 The term continent is a closed land mass that is
completely or at least almost completely surrounded by
water. The seven continents together make up almost 30
percent of the earth's surface. The rest are oceans, seas
and islands.
Asia
The Asian continent is the supercontinent on the earth's
crust in many ways. It occupies 8.7 percent of the surface
area and is 44.5 million square kilometers larger than any
other continent. Over four billion people live in Asia. That
is around 60 percent of the world's population, almost eight
times as many as in North America. Asia is also home to the
highest elevations in our earth's crust, including every
fourteen eight-thousanders. The Mount Everest
is 8,848 meters, the highest elevation. Second highest
mountain is in the Karakorum lying K2,
which is also known as the mountain of the mountains and is
certainly the biggest challenge for a mountaineer.
Africa
Africa is the second largest and so-called "black"
continent. Over a billion people live there, which is 14.2
percent of the world's population. Africa is considered the
cradle of modern mankind and Egypt was one of the earliest
civilizations. Nowhere else is the diversity of large
mammals so diverse and nowhere else in the world do people
speak as many different languages as in Africa. Over 2000
languages are registered in the 53 different countries of
the African continent. The highest mountain is the
Kilimanjaro massif at 5895 meters in Tanzania.
Mount Kenya in neighboring Kenya, 325
kilometers away as the crow flies, is just 700 meters lower,
but much more difficult to climb.
North America
Almost 540 million people currently live in North
America. After all, that's almost 7.6 percent of the world's
population. North America is only about half the size of
Asia and the third largest continent on earth. In 1492,
Christopher Columbus discovered the “New World”, which is
only connected to the South American continent by the
approximately 80 kilometers narrow isthmus of Panama. The
highest mountain in North America is Mount
McKinley in the Alaska Range at 6,149
meters. The second highest peak and just under 200 meters
lower is Mount Logan in the Elias chain of
Canada, which is considered one of the most inhospitable
mountains in the world.
South America
Based on
Countryaah.com, the fourth largest continent is South America with an
area of almost 18 million square kilometers and almost 400
million people. With over 7,500 kilometers, the Andes are
the longest mountain range in the world. Aconcagua,
at 6,962 meters, is the highest peak in South America and
the highest elevation outside of Asia, right on the border
between Chile and Argentina. The Ojos del Salado
on the edge of the Atacama Desert also lies on the border
between Chile and Argentina. The highest but long since
extinct volcano on earth, like the Aconcagua, is not
considered technically very demanding.
Antarctic
With an area of 13.2 million square kilometers,
Antarctica is the fifth largest continent on earth and
larger than Europe, but practically no one lives there. The
more than 80 research stations have around 4,000 people in
summer and barely a thousand in winter. The areas
surrounding the South Pole are called Antarctica. How much
mainland actually exists is not known, because an ice sheet
up to three thousand meters thick lies over the Antarctic.
It is the land of penguins and seals, sea lions and whales.
Mount Vinson is 4,896
meters, which is about as high as Mont Blanc in the Alpsthe
highest elevation in Antarctica. Only 44 meters lower and
just 13 kilometers as the crow flies, Mount Tyree is the
second highest mountain. It was climbed for the first time
in 1967 and has not been climbed since 1997.
Europe
Although Europe, as a land mass, is directly connected to
Asia for thousands of kilometers, due to historical and
cultural developments, it is still regarded as an
independent continent. One speaks however also of Eurasia.
Europe is the most densely populated continent on earth with
over 700 million people; an average of 65 inhabitants live
in one square kilometer. After Australia, Europe is the
second smallest continent. There are different opinions as
to whether the inner Eurasian border makes the Caucasus
mountains entirely Asia or whether the part beyond the
northern watershed is part of Europe. However, if you take
the geographic watershed as a yardstick, the two highest
elevations in Europe are in the Caucasus: the Elbrus
at 5642 meters and the neighboring one Dychtau
with 5204 meters as the second highest peak in Europe.
Australia and Oceania
34 million inhabitants, 8.5 million square kilometers
total area and 1.7 percent share of the total earth surface
- Australia and Oceania together form the seventh and
smallest continent on earth. Tasmania, New Guinea, New
Zealand and the island states in the Pacific make up the
continent with Australia. The Carstenz pyramid
in New Guinea is the highest mountain at 4884 meters. Then
comes the Puncak Trikora with a height of
4730 meters.
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