2. Continents
– Continents are a huge landmass. There are seven continents on Earth.
– From largest to smallest, Asia, Africa, North America, South America,
Antarctica, Europe and Australia.
– Each continent is surrounded by oceans and has a variety of landforms.
3. 1) Asia
– It is the largest continent and covers nearly 1/3rd of the land area of Earth.
– It is surrounded by oceans on three sides- Arctic Ocean to the north, Pacific
Ocean to the east and Indian Ocean to the south. It has variety of landforms.
– It has Mt Everest, which is the world’s highest peak, and the Dead Sea, which is
the world’s lowest point on the land. It also has Gobi Desert which is the cold
desert and Arabian Desert which is the hot desert.
– Japan, China and India are some prominent countries in this continent.
5. 2) Africa
– It is the world’s second largest continent surrounded by water bodies on all sides.
– The Mediterranean Sea lies to its north, the Indian Ocean to its east and the
Atlantic Ocean to the west. Some of its prominent features are the Sahara Desert,
the Nile River and the Victoria Falls.
– The Sahara Desert is the world’s largest desert, the Nile is the world’s longest river
and the Victoria Falls is one of the world’s longest waterfalls.
– Mt Kilimanjaro is the continent’s highest peak.
– Earlier, Africa was labelled as the Dark Continent because very little was known
about it.
– South Africa and Egypt are some prominent countries of this continent.
7. 3) North America
– It is the world’s third largest continent, after Asia and Africa. It is surrounded by
the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans on the north, east and west,
respectively.
– The Rocky Mountains is the most significant mountain range. The Bering Sea
separates it from Asia in the west. Denali formally known as Mt McKinley is the
continent’s highest peak.
– The Isthmus of Panama connects North America to South America in the south.
– USA, Canada and Mexico are some of its important countries.
9. 4) South America
– It is the fourth largest continent. It lies below North America and is connected
to it by the Isthmus of Panama. It has several physiographic marvels namely:
– The Andes is the world’s longest continuous mountain range. Mt Aconcagua is
the highest peak in South America. The Amazon is the world’s largest river and
supports the world’s densest rainforest. The Angel Falls in Venezuela is the
highest waterfall in the world.
– The Atacama Desert in Chile is the driest place on our planet.
– Brazil and Argentina are important countries with rapid economic growth.
11. 5) Antarctica
– It is the fifth largest continent. It is surrounded by the Indian, the Atlantic and
the Pacific Oceans. It lies entirely within the Antarctic Circle. South Pole lies as
its centre.
– It is also known as white continent or frozen continent because it is covered by
thick layer of permanent ice. It is the coldest continent in the world.
– Some of wildlife found in Antarctica include penguins, seals, whales and
albatross.
12. 6) Europe
– It is the sixth largest and the most industrialized continent in the world. It is
often known as the peninsula of peninsulas. It is because of two reasons.
– Firstly, it has several peninsulas like Scandinavian, Balkan and Italian
peninsulas. Secondly, it itself looks like a giant peninsula.
– It is surrounded by the Arctic Ocean on the north, the Atlantic Ocean on the
west and the Mediterranean Sea on the south.
14. 7) Australia
– It is the smallest continent. Along with its mainland, it also includes New
Zealand and innumerable small islands. These islands are collectively known as
Oceania.
– The Great Barrier Reef, located in the north-eastern coast of Australia, is the
world’s famous coral reef. Mt Kosciuszko is the highest peak of this continent.
16. Oceans
– An ocean is one large continuous body of water surrounding the continents.
– The five major oceans of the world are:
– 1) The Pacific Ocean
– 2) The Atlantic Ocean
– 3) The Indian Ocean
– 4) The Arctic Ocean
– 5) The Antarctic Ocean
17. The Pacific Ocean and The
Atlantic Ocean
– The Pacific ocean is the largest and the deepest ocean and covers about 1/3rd
of the earth’s surface. It is almost triangular in shape. The deepest part on the
Earth’s crust, known as Mariana Trench, lies on its ocean floor.
– The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest ocean. Its shape resembles the letter
‘S’. A submerged mountain range known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is located on
its floor. The peaks of this Ridge form many islands in the ocean.
18. The Indian, Antarctic and Arctic
Oceans
– The Indian Ocean is the third largest ocean. It is roughly triangular in shape
and has an average depth of about 4,000 meter. The Arabian Sea and the Bay
of Bengal are the important part of this ocean.
– The Southern Ocean is the fourth largest ocean. It is known as the Antarctic
Ocean. It is formed by merging of southern extensions of the Indian, Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans. It lies entirely in the southern hemisphere.
– The Arctic Ocean is the smallest ocean and lies mostly in the Arctic Circle. It is
the shallowest of all oceans. It remains frozen in most parts and almost
throughout the year. The North Pole of the earth is located here.
