Continents of the World

The term continent is used to differentiate between the various large areas of the earth into which all the
land surface of Earth is divided. A continent is "a large, continuous area of land on Earth". Actually, all
continents together constitute less than one-third of the earth's surface, literally! more than two-thirds of
the Earth's surface is covered by water.

The world has seven continents. They are Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe, North
America, and South America.

Africa
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. Africa makes up about 20% of the world’s total land area.

Antartica
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 surrounded by the Southern Ocean.

Asia
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.

Australia
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. The term Australasia is also
sometimes use to refer to this region.

Europe
Europe is the world’s third most populated continent, and the sixth largest continent by land area. Europe
is home to more than 10% of the world’s population.

North America
North America is the third largest continent in the world by land area. By population, it is the fourth
largest. North America is home to the longest land border in the world, which is shared between Canada
the the United States.

South America third most populous. South the Southern Ocean in the
South America is the world’s America is bordered by the south, and North America in
fourth largest continent by Atlantic Ocean in the east, the north.
land area, and the world’s the Pacific Ocean in the west,