Continent

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Animated, color-coded map showing various continents and regions. Depending on the convention and model, some continents may be consolidated or subdivided: for example,Eurasia is often subdivided into Europe and Asia (red shades), while North and South America are sometimes recognized as one American continent (green shades).

A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are (from largest in size to smallest): Asia, Africa, North America, South America,Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.^[1]

Plate tectonics is the geological process and study of the movement, collision and division of continents, earlier known as continental drift.

Residents of Britain and Ireland sometimes refer to Continental Europe, that is, the mainland of Europe, excluding the British Isles,^[2] Icelandand some other islands, as "the Continent".