Overview of the seven continents. The seven continents are Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Antarctica and Australia. Pangaea was the first landmass that began to break apart about 200 million years ago. To learn more about the seven continents visit: http://www.whatarethe7continents.com/

1. THE SEVEN
CONTINENTS
EXPLORING THE SEVEN CONTINENTS
HTTP://WWW.WHATARETHE7CONTINENTS.COM/

2. OVERVIEW
How many continents are there? Actually, people argue
about how many continents exist! Some people think
that continents should be separated by water. Others,
though, think the earth’s plates should decide what
parts of land can be called “continents.”
However, usually, we talk about seven continents, which
are large areas of land. Each of these huge land
masses has different cultural and geographical traits.
Some continents are separated by water, even if it is
just a small body of water. Some continents are
separated by large mountain ranges. This should help
explain why our seven continents are Africa, Europe,
Asia, North America, South America, Antarctica, and
Australia.
http://www.whatarethe7continents.com/freecoloring-map/

3. AFRICA
Let’s start with Africa, since scientists think that this is where
people originally came from. This continent is very hot—the
hottest place on the planet is here. So, you shouldn't be
surprised that the biggest desert in the world, the Sahara
Desert, calls Africa home. The longest river in the world, the
Nile, runs through Egypt and the Sudan. Then it goes all the
way down to Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa. Africa’s
highest mountain is Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Over one billion people live on this very hot continent.
However, not all places are hot. Many coastal cities and
mountainous areas offer cooler places for people to live.
Many people in Africa speak more than one language. They
have over 1,000 to choose from! Also, people in some
countries speak English, French or Portuguese. South Africa
has a large English-speaking population, for example.
Africa has some very unique things. It has 95% of the
diamonds in the world and almost half the world’s gold. Also,
you can only find giraffes, zebras and other animals here.
Madagascar, an island just a little bigger than France, has the
only lemurs you can watch go about their business during the
daytime.
http://www.whatarethe7continents.com/africa-continent/

4. EUROPE
North of Africa, Europe actually has no deserts at all and is much cooler
in general. Most of us know about England, France, Spain, Italy and
Germany, which are located in Western Europe. In Eastern Europe, you
can find countries like Poland, the eastern part of Russia, the Ukraine
and Romania. All up, about 700 million people live here. This includes
everything up to the Ural Mountains in Russia, where Asia starts. To the
South, the Mediterranean Sea separates the continent from Africa. The
Scandinavian countries in the North have cold, snowy climates.
The Alps, a large chain of jagged mountains, run through eight different
countries. Many famous European cities have rivers running through
them, like the Seine River in Paris, the Thames River in London and the
Danube, which runs through many different cities and countries. Now,
most of the countries of Europe belong to the European Union (the EU)
so the people can travel and trade freely in all the EU countries. All 28
EU members all use the same money, the Euro. Some countries, like
Switzerland, decided not to join the EU.
http://www.whatarethe7continents.com/europe/

5. ASIA
Nowadays, many people are paying attention to Asia. It makes sense:
Asia is the largest continent and it contains 60% of the world’s
population! China alone is home to over one billion people. With so
many people, it’s no wonder that Asians have a wide variety of
cultures, religions, languages and lifestyles.
In Northern Asia, places like Japan, China and Korea have cold
winters and hot summers. In the South, in countries like Thailand,
Malaysia and Indonesia, tropical climates produce hot, humid
conditions. A huge part of Russia is in Asia, including Siberia, home to
the coldest inhabited places on Earth.
The highest mountains in the world thrust up between China, India and
Nepal and continue into Pakistan. Several people have even died
trying to climb the highest one, Mount Everest. Also, so much water
drains off of the glaciers in this region that the Mekong, the Ganges,
the Yangtze and other major rivers in Asia would dry up without it.
That would be horrible, since Asia’s cities are growing, and many
“megacities” are sprouting up. Parts of Asia also have some large
volcanoes and experience frequent earthquakes and form part of the
Ring of Fire near the Pacific Ocean.
http://www.whatarethe7continents.com/asia-continent/

