How many continent do we have in the word

There are seven continents in the world. They are; Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South America, Antarctica, and Australia & Oceania.

A continent can be defined as a large landmass that comprises the surface of the earth. However, there is a lot of variation in the size of each of the seven continents. The continents also include the neighboring islands.

Among the seven continents, Asia is the largest in the world and covers an area of 16,920,000 square miles, which is roughly 30% of the world’s total land area. The continent comprises a population of 4,436,224,000 inhabitants, which is around 60% of the total population of the world. The continent is also home to the two most populous countries in the world – China and India.

Africa is the second-largest continent in the world and covers an area of 11,730,000 square miles. Africa is also the second most populous continent and had a population of 1,216,130,000 people as of 2016. Africa comprises around 20.4% of the total land area of the earth and is home to 54 fully sovereign recognized states. It also contains nine territories and two de facto independent states that have limited or no recognition.

North America is the third largest continent and covers an area of 9,460,000 square miles. With a population of 579,024,000 people, it is the fourth most populous continent in the world.

South America is the fourth largest continent in the world and covers an area of 6,890,000 square miles. It is the fifth most populous continent, and as of 2016 had a population of 422,535,000 people. Brazil is the largest country in South America.

The largely uninhabited Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent in the world. It comprises an area of 5,300,000 square miles. The continent does not have a permanent population, but many countries have permanently manned research stations there. The number of people conducting scientific research in Antarctica varies between 1,000 and 5,000 people. It is the driest, windiest, and coldest continent.

Europe is the sixth largest continent and the third most populous and covers an area of 3,930,000 square miles and had a population of 738,849,000, as of 2016. Russia, Turkey, and Kazakhstan are transcontinental countries with land in both Asia and Europe. The European part of Russia is the largest country in Europe.

Australia & Oceania are the smallest of the seven continents. It covers an area of 3,478,200 square miles and has a population of 39,901,000 people. New Zealand is considered to be a part of Zealandia, a submerged continent. New Zealand and Australia are both parts of Oceania.

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Related Map:

A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single landmass or a part of a very large landmass, as in the case of Asia or Europe. Due to this, the number of continents varies; up to seven or as few as four geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Most English-speaking countries recognize seven regions as continents. In order from largest to smallest in area, these seven regions are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.^[1] Different variations with fewer continents merge some of these regions, examples of this are merging North America and South America into America, Asia and Europe into Eurasia, and Africa, Asia, and Europe into Afro-Eurasia.

Oceanic islands are frequently grouped with a nearby continent to divide all the world’s land into geographical regions. Under this scheme, most of the island countries and territories in the Pacific Ocean are grouped together with the continent of Australia to form the geographical region Oceania.^[2]

In geology, a continent is defined as «one of Earth’s major landmasses, including both dry land and continental shelves».^[3] The geological continents correspond to seven large areas of continental crust that are found on the tectonic plates, but exclude small continental fragments such as Madagascar that are generally referred to as microcontinents. Continental crust is only known to exist on Earth.^[4]

The idea of continental drift gained recognition in the 20th century. It postulates that the current continents formed from the breaking up of a supercontinent (Pangaea) that formed hundreds of millions of years ago.

Definitions and application

By convention, continents «are understood to be large, continuous, discrete masses of land, ideally separated by expanses of water».^[5] In modern schemes with five or more recognized continents, at least one pair of continents is joined by land in some fashion. The criterion «large» leads to arbitrary classification: Greenland, with a surface area of 2,166,086 square kilometres (836,330 sq mi), is only considered the world’s largest island, while Australia, at 7,617,930 square kilometres (2,941,300 sq mi), is deemed the smallest continent.

Earth’s major landmasses all have coasts on a single, continuous World Ocean, which is divided into a number of principal oceanic components by the continents and various geographic criteria.^[6][7]

Extent

The most restricted meaning of continent is that of a continuous^{[8][non-tertiary source needed]} area of land or mainland, with the coastline and any land boundaries forming the edge of the continent. In this sense, the term continental Europe (sometimes referred to in Britain as «the Continent») is used to refer to mainland Europe, excluding islands such as Great Britain, Iceland, Ireland, and Malta while the term continent of Australia may refer to the mainland of Australia, excluding New Guinea, Tasmania, and other nearby islands. Similarly, the continental United States refers to «the 49 States (including Alaska but excluding Hawaii) located on the continent of North America, and the District of Columbia.»^[9]

From the perspective of geology or physical geography, continent may be extended beyond the confines of continuous dry land to include the shallow, submerged adjacent area (the continental shelf)^[10] and the islands on the shelf (continental islands), as they are structurally part of the continent.^[11]

From this perspective, the edge of the continental shelf is the true edge of the continent, as shorelines vary with changes in sea level.^[12] In this sense the islands of Great Britain and Ireland are part of Europe, while Australia and the island of New Guinea together form a continent.

