The Seven Continents
You can find maps of the seven continents, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, North America, South America and Antarctica by using a simple Google or Yahoo! search. Here are some interesting facts that you will be excited to learn about:
-Billions of years ago, all of the continents were connected as one. If you look at a globe or a map you will see that many of the borders fit with other continents' borders like a jig-saw puzzle.
-The concept of the continents breaking apart and moving away from one another is called the continental drift theory. Just like most theories, it was originally dismissed by mainstream researchers.
-While the term "continent" refers to areas connected with one another on a landmass, off-shore islands are considered part of continents.
-While five continents are separated by some form of water, there is no geological border separating Europe and Asia.
-Russia is the only country that spans across two different continents, part of Russia is in Europe and another part is in Asia.
-Asia is by far the most populated continent due to the two most populated countries, China and india, being located there. The continent of Asia is home to nearly four billion people.
-Combined, the area of all of the continents is only thirty percent of the Earth. The other seventy percent is bodies of water.
-Prior to the nineteenth century, land masses were divided into four continents rather than seven. The four continent system grouped North and South America as one continent, Europe, Asia and Africa as one continent, Australia and Antarctica.
-Later systems used five continents and six continents. The five continent system included Australia, Africa, North and South America as one continent, Europe and Asia as one continent and Antarctica. The six continent system divided the two American continents. The seven continent system, a fairly novel idea, is the only one that divides Europe and Asia into two separate entities.
