3.8 World regional geography: continents notes

1. 3.8.1Continents and oceans: size, extreme points and key facts

   Seven continents share less than a third of the Earth's surface with five oceans; Asia is the largest and most populous continent, Australia the smallest, and the Pacific the largest and deepest ocean.

   Standard · 9 min · Full course
2. 3.8.2Asia: relief, rivers, lakes and regions

   Asia, the largest and most populous continent, has the highest mountains and plateau in the world radiating from the Pamir Knot, great rivers flowing to three oceans, and extremes of every kind, from the Dead Sea to Everest.

   Standard · 9 min · Full course
3. 3.8.3Africa: relief, rivers, lakes and the Rift Valley

   Africa, the second largest continent, is mostly a high plateau with narrow coastal plains, split in the east by the Great Rift Valley with its deep lakes, and drained by the Nile, Congo, Niger and Zambezi.

   Standard · 9 min · Full course
4. 3.8.4Europe: relief, rivers and regions

   Europe, the second smallest continent, is a western extension of Eurasia made of peninsulas, with old highlands in the north-west, a vast central plain, the young Alpine ranges in the south, and navigable rivers that made it a pioneer of inland water transport.

   Standard · 8 min · Full course
5. 3.8.5North America: relief, rivers and the Great Lakes

   North America, the third largest continent, has young western mountains (the Cordillera), old eastern mountains (the Appalachians), an ancient shield around Hudson Bay, and a great interior lowland drained by the Mississippi system and the Great Lakes–St Lawrence.

   Standard · 9 min · Full course
6. 3.8.6South America: Andes, Amazon and other regions

   South America, the fourth largest continent, has the long young Andes along its west, ancient highlands in the east, and between them the Amazon basin, the largest river system and rainforest on Earth, with temperate grasslands and deserts to the south.

   Standard · 8 min · Full course
7. 3.8.7Australia, Oceania and Antarctica

   Australia is the smallest, flattest and driest inhabited continent, set among the island groups of Oceania, while Antarctica is an ice-covered, uninhabited continent governed for peace and science under the Antarctic Treaty.

   Standard · 9 min · Full course

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