In this section, we will be looking at continents, oceans, and other geographic features. Identifying and describing these features are important skills that every student of social studies must master. Physical geography, the study of the earth and its features, is an important part in all of the social studies courses you are required to take in middle school and high school.

CONTINENTS: Continents are landmasses, which vary in size and location. There are seven continents in all: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. Most of the continents touch each other, with the exceptions being Antarctica and Australia.

1. Africa:
   
   

   Source: Africa (orthographic projection), Martin23230, Wikimedia

   Africa is the continent featured on this map and is the world's second largest and second most populous continent. It covers 11,730,000 square miles (30,370,000 square kilometers), and composes 20.4% of the Earth's total landmass. The total population of Africa is 922,011,000 (14% of the Earth's total population).

2. Antarctica:
   
   

   Source: Antarctica (orthographic projection), Heraldry, Wikimedia

   Antarctica is the continent featured on this map. Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, encapsulating the South Pole. It is located in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle. Antarctica covers 5,300,000 square miles (13,720,000 square kilometers) which is 9.2% of the Earth's total landmass. Despite its size, Antarctica is sparsely populated. Only several thousand people call Antarctica home, most of them seasonal.

3. Asia:
   
   

   Source: Asia (orthographic projection), Ssolbergj, Wikimedia

   Asia is the continent featured on this map. Asia covers 16,920,000 square miles (43,820,000 square kilometers). Asia is the world's largest and most populated continent covering 30% of the total landmass and is home to 3.88 billion people (60% of the Earth's entire population).

4. Australia:
   
   

   Source: Australia (orthographic projection), Ssolbergj, Wikimedia

   Australia is the continent featured on this map. As you can see, Australia is an island. Australia covers 3,478,200 square miles (9,008,500 square kilometers) which is 5.9% of the Earth's total landmass. The smallest of the continents, Australia is home to 31,260,000 people.

5. Europe:
   
   

   Source: Europe orthographic Caucasus Urals boundary, Ssolbergj, Wikimedia

   Europe is the continent featured on the map above. Europe covers 3,930,000 square miles (10,180,000 square kilometers), or 6.8% of the total landmass. Even though Europe is small in comparison to other continents, it is densely populated (731,000,000 people).

6. North America:
   
   

   Source: Location North America, Bosonic dressing, Wikimedia

   North America is the continent featured in the map above. North America covers 9,460,000 square miles (24,490,000 square kilometers) or 5.9% of the Earth's total landmass. The population of North America consists of 520,720,588 people (8% of the world's population).

7. South America:
   
   

   Source: South America (orthographic projection), Luan, Wikimedia

   South America is the continent featured in the map above. South America covers 6,890,000 square miles (17,840,000 square kilometers), or 12% of the total landmass. The population of South America is 382,000,000 people (6% of the world's population).

Activity 1: Drag and the drop the continents in their proper location.

OCEANS:

1. Atlantic Ocean:
   
   

   Source: Atlantic Ocean, CIA World Factbook, Wikimedia

   Featured in the map above is the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean is the body of water that lies between the continents of North America, Europe, Africa, and South America.

2. Pacific Ocean:
   
   

   Source: Pacific Ocean, CIA World Factbook, Wikimedia

   Featured in the map above is the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ocean lies between the continents of Asia, North America, South America, and Australia.

3. Indian Ocean:
   
   

   Source: Indianocean, CIA World Factbook, Wikimedia

   Featured in the map above is the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean lies between the continents of Africa, Asia, and Australia.

4. Southern Ocean:
   
   

   Source: Southern Ocean, CIA World Factbook, Wikimedia

   The map above features the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean covers the southern portion of the globe surrounding Antarctica.

5. Arctic Ocean:
   
   

   Source: Artic Ocean, CIA World Factbook, Wikimedia

   Featured in the map above is the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic Ocean covers the northern portion of the globe between the continents of North America, Europe, and Asia.

Activity 2: Drag and drop the correct names of the oceans on to the correct locations on the map.