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The World's Continents
References
 
The Earth and it's only Moon
The Earth and it's only Moon image: NASA / Public Domain
Selected World Features
Depleted Uranium Stockpiles
In The
World
Female Genital Mutilation
In The
World
 
Most Re-Forested Countries
In The
World
Most Expensive Military's
In The
World
Selected World Video
The Forgotten Prisoners -
3 US Hikers
In Iran
William Li: Can Cancer-Fighting Foods
Kill It?
Documentary Speech
 
The Cut - Female Genital Mutilation
In Kenya
Cosmic Journeys - Entire Series
Documentary Documentary Series
World Geography & Nature
Total Surface Area: 510,072,000 sq km / 197,712,000 sq miles [1]
Total Land Area: 148,940,000 sq km / 57,510,000 sq miles (29.1% of Planet Earth's surface) [1]
Primary Tectonic Plates:
Major Tectonic Plates In The World
8 - African, Antarctic, Australian, Eurasian, Indian, North American, Pacific, South American
Recognised Countries:
Recognised Countries In The World
203 (193 widely-recognised & 10 partially-recognised states) [2]
Overseas Dependencies:
Overseas Dependencies In The World
67
Disputed Territories:
Disputed Territories In The World
44
Trans-Continental Countries:
Trans-Continental Countries In The World
13 widely-considered trans-continental nations & 14 possible trans-continental nations
Largest Continent:
The World's Continents
Asia - 44,579,000 sq km / 17,212,000 sq miles (29.5% of total World landmass) [1]
Largest Country:
Largest Countries In The World
Russia - 17,098,242 sq km / 6,601,668 sq miles
Smallest Country:
Vatican City - 0.44 sq km / 0.17 sq miles
Largest Ocean:
The World's Oceans
The Pacific Ocean - 155,557,000 sq km / 60,060,000 sq miles [3]
Highest Mountain:
Highest Mountains In The World
Mount Everest - 8,848 metres / 29,029 ft - Nepal / China
Longest River:
Longest Rivers In The World
The Nile - 6,650 km / 4,135 miles - Egypt / Sudan / Uganda / Ethiopia
Largest Lake:
Largest Lakes In The World
The Caspian Sea - 371,000 sq km / 143,000 sq miles - Azerbaijan / Iran / Kazakhstan / Russia / Turkmenistan
Most Forested Country:
Most Forested Countries In The World
Suriname - 94.7% of total land area forested (FAO/UN) [4]
Most De-Forested Country:
Most De-Forested Countries In The World
Comoros - 63.3% of forestation disappeared between 1990 and 2007 (FAO/UN) [4]
Most Re-Forested Country:
Most Re-Forested Countries In The World
Bahrain - increased forestation by 150% between 1990 and 2007 (FAO/UN) [4]
World Population & Health
World Population: 6,706,993,152 (XIST) [5]
Most Populous Country: China - 1,338,405,928 (China Population Clock) [6]
Most Populous City:
Most Populous Cities In The World
Shanghai - China - 15,968,867 (World Gazetteer) [7]
Most Populous Metro Area:
Most Populous Metro Areas In The World
Tokyo - Japan - 37,730,064 (World Gazetteer) [8]
Average Life Expectancy:
67.2 years (UN) [9]
Infant Mortality Rate: ...
Largest HIV Population:
HIV Statistics For The World
South Africa - 5,700,000 (UNAIDS) [10]
Highest FGM Prevalence:
FGM Statistics For The World
Somalia - 97.9% of 15-49 yr old females have had Female Genital Mutilation (UNIFEM) [11]

It is believed that we humans began to inhabit the Earth from about 200,000 years ago, after evolving from other species, but the planet itself is about 4.5 billion years old. Life began to develop from about 3.5 billion years ago, and nowadays it is home to an estimated 100 million different living species. Living things can flourish safely on our planet due to it's magnetic field, which is possibly controlled by the core of the planet, and which blocks harmful radiation from outer space. Other major protection for all of Earth's many life forms comes from the ozone layer, which was developed by a combination of our earliest living organisms, along with the basic elements that were present before life began on Earth. Without the Earth's protective magnetic field, and it's ozone layer, we humans would not exist.

