Continent how many

Especially in the mountaineering world, as well as in English- and French-speaking regions, it is more common, though, to draw the border between Europe and Asia along the watersheds of the Caucasus. The course of the Asian borders is not only controversial in the west towards Europe. The Arabian Peninsula and most of India have their own continental plates. This is why India is often indicated as the Indian subcontinent. However, both areas are almost always considered as parts of Asia.

The easternmost part of Russia, as well as the north of Japan is located on the North American Plate. Yet, for geopolitical and geographical reasons, it is obvious that both should still be counted as part of Asia. In the southeast, one can debate about the course of the borders between Asia , Australia and Oceania. Most of the time the Philippines and most of Indonesia are viewed as part of Asia.

The island of New Guinea including the Indonesian part and Australia , however, are geologically and geographically already part of Australia—Oceania. Finally, we are counting Australia—Oceania as the seventh continent. It undoubtedly encompasses the main continental landmass, which largely corresponds to the national territory of the state of Australia.

New Guinea, which is also located on the Australian Plate, is additioanly also mostly considered to be part of the Australian continent. World History. How Many Continents Are There? Depends Whom You Ask.

Looking at this world map, is it obvious where continents begin and end? Continents FAQs Are there five or seven continents in the world? It depends on where you live. In the U. Is Asia larger than Africa? Asia is the largest continent that stretches from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the western Pacific Ocean while Africa stands as the second largest. How many continents are there in ? As we mentioned, there are different views about the number of continents in the world.

In Europe, students learn there are six. There is also a five-continent model, and then some experts believe that there are only four continents in the world. What three continents make up America? Therefore, its plausible, the Earth being round and all, that some of these continents will later on combine after drifting away for some time.

Sources: Wikipedia National Geographic. Skip to content. Like this: Like Loading This area is so dry, hot, and barren that few people live there. In addition to the hot plateaus and deserts in mainland Australia, the continent also features lush equatorial rainforests on the island of New Guinea, tropical beaches, and high mountain peaks and glaciers in New Zealand. Biologists who study animals consider Australia a living laboratory. When the continent began to break away from Antarctica more than 60 million years ago, it carried a cargo of animals with it.

Isolated from life on other continents, the animals developed into creatures unique to Australia, such as the koala, the platypus, and the Tasmanian devil. The reef itself is 1, kilometers 1, miles of living coral communities. Most of Australia sits on the Australian Plate. Antarctica Antarctica is the windiest, driest, and iciest place on Earth. Antarctica is larger than Europe or Australia, but unlike those continents, it has no permanent human population.

People who work there are scientific researchers and support staff, such as pilots and cooks. The climate of Antarctica makes it impossible to support agriculture or a permanent civilization.

Temperatures in Antarctica, much lower than Arctic temperatures, plunge lower than degrees Celsius degrees Fahrenheit. Scientific bases and laboratories have been established in Antarctica for studies in fields that include geology , oceanography , and meteorology. Antarctica is also an ideal place for discovering meteorites, or stony objects that have impacted Earth from space. The dark meteorites, often made of metals like iron , stand out from the white landscape of most of the continent.

Antarctica is almost completely covered with ice, sometimes as thick as 3. Like all other continents, Antarctica has volcanic activity. The most active volcano is Mount Erebus, which is less than 1, kilometers miles from the South Pole. Antarctica does not have any countries. However, scientific groups from different countries inhabit the research stations. A multinational treaty negotiated in and reviewed in states that research in Antarctica can only be used for peaceful purposes.

Vostok Station, where the coldest temperature on Earth was recorded, is operated by Russia. All of Antarctica sits on the Antarctic Plate. Microcontinents In addition to the seven major continents, Earth is home to microcontinents, or pieces of land that are not geologically identified with a continent.

Major microcontinents include:. Also called cosmic dust or space dust. Gas molecules are in constant, random motion. Also called the Somali Peninsula. The last ice age peaked about 20, years ago. Also called glacial age. Monsoon usually refers to the winds of the Indian Ocean and South Asia, which often bring heavy rains. Regions are the basic units of geography. Sea level is determined by measurements taken over a year cycle.

Also called lithospheric plate. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit.

The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited. Caryl-Sue, National Geographic Society. Dunn, Margery G. For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher.

They will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource. If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media. Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website.

You cannot download interactives. Search through these resources to discover more about unique landforms and landscapes around the world. Landforms are natural and distinctive features. Explore how they show up in various landscapes. These resources can be used to teach middle schoolers more about the natural world, its distinctive features, and landscapes. These tectonic plates rest upon the convecting mantle, which causes them to move.

The movements of these plates can account for noticeable geologic events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and more subtle yet sublime events, like the building of mountains. Teach your students about plate tectonics using these classroom resources. Hundreds of years before the arrival of European explorers, the ancient civilizations of South America developed rich and innovative cultures that grew in and amongst the geographic features of their landscape.

The most famous of these civilizations is the Incan Empire. Emerging in C. The Inca relied on the Pacific Ocean and major rivers originating in the Amazon Basin for fishing and trade, as well as rich plant and animal life that they supported. The Inca constructed inns, signal towers, roads, and massive forts such as the famous Machu Picchu, the ruins of which continue to teach archaeologists about the Incan Empire.

Learn more about the history and rich culture of the Inca and the ancient civilizations of South America with this curated resource collection. Continental drift describes one of the earliest ways geologists thought continents moved over time.

Today, the theory of continental drift has been replaced by the science of plate tectonics. The theory of plate tectonics revolutionized the earth sciences by explaining how the movement of geologic plates causes mountain building, volcanoes, and earthquakes.

Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students. Skip to content. Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google Classroom. Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary. This map beautifully illustrates the continent of Australia.