Linda F. Malanson
(figure available in print form)
A continent is one of the earth’s principal divisions of land. The term comes from a Latin word that means “continuous mass of land”. There are seven continents.
From largest to smallest, they are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. When geographers identify the land areas they consider part of a continent, they usual include all the islands associated with the landmass.
All together the continents add up to a great deal of land, totaling about 148 million square kilometers (57 million sq. mi.). Even so, the surface area of the ocean is more than twice that of the continents combined. The areas of blue that usually represent water are far more extensive than the areas of brown and green that often represent land and vegetation.
The ocean which covers almost 3/4 of the earth is divided by the continents. Its various sections have been given different names. You can find each continent of the map which follows. On this map, as on most others, the coastlines do not indicate the actual boundaries of the continents. There are gently sloping areas called continental shelves that extend outward under the water, often stretching far into the ocean. If the underwater shelves were included in the total land area, the continents would make up more than 1/3 of the earth’s surface.