All About The World

By Author: Billy Bobb
Total Articles: 41
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The planet we live on is Planet Earth, which is situated in the solar system we live in. It is the third planet in line from the sun, following Mercury and Venus. Earth is the largest terrestrial planet in our solar system, which is to say that exclusing the planets made of gas, Earth is the largest.

There is no planet other than Earth where life exists, as far as we know. There are some characteristics of the Earth that allow it to support life, such as the ozone layer which keeps dangerous radiation away from the Earth, and the Earth's magnetic field. The Earth's ability to sustain life is expected to continue for another 1.5 billion years.

The surface of Earth is made up of tectonic plates which very slowly migrate around the Earth over periosd of millions of years. Around 71% of the planet's surface is covered by salt-water oceans, and the other 29% is made up of land masses and islands.

Earth completes one orbit of the Sun approximately every 365 1/4 days. And since the Earth is tilted at an angle of 23.4 degrees, as it orbits around the sun seasonal variation results.

The Earth has a number ...
... of large land masses that are generally dividied into seven continents. The continents are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. The continents have different climates and weather patterns that are dependant on the the longitude and latitude they are situated at, their elevation, and other factors. Locations in close proximity to the equator usually have much less seasonal variation and boast a tropical climate all year-round.

Aside from Antarctia which is mostly inhospitable, the other continents have significant human populations. Asia has by far the largest population with approximately 3.9 billion people. Africa is in second place with a total population of around 922 million. Europe is in third place with around 731 million people. North America is fourth with 528,729,588 people. In fifth place is South America with a total population of about 382 million. Australia is in 6th place with its relatively small population of 32 million. And last is Antarctica with a population of 1000 (mostly researchers and the like). China and India (sometimes referred to as Chindia) both have huge populations of over 1 billion each.
Learn more about the Earth and see a world map printable collection, visit Free Printable Maps.