As a cultural construct, the concept of a continent may go beyond the continental shelf to include oceanic islands and continental fragments. In this way, Iceland is considered a part of Europe, and Madagascar a part of Africa. Extrapolating the concept to its extreme, some geographers group the Australian continental landmass with other islands in the Pacific Ocean into one «quasi-continent» called Oceania. This divides the entire land surface of Earth into continents or quasi-continents.^[13]

Separation

The criterion that each continent is a discrete landmass is commonly relaxed due to historical conventions and practical use. Of the seven most globally recognized continents, only Antarctica and Australia are completely separated from other continents by the ocean. Several continents are defined not as absolutely distinct bodies but as «more or less discrete masses of land».^[14] Africa and Asia are joined by the Isthmus of Suez, and North America and South America by the Isthmus of Panama. In both cases, there is no complete separation of these landmasses by water (disregarding the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal, which are both narrow and shallow, as well as man-made). Both of these isthmuses are very narrow compared to the bulk of the landmasses they unite.

North America and South America are treated as separate continents in the seven-continent model. However, they may also be viewed as a single continent known as America. This viewpoint was common in the United States until World War II, and remains prevalent in some Asian six-continent models.^[15] The single American continent model remains a common view in France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, and Latin American countries.

The criterion of a discrete landmass is completely disregarded if the continuous landmass of Eurasia is classified as two separate continents (Asia and Europe). Physiographically, Europe and the Indian subcontinent are large peninsulas of the Eurasian landmass. However, Europe is considered a continent with its comparatively large land area of 10,180,000 square kilometres (3,930,000 sq mi), while the Indian subcontinent, with less than half that area, is considered a subcontinent. The alternative view—in geology and geography—that Eurasia is a single continent results in a six-continent view of the world. Some view separation of Eurasia into Asia and Europe as a residue of Eurocentrism: «In physical, cultural and historical diversity, China and India are comparable to the entire European landmass, not to a single European country. […].»^[16] However, for historical and cultural reasons, the view of Europe as a separate continent continues in almost all categorizations.

If continents are defined strictly as discrete landmasses, embracing all the contiguous land of a body, then Africa, Asia, and Europe form a single continent which may be referred to as Afro-Eurasia.^[17] Combined with the consolidation of the Americas, this would produce a four-continent model consisting of Afro-Eurasia, America, Antarctica, and Australia.

When sea levels were lower during the Pleistocene ice ages, greater areas of continental shelf were exposed as dry land, forming land bridges between Tasmania and the Australian mainland.^[18] At those times, Australia and New Guinea were a single, continuous continent known as Sahul. Likewise, Afro-Eurasia and the Americas were joined by the Bering Land Bridge. Other islands, such as Great Britain, were joined to the mainlands of their continents. At that time, there were just three discrete landmasses in the world: Africa-Eurasia-America, Antarctica, and Australia-New Guinea (Sahul).

Number

There are several ways of distinguishing the continents:

Color-coded map showing the various continents. Similar shades exhibit areas that may be consolidated or subdivided.

Number	Continents	Sources
Four continents	Afro-Eurasia (Old World or World Island)	America (New World)	Antarctica	Australia	[19][17][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]
Five continents	Africa	Eurasia	America	Antarctica	Australia	[28][29][30][31]
Six continents	Africa	Eurasia	North America	South America	Antarctica	Australia	[32][33]
Africa	Asia	Europe	America	Antarctica	Australia	[34]
Seven continents	Africa	Asia	Europe	North America	South America	Antarctica	Australia	[32][35][36][37][38][39]

• The seven-continent model is taught in most English-speaking countries, including Australia,^[40] Canada, the United Kingdom,^[41] and the United States, and also in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Suriname, parts of Europe and Africa.
• The six-continent combined-Eurasia model is mostly used in Russia and some parts of Eastern Europe.
• The six-continent combined-America model is taught in some Romance-speaking countries and in Greece.^[34]
• The Olympic flag’s five rings represent the five inhabited continents of the combined-America model but excludes the uninhabited Antarctica.^[42]

In the English-speaking countries, geographers often use the term Oceania to denote a geographical region which includes most of the island countries and territories in the Pacific Ocean, as well as the continent of Australia.

In some non-English-speaking countries, such as China, Poland, and Russia, Oceania is considered a proper continent because their equivalent word for «continent» has a rather different meaning which can be interpreted as «a major division of land including islands» (leaning towards a region) rather than «land associated with a large landmass» (leaning towards a landmass).

Area and population

The following table provides areas given by Encyclopædia Britannica for each continent in accordance with the seven-continent model, including Australasia along with Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia as parts of Oceania. It also provides populations of continents according to 2021 estimates by the United Nations Statistics Division based on the United Nations geoscheme, which includes all of Egypt (including the Isthmus of Suez and the Sinai Peninsula) as a part of Africa, all of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Turkey (including East Thrace) as parts of Asia, all of Russia (including Siberia) as a part of Europe, all of Panama and the United States (including Hawaii) as parts of North America, and all of Chile (including Easter Island) as a part of South America.

^† Not usually considered a continent in the English-speaking countries.

