Asia is the largest and most populous of the seven continents in the world. Its name is also the oldest. The full name of Asia Asia means "the place where the sun rises". Its English name is Asia. According to legend, the name Asia was given by the ancient Phoenicians. Frequent sea activities required the Phoenicians to determine their position. So they call the area east of the Aegean Sea "Asu", which means "the land of sunrise"; The place west of the Aegean Sea is generally called "Ereb", which means "there is no land under the sun". The word Asia evolved from Phoenician Asu, and the area it refers to is not very clear and the scope is limited. By the first century BC, Asia had become the name of an administrative province of the Roman Empire, and then it gradually expanded to include the whole Asian region and became the largest continent in the world.
The origin of European names
The full name of Europe is Europe, and English is Europe. There are some legends about the origin of the name Europe. In Greek mythology, Demeter was a goddess who specialized in farming. She endowed the world with abundant grains and prosperous people and animals. In the portrait of this goddess, people always draw her sitting on the back of a bull. In ancient times, bulls were indispensable livestock for human beings. As the goddess is responsible for farming, she naturally sits on the back of the cow. Another name of the goddess is Europa. People call Europa the name of the mainland out of respect for the goddess. In addition, there is a widely circulated legend: Zeus, the king of the gods, took a fancy to Europa, the beautiful daughter of the Phoenician king, and wanted to marry her, but he was afraid that she would not agree. One day, Europa was playing with a group of girls at the seaside. When Zeus saw it, he quickly turned into a vigorous and docile bull and came to Europa. Europa saw the lovely bull lying beside him and stepped on the bull's back. As soon as Zeus saw Europa fall into the trap, he immediately stood up to avoid the crowd, then jumped into the sea to break the waves and took Europa to a distant land to live. This land will be named after this beautiful princess, called Europa.
The origin of African names
Africa is the abbreviation of Africa, and its English name is Africa. There are many interesting legends about the origin of the word Africa. According to a legend, in ancient times, a Yemeni chief named Avril Kush invaded North Africa in 2000 BC and established a city named Afriyie there. Later, people called this large area Africa. Another legend is that "Africa" is the name of a goddess worshipped by Berbers living in North Africa. This goddess is a patron saint. It is said that as early as BC 1 century, Berbers found the statue of this goddess in a temple. She is a young woman in an elephant skin. Since then, people have taken the name of the goddess "Africa" as the name of the African continent. There is also a saying that the word Africa comes from the Latin aprica, which means "the sun is very hot". Compared with Greece and Rome on the northern shore of the Mediterranean, the sun in North Africa is really much hotter. Another way of saying it is that the word Africa comes from Arabic afar, which means "dust". It is named after the dry climate and sandstorm in the continent. There is also a saying that Scipio, the Roman conqueror who invaded Carthage (present-day Tunisia), was nicknamed "Scipio Philigen". In memory of the conqueror, the Roman rulers called this area "Africa". Later, the Romans continued to expand and established a new African province. At that time, the name was limited to the northern part of the African continent. By the 2nd century AD, the Roman Empire's territory in Africa had expanded from the Strait of Gibraltar to the whole northeast of Egypt. People call all the Romans or aborigines who live here Africans, which means Africa. This place is also called Africa, and later it refers to the African continent.
The origin of American names
America includes North America and South America. The word America is short for America. America was named in memory of an Italian navigator named Amerigo Weiss Pucci. 1499. Amerigo sailed from the sea to India with a fleet led by Portuguese ojeda. They sailed along the route taken by Columbus, overcame many difficulties and finally reached the American continent. Amerigo made a detailed investigation on the northeast coast of South America and compiled the latest map. 1507, his book Sea Travel Tales came out, which caused a sensation all over the world. In this book, the process of "discovering" the new continent is described in a fascinating way, and the mainland is described and rendered vividly. Amerigo announced the concept of the new continent to the world, and suddenly crossed the earth structure system formulated by the absolute authority of western geography in the Middle Ages. Therefore, several French scholars revised and supplemented Doremus's masterpiece Cosmology, and named the New World after Amerigo in recognition of his outstanding contribution to human understanding of the world. After the publication of the new book Cosmology, according to the materials in the book, a new continent, Amerigo, was added to the map. Later, according to the word formation form of other continents, "Amerigo" was changed to "Americana". At first, the name was just a guide to America, and through the Mercator map of 154 1, North America was also a part of America.
