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| World Profile |
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| The Earth and it's only Moon |
image: NASA / Public Domain |
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Our World, the Earth - the 5th largest planet in our Solar System - is currently the only planet in the entire Universe that is proven to contain life, and some Scientists believe that it is also the only planet which is even capable of supporting life of any type. Apparently, this is because it is the only planet proved to have water on it's surface, along with food and carbon, the necessary ingredients required for life to exist. A little over 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by water, and the very first simplistic forms of life are believed to have evolved from there.
It is also 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.
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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
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[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] "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.
[5] "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.
[6] "World: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population" All statistics © Stefan Helders, www.world-gazetteer.com
[7] "World Population Prospects, The 2006 Revision" UN (United Nations) Estimates for life expectancy for 2005-2010. These are the revised 2006 figures.
[8] "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.
[9] "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".
[10] "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.
[11] "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.
[12] "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.
[13] "Official World's 200 Tallest High-rise Buildings" (Emporis.com)
[14] "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
[15] "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 |
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