Other divisions

Supercontinents

Apart from the current continents, the scope and meaning of the term continent includes past geological ones. Supercontinents, largely in evidence earlier in the geological record, are landmasses that comprise most of the world’s cratons or continental cores.^[53] These have included Vaalbara, Kenorland, Columbia, Rodinia, Pannotia, and Pangaea. Over time, these supercontinents broke apart into large landmasses which formed the present continents.

Subcontinents

Certain parts of continents are recognized as subcontinents, especially the large peninsulas separated from the main continental landmass by geographical features. The most widely recognized example is the Indian subcontinent.^[54] The Arabian Peninsula, the Southern Cone of South America, and Alaska in North America might be considered further examples.^[54]

In many of these cases, the «subcontinents» concerned are on different tectonic plates from the rest of the continent, providing a geological justification for the terminology.^[55] Greenland, generally reckoned as the world’s largest island on the northeastern periphery of the North American Plate, is sometimes referred to as a subcontinent.^[56][57] This is a significant departure from the more conventional view of a subcontinent as comprising a very large peninsula on the fringe of a continent.^[54]

Where the Americas are viewed as a single continent (America), it is divided into two subcontinents (North America and South America)^[58][59][60] or three (Central America being the third).^[61][62] When Eurasia is regarded as a single continent, Asia and Europe are treated as subcontinents.^[54]

Submerged continents

Some areas of continental crust are largely covered by the ocean and may be considered submerged continents. Notable examples are Zealandia, emerging from the ocean primarily in New Zealand and New Caledonia,^{[63][non-tertiary source needed]} and the almost completely submerged Kerguelen Plateau in the southern Indian Ocean.^[64]

Microcontinents

Some islands lie on sections of continental crust that have rifted and drifted apart from a main continental landmass. While not considered continents because of their relatively small size, they may be considered microcontinents. Madagascar, the largest example, is usually considered an island of Africa, but its divergent evolution has caused it to be referred to as «the eighth continent» from a biological perspective.^[65]

Geological continents

Geologists use four key attributes to define a continent:^[66]

1. Elevation – The landmass, whether dry or submerged beneath the ocean, should be elevated above the surrounding ocean crust.
2. Geology – The landmass should contain different types of rock: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary.
3. Crustal structure – The landmass should consist of the continental crust, which is thicker and has a lower seismic velocity than the oceanic crust.
4. Limits and area – The landmass should have clearly-defined boundaries and an area of more than one million square kilometres.

With the addition of Zealandia in 2017, Earth currently has seven commonly-recognized geological continents: Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Eurasia, North America, South America, and Zealandia. All seven geological continents are spatially isolated by geologic features.^[67]

History of the concept

Early concepts of the Old World continents

The term «continent» translates the Greek word ἤπειρος, meaning «landmass, terra firma», the proper name of Epirus and later especially used for Asia (i.e. Asia Minor).^[68]

The first distinction between continents was made by ancient Greek mariners who gave the names Europe and Asia to the lands on either side of the waterways of the Aegean Sea, the Dardanelles strait, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus strait and the Black Sea.^[69] The names were first applied just to lands near the coast and only later extended to include the hinterlands.^[70][71] But the division was only carried through to the end of navigable waterways and «… beyond that point the Hellenic geographers never succeeded in laying their finger on any inland feature in the physical landscape that could offer any convincing line for partitioning an indivisible Eurasia …»^[69]

Ancient Greek thinkers subsequently debated whether Africa (then called Libya) should be considered part of Asia or a third part of the world. Division into three parts eventually came to predominate.^[72] From the Greek viewpoint, the Aegean Sea was the center of the world; Asia lay to the east, Europe to the north and west, and Africa to the south.^[73] The boundaries between the continents were not fixed. Early on, the Europe–Asia boundary was taken to run from the Black Sea along the Rioni River (known then as the Phasis) in Georgia. Later it was viewed as running from the Black Sea through Kerch Strait, the Sea of Azov and along the Don River (known then as the Tanais) in Russia.^[74] The boundary between Asia and Africa was generally taken to be the Nile River. Herodotus^[75] in the 5th century BC objected to the whole of Egypt being split between Asia and Africa («Libya») and took the boundary to lie along the western border of Egypt, regarding Egypt as part of Asia. He also questioned the division into three of what is really a single landmass,^[76] a debate that continues nearly two and a half millennia later.

Eratosthenes, in the 3rd century BC, noted that some geographers divided the continents by rivers (the Nile and the Don), thus considering them «islands». Others divided the continents by isthmuses, calling the continents «peninsulas». These latter geographers set the border between Europe and Asia at the isthmus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, and the border between Asia and Africa at the isthmus between the Red Sea and the mouth of Lake Bardawil on the Mediterranean Sea.^[77]

The Roman Empire did not attach a strong identity to these continental divisions. However, following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the culture that developed in its place, linked to Latin and the Catholic church, began to associate itself with the concept of «Europe».^[71] Through the Roman period and the Middle Ages, a few writers took the Isthmus of Suez as the boundary between Asia and Africa, but most writers continued to consider it the Nile or the western border of Egypt (Gibbon).^{[citation needed]} In the Middle Ages, the world was usually portrayed on T and O maps, with the T representing the waters dividing the three continents. By the middle of the 18th century, «the fashion of dividing Asia and Africa at the Nile, or at the Great Catabathmus [the boundary between Egypt and Libya] farther west, had even then scarcely passed away».^[78]

European arrival in the Americas

Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean in 1492, sparking a period of European exploration of the Americas. But despite four voyages to the Americas, Columbus never believed he had reached a new continent—he always thought it was part of Asia.