The origin of Latin American names
Latin America includes Mexico, Central America, West Indies and South America. The origin of the name Latin America is related to the popular languages in this region. Since the end of 65.438+0.5 billion, most countries in this region have been colonized by Spain and Portugal, and a large number of immigrants have poured in. /kloc-After the 0/9th century, these countries gradually gained independence. Due to 300 years of colonial rule, they were deeply influenced by the social system, customs, religious habits, religious beliefs and cultural traditions of Spain and Portugal, and the local Indian language was gradually replaced by Portuguese, which belongs to the Latin Spanish family. These two languages have become the national languages of many countries, so people call this region "Latin America".
The origin of the name of Oceania
The concept and scope of the name of Oceania are more complicated than the other six continents on earth, and there is still no internationally recognized unified explanation. Most geographers in China believe that Oceania refers to the general name of Pacific islands that do not belong to other continents. Include Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. The name of Oceania first appeared around 18 12 and was named by Danish geographer Marte Braun. At that time, it only referred to Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, and it was Oceania in a narrow sense.
The origin of the name Antarctica
The English name of Antarctica is Antarctica, which comes from the Greek anti (in turn), plus the North Pole, which means the opposite of the North Pole, that is, the South Pole. Because the mainland is at the southernmost tip of the earth and surrounds the South Pole, it is called "Antarctica" in Chinese, which is a geographical name. Antarctica was discovered by French Bouvier in 1738. When he was sailing, he found an island (now Bouvier Island) near the Antarctic continent. Cook, an Englishman, visited many islands around the Antarctic continent in 172- 1775. But it is generally believed that the Antarctic continent was discovered in the19th century. It is said that Americans first saw the Antarctic continent in 1820.
Category: Default Category | Comments (1) | Browse (359) Seven continents of the world Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 3:23 pm.
29% of the earth is land, and 7 1% is ocean. The global land can be divided into seven continents: Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, South America, North America and Antarctica.
Distribution of continents and oceans
Asia, Asia for short.
Asia: Located in the northeast of the old hemisphere, it borders the Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean and the Indian Ocean on the east, north and south, and the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea on the west.
Area: 44 million km2, accounting for 29.4% of the world's total land area, making it the largest continent in the world. The Asian continent is connected with the European continent, collectively known as Eurasia.
Scope: The mainland reaches Cape Yezhnev in the east, Cape Pai in the south, Cape Baba in the west and Cape Cheryushin in the north. The Urals in the northwest, ural river, the Caspian Sea and the Great Caucasus Mountains, the Turkish Strait is separated from Europe, the Suez Canal in the southwest, the Red Sea adjacent to Africa, a series of islands close to Oceania in the southeast, and North America across the Bering Strait in the northeast.
There are 48 countries and regions in Asia, divided into East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, Central Asia and North Asia.
The population is 35 1.3 billion, accounting for 60.5% of the world's total population. China has the largest population, and other countries with a population of more than 1 100 million are Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Bangladeshi and Pakistani.
Race: yellow people account for more than 3/5 of the population of the whole continent, followed by white people and few blacks.
Religion: Asia is the birthplace of Buddhism, Islam and Christianity.
Language: Asian languages belong to Sino-Tibetan, South Asian, Altaic, Korean, Japanese and Indo-European languages.
Africa, Africa for short.