World Energy
Total Nuclear Reactors:
438 Operational Nuclear Power Reactors (IAEA) [12]
Oldest Nuclear Power Reactor:
Operational Nuclear Reactors, by Age
1 Reactor Currently in service for 43 years (IAEA) [13]
Most Nuclear Power Reactors:
Nuclear Power Reactors In The World
United States - 104 Operational Nuclear Power Reactors (IAEA) [12]
Future Nuclear Reactors:
Reactors Under Construction In The World
58 Nuclear Power Reactors Currently Under Construction (IAEA) [14]
Shutdown Nuclear Reactors:
Shutdown Reactors In The World
124 Permanently Shutdown Nuclear Power Reactors (IAEA) [15]
World Civil Rights
Least Peaceful Country:
Least Peaceful Countries In The World
Iraq (Global Peace Index) [16]
Most Peaceful Country:
New Zealand (Global Peace Index) [16]
Most Corrupt Country:
Most Corrupt Countries In The World
Somalia (Corruption Perceptions Index) [17]
Least Corrupt Country:
New Zealand (Corruption Perceptions Index) [17]
World Military
Global Yearly Military Budget:
World & Continental Military Budgets
US$1,531,000,000,000 (SIPRI) [18]
Largest National Military Budget:
Largest Military Budgets In The World
United States - US$661,000,000,000 (SIPRI) [18]
Highest Military Spend (% GDP):
Military Spending In The World
Oman - 11.40% of GDP (CIA World Factbook) [19]
Lowest Military Spend (% GDP):
Iceland - 0.00% of GDP (CIA World Factbook) [19]
Major Armed Conflicts:
Major Armed Conflicts In The World
During 2009, 17 major conflicts took place around the World (SIPRI) [18]
Multilateral Arms Embargoes:
Multilateral Arms Embargoes In The World
20 major multilateral arms embargoes are currently in place (UK Government Info) [20]
Largest Arms-Supplying Country:
Largest Arms-Supplying Nations In The World
United States - 30% of overall global arms trade (SIPRI) [18]
Largest Arms-Producing Corp':
Largest Global Arms-Producing Corporations
BAE Systems - United Kingdom - US$32.42bn arms sales, US$3.25bn profit - Yearly figures for 2009 (SIPRI) [18]
Most Nuclear Weapons:
Nuclear Weapons Stockpiles In The World
Russia - 13,000 total warheads / 4,718 operational warheads (Federation of American Scientists) [21]
Most Depleted Uranium:
Depleted Uranium Stockpiles In The World
United States - 480,000 tonnes (WISE Uranium Project) [22]
World Media & Communications
Most Internet Users:
Most Overall Internet Users In The World
China - 280,000,000 (UN) [23]
Least Free National Press:
Least Free National Press In The World
Eritrea (Press Freedom Index) [24]
Most Free National Press:
Denmark / Finland / Ireland, Republic of / Norway / Sweden (Press Freedom Index) [24]
Most Newspaper Journalists:
Most Newspaper Journalists In The World
Iceland - 2052.5 Newspaper Journalists per 1 million inhabitants (UN) [23]
More World Facts & Figures
Highest Yearly GDP:
Highest GDP In The World
United States - US$14,441,425,000,000 (IMF) [25] / US$14,204,322,000,000 (World Bank) [26]
Tallest Building:
Tallest Buildings In The World
Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates - 818 metres / 2,684 feet - 160 floors (Emporis) [27]
The World's Interior

The make-up of the interior of the planet is a little hard to prove, although scientists and our schoolbooks confidently tell us that the planet gets denser as you go in deeper. The official line also declares that the crust itself only makes up about 1% of the total volume, and it is thought to be about 6km thick under the oceans, and about 30-50km thick where land is present. Inside that crust is a thin layer called the Lithosphere, and that is surrounded by a 3,000 km thick mostly-solid layer called the mantle which makes up about 84% of the Earth's volume. In the very centre of the planet is the core, which is believed to be made up from almost 90% iron - with solid iron in the inner core and liquid iron in the outer core, and some nickel in both sections too - and this section accounts for about 15% of the planets total volume.

Scientists also believe that the inside of our planet is active, and that therefore this creates the volcanoes and movement of the tectonic plates, which cause our continents to move gradually over vast amounts of time. The geological layers which we believe to be present reflect what we think about the make-up of the inside of the other solid planets too, but in reality, humans have only physically been about 4km under the surface (gold mines in South Africa), we have only ever drilled down to a distance of 1.7 km under the seafloor, and our deepest penetration ever by drilling under land was 12.262 km (7.62 miles) down the Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia.

Whilst the depth we have reached may seem massive to us, it only accounts for about 25% of the depth under both the undersea crust (1.7 km of 5-10 km) and land crust (12.262 km of 30-50 km). And the distance of well over 3,000 km to the centre of the core, dwarf's where we have gotten to physically, so we really must rely on our scientists having guessed correctly for all of this time, because we actually have no visual or physical proof available to either prove or discredit these beliefs.