In 1501, Amerigo Vespucci and Gonçalo Coelho attempted to sail around what they considered the southern end of the Asian mainland into the Indian Ocean, passing through Fernando de Noronha. After reaching the coast of Brazil, they sailed along the coast of South America much farther south than Asia was known to extend, confirming that this was a land of continental proportions.^[79] On return to Europe, an account of the voyage, called Mundus Novus («New World»), was published under Vespucci’s name in 1502 or 1503,^[80] although it seems that it had additions or alterations by another writer.^[81] Regardless of who penned the words, Mundus Novus credited Vespucci with saying, «I have discovered a continent in those southern regions that is inhabited by more numerous people and animals than our Europe, or Asia or Africa»,^[82] the first known explicit identification of part of the Americas as a continent like the other three.

Within a few years, the name «New World» began appearing as a name for South America on world maps, such as the Oliveriana (Pesaro) map of around 1504–1505. Maps of this time, though, still showed North America connected to Asia and showed South America as a separate land.^[81]

In 1507 Martin Waldseemüller published a world map, Universalis Cosmographia, which was the first to show North and South America as separate from Asia and surrounded by water. A small inset map above the main map explicitly showed for the first time the Americas being east of Asia and separated from Asia by an ocean, as opposed to just placing the Americas on the left end of the map and Asia on the right end. In the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, Waldseemüller noted that the earth is divided into four parts, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the fourth part, which he named «America» after Amerigo Vespucci’s first name.^[83] On the map, the word «America» was placed on part of South America.

The word continent

From the 16th century the English noun continent was derived from the term continent land, meaning continuous or connected land^[84] and translated from the Latin terra continens.^[85] The noun was used to mean «a connected or continuous tract of land» or mainland.^[84] It was not applied only to very large areas of land—in the 17th century, references were made to the continents (or mainlands) of Isle of Man, Ireland and Wales and in 1745 to Sumatra.^[84] The word continent was used in translating Greek and Latin writings about the three «parts» of the world, although in the original languages no word of exactly the same meaning as continent was used.^[86]

While continent was used on the one hand for relatively small areas of continuous land, on the other hand geographers again raised Herodotus’s query about why a single large landmass should be divided into separate continents. In the mid-17th century, Peter Heylin wrote in his Cosmographie that «A Continent is a great quantity of Land, not separated by any Sea from the rest of the World, as the whole Continent of Europe, Asia, Africa.» In 1727, Ephraim Chambers wrote in his Cyclopædia, «The world is ordinarily divided into two grand continents: the old and the new.» And in his 1752 atlas, Emanuel Bowen defined a continent as «a large space of dry land comprehending many countries all joined together, without any separation by water. Thus Europe, Asia, and Africa is one great continent, as America is another.»^[87] However, the old idea of Europe, Asia and Africa as «parts» of the world ultimately persisted with these being regarded as separate continents.

Beyond four continents

From the late 18th century, some geographers started to regard North America and South America as two parts of the world, making five parts in total. Overall though, the fourfold division prevailed well into the 19th century.^[88]

Europeans discovered Australia in 1606, but for some time it was taken as part of Asia. By the late 18th century, some geographers considered it a continent in its own right, making it the sixth (or fifth for those still taking America as a single continent).^[88] In 1813, Samuel Butler wrote of Australia as «New Holland, an immense island, which some geographers dignify with the appellation of another continent» and the Oxford English Dictionary was just as equivocal some decades later.^[89] It was in the 1950s that the concept of Oceania as a «great division» of the world was replaced by the concept of Australia as a continent.^[90]

Antarctica was sighted in 1820 during the First Russian Antarctic Expedition and described as a continent by Charles Wilkes on the United States Exploring Expedition in 1838, the last continent identified, although a great «Antarctic» (antipodean) landmass had been anticipated for millennia. An 1849 atlas labelled Antarctica as a continent but few atlases did so until after World War II.^[91]

Over time, the western concept of dividing the world into continents spread globally, replacing conceptions in other areas of the world. The idea of continents continued to become imbued with cultural and political meaning. In the 19th century during the Meiji period, Japanese leaders began to self-identify with the concept of being Asian, and renew relations with other «Asian» countries while conceiving of the idea of Asian solidarity against western countries. This conception of an Asian identity, as well as the idea of Asian solidarity, was later taken up by others in the region, such as Republican China and Vietnam.^[92]

From the mid-19th century, atlases published in the United States more commonly treated North and South America as separate continents, while atlases published in Europe usually considered them one continent. However, it was still not uncommon for American atlases to treat them as one continent up until World War II.^[93] From the 1950s, most U.S. geographers divided the Americas into two continents.^[93] With the addition of Antarctica, this made the seven-continent model. However, this division of the Americas never appealed to Latin Americans, who saw their region spanning an América as a single landmass, and there the conception of six continents remains dominant, as it does in scattered other countries.^{[citation needed]}

Some geographers regard Europe and Asia together as a single continent, dubbed Eurasia.^[94] In this model, the world is divided into six continents, with North America and South America considered separate continents.