6. NORTH AMERICA
Since Europeans discovered them at the same time, North and South
America sometimes share the common name “the Americas.” However,
the Isthmus of Panama divides them into two continents. North America
includes the Arctic, Canada, The United States, Mexico and Central
America. It also includes Greenland. More than half a billion people live in
this part of the world. The Atlantic separates it from Europe and the
Pacific separates it from Asia.
Among all the continents, only North America contains all the different
types of climate zones, from arctic to tropical. Mexico City has the largest
population in North America, although places like New York City and Los
Angeles are not far behind. The Rocky Mountains run 3,000 miles
through western Canada and the United States. Mexico boasts its own
large Sierra Madre ranges, too. The Mississippi River measures over
2,000 miles, and connects with the Missouri River, making it the largest
river system on the continent.
A fun fact about the Americas: a lot of the food we think of as common in
Europe and Asia, like hot peppers, corn and tomatoes originated here
and only got to Europe and Asia after Europeans brought them back from
here.
http://www.whatarethe7continents.com/north-american-continent/

7. SOUTH AMERICA
Just to the south of Panama, South America stretches out on its
spine, the Andes Mountains—the highest mountain range in the
world after the Himalayas. Just to the west of the mountains,
though, is the driest hot desert on Earth, the Atacama Desert. Most
of the region exhibits tropical weather, but don’t forget that the parts
at the bottom are not so far from Antarctica and can get quite cold.
Some islands near Chile and Argentina even have penguins some
times of the year!
The largest country in South America, Brazil, also hosts the largest
river in the world when measured by the amount of water it
contains—the Amazon. On the coast, though, São Paulo holds
more people than any other city in South America. But it is
Venezuela that draws visitors to the highest waterfall in the world,
Angel Falls. Lake Titicaca, the highest lake in the world, sits up in
Bolivia.
Most of the almost 400 million people in South America speak
Spanish, while Brazilians speak their own style of Portuguese. In
Suriname people can speak Dutch, but all over the continent native
languages still function as the day-to-day languages of
communication for many people.
http://www.whatarethe7continents.com/south-america/

8. ANTARCTICA
Antarctica might be the strangest continent in the world since
nobody really lives there. It is just too cold and barren. The only
people who get to stay there for any amount of time are
scientists or people who support the scientists’ work in some
way. To go to the home of the South Pole, scientists and
researchers have to take everything they need with them. If they
decide to stay through the winter, they can’t leave for several
months.
Three-quarters of the world’s ice resides here. In some places
the ice can get as thick as two miles down. Despite all this ice
surrounded by water, geologists consider Antarctica a desert,
since it gets almost no rain during the year, just 5 centimeters a
year. What it does get is lots of light and lots of darkness—about
half a year of only light or dark at a time! You can imagine that
this is why most plants find it nearly impossible to live here. The
penguins and seals that live here are used to it, though.
http://www.whatarethe7continents.com/antarctica-continent/

9. AUSTRALIA
The last continent on the list, Australia, does have the distinction of
being the only island continent and it is mostly one country--Australia.
Australia has the lowest elevation of any inhabited continent and is
also the smallest of all seven. Not many people live here, though,
since the large area in the center of Australia experiences very high
temperatures and almost no rainfall. Of the more than 30 million
people who live on the mainland and the surrounding islands, most
stay near the coastal areas.
Australia’s wildlife stands out as some of the most unique in the world.
The only wild kangaroos live here, for example. Also, the island’s
insects and animals have developed potent poisons to ward off
enemies. Australia contains the most poisonous jellyfish, snake and
one of the most dangers spiders in the world. Even the cute platypus
has a poisonous spike that can be lethal.
This is the only continent where people live that is completely in the
Southern Hemisphere. The world’s largest reef, the Great Barrier Reef,
also cleaves to the coast for over 1,000 miles. Inland, Ayers Rock, or
Uluru, juts up from the Outback and has become an iconic image of
Australia.
http://www.whatarethe7continents.com/australia/

10. THE ONE CONTINENT
THEORY—PANGAEA
Some scientists think that all of these continents used to be
joined together as a single landmass, called Pangaea.
Scientists first thought this since they noticed that the
continents and plates were moving. Then the continents would
have separated about 200 million years ago. This breaking up
took place in stages, according to the theory.
Another reason scientists think the continents might have been
connected has to do with fossils. Some animals would not
have been able to travel so far across the oceans to get to
distant continents. Since they do live on such far away
continents, scientists theorize that they must have crossed by
land from one continent to the next before the continents
separated. Although scientists still are not 100% sure, you can
take a look at the maps yourself and see how some continents
seem to line up, like South America and Africa.