What is a continent?
A continent is a huge piece of land. Many countries together make up a continent. Earth has seven of them. You live on one of those seven continents!
As big as… an entire part of the world!
You might live in a village or a city. A city is in a country. And a country sits on a continent. A continent is much bigger than a country. It is so big it is hard to imagine.
A good example: Europe is one continent. It contains more than forty countries. Think of France, Spain and Germany — they are all countries on the same continent.
The seven continents
There are seven continents on Earth. Here they are, with one fun fact each:
- 🌍Africa — the second largest continent. It is home to Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa (5,895 m).
- 🌏Asia — the biggest continent of all! More people live here than anywhere else. Mount Everest is here too.
- 🌍Europe — smaller than the others, but packed with countries. You probably live here!
- 🌎North America — home to the Rocky Mountains and Canada, the second largest country in the world.
- 🌎South America — the Amazon river flows here. The tropical rainforest is enormous.
- 🌏Oceania — this continent sits almost entirely in the ocean. Australia is its largest country.
- ❄️Antarctica — covered in ice. It is the coldest and windiest continent on Earth.
How many continents are there?
There are seven continents. Want to know more about how we count them and why? Read the full explanation on the page how many continents are there?
Curious which animals live on each continent? Head to animals by continent. Or take the quiz and test how much you already know!