Geology

Geologists use the term continent in a different manner from geographers. In geology, a continent is defined by continental crust, which is a platform of metamorphic and igneous rock, largely of granitic composition. Continental crust is less dense and much thicker than oceanic crust, which causes it to «float» higher than oceanic crust on the dense underlying mantle. This explains why the continents form high platforms surrounded by deep ocean basins.^[95][3]

Some geologists restrict the term continent to portions of the crust built around stable regions called cratons. Cratons have largely been unaffected by mountain-building events (orogenies) since the Precambrian. A craton typically consists of a continental shield surrounded by a continental platform. The shield is a region where ancient crystalline basement rock (typically 1.5 to 3.8 billion years old) is widely exposed at the surface. The platform surrounding the shield is also composed of ancient basement rock, but with a cover of younger sedimentary rock.^[96] The continents are accretionary crustal «rafts» that, unlike the denser basaltic crust of the ocean basins, are not subjected to destruction through the plate tectonic process of subduction. This accounts for the great age of the rocks comprising the continental cratons.^[97]

The margins of geologic continents are either active or passive. An active margin is characterised by mountain building, either through a continent-on continent collision or a subduction zone. Continents grow by accreting lighter volcanic island chains and microcontinents along these active margins, forming orogens. At a passive margin, the continental crust is stretched thin by extension to form a continental shelf, which tapers off with a gradual slope covered in sediment, connecting it directly to the oceanic crust beyond. Most passive margins eventually transition into active margins: where the oceanic plate becomes too heavy due to cooling, it disconnects from the continental crust, and starts subducting below it, forming a new subduction zone.^[98]

There are many microcontinents, or continental fragments, that are built of continental crust but do not contain a craton. Some of these are fragments of Gondwana or other ancient cratonic continents: Zealandia,^[99] which includes New Zealand and New Caledonia; Madagascar; the northern Mascarene Plateau, which includes the Seychelles. Other islands, such as several in the Caribbean Sea, are composed largely of granitic rock as well, but all continents contain both granitic and basaltic crust, and there is no clear boundary as to which islands would be considered microcontinents under such a definition. The Kerguelen Plateau, for example, is largely volcanic, but is associated with the breakup of Gondwanaland and is considered a microcontinent,^[100][101] whereas volcanic Iceland and Hawaii are not. The British Isles, Sri Lanka, Borneo, and Newfoundland were on the margins of the Laurasian continent—only separated from the main continental landmass by inland seas flooding its margins.

The movement of plates has caused the continual formation and breakup of continents, and occasionally supercontinents, in a process called the Wilson Cycle. The supercontinent Columbia or Nuna formed during a period of 2.0–1.8 billion years ago and broke up about 1.5–1.3 billion years ago.^[102][103] The supercontinent Rodinia is thought to have formed about 1 billion years ago and to have embodied most or all of Earth’s continents, and broken up into eight continents around 600 million years ago. The eight continents later reassembled into another supercontinent called Pangaea; Pangaea broke up into Laurasia (which became North America and Eurasia) and Gondwana (which became the remaining continents).^[104]

See also

• Boundaries between the continents of Earth
• Dvipa
• Forgotten continent
• List of continent name etymologies
• List of continents and continental subregions by population
• List of sovereign states and dependent territories by continent
• List of transcontinental countries
• Lists of cities
• Mainland Australia
• Subregion

References

Bibliography

• Lewis, Martin W.; Wigen, Kären E. (1997). The Myth of Continents: a Critique of Metageography. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-20743-1 – via Google Books.

External links

• Continent at the Encyclopædia Britannica
• «Continent» . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
• «What Are Continents?» on YouTube by CGP Grey
• Lost continent revealed in new reconstruction of geologic history

• W
• Continents
• 7 Continents

The seven-continent model is probably the most widely taught. There are however other ways of grouping countries into continents.

List of the seven continents

Ranked by current population

Which continent does Russia belong to?

Russia is part of both Europe and Asia. In the 7 continent model in fact, it is not always clear where to place Russia. In the map pictured above Russia is divided into two parts (European Russia and the «Asian part» of the Russian Federation) along the Ural Mountains line, from the source of the Ural River down to the Greater Caucasus from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea (following the modern definition of Europe as provided by the National Geographic Society). However, in the list of continents, we had to place Russia in one continent or the other, so we placed it in Europe, following the United Nations classification.

About 75% of the Russian population lives in the European continent. On the other hand, 75% of Russian territory is located in Asia.

Which continent does Hawaii belong to?

None. Hawaii is politically part of North America, but geographically it is not part of any continent.

List of the seven continents

#	Continent	Population (2020)
1	Asia	4,641,054,775
2	Africa	1,340,598,147
3	Europe	747,636,026
4	North America	592,072,212

Which city is closest to Antarctica?

