Continents of the Earth and parts of the world: names and descriptions. What is the smallest continent? The smallest and driest continent on earth

The continents also include the shallow coastal zones of the seas (shelves) and the islands located near them. Once upon a time, all parts of the world formed one continent - Pangea.

And today there are six that are separated by oceans: Eurasia has the largest territory of the planet, its area is 55 million km2. sq., South America - 18 million km. sq., Africa - 30 million km. sq., Antarctica - 14 million km. sq., North America - 20 million km. sq., Australia is the smallest continent, its area is 8.5 million km2. sq.

Australia is the smallest continent on the planet

The area of ​​Australia, including the islands, is about 8.9 million km2. sq. Australia is bordered by the Indian and Pacific oceans. Almost in the middle of Australia is the southern tropic. At the base of the relief of this continent is the Australian platform. Its western part is raised. The Western Australian Plateau is located here, its height is 400-600 m, crystalline rocks come out on its surface.

In the east of the mainland from the northern peninsula of Cape York to southern Tasmania is a folded region - the Great Dividing Range.

In the old days, Australia was called "Terra incognito", today this land for us remains full of surprises and mysteries. Australia surprises with its diversity. There are endless ocean beaches, beautiful roads. This is the land of coral reefs and wild mustangs. Australia has no rivals in the number of unique animals and plants. The whole country, in fact, is a world-class reserve, while 80% of the animals are endemic, since they are found only here.

This continent, which turned out to be the smallest in the whole world, was first discovered by the Dutch. A significant amount of information was provided by the expedition led by Abel Tasman. He explored the northwestern and northern coasts of Australia in 1642-1643, at the same time he discovered the island of Tasmania. And James Cook became the discoverer of the east coast in the 18th century. From the end of the 18th century, the development of Australia began.

Country Australia

Australia is the sixth largest country in terms of area. This is the only state that occupies an entire continent.

The capital of Australia is Canberra. Its area is 7682 thousand km. sq. Its share of the planet's land area is 5%. The population is about 19.73 million people. Of the entire world population, this proportion is 0.3%. The highest point is Mount Kosciuszko (2228 meters above sea level), the lowest point is Lake. Air (16 meters below sea level). The southernmost point is Cape Southeast, the northernmost point is Cape York. The westernmost is Cape Steep Point, the easternmost is Cape Byron. The length of the coastline is 36,700 km (together with Tasmania).

Administrative division: 2 territories and 6 states. The national anthem of the country: "Go, beautiful Australia!" The holiday is Australia Day.

The smallest continent on planet Earth is Australia. With a territory of 7,659,861 km2 (with islands 7,692,024 km2), it occupies only 5% of the entire land mass of the planet. At the same time, the size of the mainland, if viewed from north to south, will be 3.7 thousand kilometers, and from west to east, approximately 4,000 kilometers. In this case, the length of all coasts of the continent will be approximately 35,877 kilometers.

The continent is located in the southern hemisphere of the planet. From the north, south and west, mainland Australia is washed by the Indian Ocean, and from the east it is washed by the Tasman and Coral Seas. Australia is also famous for the largest coral reef in the world (more than 2000 km), which is located on the northeast coast of the continent.

The entire territory of the mainland belongs to one state, which is called Australia. Officially, this state is called the Commonwealth of Australia.

Extreme points of mainland Australia

There are four extreme points that are located on mainland Australia:

1) The most extreme point in the north is Cape York, which is washed by the Coral and Arafura Seas.

2) The westernmost point of the mainland is Cape Steep Point, which is washed by the Indian Ocean.

3) The southern extreme point of Australia is South Point, which washes the Tasman Sea.

4) And, finally, the easternmost point of the mainland is Cape Byron.

Relief of Australia

The mainland of Australia is dominated by plains. More than 90% of the entire land mass of the continent does not exceed 600 meters above sea level. There are also mountain ranges in Australia, which usually do not exceed a height of 1500 kilometers. The highest mountains in Australia are the Australian Alps, whose highest mountain Kosciuszko reaches a height of 2230 meters above sea level. Also in Australia there are the Musgrave Mountains, the West Australian Plateau, the Kimberley Plateau, the Darling Range and Mount Lofty.

The entire territory of the continent of Australia is located on the Australian platform, which includes the mainland of Australia and part of the ocean adjacent to it.

Australian inland waters

According to inland waters, this mainland is characterized as the poorest mainland in terms of rivers. The longest river on the mainland, the Murray, originates from the region of the highest mountain in Australia, Kosciuszko, and reaches a length of 2375 km.

