World History

Map of the World’s Continents and Regions

The map shows the continents and regions in the world in various colors.

The Continents

The map shows the continents and regions in the world in various colors.

The Americas are a continent that spans the globe.
The Americas are divided into two continents: North America, which includes the world’s largest island, Greenland, and South America, which includes the world’s second-largest island, Antarctica.
Panama’s Isthmus connects North and South America.

Africa
Africa is the continent that encompasses Madagascar, the world’s fourth-largest island.

Eurasia
Eurasia is the continent that is home to the geopolitical entities of Europe and Asia. The Ural Mountains, the Caucasus Mountains, and the Bosporus are the most traditional European-Asian borders (Strait of Istanbul).
The Middle East (Western Asia), Central Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Maritime Southeast Asia are the subregions of Asia. Asia comprises the Arabian Peninsula and India’s subcontinents.

Australia/Oceania
Oceania isn’t a real continent, a contiguous area of land surrounded by ocean. Oceania is a geographic region that includes the scattered islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia in the South Pacific Ocean, plus Australasia, a vague term used to describe the combined area of Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea (island). Australia is considered to be an island country and a continent situated in the southern hemisphere.

Antarctica
Antarctica, as a continent is, in many ways, an exception. Earth’s southernmost continent is currently uninhabited, beside a handful of hard-boiled scientists, which share the place with emperor penguins, New Zealand sea lions, and elephant seals. The climate is very hostile to almost any kind of life. It is the coldest, windiest, highest (on average), and driest continent. Mount Vinson is the highest mountain in Antarctica, at 4,892 meters (16,050 feet). On the surface of the continent, no crops will grow on its frozen four kilometer-thick ice sheet.

Arctic
The northernmost point of the Earth, the North Pole, where the Earth’s axis meets the surface, is not located on a landmass, but on the Arctic polar ice cap, the surface of the frozen waters of the Arctic Ocean. Therefore, the Arctic is not considered to be a continent. Parts of the northern regions of Europe, Asia (Russia), and North America (Canada and Greenland) are located within the Arctic Circle.

Map of the World with Continents

Map of the Continents of the World, Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe, North America, and South America
Map of the Continents (click the image for another version of a continents map)

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The map shows the continents of the world and continental subdivisions.

 You are free to use the above map for educational and similar purposes (fair use); please refer to the Nations Online Project.

More about the Continents

Get more information about Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Australia on our Continents page.

Countries by continent you will find on the following pages.

The Continent of Asia
Countries of Africa
The Continents of the Americas
Countries of the Americas

The Continent of Asia
Countries of Asia

 

The Continent of Europe
Countries of Europe
The Continent of Australia
Countries of Australia/Oceania
The Continent of the Antarctica
Antarctica Map

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