Continents
Explore the seven great landmasses that make up Earth's surface, each with its own unique geography, history, and cultures.
Earth's Landmasses
The seven continents—Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe, North America, and South America—cover about 29% of Earth's surface. Formed over billions of years through plate tectonics, these landmasses have drifted, collided, and separated. The supercontinent Pangaea broke apart roughly 200 million years ago, eventually forming the continents we know today.
Africa
The birthplace of humanity, Africa is the world's second-largest continent. It's home to diverse ecosystems from the Sahara Desert to tropical rainforests, and ancient civilizations including Egypt, Ethiopia, and Great Zimbabwe. Today, it's the fastest-growing continent with rich cultural diversity and natural resources.
Key Features
- Nile River - longest river
- Mount Kilimanjaro
- Sahara Desert
- Great Rift Valley
Antarctica
The coldest, driest, and windiest continent, Antarctica has no permanent human residents—only researchers. Covered by ice averaging 1.9 km thick, it contains 70% of Earth's fresh water. The Antarctic Treaty of 1959 dedicates the continent to peaceful scientific research.
Key Features
- South Pole
- Largest ice sheet on Earth
- Emperor penguin colonies
- 24-hour daylight/darkness
Asia
The largest and most populous continent, Asia spans from the Middle East to the Pacific. It's home to ancient civilizations including China, India, Japan, and Mesopotamia. Asia contains the world's highest peak (Everest), deepest lake (Baikal), and most populous countries.
Key Features
- Mount Everest
- Great Wall of China
- Yangtze River
- Diverse religions originated here
Australia/Oceania
The smallest continent, Australia is also a single country. Oceania includes thousands of Pacific islands. Known for unique wildlife found nowhere else—kangaroos, koalas, and platypuses—Australia was home to Aboriginal peoples for over 65,000 years before European colonization.
Key Features
- Great Barrier Reef
- Uluru (Ayers Rock)
- Unique marsupials
- Oldest continuous culture
Europe
Though second-smallest in area, Europe has profoundly shaped world history through the Roman Empire, Renaissance, Scientific Revolution, and colonialism. It's home to diverse cultures, languages, and the European Union—the world's largest economic bloc.
Key Features
- Alps mountain range
- Mediterranean civilizations
- Industrial Revolution origin
- European Union
North America
Stretching from the Arctic to Central America, North America includes diverse landscapes from Canadian tundra to Caribbean beaches. Home to Indigenous peoples for over 15,000 years, it later saw European colonization and became the birthplace of modern democracy and technological innovation.
Key Features
- Grand Canyon
- Rocky Mountains
- Great Lakes
- Diverse ecosystems
South America
Home to the Amazon rainforest (the world's largest), the Andes (longest mountain range), and ancient civilizations like the Inca Empire. South America boasts incredible biodiversity, vibrant cultures, and important natural resources.
Key Features
- Amazon Rainforest
- Andes Mountains
- Machu Picchu
- Angel Falls
Continental Drift
The theory of plate tectonics explains how continents move over geological time. Earth's outer shell is divided into several plates that float on the semi-fluid asthenosphere below. Where plates meet, we find earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building. About 250 million years ago, all continents were joined in a supercontinent called Pangaea, which gradually broke apart to form our current geography.