Geography is a comprehensive science about the Earth, which is interested in the features of the territorial distribution of a wide variety of objects, processes and social phenomena. States and countries, continents and oceans - these 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 the 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, in 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, salt composition, organic underwater world, etc.).
The mainland is a huge geological structure that protrudes significantly above the surface of the oceans. Its power (height) can reach 50-70 kilometers. A synonym for this concept is also the word "continent".
A country is a geographical territory, a part of the earth’s surface, which has its own defined borders.
You should never confuse these two concepts: countries and continents. However, there is one unique example on our planet that can be simultaneously called both a country and a continent. It's about Australia.
Countries, continents are very different from each other in the size of the territory, and in 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 the two?
The 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 theory, once on our planet there was only one mainland (it bore the name Pangea) and one ocean (Tethys). Subsequently, this single land mass 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 in complete water isolation (such as Australia).
If everything is unambiguous with the total number of continents, then geographers cannot yet agree on the exact number of Earth's oceans . Until 2000, teachers in all schools said that there are only four oceans on Earth (the Arctic, 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 quite justified, since in this part of the planet’s water area there is its own temperature and salt regime, its own system of sea currents.
How many countries and states in the world?
There are much more countries in the modern world than states. There are 251 of them, but only 194 of them can boast of absolute sovereignty. All these states are recognized by the world community and have all formed branches of power.
The largest state on the planet is Russia (its area is about 17 million km 2 ), and the smallest is the Vatican (only 3.2 km 2 ). Most countries are located in Eurasia and Africa, but Antarctica does not even have a permanent population.
In the world there are so-called virtual states. They can be located on separate tiny islands (for example, the principality of Malu Ventu) or not have their own territory at all and exist exclusively on the Internet.
Finally...
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 with regard to the total number of oceans, scientists still have not been able to come to a consensus: some believe that there are five of them, others are sure that there are only four of them.