Physical Features

Land. About 30 per cent of the earth's surface is land. There are 58,000,000 square miles (150,000,000 km2) of land area, divided into seven continents and thousands of islands. The larger part of the land is in the Northern Hemisphere. Spread out in this part of the world are the largest continent, Asia, and two other continents, Europe and North America. Also north of the equator are the broad, northern parts of Africa and South America. Antarctica and Australia are wholly in the Southern Hemisphere.

The surface of the land is varied. There are mountains and valleys; forests and vast treeless plains; and great sandy wastes, which are largely deserts. The highest point is the summit of Mount Everest; the lowest point is on the shore of the Dead Sea.

Water. About 70 per cent of the world is covered by water. This vast area of 139,000,000 square miles (360,000,000 km2) is made up of oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers.