Continents and Oceans

If you could look at the Earth from space, you would see mostly blue water — and scattered across it, large green and brown landmasses. Those are our continents and oceans!

Continents and oceans — what is the difference?

• A continent is a very large area of land. There are seven continents.
• An ocean is a very large area of salt water that covers part of the Earth. There are five oceans. In this lesson you will meet four of them; the fifth, the Southern Ocean, surrounds Antarctica.
• Example: Africa is a continent — a large piece of land. The Atlantic Ocean is a body of water that lies between Africa and the Americas.

The seven continents

• North America · South America · Europe · Africa · Asia · Australia · Antarctica

Four of the oceans

• Pacific Ocean — the largest ocean; between Asia/Australia and the Americas.
• Atlantic Ocean — between the Americas and Europe/Africa.
• Indian Ocean — south of Asia, between Africa and Australia.
• Arctic Ocean — the smallest ocean; surrounds the North Pole.

Key facts

• About 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean — more water than land!
• The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean and the largest geographic feature on Earth.
• All the oceans are connected — they form one giant body of water.