If you ask a person “Where do you live?”, He can name a house, an apartment, a street, or a city. Perhaps a country. But it is unlikely that anyone would think of calling the continent on which he lives. Meanwhile, on the continents there are many countries in which millions, and in some cases, billions of people live.
As in the case of people, there are dwarfs among the continents, and there are giants, judging by the size. And if you need an answer to a question, which continent is the smallest in the worldWe are happy to help you. Let's take a brief look at all the continents and dwell on the smallest of them.
6. Eurasia - 53.6 million square kilometers
It is the largest and most populated continent on Earth. It consists of two parts of the world - Europe and Asia.
- Asia occupies about 9 percent of the earth’s surface. It is also the most populated part of the world. About 4.3 billion people live in Asia, making it an essential part of the global economy.
- Europe occupies 6.8 percent of the world's total land area. It is home to nearly 50 countries and is considered the third most populated part of the world in the world after Asia and Africa. About 10% of the world's population lives there.
5. Africa - about 30.3 million km² including islands
The second largest continent in the world, as well as the population. In Africa, there are 54 countries with a total population of about one billion people.
4. North America - 24.3 million km² including islands
It is the third continent in the world in terms of area and population. Here lives about 7.5% of the world's population (about 565 million people).
3. South America - 17.84 million km²
On the territory of this continent is the arid desert in the world - the Chilean Atacama, as well as the longest river in the world - the Amazon. In terms of population, South America is in 4th place among the continents.
2. Antarctica - 14.1 million km²
The most southern and sparsely populated continent. Antarctica is also the coldest land in the world, and most of this continent consists of glaciers.
1. Australia - 7.6 million km²
And here is the smallest mainland of the Earth. Its measurement includes both the main island and the islands surrounding it, some of which belong to Oceania.
Australia is located in the Southern Hemisphere and is surrounded by the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Due to its size and isolated location, the smallest continent in the world is also called the island continent.
That's why Australia has a lot of beaches. There are more than 10 thousand of them. If you visit one Australian beach per day, it will take about 27 years to explore all 10,000 beaches. No wonder surfing and other water activities on this continent are so popular.
Terrain features of Australia
The plains are the topography prevailing in Australia. This is the flattest mainland, with a relatively small number of mountain ranges, given its size. But Australia is the only continent in the world without an active volcano.
The highest mountain in Australia - Kosciuszko (or Kosciuszko) - only 2228 meters. For comparison: the tenth highest mountain in Russia, bearing the name of Shota Rustaveli, reaches 4860 meters. Kosciuszko is located in the Australian Alps, which are larger than the Swiss.
Climatic features of Australia
Australia is the driest continent of all six. Almost 20 percent of its land is classified as desert.
- And all the blame is the hot tropical sun, which is especially hot in the central regions of the country. In summer, the temperature there varies during the day from plus 35 to plus 40 degrees Celsius.
- And the coolest part of the country is the island of Tasmania. In summer days the air warms up to plus 20-22 degrees, and in winter it is 10 degrees colder.
- Australia's climate zones range from rainforests, deserts and cool forests to snow-capped mountains.
Under these conditions, unique species of plants and animals evolved that adapted to the dry climate, combined with high variability of precipitation.
Wildlife of Australia
This continent boasts many of the most dangerous and exotic creatures living outside the Amazon rainforest in South America. For example, in Australia you can find the two most venomous snakes in the world, about 1,500 types of spiders, 4,000 species of ants and 350 types of termites.
When it comes to the animal kingdom of Australia, the first thing that comes to mind is the kangaroo. According to some reports, the total number of these marsupial animals is almost 50 million individuals. And this means that Australia has more kangaroos than people.
Although some scientists announced the death of the Great Barrier Reef back in 2016, the world's largest coral reef is still alive. However, it must be protected from pollution and other problems that the world's oceans face. Imagine that this reef is so large that it can be seen from space.
How small is Australia in size and population?
As for the occupied land area, the Australian continent is undoubtedly the smallest continent in the world. Even small Europe is 2.4 million km² larger than it.
- Scientists have calculated that the smallest mainland on Earth can fit twice in Russia.
- When it comes to population, Australia is technically the second smallest continent. And if we exclude Antarctica, then Australia will be considered the most sparsely populated continent.
- As of 2018, the number of Australians is more than 25 million people.
Australia is an island because it is surrounded by water, but it is also large enough to be considered a continent. At the same time, Australia is not officially the largest island in the world, this title was given to Greenland.
However, Australia is also the largest country without land borders. And the largest Australian city (but not the capital) - Sydney - is spread over an area of 12,144.6 km² and is one of the ten largest cities in the world by area.
Relationship between Australia and Oceania
Quite often, referring to the southern region of the Pacific Ocean, where Australia is located, people will use the term "Australia and Oceania", and not to separate them. However, it is true and so and so.
- Oceania is a Pacific region made up of many small islands and atolls. The conditional western border of Oceania runs along New Guinea, and the eastern - along Easter Island.
- Usually Australia and Oceania are combined into a single part of the world, if you want to divide all the land into parts of the world.
- However, sometimes Oceania is considered an independent part of the world. In geography, there is even an independent discipline called "ocean studies", which is engaged in the study of Oceania.
- Speaking specifically about the continents, then Oceania has no chance, it is always referred to Australia.