Africa: located in the southwest of the old hemisphere, it spans the north and south of the equator, and some parts of the northwest extend to the western hemisphere. It borders the Indian Ocean in the east, the Atlantic Ocean in the west, the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar in the north, and Europe in the northeast corner. The narrow Red Sea and Suez Canal adjoin Asia. Scope: The mainland reaches Cape Hafen in the east, Cape Agus in the south and Cape Verde in the west. North to Cape Giran (Cape Benseka). Area: about 30.2 million square kilometers (including nearby islands). It accounts for about 20.2% of the world's total land area and is the second largest continent in the world after Asia. Geographical area: There are currently 56 countries and regions in Africa. Geographically, African customs are divided into five regions: North Africa, East Africa, West Africa, Central Africa and South Africa.
The population is 748 million, accounting for 12.9% of the world's total population, ranking second in the world, second only to Asia. The birth rate, death rate and growth rate of African population are the highest on all continents.
Race: Africa is the most complex region in the world. Most ethnic groups in Africa belong to black people, and the rest belong to white people and yellow people.
Language: There are about 800 African languages, which are generally divided into four major language families.
Religion: African residents mostly believe in primitive religion and Islam, while a few believe in Catholicism and Christianity.
Europe for short.
It is located in the northwest of the old hemisphere, west of Asia, north of the Arctic Ocean, west of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Africa across the Mediterranean, east of Urals, ural river, Caucasus, Bosphorus, Daniil Strait and Asia, northwest of Greenland Sea, east of Denmark Strait and North America.
Scope: The mainland reaches the Urals in the east, Cape Maroqi in the south, Cape Rocca in the west and Cape Noqin in the north.
Area:10160,000 square kilometers, accounting for about 6.8% of the world's total land area, only bigger than Oceania and the sixth continent in the world.
Europe
Geographical region: There are 44 countries and regions in Europe, which are divided into five regions: southern Europe, western Europe, central Europe, northern Europe and eastern Europe.
Ethnic Composition: Most residents in Europe are white (Europa), and the ethnic composition of all continents is relatively simple. There are about 70 ethnic groups in the whole continent, most of which have reached a certain number, and there are few small ethnic groups and tribes. The ethnic composition of most countries is also relatively simple. Countries with complex ethnic composition include Russia and Switzerland.
Language: There are many languages in Europe. The main languages are English, Russian, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Religion: Most residents believe in Catholicism and Christianity.
Oceania
Oceania, located in the southwest and south of the Pacific Ocean, refers to Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia, Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea.
Area: The total land area of Oceania is about 8.97 million Km2, accounting for 6% of the total land area of the earth, making it the smallest continent in the world.
Geographical area: there are 14 independent countries in Oceania, and the remaining ten areas are still under the jurisdiction of the United States, Britain, France and other countries. It is geographically divided into six regions: Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.
With a population of 29 million, accounting for about 0.5% of the world's population, it is the least populated continent in the world except Antarctica. Papuans, Australians, Tasmanians, Maori, melanesians, Micronesia, Polynesia and other local residents account for about 20% of the total population, and European descendants account for more than 70%. In addition, there are hybrids, Indians, China and Japanese.
Language: Most residents speak English, while the local residents of the three islands speak Melanesian, Micronesia and Polynesian.
Religion: Most residents believe in Christianity, a few believe in Catholicism and most Indians believe in Hinduism.
South America, referred to as South America.
South America is located in the southern part of the western hemisphere, bordering the Atlantic Ocean in the east, the Pacific Ocean in the west, the Caribbean Sea in the north and Antarctica across the Drake Strait in the south. It is usually the Panama Canal that separates it from North America.
Scope: the mainland reaches Punta Blanco in the east, Punta Floyd in the south, Punta Paribas in the west and Punta Innas in the north.
Area: about17.97 million square kilometers (including nearby islands), accounting for about 12% of the world's total land area.
Geographical area: geographically divided into: countries in northern South America, including Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Venezuela and Colombia.
Residents: Population: 325 million, accounting for about 5.6% of the world's total population. The population distribution is unbalanced.
Ethnic composition: South America has a complex ethnic group, including Indians, whites, blacks and various mixed-race types, among which Indo-European mixed-race types are the most.
Language: Indians use Indian, Portuguese is the official language of Brazil, French is the official language of French Guyana, English is the official language of Guyana, Dutch is the official language of Suriname, and Spanish is the official language of other countries.
