Geography is a complex science of the Earth, which is interested in the peculiarities of the territorial distribution of a wide variety of objects, processes and social phenomena. States and countries, continents and oceans are one of the basic geographical concepts. They will be discussed in this article.
States and countries, continents and oceans
What is the mainland? What is an ocean? How is a country different from a state? Let's try to answer all these interesting questions together.
Continents, countries, oceans - all these are key concepts for geography, which a literate person must understand.
The ocean is a large and continuous water basin that surrounds the continents and islands, and also has a number of features (water temperature, s alt composition, organic underwater world, etc.).
Mainland is a huge geological structure that protrudes significantly above the surface of the oceans. Its thickness (height) can reach 50-70 kilometers. The word "continent" is also a synonym for this concept.
A country is a geographical area, a part of the earth's surface that has its own defined boundaries.
Never confuse these two concepts: countries and continents. However, there is one unique example on our planet that can be called both a country and a continent at the same time. We are talking about Australia.
Countries, continents are very different from each other in terms of territory and population. For example, the area of the largest country in the world is 5.5 million times larger than the area of the smallest state on the planet! By the way, the state and the country are completely different concepts. What is the difference between them?
A state is a country that has sovereignty (that is, independence), has clear boundaries, as well as all the necessary authorities.
How many continents and oceans are there in the world?
According to one of the theories, once on our planet there was only one continent (it was called Pangea) and one ocean (Tethys). Subsequently, this single landmass began to fragment, resulting in the formation of six separate continents. These are Eurasia, Africa, North and South America, Australia, Antarctica. Some of the modern continents are connected by narrow isthmuses, while others are completely isolated by water (like Australia).
If everything is unambiguous with the total number of continents, then geographers cannot yet agree on the exact number of the Earth's oceans. Until 2000, teachers in all schools told that there were only four oceans on Earth (NorthernArctic, Atlantic, Pacific and Indian). However, at the turn of the millennium, the International Hydrographic Union singled out the fifth ocean - the South. It completely surrounds Antarctica with its waters. In general, the allocation of the Southern Ocean is fully justified, since this part of the planet's water area has its own temperature and s alt regime, its own system of sea currents.
How many countries and states are there in the world?
Countries in the modern world are much more than states. There are 251 of them in total, but only 194 of them can boast of absolute sovereignty. All these states are recognized by the world community and have all the established branches of government.
The largest state on the planet is Russia (its area is about 17 million km22), and the smallest is the Vatican (only 3.2 km2). Most countries are located in Eurasia and Africa, but Antarctica does not even have a permanent population.
There are also so-called virtual states in the world. They may be located on separate tiny islands (such as the Principality of Malu Ventu) or they may not have their own territory at all and exist exclusively on the Internet.
In conclusion…
Now you know how states and countries, continents and oceans differ from each other. On planet Earth, there are 6 continents (continents), on which 251 countries are located. But scientists have not yet been able to come to a consensus about the total number of oceans: some believe that there are five of them, others are sure that there are only four of them.