Ushuaia

Can I go to Antarctica?

Yes, you can visit Antarctica! Although Antarctica is the most remote continent on earth—more than 1,000 km from the nearest neighboring continent—you can actually visit it, and enjoy the voyage at your own pace and preference.

Who has explored Antarctica?

Here are The Most Famous Explorers of Antarctica.

• Roald Amundsen, Norway – Expedition of 1909-1911.
• Robert Falcon Scott, Great Britain – Expeditions of 1901-1904, 1910-1912.
• Nobu Shirase, Japan – Expedition: 1910-1912.
• Sir Ernest Shackleton, Great Britain – Expeditions: 1907-1909, 1914-1917.

Who explored America?

It is commonly said that “Columbus discovered America.” It would be more accurate, perhaps, to say that he introduced the Americas to Western Europe during his four voyages to the region between 1492 and 1502.

Who first found America?

Leif Erikson

Did the Chinese discover America first?

It appears to stake China’s claim to have “discovered” America first. This comes as a surprise to those of us who know for a fact that America was discovered by Prince Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd in 1170. He sailed to America in a leather-bound coracle, as Tim Severin proved in 1977.

What do the natives call America?

Turtle Island is a name for Earth or North America, used by some Indigenous peoples in Canada and the United States, as well as by some Indigenous rights activists.

What was America called in the 1600s?

American colonies, also called thirteen colonies or colonial America, the 13 British colonies that were established during the 17th and early 18th centuries in what is now a part of the eastern United States.

A continent is typically defined as a very large landmass, surrounded on all sides (or nearly so) by water and containing a number of nation-states. However, when it comes to the number of continents on Earth, experts don’t always agree. Depending on the criteria used, there may be five, six, or seven continents. Sounds confusing, right? Here’s how it all sorts out.

Defining a Continent

The «Glossary of Geology,» which is published by the American Geosciences Institute, defines a continent as “one of the Earth’s major landmasses, including both dry land and continental shelves.» Other characteristics of a continent include:

• Areas of land that are elevated in relation to the surrounding ocean floor
• A variety of rock formations, including igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary 
• A crust that is thicker than those of the surrounding oceanic crusts. For example, the continental crust may vary in thickness from about 18 to 28 miles in depth, whereas oceanic crust is usually about 4 miles thick
• Clearly-defined boundaries

This last characteristic is the most controversial, according to the Geological Society of America, leading to confusion among experts as to how many continents there are. What’s more, there is no global governing body that has established a consensus definition.

How Many Continents Are There?

If you went to school in the United States, chances are you were taught that there are seven continents: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. But using the criteria defined above, many geologists say there are six continents: Africa, Antarctica, Australia, North and South America, and Eurasia. In many parts of Europe, students are taught that there are only six continents, and teachers count North and South America as one continent.

Why the difference? From a geological perspective, Europe and Asia are one large landmass. Dividing them into two separate continents is more of a geopolitical consideration because Russia occupies so much of the Asian continent and historically has been politically isolated from the powers of Western Europe, such as Great Britain, Germany, and France.

Recently, some geologists have begun arguing that room should be made for a «new» continent called Zealandia. This landmass lies off the eastern coast of Australia. New Zealand and a few minor islands are the only peaks above water; the remaining 94 percent is submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean.

Other Ways to Count Landmasses

Geographers divide the planet into regions for ease of study. The Official Listing of Countries by Region divides the world into eight regions: Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Europe, North America, Central America and the Caribbean, South America, Africa, and Australia and Oceania.

You can also divide the Earth’s major landmasses into tectonic plates, which are large slabs of solid rock. These slabs consist of both continental and oceanic crusts and are separated by fault lines. There are 15 tectonic plates in total, seven of which are roughly ten million square miles or more in size. Not surprisingly, these roughly correspond to the shapes of the continents that lie atop them.

Sources

• Mortimer, Nick. «Zealandia: Earth’s Hidden Continent.» Volume 27 Issue 3, The Geological Society of America, Inc., March/April 2017.
• Neuendorf, Klaus K.E. «Glossary of Geology.» James P. Mehl Jr., Julia A. Jackson, Hardcover, Fifth Edition (revised), American Geosciences Institute, November 21, 2011.

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What are the Seven Continents?

There are seven continents in the world: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe, North America, and South America. However, depending on where you live, you may have learned that there are five, six, or even four continents. This is because there is no official criteria for determining continents. While the position of landmasses on continental crust may be used to determine continents, geopolitical factors also affect their delineation. Below is an overview of the world’s continent using the most popular classification system, the seven continent method.

