Earth's land is usually divided into seven continents. They are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia. A continent is one of the large main divisions of land on Earth. Continents are defined by convention rather than by a strict rule. The seven-continent model is the one most commonly taught in countries such as the United States. Some people count only six continents, joining North America and South America into one called America. Another six-continent model joins Europe and Asia into one called Eurasia. It is mostly used in Russia, Eastern Europe and Japan. Neither way is the one true count.

By any count, the pieces differ greatly in size. Together the continents add up to about 148 million square kilometers of land. That is 57 million square miles. They make up most. But not all, of Earth's land surface. Asia covers about 44.6 million square kilometers. That is almost a third of the world's land. Africa is the second-largest. It covers more than three times the area of the United States. North America is third and South America is fourth. Europe is sixth and holds just 7 percent of the world's land. Australia is the smallest, just under 8.5 million square kilometers.

Asia is the continent of crowds and heights. Look at the numbers. As of November 2026, about 4.86 billion people live in Asia. That is around 58.6 percent of the world's people. As of November 2026, about 6 out of every 10 people on Earth live there. Asia has more people than any other continent. It also holds the Himalaya, which extend for about 2,500 kilometers, or 1,550 miles. Nine of the highest peaks in the world rise more than 7,925 meters in the Great Himalayas. Mount Everest soars to about 8,850 meters, or 29,035 feet, according to National Geographic. It sits between Nepal and Tibet.

As of November 2026, about 1.58 billion people live in Africa, around 19.1 percent. Africa holds the largest hot desert on Earth, the Sahara. Sources give its area as anywhere from 8.5 million to 9.4 million square kilometers. It depends on how its edges are drawn. The Sahara makes up about 25 percent of Africa. Dunes, called ergs, cover only 20 percent of it. Gravel plains called regs cover 70 percent. The Nile flows over 6,800 kilometers before it empties into the Mediterranean Sea. Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania rises 5,895 meters, or 19,340 feet, above sea level.

The Americas have records of their own. The Rockies, North America's largest mountain chain, stretch from British Columbia, Canada, to the U.S. state of New Mexico. The Great Lakes form the planet's largest area of fresh water. North America has more climate variation than any other continent. A narrow strip of land, the Isthmus of Panama, joins North America and South America. Twelve independent countries make up South America. Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Andes, stands at 6,962 meters, or 22,841 feet. It straddles the Argentina-Chile border. The Amazon River and its tributaries flow through the world's largest tropical rainforest.

Antarctica is the windiest, driest and iciest place on Earth. It is huge. Its ice sheet covers almost 14 million square kilometers, or 5.4 million square miles. The continent is more than 58 times the size of Great Britain. It is also the largest desert on Earth, because a desert is defined by little rain, not by sand. Antarctica covers 14.2 million square kilometers. The Antarctic Treaty was signed in Washington on 1 December 1959 by twelve countries. It says Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes. Roald Amundsen was the first person to reach the South Pole, in December 1911.

The map has not always looked like this. Look back in time. By 240 million years ago almost all of the world's land was joined in a single huge continent. The big supercontinent was called Pangaea. By about 200 million years ago it began to break apart. Earth's outer layer is broken into about a dozen large plates. The positions of the continents are always changing, at an average of about 1.5 centimeters a year.

Words to know

• convention: agreed habit
• Eurasia: Europe plus Asia
• regs: gravel plains
• tributaries: feeder rivers
• straddles: sits across