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World
places
World STAR looks at the Planet Earth's geography. North, South,
East, West, your place of birth. In particular it has a look at
people and places
The
Seven Continents of the
World
There are seven continents, or large land masses, on the planet
Earth. While they are separated by ocean today, 200
million years ago there was only one supercontinent called
Pangae in which all seven land masses were connected. Our
modern-day continents are: Africa, Asia, Antarctica,
Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.
Land
Continents
Africa
Africa?s land mass crosses the equator and
is bordered by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
It is home to about 922,011,000 people and consists of 53
countries, the most countries of any continent. It is also
believed this continent is where humans originated.
Asia
Asia is in the Northern Hemisphere and is
attached to Europe. Asia contains the highest point in the
world, Mt. Everest. It also contains the lowest point in
the world, which is the Dead Sea. Asia has the largest
population, 3,902,404,193, of any other continent and has 47
countries. It is also contains the most land mass than any
other continent.
Antarctica
Antarctica is the only continent with the
human population of zero. With such cold and harsh weather
conditions, it is unable to provide a home to human beings.
The coldest temperature ever recorded was in Antarctica on July
21, 1983 when it reached -89.4 degrees Celsius (-129 degrees
Fahrenheit)! Antarctica is populated by a variety of
wildlife including penguins, whales, seals, fish, and many more.
Australia
Australia, also known as ?the land down
under,? is an island located in the Southern Hemisphere.
Because it is located below the equator, Australia?s season are
opposite of those in the Northern Hemisphere. Australia is
made up of six states and two territories and is home to about
21,000,000 people. There are other Pacific Island
countries that are also considered in the Australia/Pacific
region.
Europe
Europe
is located in the Northern Hemisphere and is attached to Asia.
This continent is sometimes referred to as ?Eurasia? since it is
one land mass. Europe has a population of about
712,000,000 people and is made up of 43 countries. It has the
third largest population.
North America
North America consists of thirty-seven
countries which includes countries from Central America and the
Caribbean. North America is home to 524,000,000 people,
which makes it the 4th largest populated continent. North
America is home to the largest populated city in the world,
Mexico City with 8,720,916 in habitants.
South America
South America is mostly located in the
Southern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans. South America is populated by 382,000,000
people and consists of 12 countries. The Amazon Rainforest
gets nine feet of rain every year! Because of such thick
vegetation, about 20% of earth's oxygen is produced by the
rainforest.
Mountain Ranges
Himalayas
The Himalayas are the highest mountain
range in the world. The Himalayas, literally translated as Land
of Snow, is the great mountain system of Asia, home to the
highest (tallest) peaks in the world. They form a 1500 mile
broad crescent through Northeastern Pakistan, Northern India,
Southern Tibet, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. There are more than 30
peaks of the Himalayas each rising to heights of 7,620 m (25,000
ft) or more. The Himalayas is one of the youngest mountain
ranges in the world.
Alps
The
Alps is a vast mountain system in south central Europe,
extending over 750 miles (1,200 km) through South France, North
Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and
Slovenia. The Andes chain is generally about 200 miles (300 km)
wide, except in Bolivia, where it expands to twice that width.
The Alps includes several hundred peaks and glaciers, including
numerous peaks over 12,000 feet, with Mont Blanc highest at
15,771 feet.
Rockies
The Rocky Mountains are a vast mountain
system in Western North America, extending north-south from
Canada to New Mexico (North America), a distance of about 3,000
miles (4800 km). The highest peak is Mount Elbert, in Colorado
(North America), which is 14,440 feet (4401 m) above sea level.
Andes
The Andes Mountains are the longest and
one of the highest mountain ranges in the world. They are
located in South America and stretch 4,500 miles (7,200 km) from
north to south, along the west coast of the continent. The
Andes are the second highest Mountain Range in the world with
many peaks rising over 20,000 feet.
Karakoram
The Karakoram is a great mountain range in
Northeast Pakistan and Northern India, near the Chinese border.
It extends 300 miles southeastwardly and includes many of the
world's tallest mountains, and many of the world's longest
glaciers.
Water
World Oceans
Pacific
Ocean
The
Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's Oceanic divisions.
