The continents are the divisions of terrestrial space created by man to better understand it. These are large masses of land that are separated by the oceans. Thus, according to the current division, there are six main continents:America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Antarctica.
Next, we'll look at the characteristics of each of the continents, organized from largest to smallest (click on the names of each continent for more details):
1º Asia – In addition to being the largest of the continents, it is also the one with the largest population on the planet. Its total area is almost 45 million km² and the current population is estimated at 4.5 billion people. It is in Asia that we find the highest point in the world, Mount Everest, at 8,848m high.
Among the 53 countries that are part of Asia, we can mention: China, India and most of Russia. It also contains a region that has the most conflicting political relations in the world: the Middle East.
2º America– The second largest continent in the world, with a total area of 42 million km², it is generally divided into three parts: North America, South America and Central America. Another split form separates the continent between Anglo-Saxon America and Latin America. The total population of this continent is estimated at approximately 1 billion inhabitants.
Among the 35 countries that make up America, we can mention: United States, Mexico and Canada, in North America; Haiti, Cuba and Jamaica in Central America; Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay in South America.
3º Africa– The African continent is one of those with the largest number of ethnic groups in the entire planet. Before the colonization carried out by the Europeans, there were more than two thousand different civilizations! Its territorial extension is more than 30 million km² and the population is estimated at 1.2 billion inhabitants.
It is the continent with the largest number of countries: 54 in total. Among them, we can highlight Egypt, Tunisia, Nigeria and South Africa.
4º Antarctica (Antarctica): also called the “South Pole”, it is the fourth largest continent in the world, with approximately 14 million km². Its area is divided between several countries in the world, which carry out research and scientific studies.
Contrary to what many people imagine, this continent is not only made up of ice, but also over a large amount of land (unlike the North Pole, which is formed only by ice caps polar). There is life in Antarctica, which is home to the famous Penguins, among many other species that can withstand extreme cold!
5º Europe: despite being one of the smallest continents in the world, Europe is the most important politically. It was from it that the capitalist system and its economic, social, political and cultural values were constituted and expanded. The sciences are also, for the most part, from this continent, as it was there that the Greeks created Philosophy.
Its territorial extension is over 10 million km² and the population is approximately 800 million inhabitants.
Among the 49 countries that make up Europe, we can mention: England, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain and many others.
6º Oceania: it is called by Europeans the “brand new world”, as it was the last place on Earth to be colonized by them. It has 14 countries spread over more than 8 million km². Most of them are formed by archipelagos (group of islands). The total population of this continent is approximately 40 million people.
Among the countries that are part of Oceania, we can highlight Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti.
Curiosities about the continents:
- There is only one city in the world that is on two continents, it is the city of Istanbul, located in Turkey. It is located on the European and Asian continents
- In a remote past, before men existed, the continents were just one: the Pangea, which, thanks to the movements of the Tectonic Plates, divided and originated the current continental portions.
- Some researchers do not consider Antarctica as a continent, but as a continental area.
- The North Pole is not a continent, as there is no land strip on it, just ice.
- The name “America” was created in honor of Amerigo Vespucci, as he was the first navigator to discover that this continent was not part of Asia, as Europeans imagined.
By Rodolfo Alves Pena
Graduated in Geography