What is the largest continent on earth.

Before finding out which continent is the largest, you need to decide what the concept of “continent” actually is. In fact, there is no strict definition - this is what a significant land mass is called. There are many islands in the world, but if you look at the world map, they immediately stand out large areas surrounded by the World Ocean. These are the continents, and there are six of them in the world - Antarctica, North and South America, Africa, Australia and Eurasia. Although in European countries It is believed that there are five continents - North and South America are considered one continent.

At first, when “God created the earth,” or rather, in the youth of our planet, there was only one continent - Pangea. Geophysicist Alfred Wegener reported this back in 1912. He also suggested that all modern continents are fragments of Pangea, which over billions of years have moved away from each other, because lithospheric plates are parts earth's crust, are constantly on the move. At first this theory was not taken seriously, but in 1968, both geophysicists and geologists finally came to agreement. The speed of movement of the continents, and even their direction, was not only proven, but also measured. Continents, according to measurements, move at a speed of 6 - 8 centimeters per year.

Pangea, having split about 200 million years ago, did not form all the modern continents. From it only two large pieces emerged - the continents - Laurasia and Gondwana. And only 180 million years ago, during the Jurassic period, they split into smaller parts. From Laurasia came North America and Eurasia, and from Gondwana came Hindustan, a single continent with South America and Africa, and a single Antarctica with Australia. By the way, South America later separated from Africa and joined the united Australia and Antarctica. And only very recently it connected with North America, so these two continents have practically nothing in common either in flora or fauna. Everything developed on them in its own way; mixing occurred only in the modern era.

The largest continent, which came out of all these “stray” pieces - Eurasia. Ancient Laurasia gave birth to two continents - Eurasia and North America. And although over time Greenland moved away from Eurasia, an even larger Hindustan joined, which was also once a separate continent.

As a result, the territory of Eurasia is the largest of the modern continents - almost 54 million square kilometers, or more than a third of all land on Earth. It is in Eurasia that about 75% of the population of our planet lives. It contains the most populated states - China and India. Russia too, by the way.

The name “Eurasia” itself comes, as you might guess, from two words – “Europe” and “Asia”. At different times, the continent was called differently - simply Asia, and Europe-Asia. The ancient Greeks called the land east of the Bosphorus Asia, and to the west - Europe. The name “Eurasia” was first used by geologist Eduard Suess in 1883. Since then this name has become generally accepted.

The name suggests that there are two parts of the world on the mainland - Europe and Asia. Indeed, they are separated historically, although there is no strict division between them - they are one continent. The “border” was drawn along the Ural Mountains, the northwestern shore of the Caspian Sea, the eastern and south coast The Black Sea, and then the Bosphorus Strait and up to the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Eurasia from Africa.

Europe and Asia have differences in climate, flora and fauna, geological structure Finally, even the cultures of the population are different. In Asia, most of the territory is occupied by mountains and plateaus, while in Europe there are relatively few mountains. The Tibetan Plateau is the highest on Earth, with the world's highest peak, Everest, located in Asia. The deepest lake, Baikal, is also located in Asia.

Eurasia is washed by four oceans - the Pacific, Indian, Atlantic and Arctic. No continent can boast of this anymore. The vast territory of the continent is the reason for the very different climate on its territory - from polar to tropical.

Russia occupies a huge part of Eurasia, although its population is not very large. Most of the territory of Russia is occupied by inaccessible and difficult to develop northern regions. On the territory of Russia there is the largest natural zone - Siberia. Its vast territory has many undiscovered riches and unexplored territories.

Each continent has its own unique properties. But Eurasia, as the largest, has the most of them. And although it would seem that they began to study the world with her, it will not be possible to comprehend all the secrets very soon.

The largest continent on our planet is Eurasia. This continent unites Asia and Europe, which, despite multiple differences in climate, topography and other characteristics, are a single whole and complement each other perfectly.

The name “Eurasia” was first applied to the continent by Eduard Suess (in 1880). Before him, this continent was called differently, for example, Alexander Humboldt preferred to call it Asia.

Eurasia sizes

Eurasia occupies 36 percent of the entire landmass of the Earth, which in square kilometers equals 54,759,000. There are 93 states on the continent. No other continent can “boast” of such a number of existing countries. The population of the mainland is ¾ of all those living on our planet - 4,947 billion people (according to statistics from 2010).

