 Millions of years ago, the land masses on earth were a
single, contiguous continent: Pangea. With the movement of
our planet, the primeval continent began to break 150
million years ago. Today we speak of seven continents, some
of which are still connected. Only Australia and Antarctica
are really independent.Antarctic
Temperatures on the coldest of all continents average 50
degrees below zero. Layers of ice up to four kilometers
thick cover almost the entire Antarctic. Only a very small
part of the surface is ice-free. That's why - apart from a
few scientists - hardly any people live here. It is the
realm of seals, penguins and whales. The animals of the
Antarctic mainly feed on the sea because there are hardly
any plants.
Australia
Australia is the smallest and flattest continent on earth
and lies like a huge island in the sea. Until the first
Europeans came in the 19th century, only the aborigines
lived here. They take care not to destroy nature and only
take what they really need from the earth to survive. Around
20 million people live in the smallest part of the world.
Australia is famous for its exceptional wildlife. The most
famous are the koalas and kangaroos.
Africa
Because of its location on the equator, Africa is the
warmest of all continents. That is why there are large
desert areas such as the Sahara. Fascinating animals such as
elephants, rhinos, baboons, zebras and lions live here.
Africa is also the cradle of mankind. Findings prove that
our ancestors first appeared in Africa about two million
years ago.
Europe
A large number of people live in Europe in a relatively
small area. It currently consists of 46 sovereign states, in
which more than 100 different languages are spoken. From
Norway to Greece, from Portugal to Russia - when you cross
Europe, you come across a wide variety of peoples, cultures
and landscapes. Europe is also connected to another
continent: Asia. They are the only two continents that are
not separated by water. Together, the two form a huge land
mass.
Asia
The largest part of the world covers almost a third of
the total land area. Most people also live here - in India
alone over a billion - in China as many as 1.3 billion. So
Chinese is the most spoken language in the world. Asia is
also home to the huge Himalayas with the highest mountain on
earth, Mount Everest.
America - North and South
America consists of two continents: North and South
America. The continent has an incredible diversity of
nature. In North America, all the world's climate zones are
united - from the polar regions to the desert regions. There
is still untouched nature here, but also large metropolises.
Until the 15th century, only Indians lived in North America.
Then European emigrants came to the continent. According to
Countryaah.com, Canada, Mexico and United States are the three major
countries in the continent of North America.
In South America there are still a relatively large
number of Indian descendants. Some of these so-called
Indians live in the largest jungle on earth: the rainforest.
The trees and plants in this rainforest produce so much
oxygen that the area is also called "the green lung of the
earth". Half of all animal and plant species on earth live
here.
Central America
Central America, the seaweed that
connects North and South America and separates the Pacific
from the Caribbean.
Central America includes the states of Guatemala, Belize,
Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama;
total approx. 1/2 million. km2,
33 million. For historical and cultural reasons, Mexico is
also often included in Central America.
The area has historical common features dating back to
pre-Columbian Native American cultures, and apart from
Belize (until 1981 British Honduras) a past as Spanish
colonies from the early 1500s. to 1821.
The majority of the population are Catholics and
descendants of Native Americans, many of them
European-Native American, Masters.
The colonial era's dependence on plantation products and
mining became from the late 1800s. continued by US
companies, especially in the field of agribusiness,
and for the past 100 years, the countries have been strongly
influenced by US political and military influence.
Physical Geography
The mountainous terrain is bounded by a narrow coastal
plain to the west and a wider to the east with mangrove
swamps characterized in late summer by tropical hurricanes,
hurricanes.
Geology
Central America lies in a geologically very active area,
the collision zone between the two small lithosphere plates
Cocos plate and Caribbean plate.
Language
Official languages are Spanish except in Belize, where
it is English.
Pre-Columbian Indians
In pre-Spanish times, the region from central Mexico to
northern Costa Rica constituted a coherent cultural area
known as Mesoamerica.
After the colonization
In the colonial period from the beginning of the 1500-t.
until 1821, Central America constituted the administrative
unit of Guatemalan Statehood, the Capitanía
General, consisting of Chiapas, Guatemala, El Salvador,
Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. |