The Earth's inner layers - core, mantle, crust
[1] Inner Core
[2] Outer Core
[3] Lower Mantle
[4] Upper Mantle
[5] Lithosphere
[6] Crust
image: Mats Halldin / Chabacan (license)
The World's Continents
Map showing location of the World's Continents

Depending on differing criteria, there can be considered from four to seven separate continents on our planet. The most popular ways of distinguishing the continents are the 7-Continent Model (Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Oceania, Antarctica), the 6-Continent Model with Europe and Asia combined (Eur-Asia, North America, South America, Africa, Oceania, Antarctica), and the 6-Continent Model which includes the America's as one single continent (Europe, The Americas, Africa, Asia, Oceania, Antarctica).

Continent Profiles: Africa / Asia / Europe /
North America / Oceania / South America

Continents listed by Area, and % of global landmass

 
References
[1] "CIA - The World Factbook" Total surface area & total land area for the world.
[2] "List Of Geographic Names, also includes non-recognised states and some territories too" UN (United Nations). The countries highlighted in bold text are the fully internationally-recognised countries, and the remainder are a mixture of partially-recognised states, territories and dependancies.
[3] "International Hydrographic Organization" - All facts & figures quoted are dictated by the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans all ending at the 60° Southern line of latitude, as advised by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)..
[4] "ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS: Forests" United Nations Statistics Division - Statistics compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
[5] "World Population Estimate for 1st of July 2008" (XIST.org). See total at bottom of page. XIST bases it's figures on the CIA World Factbook.
[6] "Chinese Population Clock" Mainland China Reading taken on May.24.2009 @ 00.00hrs GMT: 1,330,847,828. Figures from Chinese territories of Macau & Hong Kong are then also added. Hong Kong population officially estimated at 7,008,900 on December.31.2008, and Macau population officially estimated at 549,200 on December.31.2008.
[7] "World: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population" All statistics © Stefan Helders, www.world-gazetteer.com
[8] "World: most populous metropolitan areas" All statistics © Stefan Helders, www.world-gazetteer.com
[9] "World Population Prospects, The 2006 Revision" UN (United Nations) Estimates for life expectancy for 2005-2010. These are the revised 2006 figures.
[10] "UNAIDS Interactive map" 2008 Report on the global AIDS epidemic, July 2008, UNAIDS. In the menu on the left, click on "HIV infection & AIDS Epidemic by country", then click "People living with HIV in 2007". You will then be able to view the statistics for each country by scanning over the interactive map of the World.
[11] "Countries where female genital mutilation has been documented" - PDF File/see page 29 - the latest available figures by the United Nations. This report is a section of the United Nations UNIFEM report "Eliminating Female Genital Mutilation: An Interagency Statement".
[12] "NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS - Operational & Long Term Shutdown Reactors by Country" - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
[13] "NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS - Operational Reactors by Age" - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
[14] "NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS - Under Construction Reactors by Country" - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
[15] "NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS - Shutdown Reactors by Country" - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
[16] "Global Peace Index :: Web Version".
[17] "Corruption Perceptions Index 2009" Released on the 17th of November 2009, these are the yearly CPI Index scores for the 180 countries which it evaluates. The CPI rating is based on 13 different independent surveys, however, not all surveys are used for all countries.
[18] "SIPRI Yearbook 2010: Summary" - Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
[19] "The CIA World Factbook 2009 :: Country Comparison :: Military expenditures" - Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
[20] "Current Arms Embargoes and Other Restrictions" - United Kingdom Department For Business, Innovation and Skills.
[21] "Status of World Nuclear Forces 2009" Federation of American Scientists - All numbers are estimates and are updated when new information becomes available. Current update: October.02.2009 - last retrieved by BlatantWorld.com on January.05.2010
[22] "World Depleted Uranium Inventory" WISE Uranium Project - This is the most accurate and up-to-date list out there for depleted Uranium stocks around the World. This list has last been updated by WISE Uranium Project on the 21st of April 2008, and was last retrieved by Blatant World.com on January.07.2010
[23] The statistics quoted above are taken from the UNdata statistics database - United Nations.
[24] "Press Freedom Index 2009" - Reporters Without Borders.
[25] "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2009" These are the latest figures to be released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as of the 1st of October 2009, and are based on the total GDP for each country for the whole of 2008.
[26] "World Bank Gross Domestic Product Figures For 2008" These are the latest available figures which were released by the World Bank as of the 1st of October 2009, and are based on the total GDP for each country for the whole of 2008.
[27] "Official World's 200 Tallest High-rise Buildings" (Emporis.com)
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This article is copyrighted to BlatantWorld.com, and may not be re-published for any reason.

Whilst we would ideally like to offer this article under a Creative Commons License, we are putting this copyrighted notice on this page due to it's nature - it is constantly changing with new facts & figures being added and statistics continuously being updated - plus it contains a mixture of data from sources which would not allow us to offer them under a Creative Commons License.

 
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