Features of geographical location

As noted above, the continent consists of Asia and Europe. The distinction between these parts of the world is made by mountains, rivers, straits and parts of the seas (for example, the Ural Mountains, the Emba and Kuma rivers, northwestern part Caspian Sea, Bosphorus Strait, etc.). However, if we consider Europe and Asia from a natural point of view, then there are no sharp boundaries between them - the continent continuously extends as land for 8,000 km from north to south, and from west to east for 16,000 km.

This continent is washed by all the oceans on our planet (there are four in total). From the southern part it is washed by the Indian Ocean, from the northern part by the Arctic Ocean, from the eastern part by the Pacific Ocean, and from the western part by the Atlantic Ocean. In terms of washing the shores of all the world's oceans, the continent is the only one on the planet.

Relief features

The continent is distinguished by its rather diverse topography. The Tibetan Plateau, West Siberian and East European Plains (considered one of the largest) are located here. The continent on the entire planet is recognized as the highest - its average height is 830 meters. Approximately 65 percent of the continent's territory is Mountain peaks and plateaus. For example, Eurasia is home to the highest mountains on our planet - the Himalayas.

Climatic and natural features

Due to the enormous size of the continent, all climatic zones and zones are present here. The maritime climate prevails on the islands and in the western part. In the east and south of the continent the climate is monsoon. When moving inland, one can note the predominance of a continental climate (this is especially typical when moving from west to east in temperate climatic zone). This climate is most typical for Eastern Siberia.

And the natural areas here are characterized by diversity. The highlands and islands in the northern part are covered with glaciers. Eastern Siberia and the Far East represent the location of tundras and forest-tundras. Siberia is almost completely covered by taiga. In the center of the continent and its southwestern part there are deserts and semi-deserts. Steppe and forest-steppe zones are characteristic of the southern part of Western Siberia and the Russian Plain.

What can Eurasia “boast” of?

On its territory, Eurasia has many geographical points that are recognized as the largest: Lake Baikal, the Caspian Sea, Tibet, Chomolungma, the Arabian Peninsula, Siberia. In this regard, the continent can be called a kind of record holder in comparison with other continents that are present on our planet.

If you ask a person “Where do you live?”, he can name a house, apartment, street, or city. Perhaps a country. But it’s unlikely that anyone would think of naming the continent on which he lives. Meanwhile, on the continents there are many countries in which millions, and in some cases billions of people live.

As is the case with people, among the continents there are dwarfs, and there are also giants, judging by size. And if you need an answer to a question, which continent is the smallest in the world, we are happy to help you. Let's take a brief look at all the continents and take a closer look at the smallest of them.

It is the largest and most populated continent on Earth. Consists of two parts of the world - Europe and Asia.

• Asia occupies about 9 percent of the earth's surface. It is also the most populated part of the world on the planet. Asia is home to approximately 4.3 billion people, making it a critical part of the global economy.
• Europe occupies 6.8 percent of total area sushi in the world. It is home to almost 50 countries and is considered the third most populous part of the world in the world after Asia and Africa. About 10% of the world's population lives there.

5. Africa - about 30.3 million km², including islands

The second largest continent in the world, as well as by population. There are 54 countries in Africa, with a total population of about one billion people.

4. North America - 24.3 million km² including islands

It is the third continent in the world in terms of area and population. About 7.5% of the world's population (about 565 million people) lives here.

3. South America - 17.84 million km²

On the territory of this continent is the driest desert in the world - the Chilean Atacama, as well as the Amazon. In terms of population, South America is in 4th place among the continents.

2. Antarctica - 14.1 million km²

The southernmost and sparsely populated continent. Antarctica is also the coldest land in the world, and most of This continent is made up of glaciers.

1. Australia - 7.6 million km²

And here is the smallest continent on Earth. Its dimension includes both the main island and the surrounding islands, some of which belong to Oceania.

Australia is located in the Southern Hemisphere and is surrounded by Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Due to its size and isolated location, the world's smallest continent is also called an island continent.

What Australia has a lot of is beaches. There are more than 10 thousand of them. If you visit one Australian beach a day, it would take about 27 years to explore all 10,000 beaches. It's no wonder that surfing and other water activities are so popular on this continent.

Relief features of Australia

Plains are the dominant landform in Australia. It is the flattest continent, with relatively few mountain ranges given its size. But Australia is the only continent in the world without an active volcano.

