Amazing Facts about Continents

This article explains about interesting, rare, unknown amazing facts about continents. Article also gives information and facts about all 7 continents of the world. Countries related to different continents.

Continuous big land masses are called Continents. There are 7 continents in the world. The identification for a continent is done not by any strict criteria rather it is assumed by a convention. These continents in descending order of their area are – Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia. Europe and Asia continent are some times jointly called as Eurasia. Although Europe and Asia are joined together and are not distinct still they are considered separate continents because of historical and culture differences. Some times Asia and Australia are jointly called as 1 continent and named Australasia. Australasia is not a politically designated region rather based on historical and geological perspective.

Some times the small island countries of Oceania are shown as part of Asia while  some other references show these countries as part of Australia-Oceania.

Quick Comparative Facts about Continents

• Continent with maximum number of countries is Africa. Africa has 54 countries. Continent with least number of countries is South America. Antarctica isn’t  inhabited permanently (only scientific expedition camps) by humans and as such there is no concept of country there.
• Continent with maximum area is Asia. Continent with least area is Europe.
• Continent with maximum population is Asia. Continent with least population is Antarctica.
• Continent with maximum percentage of world landmass is Asia.
• Continent with maximum population density is Asia. Continent with lowest population density is Antarctica.
• Continent with maximum forest area is Europe. Continent with least forest cover is Australia-Oceania.
• Continent with maximum flow of global trade is Europe.
• The most populous city of Asia is Shanghai. Most populous city of Africa is Laos (Nigeria), for North America it is Mexico city, for South America it is Sao Paulo (Brazil). The most populous city of Europe is Moscow while for Australia it is Sydney.

Also read: List of Countries by Continent with capital, currency, official language

Amazing Facts about Continents : Asia 

• Asia is not only the biggest in terms of Area but also by population. The percentage of total world’s area occupied by Asia is about 30 %. Population percentage is 60 %. Asia has also maximum population density.
• Asia and Africa continents are joined by Isthmus of Suez while North and South America are joined by Isthmus of Panama.
• Asia and Europe continents are separated by Ural mountains.

Amazing Facts about Continents : Australia -Oceania

• As per UN classification there are 14 countries which belong to Oceania. There are four major regions of Oceania – i) Australia, ii) Melanesia, iii) Micronesia and iv) Polynesia. Australia region contains two countries: Australia and New Zealand. Melanesia comprises of 4 countries: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon islands and Vanuatu. Micronesia consists of 5 countries: Federal States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall islands, Nauru and Palau. Polynesia consists of 3 countries: Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu.
• Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef, it is made up of coral deposits & is about 2000 kilo meters long.
• Australia’s sheep population is more than its human population.This is why Australia stands first in the production & export of wool in the world.
• This is the smallest continent in terms of area.

Amazing Facts about Continents : Europe

• Europe is the second smallest continent by area. Europe is also considered as most urban, wealthy and with highest literacy.
• There are no deserts in Europe.
• Asia and Europe continents are separated by Ural mountains.
• Russia lies both in Asia and Europe. The capital city of Moscow and other main city St Petersburg lies in Europe. Only 40 % of Russia lies in Europe and rest in Asia. Culturally people of Russia are closer to Europe than Asia.
• Turkey lies in both Asian and European continent. The city Istanbul of Turkey comes under both Asian and European continents.

Amazing Facts Continents : Africa

• Continent with biggest desert – Africa (Sahara Desert). Africa is also called Dark Continent because for long time not too much was known about it.
• Continent with maximum number of countries is Africa.
• Africa is the place where first primitive humans lived.
• World’s hottest place Ethiopia is in Africa Continent.

Amazing Facts about Continents : North and South America

• North America was named after the explorer Americo Vespucci. North America has five time zones.
• Andes in South America, form the Second Highest Mountain System in the World next to the Himalayas(in Asia). They are Young Fold Mountains. Mt. Aconcagua is the Highest Peak (6960 m) of The Andes.
• Major languages spoken in South America are Spanish and Portuguese.
• The world’s highest lake, Lake Titicaca is located in South America. It is at the height of 3800 meters. It is the largest lake in South America.
• The Angel Falls of South America ,is the Highest Waterfall in the World.
• Alaska was originally part of Russia but it comes in North American continent. It is separated from mainland Russia by Barring Strait. United States purchased Alaska from Russia on 30th March 1867 for 7.2 million U.S. dollars. Alaska is the largest state of US by area.

Amazing Facts about Continents : Antarctica

• There is no any country on Antarctica. US and some other countries operate their science camps there. This continent is not owned by any nation.
• Antarctica has nil percentage of population while Australia shares 0.4 % of total population.
• The most windiest continent – Antarctica
•  The only continent whose area keeps changing as per seasons is Antarctica. It is approximately 14.2 million square kilometers in summer, but during winter it almost doubles because of large amount of sea ice that forms along its periphery .

Facts about Continents : Highest Peaks and Lowest Points 

Facts about Continents : Highest & Least number of Countries

Continent with highest number of countries is Africa and continent with least / fewest number (zero) of countries is Antarctica. This is to note that there is no any country on Antarctica.