Religion: Most residents believe in Catholicism and a few believe in Christianity.
North America, America for short.
North America: It is located in the northern part of the western hemisphere, bordering the Atlantic Ocean in the east, the Pacific Ocean in the west and the Arctic Ocean in the north. Its south is separated from South America by the Panama Canal. The mainland reaches Cape St. Charles in the east, Cape Mariato in the south, Cape Prince of Wales in the west and Cape Muchison in the Busia Peninsula in the north. North America includes America to the north of Panama Canal and the West Indies in the Caribbean.
Area: 24.228 million square kilometers (including nearby islands), accounting for 65.438+06.2% of the world's total land area, making it the third continent in the world. The population is 462 million, accounting for 8% of the world's total population. The population distribution of the whole continent is very uneven.
The geographical region is divided into nine regions: Eastern Region, Central Region, Western Region, Alaska, Canadian Arctic Islands, Greenland, Mexico, Central America and West Indies.
Ethnic composition: most of the residents are descendants of European immigrants, of which Anglo-Saxons are the most; Followed by Indians, blacks, hybrids, Inuit, Puerto Ricans, Jews, China and Japanese.
Language: Common English and Spanish, followed by French, Dutch and Hindi.
Religion: The residents mainly believe in Christianity and Catholicism.
Antarctica
Antarctica is the last continent that human beings have reached, also known as the "seventh continent".
Location: Located at the southernmost tip of the earth, the land is almost in the Antarctic circle, surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. It is the continent with the highest geographical latitude in the world.
Area: The total area is about140,000 square kilometers, accounting for 9.4% of the total land area of the world.
Scope: It consists of continent, continental margin ice and islands around Antarctica, in which the mainland area is123.93 million square kilometers, the continental margin ice area is1582 million square kilometers, and the island area is 76,000 square kilometers.
Antarctica
Geographical division: Antarctica is divided into two parts: East Antarctica and West Antarctica. East Antarctica extends from 30 west longitude to170 east longitude, including cortese Land, Maud Land, Enderby Land, Wilkes Land, George V Coast, Victoria Land, Antarctic Plateau and Pole.
Area: 1.0 1.8 million square kilometers. West Antarctica lies between 50 and 65,438+0.60 west longitude, including Antarctic Peninsula, Alexandria, Ellsworth Land and Bird Land (Mary Bird Land), covering an area of 2.29 million square kilometers.
Residents: Antarctica has only scientific researchers and whaling teams from other continents, and there are no settled residents.
There is only one home for mankind, and we should cherish our own home-the earth.
Category: Default Classification | Comments (1 1) | Browse (3972) Introduction to South America Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 03: 2 1 afternoon Name of South America.
Located in the southern part of the Western Hemisphere, it faces the Atlantic Ocean in the east, the Pacific Ocean in the west, the Caribbean Sea in the north and Antarctica across the Drake Strait in the south. It is usually the Panama Canal that separates it from North America.
The continental range starts from Bronco point in the east (34 46 ′ W and 7 09 ′ S), reaches Floyd point in the south (765 438+018 ′ S), and reaches Parias point in the west (865 438+0 20 W).
The area is about17.97 million square kilometers (including nearby islands), accounting for about 12% of the world's total land area.
Geographical areas are divided into: countries in northern South America, including Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Venezuela and Colombia. Countries in the central Andes, including Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Countries in southern South America, including Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Brazil, the eastern country of South America, accounts for about half of the total area of the mainland.
The resident population is 325 million, accounting for 5.6% of the world's total population. The population distribution is uneven, and the northwest and eastern coastal areas are densely populated. The vast Amazon plain is one of the regions with the lowest population density in the world, with less than one person per square kilometer. Another feature of population distribution is that the population is highly concentrated in a few big cities.
The ethnic composition of South America is complex, including Indians, whites, blacks and various mixed-race types, among which Indo-European mixed-race types are the most. Among the nearly 300 million people, whites are the most, followed by Indo-European mixed-race and Indians, and blacks are the least.
