Continents: Definition, Region, Number and Names

 
In general, continents are understood as a collection of land areas connected into large land areas that are ideally separated by vast areas of water.



IPHEDIA.com - Continents are vast plains surrounded by oceans and are located on the face of the earth.

In the Big Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI), a continent is a part of the earth, in the form of very large land or land, which results in the central part of the continent not being affected by sea breezes.

In general, continents are understood as a collection of land areas connected into large land areas that are ideally separated by vast areas of water.

However, these continents are not separated by water in reality, as the continents of Asia and Europe are connected by land borders that are many miles wide.

Meanwhile, in a narrow sense, a continent is a large area of land that is united and then considered as one and the same area by a convention.

The Largest and Smallest Continents

Based on the standard convention (agreement), in this world there are 7 continents (from the largest to the smallest), each continent of Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia.

From the sequence of continents above, the continent of Asia is the largest (largest) continent in the world, followed by the continent of Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and the smallest (smallest) continent of Australia.

Continental Division

In addition to area, continents are also divided into regions, called Supercontinents, Subcontinents, Subcontinents and Microcontinents respectively.

Supercontinents are very large continents that have existed in the past, which include some or all of the existing cratons today. Examples of supercontinents, such as Gondwana and Pangea.

Gondwana or Gondwanaland is a supercontinent that existed during the Neoproterozoic era (about 550 million years ago) to the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago).

Meanwhile, Pangea or Pangea also called Pangeae was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras.

The supercontinent Pangea formed about 300 million years ago and began to fracture about 200 million years ago, before the continental components separated into their current configurations.

Subcontinents are areas of existing continents, especially large peninsulas separated from the mainland by reasons of geographic shape.

The most famous examples of subcontinents are the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian Peninsula, the Southern Cone in South America and the Alaska Peninsula in North America.

The Sinking Continent is an area of the continental crust where a large part of it is submerged under sea water.

The most famous examples of Sinking Continents are Zealand which is located around the ocean area of New Caledonia, New Zealand and the Kerguelen Plateau which is located in the Indian Ocean.

Microcontinents are a number of islands located in a part of the continental crust that is separated from the mainland of the main continent. However, due to its very small size it is not considered a continent.

Examples of Micro Continents, including Madagascar, East Tasman, Jan Mayen, Mauritia and Gulden Draak. (*)

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