Rivers are fed mainly by rain or melt water. The most full-flowing rivers are at the beginning of summer, and then they begin to shallow, and in some places turn into stagnant reservoirs.

Just like rivers, lakes on the mainland are also fed by rainwater. Such lakes do not have a constant level and runoff. In summer, they can dry out completely and turn into depressions, the bottom of which is covered with salt. The thickness of salt at the bottom of dried lakes can reach up to 1.5 meters. Quite large lakes in Australia can be swamps for most of the year. There is a hypothesis that the south of the mainland continues to rise from the ocean.

Climate of mainland Australia

Mainland Australia is located in three climatic zones at once - this is the subtropical zone, the tropical zone and the subequatorial zone.

The subtropical belt of the continent of Australia includes three climates - subtropical continental, subtropical humid and Mediterranean.

The Mediterranean climate is characterized by dry and hot summers, but warm and humid winters. There are slight fluctuations between the periods of the year (in summer the temperature rises to 27 degrees Celsius, and in winter the air temperature drops to 12 degrees Celsius) and there is quite a lot of precipitation. This climate is typical for the southwestern part of Australia.

The subtropical humid climate is characterized by large temperature fluctuations in different periods of the year (in summer the temperature rises to +24 degrees Celsius, and in winter it drops to -10 degrees Celsius below zero) and significant precipitation. Such a climate is inherent in the entire state of Victoria, part of the state of New South Wales, which is located in the southwest.

The subtropical continental climate is characterized by low rainfall and large temperature differences and is inherent in southern Australia.

The tropical belt is formed from tropical dry and tropical humid climates.

The tropical humid climate is located in the east of the mainland and is characterized by a small amount of precipitation. Such a climate is formed due to the action of southeast winds, which are saturated with moisture from the Pacific Ocean.

Tropical dry climate is typical for the central and western parts of the mainland. The hottest climate is in the northwest of the mainland - in summer the temperature rises to 35 degrees Celsius, and in winter it drops very slightly to 20 degrees Celsius. It is worth noting the city of Alice Springs, which is located in the central part of the continent, where the temperature during the day can rise to 45 degrees, and at night fall to -6 degrees Celsius below zero. At the same time, precipitation may not fall in some places for years, and then in a matter of hours, the annual rate of precipitation may fall. In this case, moisture is very quickly absorbed by the earth or evaporates.

The subequatorial climate on the Australian mainland is characterized by stable temperatures throughout the year (23 degrees Celsius) and high rainfall.

Flora and fauna of Australia

Due to the fact that the mainland is isolated from other continents, the flora of this mainland is very diverse. At the same time, there are plants and animals that live only on this mainland and are absent anywhere else. And due to the peculiarities of the dry climate on the continent, dry-loving plants predominate among plants. For example, eucalyptus, acacia and others. In the north of the mainland you can find tropical forests.

The area of ​​the mainland covered with forests is only 5%. Over time, many trees and plants were brought in from other continents, which took root well in Australia, such as cereals, vines, some types of fruits and vegetables.

But the variety of animals on the mainland is not so diverse. In total, there are just over 230 species of mammals living on the mainland, more than 700 species of birds and more than 120 species of amphibians. But most of these animals exist only on the mainland and will not survive anywhere else, as they feed on plants that also exist only on the mainland of Australia. This is such a peculiar world that is worth seeing with your own eyes.

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Guess which continent is the largest on Earth? The answer is very simple - it is Eurasia, which is the largest continent in the world, both in terms of size and population. But what about the rest of the continents: North America and South America? Here you will learn the area and population of these continents, as well as some interesting facts about each of them.

Distribution of the Earth's continents by area

If we take into account the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe territory, then all the continents of the world, from largest to smallest, are located in the following order:

1. Eurasia: about 55,000,000 square kilometers (21,000,000 square miles), of which about 44,391,162 square kilometers (17,139,445 square miles) fall in Asia and about 10,354,636 square kilometers (3,997,929 square miles) in Europe;
2. Africa: 30,244,049 square kilometers (11,677,239 sq mi);
3. North America: 24,247,039 square kilometers (9,361,791 sq mi);
4. South America: 17,821,029 square kilometers (6,880,706 sq mi);
5. Antarctica: 14,245,000 square kilometers (about 5,500,000 square miles);
6. Australia: 7,686,884 square kilometers (2,967,909 sq mi).