Language Indians use Indian, the official language of Brazil is Portuguese, the official language of French Guiana is French, the official language of Guyana is English, the official language of Suriname is Dutch, and other countries use Spanish as the official language.
The vast majority of religious residents believe in Catholicism and a few believe in Christianity.
The coastline of the natural environment is about 28,700 kilometers long, which is relatively straight, and most of them are eroded coasts consistent with the trend of mountains. Lack of big peninsula and big bay. There are not many islands, mainly distributed in the southern coastal areas of the mainland.
Topography The topography of the South American continent can be divided into three north-south longitudinal zones: the long and narrow Andes in the west, the undulating plateau in the east and the vast and flat plain lowlands in the middle. The plains below 300 meters above sea level in South America account for about 60% of the whole continent, with an altitude of 300 meters. The plateaus, hills and mountains between 000 meters account for about 33% of the whole continent, and the plateaus and mountains above 3000 meters account for about 7% of the whole continent. The average elevation of the whole continent is 600 meters. The Andes are made up of several parallel mountains. The widest part of the mountain is 400 kilometers, with a total length of about 9000 kilometers. Most of them are above 3000 meters above sea level. It is the longest mountain range in the world and one of the highest mountain systems in the world. There are many peaks in the Andes with an altitude of more than 6,000 meters, among which Aconcagua Mountain is the highest peak in South America with an altitude of 69,600 meters. There are vast Brazilian Plateau and Guyana Plateau in the east of South America, among which Brazil Plateau covers an area of over 5 million square kilometers, making it the largest plateau in the world. There is Patagonia Plateau in the south. From north to south, South America is the Orinoco River Plain, Amazon Plain and La Plata Plain. Among them, the Amazon Plain covers an area of about 5.6 million square kilometers, making it the largest alluvial plain in the world. The terrain is flat, and the altitude is mostly below 200 meters.
Volcanoes and earthquakes South America is a continent with many volcanoes, frequent earthquakes and strong earthquakes in the world. Cordillera mountain system is the main part of the volcanic belt on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean. There are 16 active volcanoes in the northern segment of the Andes, and more than 30 active volcanoes in the southern segment. Llullaillaco is the highest active volcano in the world at an altitude of 6 723 meters. The Pacific coast has the most frequent earthquakes.
Climate Most parts of South America belong to tropical rain forest and savanna climate. The climate is warm and humid, mainly tropical and continental. Except for mountainous areas, the average temperature in Leng Yue is above 0℃ in winter, and the average temperature in tropical areas, which occupy the main part of the mainland, exceeds 20℃. Winter is far warmer than North America. The average temperature in the hottest month in summer in most areas is 26? 8℃, far less hot than the tropical regions of Africa and Australia. The annual temperature difference in all parts of South America is small, unlike that in Asia and North America. The whole continent is rich in precipitation, and the area with annual precipitation above 1000mm accounts for more than 70% of the whole continent, which is a small desert area in all continents.
Water system South America's water system is bounded by the Andes of the Cordillera Mountains, belonging to the Atlantic water system and the Pacific water system in the east and west. The source of the Pacific water system is short and fast, and many of them flow into the sea alone. Most of the rivers in the Atlantic system have a long history, many tributaries, abundant water and vast river basins. Among them, Amazon River is one of the longest rivers in the world, with the widest drainage area and the largest flow, with more than 20 tributaries exceeding 1000km. The inflow area of South American water system is very small, and inland rivers are mainly distributed in the desert plateau in central and western South America and northwest Argentina. Except for the southernmost tip of South America, rivers are not frozen all year round. There are many waterfalls in South America. Angel Waterfall is the largest waterfall in the world with a drop of 979 meters. There are not many lakes in South America, but many lakes are built in the desert plateau of the Andes, such as Lake Titicaca and Lake Bobo. There are many glacial lakes in Patagonia plateau in the south; There are many inland salt marshes in the internal flow area. Lake Maracaibo in the northwest of South America is the largest lake.
