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The continent is termed as any large portion of land that is majorly encircled by sea and constitutes many countries. The world is divided into 7 continents that are:
- Asia
- North America
- Australia
- Africa
- Europe
- South America
- Antarctica
The saltwater body that acquires around 70.8% of Earth and has roughly 97% of the World’s water is known as an Ocean. The Earth’s Ocean is divided into 5 categories which are Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, and the Southern Ocean.
Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the biggest ocean and is approximately twice the size of the Atlantic Ocean, followed by the Atlantic Ocean, then the Indian Ocean, then the Southern Ocean, and at last the Arctic Ocean. All the landmass of the world is somehow or the other covered by an ocean. The ocean covers the maximum part of the world and is also a natural habitat for underwater civilisation. Oceans are one of the most important parts of Earth and are very useful to support life on earth. Climate, weather and even the carbon cycle is influenced by Ocean.
Continents of the world
Let us get to know about all the continents in brief:
- Asia: It is the largest mass of land on earth, that has the highest population on earth majorly due to 2 countries which are India and China. Asia is placed in the North hemisphere and the eastern hemisphere. Asia is linked with Europe by land. Roughly around 30% of the landmass on Earth is considered as Asia which is the highest. The area of Asia is roughly around 4,45,79,000 sq. km.
- North America: It completely lies in the northern and western hemispheres. A single continent was divided into two subcontinents i.e., America was divided into two subcontinents which are now known as North America and South America. It covers around 16.5% of the total landmass on Earth.
- South America: It is mostly placed in the western and the southern hemispheres. As mentioned above it is a subcontinent that was a part of America. South America spans over an area of around 1,78,40,000 sq. km. South America has 12 sovereign states. The ranking of South America according to area 4th after Asia, Africa, North America. The ranking of South America according to population is 5th after Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.
- Europe: Europe spans around an area of 10.18 million sq. km. 6.8% of the total landmass of Earth. According to the area, Europe is the second smallest continent in the world. Europe is divided into 50 sovereign states. The estimated population of Europe is around 746 million.
- Africa: Africa ranks second according to both area and population after Asia. Africa spans 30.3 million sq. km., and it covers 20% of the total landmass of Earth, and it is also responsible for 16% of the world’s human population.
- Australia: The official name of Australia is the Commonwealth of Australia. It ranks 7th according to the area in the world after Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica and Europe. Australia is driest with the least fertile soil.
- Antarctica: Antarctica lies in the southernmost part of the World. It is situated completely south of the Antarctic Circle and is encircled by the Southern Ocean; it also has the geographic South Pole. It is double the area that of Australia. Antarctica can be considered as the driest, coldest and windiest continent of the World 70% of freshwater is found here in the form of ice.
Conclusion
There are huge differences between each continent and they are significantly divided by big water bodies that are termed oceans. Every Continent is different from the others and has its own unique features. Continents in the world are also differentiated according to shape, size and even population. Like Asia ranks no. 1 when it comes to an area as well as population, whereas Antarctica ranks 5th in terms of area but has the least population. We even got to know about the formation of continents and the evolution of the continents from just being a piece of land.