Distribution of the Earth's continents by population

If we take into account the population, then the distribution of the continents of our planet, from the most to the least populated, is as follows:

1. Eurasia: more than 5.2 billion people, of which about 4.5 billion live in Asia and about 742 million in Europe;
2. Africa: over 1.2 billion people;
3. North America: about 575 million people (including in Central America and the Caribbean);
4. South America: more than 420 million people;
5. Australia: about 23.2 million people;
6. Antarctica: there are no permanent residents, but about 5,000 researchers and workers live in the summer and about 1,000 in the winter.

In addition, more than 15 million people do not live on the mainland. Almost all of these people live in the island countries of Oceania, which is a region of the world, but not a continent. Drawing a conclusion from the lists presented above, Eurasia is the leader among all the continents of the world, both in terms of area and population.

Some interesting facts about each continent

• Eurasia includes the largest and smallest countries in the world. Russia is the largest with an area of ​​more than 17 million square kilometers, while the Vatican, with an area of ​​0.44 square kilometers, is the smallest state on the planet. Asia has the highest and lowest points on Earth. Mount Everest is the highest point on the planet - 8,848 meters above sea level. The lowest point is the Dead Sea, which is 430 meters below sea level.
• Africa is home to the world's longest river, the Nile. It extends for approximately 6,853 km from Sudan to the Mediterranean Sea.
• North America has the largest freshwater lake in the world, Lake Superior. It is part of, and covers more than 82,000 square kilometers between the US and Canada.
• South America has the longest mountain range in the world. The Andes stretch about 9,000 km from Venezuela to southern Chile.
• Australia is the smallest and also the only continent with only one state.
• Antarctica is covered with ice more than any other continent in the world. Almost 98 percent of the territory of this southern continent is ice.

There are only six continents on earth and the smallest of them is Australia. Australia is very different in its climate, economy, inhabitants of other continents. It is also the most peaceful territory on Earth (the First and Second World Wars practically did not touch it).

Australian characteristics

• The area of ​​the continent is 7,692,024 square kilometers.
• Population 24,067,700.
• The inhabitants are Australians, the official languages ​​are Australian and English.
• Currency - Australian dollar.
• The amount of GDP is just over a trillion dollars.

History of Australia

Europeans first arrived in Australia in 1606. Until this year, little was known about this continent, except that the natives ruled here and people were valued as goods. Until about the end of the 18th century, the Dutch explored Australia repeatedly. every traveler and navigator contributed to the creation of a map of Australia. In 1788, a colony was founded here, ruled by the British. Gradually, the continent was inhabited by the British, and in 1828 Great Britain declared Australia its territory and began to manage it.

On January 1, 1901, the continent became independent and called itself the Commonwealth of Australia until today. Throughout the twentieth century, the capital of Australia changed periodically, and today it has become Canberra.

Climate and resources of Australia

More than half of the mainland is desert. This is due to low pressure and ocean waters that prevent precipitation.

Australia ranks among the top three countries in the world for the extraction of bauxite, zirconium and uranium. Interestingly, a third of the world's uranium is in Australia. Mineral resources are the continent's main source of income. More than half of the population works in the extraction of minerals and in factories for their processing.

But the water reserves in Australia are not particularly pleasing to their inhabitants. Fresh water is in short supply, so the authorities have been forced to issue several laws regarding water consumption.

A continent is a large landmass surrounded by seas and oceans. In tectonics, continents are characterized as sections of the lithosphere with a continental structure.

Mainland, continent or part of the world? What is the difference?

In geography, another term is often used, denoting the mainland - the continent. But the concepts of "mainland" and "continent" are not synonymous. Different countries have adopted different points of view on the number of continents, called continental models.

There are several such models:

• In China, India, as well as in the English-speaking countries of Europe, it is customary to consider that continents 7 - Europe and Asia, they consider separately;
• In Spanish-speaking European countries, as well as in the countries of South America, they mean the division into 6 parts of the world - with a united America;
• in Greece and some countries of Eastern Europe, a model with 5 continents is adopted - only those where people live, i.e. except for Antarctica;
• in Russia and the countries of Eurasia adjacent to it, they traditionally designate 4 - continents united into large groups.

(The figure clearly shows different representations of continental models on Earth, from 7 to 4)

Continents

There are 6 continents in total on Earth. We list them in descending order by area size:

1. - the largest continent on our planet (54.6 million sq. km)
2. (30.3 million sq. km)
3. (24.4 million sq. km)
4. (17.8 million sq. km)
5. (14.1 million sq. km)
6. (7.7 million sq. km)

All of them are separated by the waters of the seas and oceans. Four continents have a land border: Eurasia and Africa are separated by the Isthmus of Suez, North and South America - the Isthmus of Panama.

