A continent is a large continuous landmass on the Earth’s surface.
There are generally considered to be seven continents. They are Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North America, and South America. In some cases, Europe and Asia are referred to as one continent, Eurasia.
The strict definition of a continent as one large continuous landmass is not always applied in practical usage. Often the islands off the coast of a continent are included in its landmass. For example, Greenland is considered part of North America. The large group of islands in the Pacific Ocean collectively called Oceania are often referred to as a continent, but they are actually a very large region in the Pacific stretching from Hawaii to New Zealand and Australia, in which some experts include Australia.
The continents vary considerably in size. The continent of Asia has 30 percent of the Earth’s land surface. In order of size after Asia, the continents are Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Oceania.
Except for Antarctica and Oceania, each of the continents is connected to another land mass. North America and South America are connected by the Isthmus of Panama. Africa is connected to Asia at the Isthmus of Suez. Europe is actually a peninsula of Asia.
In order of size of human population, the continents are Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South America and Oceania. Antarctica is uninhabited.
Scientists who study the history of the Earth (earth scientists) consider that the continents were formed by movement of the large plates (“tectonic plates”) of the Earth’s crust causing large sections of the crust to separate, then to shift. These sections, becoming separate land masses, were named “continents” and the movement is called “continental drift.”
Web Sites
Catalog
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Databases
Enter Continents in these databases:
- Access Science
- eLibrary
- Europa World Year Book (for Antarctica and Oceania)
- Grolier