Continents

North America

Sovereign Countries	23
Area (km2)	24,709,000 km2
Area (mi2)	9,540,000 mi2
Population	579,024,000
Population Density	23 km2
GDP (PPP)	$26.03 Trillion
GDP per Capita	$49,240
Description
North America is the third largest continent in the world by land area. By population, it is the fourth largest. Sometimes considered to be a subcontinent of the Americas, North America is found entirely in the northern hemisphere and is bordered by the Arctic Ocean in the north, the Atlantic ocean in the east, the Pacific Ocean in the west, and South America to the south. North America is home to the longest land border in the world, which is shared between Canada the the United States.
Read more about North America →

South America

Sovereign Countries	12
Area (km2)	17,840,000 km2
Area (mi2)	6,890,000 mi2
Population	423,581,078
Population Density	21 km2
GDP (PPP)	$6.92 Trillion
GDP per Capita	$8,560
Description
South America is the world’s fourth largest continent by land area, and the world’s third most populous. It is mostly situated in the southern hemisphere, with the exception of a small area of the northernmost portion of the continent. It is found completely in the western hemisphere. South America is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the east, the Pacific Ocean in the west, the Southern Ocean in the south, and North America in the north.
Read more about South America →

Europe

Sovereign Countries	50
Area (km2)	10,180,000 km2
Area (mi2)	3,930,000 mi2
Population	746,419,440
Population Density	73 km2
GDP (PPP)	$29.01 Trillion
GDP per Capita	$29,410
Description
Europe is the world’s third most populated continent, and the sixth largest continent by land area. Although physically connected to Asia, Europe has historically been considered a separate continent due to cultural and linguistic differences. The Ural and Caucasus Mountains are generally thought to be the eastern boundary of Europe. The other borders of Europe include the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Europe is home to more than 10% of the world’s population.
Read more about Europe →

Africa

Sovereign Countries	54
Area (km2)	30,370,000 km2
Area (mi2)	11,730,000 mi2
Population	1,275,920,972
Population Density	36 km2
GDP (PPP)	$7.16 Trillion
GDP per Capita	$1,930
Description
Africa is the world’s second largest continent by both land area and population. The equator runs through Africa in the middle of the continent. Around one third of Africa is located in the Southern Hemisphere. Africa makes up about 20% of the world’s total land area. The Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea all surround Africa, to the east, west, and north respectively.
Read more about Africa →

Asia

Sovereign Countries	48
Area (km2)	44,579,000 km2
Area (mi2)	17,212,000 mi2
Population	4,560,667,108
Population Density	100 km2
GDP (PPP)	$65.44 Trillion
GDP per Capita	$7,350
Description
Asia is the world’s largest continent both by population and by land area. Comprising of 30% of the world’s land area, Asia borders the Pacific Ocean in the east, the Arctic Ocean in the north, the Indian Ocean in the south, and Europe to the west. Around 60% of the world’s population lives in Asia.
Read more about Asia →

Oceania

Sovereign Countries	14
Area (km2)	8,525,989 km2
Area (mi2)	3,291,903 mi2
Population	41,570,842
Population Density	4 km2
GDP (PPP)	$1.62 Trillion
GDP per Capita	$41,037
Description
Australia is the world’s smallest continent and second least populated. The term Oceania is also used to describe this region in order to differentiate it from the country of Australia. However, Oceania is not a continent but is instead a continental grouping. The term Australasia is also sometimes use to refer to this region. Countries included in the Australian continent include Australia, Papua New Guinea, and portions of Indonesia.
Read more about Oceania →

Antarctica

Sovereign Countries	N/A
Area (km2)	14,200,000 km2
Area (mi2)	5,500,000 mi2
Population	1,000
Population Density	0 km2
GDP (PPP)	N/A
GDP per Capita	N/A
Description
Located at the South Pole, Antarctica has no permanent population and no countries. It is reserved for use as a scientific base. Antarctica is the fifth largest continent by land area, and the least populated continent. Antarctica is an island, and is completely surrounded by the Southern Ocean.
Read more about Antarctica →

Other Continental Divisions

Four Continents

Continents
Afro-Eurasia / Old World
America / New World
Australia / Oceania
Antarctica
More Information
The four continent model promotes the idea that all continents are landmasses divided by ocean. As Europe and Asia inhabit the landmass, and Africa and Asia are connected by the Isthmus of Suez, they are considered to compose one continent called “Afro-Eurasia.” In this model, North America and South America are thought of as one continent connected by the Isthmus of Panama.

Five Continents

Continents
Africa
Europe
Asia
America
Pacific
More Information
In the five continent model, North and South America are considered to be one continent called America. Antarctica is omitted due to its lack of permanent habitation. This model is used by the United Nations and found in the Olympic Charter.

Six Continents (Version 1)

Continents
Africa
Europe
Asia
America
Australia / Oceania
Antarctica
More Information
This model is most commonly taught in western Europe, including France and Spain. Here, North and South America are considered to be one single continent of America.

Six Continents (Version 2)

Continents
Africa
Eurasia
North America
South America
Australia / Oceania
Antarctica
More Information
This model is mostly taught in Eastern Europe and Japan. In this model, North and South America are differentiated by Europe and Asia are combined in one continent of Eurasia.

Seven Continents

Continents
Africa
Europe
Asia
North America
South America
Australia / Oceania
Antarctica
More Information
The seven continent model is the most popularly accepted model. It is most commonly taught in English-speaking countries, as well as in China, India, and Pakistan.

