Earth's land is split into seven huge parts. They are called continents. A continent is one of the large main divisions of land on Earth. Count them one by one. Here are the seven. Asia. Africa. North America. South America. Antarctica. Europe. Australia. Do you know the biggest? Do you know the smallest? You will soon.

Asia is the largest continent. It is big. It has more people than any other continent. As of November 2026, about 6 out of every 10 people on Earth live there. Australia is the smallest continent. It is small. Africa is the second-largest. It is next. Only Asia is bigger. The biggest is Asia. The smallest is Australia. They are not the same size. Not at all.

Europe and Asia are one huge piece of land. It is called Eurasia. North America and South America touch. A narrow strip of land joins them. It is thin. It is called the Isthmus of Panama. Look where they touch. The Andes run along the western edge of South America. They are the longest mountain range on land.

The Amazon is a river in South America. It carries more water than any other river on Earth. The Nile is a river in Africa. It is the longest river in the world. Africa also has the Sahara. It covers about 9 million square kilometers. Mount Everest is the tallest mountain on Earth. It sits between Nepal and Tibet.

Most of Antarctica is covered by a huge ice sheet. It is icy. Some of the ice is about 3.2 kilometers thick. Antarctica has no countries. It has no permanent human population. Some scientists stay at research stations there. About 5,000 stay in summer. Around 1,000 stay in winter. As of November 2026, the coldest air ever measured on Earth was -89.2 degrees Celsius. It was measured at Vostok Station in Antarctica. The date was 21 July 1983.

The positions of the continents are always changing. Earth's land masses move toward and away from each other. They move about 1.5 centimeters a year, on average. Long ago, almost all of the land was joined together. It was one huge supercontinent. It broke apart. The pieces became the continents we know today. Look at a map. Count the pieces. There are seven.

Words to know

• continent: big land
• Eurasia: Europe plus Asia
• isthmus: narrow land bridge
• supercontinent: joined land
• Andes: South American mountains

The short version

Earth's land is split into seven continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia. Asia is the largest and Australia is the smallest. Europe and Asia are really one huge piece of land called Eurasia, and the continents are always slowly moving.

Quick facts

• There are seven continents, from largest: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia.
• Asia is the largest continent, and about 6 out of every 10 people on Earth live there, as of November 2026.
• Antarctica has no countries and no permanent human population.
• Earth's land masses move toward and away from each other at an average of about 1.5 centimeters (0.6 inches) a year.