Natural resources and mineral resources have not been well developed. At present, it is known that most of the more than 20 most important mineral raw materials needed by modern industry are available, with abundant reserves. Venezuela's oil reserves and Brazil's iron ore reserves rank among the top in the world; Natural gas is mainly distributed in Venezuela and Argentina; Coal is mainly distributed in Colombia and Brazil; Bauxite is mainly distributed in Suriname; The copper reserves are 6,543.8+billion tons, ranking first in all continents, while Chile ranks second in the world and fourth in Peru. The reserves of bismuth, antimony, silver, saltpeter, beryllium and sulfur rank first on all continents. Tin, manganese, mercury, platinum, lithium, uranium, vanadium, zirconium, thorium, diamond and other minerals are also very rich.
The forest area is about 920 million hectares, accounting for more than 50% of the total area of the whole continent and 23% of the total forest area of the world. Precious trees is rich in mahogany, sandalwood, cycad, kapok, Brazilian wood, balsam wood and rosewood. Grassland area is about 440 million hectares, accounting for about 25% of the total area of the whole continent, exceeding 14% of the total grassland area of the world.
The hydraulic reserves of hydraulic resources are estimated to be 467 million kilowatts, accounting for 16.9% of the world's hydraulic reserves. 5.6 million kilowatts of water resources have been developed, accounting for about 3.6% of the total water resources development in the world.
Fishing The northern coast of Chile and the southeastern coast of Brazil are rich in tuna, the coast of Peru is rich in fish, and the coast of Chile is rich in sardines, cod and whales. In addition, the coastal areas of Brazil and Argentina are also rich in bass, mullet, anchovy, mackerel, cod and other fish. The coast of Peru and the coast of Brazil are two major fishing grounds in South America.
Economic overview After World War II, South America's economy developed rapidly and its economic structure changed significantly. However, the economic level and strength of countries are far from each other. Brazil and Argentina have established relatively complete national economic systems, with GDP accounting for about two-thirds of the whole continent. Venezuela, Colombia, Chile and Peru are also economically developed countries.
Mining and manufacturing are the most important industries. Mining is the basic sector of South American countries, and most minerals are exported, such as oil from Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador and Peru. Iron from Brazil, Venezuela and Chile; Tin and antimony in Bolivia; Copper in Chile and Peru; Bauxite in Guyana and Suriname; Lead, zinc, silver and bismuth in Peru; Nitrite and molybdenum in Chile; The production or export of niobium in Brazil occupies an important position in the world. Light industry is the main body of manufacturing industry in most countries in South America, and meat processing, sugar, beverage, leather, textile, clothing and other departments are relatively developed. Heavy industries such as steel, automobiles, chemicals, rubber, electrical appliances and machinery are concentrated in Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Peru and Colombia.
Agriculture is of great significance in the economy of South American countries. Cash crops occupy an absolute advantage in planting. South America is the origin of cultivated plants such as cocoa, sunflower, pineapple, potato, cassava, Brazilian rubber tree, tobacco, cinchona tree, corn, tomato, Paraguayan tea and pepper. Sugarcane, banana and coffee each account for 20% of the world's total output. 5%, of which Brazil ranks first in the world in coffee and banana production; Cocoa and citrus account for about 25% of the world's total output, of which Brazil's cocoa production ranks third in the world; Sisal production ranks second in all continents, mainly in Brazil; Brazil's cassava production ranks first in the world. South America provides the world with the vast majority of coffee, bananas and sucrose, as well as a large number of cotton, cocoa and sisal. Countries such as Argentina in the southeast export a lot of meat and food. The total number of cattle and sheep occupies an important position in the world. Anchovies, sardines, eels, bass, tuna, etc. Peru and Chile are world-famous fishing countries. Most countries in South America are engaged in agricultural production, but food production is still not self-sufficient, and most countries need to import food.
Transportation mainly depends on railways and highways. Traffic in Argentina and Brazil is relatively developed. Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, Uruguay, Chile and other countries have dense road networks. The total length of roads in South America is about 2 million kilometers, the total length of railways is about 85,000 kilometers, and the navigation mileage of inland rivers is about100000.