man-made canals. Today, unlike ancient times, such areas of the earth's crust, called continents, are distinguished six:

1. biggest - Eurasia;
2. second by size - Africa;
3. third largest - North America;
4. fourth - South America;
5. fifth - Antarctica;
6. the smallest - .

How many parts of the world are there on Earth?

Division of the earth's land into parts of the world largely due to history and cultural development humanity. There are as many parts of the world as there are continents on Earth - six:

• the biggest - Asia;
• a little smaller - America;
• third largest - Africa;
• fourth largest - Antarctica;
• fifth – Europe;
• the smallest - and Oceania.

That is, continents Northern and due to the fact that they were discovered simultaneously by Europeans, historians and cultural scientists merged and are considered one part of the world, and the mainland Eurasia, vice versa, divided into Asia and Europe due to the difference in cultures of the peoples inhabiting these parts of the land.

How do continents differ from parts of the world?

Having tried to answer this question for myself, I realized that these concepts simply reflect different approaches to dividing the earth's land into sections, and my friend ended up in Asia only due to the fact that once upon a time, for Europeans, all the peoples living beyond the Ural Range were considered peoples of an Asian culture alien to them.

Firework! I'm sure you have great mood, and you are ready to devote some time to knowledge. As great thinkers wrote and said, there is never enough knowledge. New helpful information makes our life more interesting. So, the first thesis of today's article is

Improving your mind should be main goal human life.

Having the necessary intellectual base, you can control the world. Especially in our modern information age.

People are always divided into two halves: those who are interested study in order to use knowledge in right moment for your own benefit. And those who are controlled smart people. Which half do you want to belong to? If it’s the first one, then don’t neglect learning new material every free minute.

The topic I would like to discuss today is our planet. Thanks to her we live. To be more precise, I wanted to try to find an answer to the extremely interest Ask— How many continents are there on Earth? I already wrote an article called:

The problem here is rather in different points of view. These are the people, there are many countries and each of them has their own views on education, and it is unlikely that in the future they will be able to come to a common opinion.

How many parts of the world are there on the map?

How many continents and continents are there really in the world? And what are they called? If you ask people from various countries you will get different answers:

• The formation of China, India and many English-speaking countries claims that there are seven continents, in addition to the famous ones: North and South America, Australia, Africa, Antarctica, and Eurasia is divided into Europe and Asia;
• In Japan and countries included in the former Soviet Union they believe that there are six continents, Eurasia as a single continent;
• Greece, Latin America, Spain, Portugal also distinguish six continents, separately Europe and Asia, but unite the Americas as one continent;
• If we take into account the opinion of the International Olympic Committee, they take into account only the inhabited continents, without Antarctica. It’s not for nothing that the official sign only has five rings.

You can also unite Africa and Eurasia into a single continent, it will turn out very unusual name Afro-Eurasia. And also both Americas, in this case there will be only four. So before you start a great argument, find out which countries in the world have given your opponent the opportunity to get an education. And keep in mind that world maps in different countries may look different.

Questioning this or that education system is also short-sighted. After all, there was a reason to choose exactly this approach to training, thus highlighting this particular country. There are always pros and cons in everything, but no one ever stops you from expressing your point of view, and at the same time listening to someone else’s.

Listening is extremely useful; in a conversation you can understand a lot about your interlocutor. The most unusual thing is the variety of cards; in each country they are issued according to their own standards, and with their own approved names.

How many continents and continents are there on Earth?

There is such a science as geology, and from its point of view, the definition of a continent and mainland differs significantly from the generally accepted ones. So, what is the difference between a mainland and a continent?

A continent is a solid surface of earth or land washed by oceans and seas. All continents are separated only by isthmuses, such as Panama or Suez.

How many continents are there on Earth?

There are six of them in total according to the current scientific concept and here are their names:

• Eurasia;
• Africa;
• Australia;
• Antarctica;
• North America;
• South America.

Even islands adjacent to the mainland are also considered part of the adjacent landmass, even if they are partially under water.

A continent is a piece of land that is not interrupted by a body of water like the sea.

How many continents are there on Earth and what are their names?

There are four of them:

• Old World - this includes Africa and Eurasia;
• New World - North and South America are included here;
• Antarctica;
• Australia.