The highest mountain in Australia is Kosciuszko (or Kosciuszko) - only 2228 meters. For comparison: bearing the name Shota Rustaveli, reaches 4860 meters. Kosciuszko is located in the Australian Alps, which are larger in size than the Swiss Alps.

Climatic features of Australia

Australia is the driest continent of the six. Almost 20 percent of its landmass is classified as desert.

• And it’s all because of the hot tropical sun, which is especially hot central areas countries. In summer, the temperature there varies during the day from plus 35 to plus 40 degrees Celsius.
• And the coolest part of the country is the island of Tasmania. IN summer days the air warms up to plus 20-22 degrees, and in winter it is 10 degrees colder.
• Australia's climate zones range from rainforests, deserts and cool forests to snow-capped mountains.

Under these conditions, unique species of plants and animals have evolved that have adapted to the dry climate, coupled with high variability in precipitation.

Australian fauna

This continent boasts many of the most dangerous and exotic creatures found outside of the Amazon rainforest in South America. For example, in Australia you can find two, about 1500 types of spiders, 4000 types of ants and 350 types of termites.

When it comes to the animal world of Australia, the first thing that comes to mind is the kangaroo. According to some reports, the total number of these marsupials is almost 50 million individuals. This means that there are more kangaroos in Australia than people.

Although some scientists declared the Great Barrier Reef dead back in 2016, the world's largest coral reef is still alive. However, it must be protected from pollution and other problems facing the world's oceans. Imagine that this reef is so large that it can be seen from space.

How small is Australia in terms of area and population?

In terms of land area, the Australian continent is undoubtedly the smallest continent in the world. Even small Europe is 2.4 million km² larger than it.

• Scientists have calculated that the smallest continent on Earth can fit twice the size of Russia.
• When it comes to population, Australia is technically the second smallest continent. And if we exclude Antarctica, then Australia will be considered the most sparsely populated continent.
• As of 2018, the Australian population is over 25 million.

Australia is an island because it is surrounded by water, but it is also large enough to be considered a continent. However, Australia is not officially a country; this title is given to Greenland.

However, Australia is also the most big country without land borders. And the largest Australian city (but not the capital) - Sydney - spreads over an area of ​​12,144.6 km² and is in the top ten.

Australia's relationship with Oceania

Quite often, referring to South Region Pacific Ocean, where Australia is located, people will use the term "Australia and Oceania" rather than separate them. However, both ways are true.

• Oceania is a Pacific region consisting of many small islands and atolls. The conditional western border of Oceania runs through New Guinea, and the eastern border runs through Easter Island.
• Usually Australia and Oceania are combined into a single part of the world if it is necessary to divide all the land into parts of the world.
• However, Oceania is sometimes considered an independent part of the world. In regional studies, there is even an independent discipline called “ocean studies”, which deals with the study of Oceania.
• If we talk specifically about the continents, then Oceania has no chance; it is always classified as Australia.

If we talk about categories such as more or less, further or closer, better or worse, then sometimes you can defend your point of view ad infinitum. But in the case when a conversation begins about some geographical characteristics, it is useless to argue, because the truth is obvious.

For example, if you ask the question which continent is the largest, then even a weak C student will answer you that it is Eurasia. Let's get to know him better.

Education of our native continent

When our planet was young, from the point of view of geological age, there was no talk of any continents. The earth's crust was at the stage of formation. Gradually began to appear small areas crust around which modern continents formed.

Due to the low temperature, the atmosphere fell onto the Earth, and this led to the appearance of the World Ocean, which filled all the depressions in the earth's crust. The geological transformations did not end there; earthquakes and volcanic eruptions continued. All this ended with the formation of one giant continent on earth called Gondwana.

About 70 million years ago, modern continents, including Eurasia, separated from this continent. It was originally the largest continent in the world, and still remains so.

Eurasia has been exposed for a very long time various studies, only in the 19th century its final boundaries appeared on the map.

Surface of the earth on the mainland

It's probably not surprising that largest continent has all types of relief on its surface. Starting from completely flat terrain, such as the East European Plain, ending the highest mountains Tibet.

There are quite a lot of large mountain ranges on the mainland, among which I would especially like to highlight:

1. Himalayas.
2. Caucasus.
3. Altai.
4. Alps.
5. Tien Shan.
6. Tibet.
7. Carpathians.
8. Ural.

We could list the mountain systems for a long time. They all have a lot distinctive characteristics, each boasts its own attractions.