Continents

The difference is that the continents do not have a land border. Therefore, in this case, we can talk about 4 continents ( one of the continental models of the world), also in descending order by size:

1. AfroEurasia
2. America

Parts of the world

The terms "mainland" and "continent" have a scientific meaning, but the term "part of the world" divides the land on a historical and cultural basis. There are 6 parts of the world, only unlike the continents, Eurasia differs by Europe and Asia, but North and South America are defined together as one part of the world America:

1. Europe
2. Asia
3. America(both North and South), or New World
4. Australia and Oceania

Speaking of parts of the world, they mean the islands adjacent to them.

The difference between the mainland and the island

The definition of the mainland and the island is the same - a part of the land washed by the waters of the ocean or seas. But there are significant differences.

1. Size. Even the smallest continent, Australia, is much larger in area than the world's largest island, Greenland.

(Formation of the Earth's continents, a single continent of Pangea)

2. Education. All continents have a tiled origin. According to scientists, there was once a single continent - Pangea. Then, as a result of the split, 2 continents appeared - Gondwana and Laurasia, which later split into 6 more parts. The theory is confirmed both by geological surveys and by the shape of the continents. Many of them can be put together like a puzzle.

Islands are formed in many ways. There are those that, like the continents, are located on the fragments of the most ancient lithospheric plates. Others are formed from volcanic lava. Still others - as a result of the activity of polyps (coral islands).

3. Habitability. All continents are inhabited, even Antarctica, which is harsh in terms of climatic conditions. Many islands are still uninhabited.

Characteristics of the continents

- the largest continent, occupying 1/3 of the land. Two parts of the world are located here at once: Europe and Asia. The border between them runs along the line of the Ural Mountains, the Black and Azov Seas, as well as the straits connecting the Black and Mediterranean Seas.

This is the only continent that is washed by all the oceans. The coastline is indented, it forms a large number of bays, peninsulas, islands. The mainland itself is located immediately on six tectonic platforms, and therefore the relief of Eurasia is incredibly diverse.

Here are the most extensive plains, the highest mountains (the Himalayas with Mount Everest), the deepest lake (Baikal). This is the only continent where all climatic zones (and, accordingly, all natural zones) are represented at once - from the arctic with its permafrost to the equatorial with its sultry deserts and jungles.

¾ of the world's population lives on the mainland, 108 states are located here, of which 94 have the status of independent.

- the hottest continent on Earth. It is located on an ancient platform, so most of the area is occupied by plains, mountains are formed along the edges of the mainland. Africa is home to the longest river in the world, the Nile, and the largest desert, the Sahara. Climate types presented on the mainland: equatorial, subequatorial, tropical and subtropical.

Africa is usually divided into five regions: North, South, West, East and Central. There are 62 countries on the mainland.

It is washed by the waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans. The result of the movement of tectonic plates was a heavily indented coastline of the mainland, with a huge number of bays, straits, bays and islands. The largest island is in the north (Greenland).

The Cordillera Mountains stretch along the western coast, and the Appalachians along the eastern coast. The central part is occupied by a vast plain.

All climatic zones are represented here, except for the equatorial one, which determines the diversity of natural zones. Most rivers and lakes are located in the northern part. The largest river is the Mississippi.

The indigenous people are Indians and Eskimos. Currently, 23 states are located here, of which only three (Canada, the United States and Mexico) are on the mainland itself, the rest are on the islands.

It is washed by the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Along the west coast stretches the world's longest mountain system - the Andes, or South American Cordillera. The rest of the mainland is occupied by plateaus, plains and lowlands.

This is the rainiest continent, since most of it is located in the equator zone. Here is the largest and most abundant river in the world - the Amazon.

The indigenous people are the Indians. Currently, there are 12 independent states on the territory of the mainland.

- the only continent on the territory of which there is only 1 state - the Commonwealth of Australia. Most of the mainland is occupied by plains, mountains are located only along the coast.

Australia is a unique continent with the largest number of endemic animals and plants. The indigenous people are Australian Aborigines, or Bushmen.

- the southernmost continent, completely covered with ice. The average thickness of the ice cover is 1600 m, the largest is 4000 m. If the ice in Antarctica melted, the level of the world's oceans would immediately rise by 60 meters!

Most of the mainland is occupied by an icy desert, life is glimmering only on the coasts. Antarctica is also the coldest continent. In winter, temperatures can drop below -80 ºC (record -89.2 ºC), in summer - up to -20 ºC.