There are 7 continents in the world. Most people agree with that but there are some who say there are 6, some say 5. But there are 7. If you’ve read my article about how many countries in the world you’ll know that I’ve been lucky enough to visit all 7 continents on many different occasions on my way to visiting every country on the planet.  When I planning on making this list about how many continents in the world I was going through old travel photos and remembering how special each continent is.

All 7 of them have their own special qualities, uniqueness and you should definitely visit as many of them as possible.

What is a Continent?

There are tons of definitions that people use to identify a continent. The most commonly used and most simple is to identify a large landmass which is separated by oceans from other large landmasses. The 7 continents that we have in the world are always changing shape because the earth’s water defines the landmass of each continent. Don’t forget that water makes up around 2/3 of the earth’s surface, so boundaries and shapes of continents are altered as the waters change. All of the 7 continents used to be connected as one landmass known as Pangea, but we’re talking millennia ago. Now we can easily recognize that there are 7 distinct continents.

What Are The 7 Continents?

It is widely accepted that the 7 continents are:

1. Africa
2. Antarctica
3. Asia
4. Australia (also known as Australasia)
5. Europe
6. North America
7. South America

Some people can get confused about the name and mistake continents for regions, I’ll take you through each continent and clear up any confusion.

Africa

Number Of Countries: 56

Africa is the second-largest continent on the planet and is an awesome place to travel through. The last frontier of authentic travel, it may be said. Make sure you like the heat before you head there because it is home to some of the world’s hottest countries. Check out my article about how many countries are there in Africa, there are plenty of disputed territories in the region which is why my country count may surprise you.

Antarctica

Number Of Countries: 0

How many countries are there in Antarctica is a pretty simple question to answer because there are none! 7 countries do lay claim to certain parts of the continent for research and scientific purposes. You may also see it referred to as either the White or Frozen continent. It’s not surprising that it’s the coldest place on earth because over 3 quarters of the earth’s ice can be found here. There are no permanent residents in Antarctica but you will find adventurous travellers. Here are some reasons why you should consider visiting Antarctica.

Asia

Number Of Countries: 49

My home! Asia is by far the largest continent on the planet in terms of size (9% of the planet’s surface) and population (4.3 billion, 60% of the world’s population) – with the likes of China, India and Russia located within this continent it’s always going to keep the top spot. If you want to see how many countries in Asia I think there are then check out my article. It can be a bit controversial when deciding which countries are part of Asia and Europe.

Australia (or Australasia)

Number Of Countries: 3

First things first, Australia is a continent and you can also call it Australasia. People are sometimes surprised to hear that the continent only contains 3 countries, that’s because they confuse the continent with the Oceania region. How many countries in Australia varies depends on who you talk to, there are in 14 Australia/Oceania. Check out my article to read my explanation.

Europe

Number Of Countries: 49

It was fun making my list of how many countries are there in Europe, that’s because the continent is part of the same landmass as Asia. I am sure that when you guys read my article not all of you will agree of the countries I include and those that I don’t. Home to nearly 3 quarters of a million people, including me in my Irish youth.

North America

Number Of Countries: 23

North America is a continent that also includes Central America and The Caribbean. How many countries are there in North America is a long-debated topic because some people argue that North and South America are one continent. It’s a huge area with 5 time zones and the only place on the planet with every single type of climate.

If you want to know how many countries in the Caribbean, I blogged that too.

If you want to know how many countries in Central America, I blogged that too.

South America

Number Of Countries: 12

My article about how many countries in South America will show you the 12 countries and lesser-known dependencies which make up the continent. It’s the 4th biggest continent on the planet and an awesome place to visit because you’ll find the Himalayas (Mt. Aconcagua is there which I completed on my mission to climb all 7 peaks), the Amazon river, Angel Falls and much more. 

Does everyone agree with 7 Continents in the world??

Nope! Interestingly enough not everyone agrees that there are 7 continents in the world. The reason being that some people combine North and South America because it is one landmass, therefore, should be classed as one continent in their eyes, calling it the ‘American Continent.’

The other contentious issue for a few people is Europe and Asia, some people combine them into one continent calling it ‘Eurasia.’

Why Do Some Say There are 5 or 6 Continents in the world?

TLDR? So why do some people say there are 5 or 6 continents?

North and South America as 1 continent; The Americas

Because they may not separate North and South America as 2 continents, and call it one continent ‘The Americas’.

Europe and Asia as 1 continent; Eurasia

And some include Europe and Asia as 1 continent, calling it Eurasia.

Coming from Ireland, I have only ever been taught that there are 7 continents in the world. I’m pretty sure most of you reading this are the same too. That wasn’t always the case because back in the day people used to be taught that there were 5 continents; Africa, America, Asia, Australia and Europe.

Take a look at the Olympic symbol again. There are 5 rings and that’s because it used to be accepted that there were 5 continents (not separating the 2 Americas and also not including Antarctica).  Some countries teach that there are 6 continents in the world; America, Antarctica, Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe (not separating the 2 Americas).

So to confirm, how many continents are there?

I understand why some say 5 and 6 but there are 7 continents in the world. Hope this helps!

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