General characteristics of the continent

The continent of Eurasia is conventionally divided into two parts – Europe and Asia. The conditional boundary is Ural Mountains, northwestern coast of the Caspian Sea, Bosphorus Strait.

Eurasia is the only part of the world that is washed by all existing oceans at once: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic.

In terms of length from east to west, it has no equal. This is as much as 16 thousand kilometers. From north to south - half as much.

For this name we must thank the geologist Eduard Suess, who in 1883 gave the name Eurasia to the continent, and before that there were no other names. Some called the entire continent simply Asia.

Diversity of natural areas

Since Eurasia is the largest continent in terms of area, it follows from this that, moving from north to south, one can observe the change of one natural zone to another. Everyone meets on this continent natural areas that exist on our planet.

If we take the extreme southern point, then there is a tropical forest zone. It is hot and humid throughout the calendar year. As you move north, the climate becomes more temperate, and you can observe the change of seasons.

The extreme northern point is already another pole, where, unlike the tropics, where life is in full swing, here it is practically lifeless. All year round there is snow and permafrost. Few animals decide to settle here, although there are also record holders.

On the mainland you can see interesting feature: territories lying at the same latitude are completely different climatic conditions. This can be explained by different terrain and the presence of warm and cold currents.

For example, Yalta and Vladivostok. The latitude is the same, but the climate is so different.

Even in the interior of the mainland, one can observe a wide variation in summer and winter temperatures; night and day temperatures can differ radically. For example, in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, temperatures can rise to +20 during the day and drop to -20 at night.

This is how diverse the continent of Eurasia is.

The uniqueness of Eurasia

Eurasia is not only the largest continent in area, but also distinguished by its unique geographical records. Let's name just a few of them:

1. Only Eurasia is washed by all the world's oceans.
2. On the territory of the mainland there is the highest mountain range - Mount Chomolungma.
3. The other extreme in altitude is also found here. This is a depression Dead Sea.
4. The highest mountain peaks belong to the Eurasian continent. This includes the Himalayas and Tibet.
5. Caspian lake considered the largest geographical map, and it is also located on the Eurasian continent.
6. The deepest and cleanest Lake Baikal is also the property of Eurasia.
7. Even such a concept as the maximum amount of precipitation in a year applies to locality Cherrapunji, located in the foothills of the Himalayas.
8. The largest geographical area is Siberia.
9. Coldest point on globe also located on the continent of Eurasia. This is Oymyakon.

There is no other continent on Earth that is so unique and inimitable. We are its inhabitants and we should be proud of it. Moreover, the population in Eurasia is the largest. Almost 75% of all the planet's inhabitants live here.

The largest continent is Eurasia. Its area is 54,759,000 km² - this is approximately 36% of the landmass. It contains two whole parts of the world - Europe and Asia. There are 4 of them here, including the largest - Russia, which occupies 30% of the territory of Eurasia. 75% of the world's population lives in Eurasia in 102 countries. Here is located - Chomolungma (Everest)

Eurasia is the largest continent on planet Earth

Part of the world - regions of land that include continents or large parts of them along with nearby islands.

The second largest continent by area is Africa. Its area is 30,221,532 km² - this is approximately 20% of the landmass. There are 55 countries in Africa, the largest of which is Algeria, one of the 10 largest. Africa has the most a large number of.

Africa is the second largest continent by area

The third largest continent by area is North America. Area - 24,250,000 km² (16% of land). In the territory North America There are 23 states with a population of just over half a billion people. 2 North American countries (Canada and the USA) are among the 10 largest.

North America is the third largest continent by area

The fourth largest continent by area is South America. Area - 17,840,000 km² (just under 12% of the land area). In the territory South America There are 12 countries, home to almost 400 million people. 2 South American countries (Argentina and Brazil) are among the ten largest.

South America is the fourth largest continent by area

Antarctica is the continent with the highest proportion of Russian citizens - from 4% in summer to 10% in winter, in Eurasia only - 3%

Antarctica is the fifth largest continent by area

The sixth and last continent by area is Australia. Area - 7,659,861 km² (5% of the land area). There is only one country on the mainland - Australia, whose population is only 23 million people.

Australia is the smallest continent by area

How to easily remember the order of reduction of continents

In order to remember in what descending order the continents are located, it is enough to imagine how they are located on the map and remember this diagram:

Continents in decreasing order - from largest to smallest