Continents

Definition:– A large, continuous, discrete

mass of land, ideally separated by an expanse of water

• There are currently seven continents on the Earth

• By size (smallest to largest):

– Australia– Europe– Antarctica– South America– North America– Africa– Asia

• By population (as of 2008):– Antarctica

• 4,000 during the summer• 1,000 during the winter

– Australia = 20 million approx– South America = 370 million– North America = 520 million – Europe = 700 million– Africa = 900 million– Asia = 3.9 billion

• The total world population is over 6.7 billion

• By the number of countries– Africa - (53)– Europe - (46)– Asia - (44)– North America - (23)– Oceania - (14)– South America - (12)

• Today’s Earth was quite different millions of years ago

• It is postulated that the separate continents joined together to form one super-continent

• Over the years, the map of the Earth has always been changing; not only has the underlying plates been moving, but the plates have changed in size

• In 1915, Alfred Wegener's postulated:

– All the continents had at one time formed a single supercontinent called the "Urkontinent", before later breaking up and drifting to their present locations.

Name of Continent

Years Ago

Urkontinent about 3 bn

Kenorland 2.7 to 2.1 bn

Columbia 1.8 to 1.5 bn

Rodinia about 1.1 bn to 750 m

Pannotia about 600 m

Pangaea about 300 m

Pangaea

•The super-continent broke into separate continents due to continental drift

• Oceania is NOT a continent, but a word for a large region in Pacific Ocean that includes:– Australia– Papua New Guinea– New Zealand– The islands of

• Melanesia directly north of Australia• Micronesia directly north of Melanesia• Polynesia which is to the east

Oceania

• There are about 19 countries

• Spanning an area of ocean about the size of South America

• The population of Oceania is about 36 million– With all but 11 million living in

Australia or New Zealand

Middle East

• The Middle East (or the Near East, in opposition to Far East) is a region that encompasses southwestern Asia and Egypt

• In some contexts, the term has recently been expanded in usage to sometimes include – Afghanistan – Pakistan– The Caucasus and Central Asia– North Africa

• This region is known as the Greater Middle East

Greater Middle East

Scandinavian Countries

• Scandinavia is a region in northern Europe that includes at – a minimum Denmark– Norway– Sweden

• Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands are sometimes also included

Faroe Islands

Eurasia

• A term used to describe the combined continental landmass of Europe and Asia– Geographically it is a single continent,

comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia

• It is located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres

Afro-Eurasia

• Also known as Afrasia or Eurafrasia

• Term used to describe the largest landmass on earth

• Defined as a super continent, consisting of the continents of – Africa– Eurasia

• Asia • Europe

• It has roughly 85% of the world population

• It is also known as the Old World – As opposed to the Americas,

which are known as the New World

Central America

• It is the central geographic region of the Americas

• The southernmost part of North America that links the continent to South America

• It consists of the countries of:– Guatemala– Belize– Honduras– El Salvador

- Nicaragua- Costa Rica- Panama

Latin America

• Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken

– Romance languages - The group of languages derived from Latin

Central Asia

• It is core region of the Asian continent

• Sometimes referred to as Middle Asia

• Include these five republics of the former Soviet Union:– Kazakhstan – Kyrgyzstan – Tajikistan – Turkmenistan – Uzbekistan

South Asia

• It is the southern region of the Asian continent

• Also known as Southern Asia or the Indian Subcontinent

• It includes:– Pakistan– Bangladesh– India– Nepal

- Bhutan- Maldives- Sri Lanka

South-East Asia

• This region is located at – South of China, – East of India, – West of New Guinea and – North of Australia- Bhutan

- Maldives- Sri Lanka

• It consists of the following countries:– Brunei– Burma– Cambodia– East Timor– Indonesia– Laos– Malaysia

- Singapore- Philippines- Thailand- Vietnam- Maldives- Sri Lanka

Island

Definition– Any piece of land that is completely

surrounded by water

• There are also artificial islands– They are also known as man-

made island – Islands that have been

constructed by people rather than formed by natural means

– Examples• Jumeirah Palm Beach, Dubai• Kansai International Airport,

Japan• Flevopolder, Netherlands

Kansai International Airport

Jumeirah Palm Beach

Archipelago

Definition– A group of related islands

• Examples– Indonesia– Japan– The Philippines– New Zealand– The United Kingdom– Hawaii

Indonesia

Japan

Peninsula

• It is a Latin word– Pene Almost– Insula Island

• A piece of land that is a look-alike of an island but actually isn't considered as an island

Definition– In other words, Peninsula is a

land mass, surrounded by water on three sides

• Examples– Arabian Peninsula– Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, USA – Baja Peninsula in Mexico