But the globe is divided not only into continents, continents, there are also parts of the world, but this is rather a cultural or historical concept. There are six parts included:

• Asia;
• America;
• Africa;
• Antarctic;
• Europe;
• Australia and Oceania.

Here you can see photos of various variations of atlases and symbols, and for those who like to study more deeply the history of the origin of the continents, there are thematic videos.

Oceans of the Earth

But not only continents are located on our beautiful planet. Another of the greatest wealth is the presence of a huge amount of water, in the form of seas, oceans, lakes or rivers. Do you know how many oceans there are on earth?

It’s not for nothing that our planet is called Blue, thanks to the continuous World Ocean, which is divided by small archipelagos, but only conditionally. For many years it was customary to distinguish four oceans, but in last years decided to separately highlight the fifth ocean, the Southern or Antarctic. Thus, the following are calculated:

• Pacific Ocean– is considered the largest in area, and also the deepest of all;
• Atlantic Ocean- the second largest, according to legend, the mysterious continent of Atlantis was supposedly located there, hence its name;
• Indian Ocean- is located in equatorial belt and is considered the warmest;
• Antarctic– the youngest ocean washing the southern continent;
• The Arctic Ocean– is still considered the most unstudied due to its inaccessibility, it is covered eternal ice. Unfortunately, over the past decades centuries-old ice began to melt, the reasons are very different, but scientists fear that an environmental catastrophe awaits us soon.

There are different hypotheses and myths

You know that I love them very much, especially if they are beautiful. Oh, if at school, instead of boring lectures with a lot of numbers and unpronounceable names, the teacher told legends or interesting events that happened to this place, studying would become much more interesting.

Most legends, myths and strange events are associated with the oceans. If man has already conquered all the land, then the oceanic expanses of the world have not yet been able to sufficiently study. Personally, I am attracted to the Bermuda Triangle, which is located in the Atlantic Ocean.

I read the legend that I want to tell you a long time ago, and it left a mark on my memory and soul. This happened at a time when the sea was just beginning to be conquered, trade and piracy flourished. When sailors believed that the sea was ruled by a great underwater ruler and he must be respected if you wish for a successful voyage.

A fairy tale with a hint

One day, a merchant was traveling on a merchant ship that was sailing with goods from India to America, and he decided to take his daughter on the trip. Although it was quite dangerous. On the ship, a young girl listened with pleasure to sea stories about sea ​​monsters and mermaids.

And suddenly appeared on the horizon Pirates' ship, the team naturally began to prepare for battle, and the merchant hid the girl in the hold and ordered her not to come out under any circumstances. The poor girl was so scared, she hid in the farthest and darkest corner among the chests of goods.

She heard perfectly everything that was happening on the deck, screams and shots. When everything calmed down, she was even more frightened, because if the pirates won, this means that they will soon begin to take out all the goods. The girl decided to change into men's clothes, hoping that in this way she could pretend to be a hare who accidentally got on the ship.

Hearing that someone was leaving, she barely finished changing clothes and hid. Of course, she was found and brought to the captain. Seeing an awkwardly dressed male teenager in front of him, the captain decided to show mercy and left him as an apprentice.

For a period of time, this helped the girl survive, but, unfortunately, her natural beauty began to attract the attention of the team; even daily dirty work and shapeless clothes could not hide it. And at one point the pirate captain decided to talk to the boy about landing him at the nearest port before a showdown began among the crew.

Suddenly entering the cabin that was reserved for the girl, the captain found her changing her shirt. For some time he stood unable to utter a word. Then, realizing the dangers of such an exposure and having acquired the gift of speech, he was the first to decide to receive it.

Frightened by this behavior, the girl broke free and ran to the deck, but then things got even worse. She did not put on a wig, her beautiful golden hair fluttered in the wind and, realizing what would happen next, she decided to do the only possible thing - to jump overboard.

Standing on the edge of the ship, she turned to the crowd, looked at the captain and cursed him. She said that he was a real monster and jumped off. Of course, she drowned, but her words were so sincere that the great god of the seas turned the captain and all of him into sea ​​monsters, who were forever supposed to wander the vastness of the world.

I hope you liked this article about continents and continents on the Earth map. Share it with your friends. Subscribe and see you soon!

Text— Agent Q.

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