It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the
south, bounded by Asia and Australia on the west and the
Americas on the east. At 169.2 million square kilometers (65.3
million square miles) in area, it makes it the largest division
of the World Ocean. The hydrosphere ? covers about 46% of the
Earth's water surface and about 32% of its total surface area,
making it larger than all of the Earth's land area combined. The
Equator subdivides it into the North Pacific Ocean and South
Pacific Ocean. The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific
is the deepest point in the Pacific and the world, reaching a
depth of 10,911 metres (35,798 ft).
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's ocean
divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square
kilometres (41.1 million square miles). It covers approximately
one-fifth of the Earth's surface. The Atlantic Ocean occupies an
elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between the
Americas to the west, and Europe and Africa to the east. It is
connected in the north to the Arctic Ocean, to the Pacific in
the southwest, the Indian Ocean in the southeast, and the
Southern Ocean in the south. The equator subdivides it into the
North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean.
Indian Ocean
The
Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic
divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth?s
surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia (including the
Indian subcontinent, after which it is named); on the west by
Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and
Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean (or,
traditionally, by Antarctica). One component of the
all-encompassing World Ocean, the Indian Ocean is delineated
from the Atlantic Ocean by the 20? east meridian running south
from Cape Agulhas, and from the Pacific Ocean by the 147? east
meridian. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean is
approximately 30? north latitude in the Persian Ocean and, thus,
has asymmetric ocean circulation. This ocean is nearly
10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) wide at the southern tips of Africa
and Australia; its area is 73,556,000 square kilometres
(32.1 mi), including the Red Sean and the Persian Ocean.
Artic Ocean
The
Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in
the Arctic North Pole region, is the smallest of the world's
five major Oceanic divisions and the shallowest. The IHO
recognizes it as an ocean, although some Oceanographers may call
it the Arctic Mediterranean Sea or simply the Arctic
Sea, classifying it as one of the Mediterranean Seas of the
Atlantic Ocean. Alternatively, the Arctic Ocean can be seen as
the northernmost lobe of the all-encompassing World Ocean.
Almost completely surrounded by Eurasia and North America, the
Arctic Ocean is largely covered by sea ice throughout the year.
The Arctic Ocean's temperature and salinity vary seasonally as
the ice cover melts and freezes; its salinity is the lowest on
average of the five major seas, due to low evaporation, heavy
freshwater inflow from rivers and streams, and limited
connection and outflow to surrounding oceanic waters with higher
salinities. The summer shrinking of the icepack has been quoted
at 50%.
Southern/Antarctic Ocean
The
Southern Ocean, also known as the Great Southern Ocean, the
Antarctic Ocean and the South Polar Ocean, comprises the
southernmost waters of the World Ocean south of 60? S latitude.
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) has designated
the Southern Ocean as an oceanic division encircling Antarctica.
Geographers disagree on the Southern Ocean's northern boundary
or even its existence, sometimes considering the waters part of
the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean instead.
Some scientists consider the Antarctic Convergence, an ocean
zone which fluctuates seasonally, as separating the Southern
Ocean from other oceans, rather than 60? S. The IHO regards the
Southern Ocean as the fourth-largest of the five principal
oceanic divisions and the latest-defined one.
Atmosphere
World Atmosphere levels
The Troposphere
The troposphere is where all weather takes place; it is the
region of rising and falling packets of air. The air pressure at
the top of the troposphere is only 10% of that at sea level (0.1
atmospheres). There is a thin buffer zone between the
troposphere and the next layer called the tropopause.
The
Stratosphere and Ozone Layer
Above
the troposphere is the stratosphere, where air flow is mostly
horizontal. The thin ozone layer in the upper stratosphere has a
high concentration of ozone, a particularly reactive form of
oxygen. This layer is primarily responsible for absorbing the
ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. The formation of this layer
is a delicate matter, since only when oxygen is produced in the
atmosphere can an ozone layer form and prevent an intense flux
of ultraviolet radiation from reaching the surface, where it is
quite hazardous to the evolution of life.
The Mesosphere and Ionosphere
Above
the stratosphere is the mesosphere and above that is the
ionosphere (or thermosphere), where many atoms are ionized (have
gained or lost electrons so they have a net electrical charge).
The ionosphere is very thin, but it is where aurora take place,
and is also responsible for absorbing the most energetic photons
from the Sun, and for reflecting radio waves, thereby making
long-distance radio communication possible.
   
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