This page lists all the Useful Notes articles we have about the Earth's continents, and other major geographic regions of our world.
Please note that to a large extent, the exact boundaries and definitions of these "continents" and other regions can be extremely arbitrary, and tend to be more a matter of subjective human cultural ideas about sociopolitical geography, rather than being strictly rooted in more objective scientific knowledge about physical geography.
- Afro-Eurasia: Also known as the "Old World". The largest contiguous landmass on planet Earth, and home to the vast majority of the global human population. It is physically divided between Africa, and Eurasia (which is technically a continent in its own right, but for cultural reasons it has traditionally been split between Europe and Asia).
- Africa: The second-largest continent in both land area and population, it's where the human species and all our evolutionary ancestors originated from.
- Europe: The western portion of Eurasia, defined as being the historical birthplace and cultural center of the so-called "Western" (or "Occidental") world.
- Central Europe: The sub-region located approximately in the middle of Europe, and strongly influenced by both Germanic and Slavic cultures.
- The Channel Islands: An archipelago west of France and historically linked to Normandy, consisting of the British Crown Dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey.
- Sápmi: A region stretching across parts of Northern Europe and European Russia home to the Sámi people, an indigenous Finno-Ugric ethnic group.
- Asia: All the other portions of Eurasia, defined in contrast to Europe as being the so-called "Eastern" (or "Oriental") world. By far the largest and most populous of the world's (traditional) continents.
- The Far East: East, North, and Southeast Asia; all the parts facing towards the Pacific Ocean. Historically, it has been culturally influenced mostly by China (and also India to some extent).
- The (Greater) Middle East: A (very vaguely-defined) region of the Old World, generally agreed to include most of southwestern Eurasia, and at least part of northern Africa.
- Arab World: A large region stretching across most of West Asia and North Africa, consisting of all countries where Arabic is natively spoken by most locals. This is what Westerners usually think of (and conflate with) when they hear "Middle East".
- The Caucasus: A region located on the boundaries of Eastern Europe and West Asia. Sandwiched in-between Russia, Turkey, and Iran, and is culturally influenced by all of them to varying degrees.
- The Americas: Also known as the "New World". The second-largest contiguous landmass in the world. While it has its own indigenous cultures, due to centuries of European colonial rule, it is culturally considered to be part of the Western world. It is physically divided between the two continents of North America and South America.
- North America: The northern portion of the two Americas. Dominated mostly by Canada, the United States, and Mexico, with the rest of the land belonging to numerous, significantly smaller countries.
- Caribbean Islands: Numerous islands and archipelagos dotting the Caribbean Sea and surrounding waters, including both independent countries, along with overseas dependencies of other countries. It alongside Central America are usually considered part of North America.
- Central America: The isthmus that connects North and South America. All except for one country speaks Spanish, the only country in Central America that doesn't speak Spanish is Belize. Central America, alongside the Caribbean are considered a part of North America.
- South America: The southern portion of the two Americas. Dominated mostly by Brazil, along with multiple (mostly Spanish-speaking) countries.
- Latin America: A large region stretching across Mexico, most parts of Central and South America, and some parts of the Caribbean; consisting of many countries where the Latin/Romance languages of Spanish and Portuguese are natively spoken by most locals.
- North America: The northern portion of the two Americas. Dominated mostly by Canada, the United States, and Mexico, with the rest of the land belonging to numerous, significantly smaller countries.
- The Arctic: A large region stretching across Northern America, Northern Europe and Russia. Home to many indigenous people groups, and features a unique ecosystem due to it's cold, harsh environment.
- Oceania: Less of an actual continent, and more of a large region stretching across much of the (mostly southern) Pacific Ocean. Includes the following regions:
- Australasia: The entire landmass of Australia has usually been considered to be a small continent in its own right (or it may just be a big island, depending on who you ask). New Zealand also tends to be grouped together with Australia in this category, and sometimes the island of New Guinea is too.
- Pacific Islands: There are also numerous smaller islands and archipelagos within the sub-regions of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.
- Antarctica: The coldest, driest, and southernmost of the world's continents. Due to its extremely harsh and inhospitable climate, Antarctica's natural terrain still remains mostly wild and untamed; with absolutely no indigenous or permanent human population, beyond some scientists and workers who temporarily stay at one of multiple research stations scattered on the continent.
