Asia is the largest of the Earth's seven continents and with its outlying islands comprises an estimated 44,391,000 square kilometers, around 30 percent of the earth's land area. The conventional boundary between Europe and Asia is drawn at the Ural Mountains, continuing south along the Ural River then west along the Caucasus Mountains to the Black Sea. The Arabian Peninsula forms part of Asia.

Because of Asia's vast size it has been roughly divided into five major areas:

Most of the countries of Southwest Asia are also considered part of the Middle East, a loosely defined region that includes Cyprus and Egypt.

In 2000 Asia had an estimated 3.73 billion people, consisting of three-fifths of the world's population. Asia's overall population density is 119 people per square kilometer. The annual rate of population increase for the whole continent is 1.3%, and much higher in South Asia. The projected population increase for the continent is 1.42 billion by the year 2025. In most Asian countries most of the population lives in rural settlements; however as a result of colonialism and European influence large cities have developed and in places like Japan more than 77% of the country's population are found in cities.

The most commonly spoken language in Asia is Chinese and many speak Mandarin Chinese or a Chinese variant. Japanese is spoken by 125 million people followed by Korean which has 69 million speakers. In the rest of Asia a variety of languages are spoken according to nation and region.

The tallest mountain in Asia and the world is Mount Everest 8850m (29035ft) high.

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Africa is the Earth's second largest continent covering (including its adjacent islands) 30,244,000 square kilometers. According to 2000 estimates Africa holds 13% of the world's population, some 797 million people. The continent is the fastest growing in the world with an average annual population increase of 2.4%. The average density, some 27 persons per square kilometer is well below the world average of 46 persons per square kilometer. One reason is that Africa has large areas that are uninhabited such as the Sahara and Kalahari Deserts. The birth rate in Africa is 38 per 1000 and the death rate is 14 per 1000.

Africa holds 54 independent nations stretching from its most northern point, Ra's al Abyad in Tunisia to the southernmost point Cape Agulhas in South Africa, and from the most western point Cap Vert in Senegal to Raas Xaafuun in Somalia the most eastern point of the continent.

Africa is one of the most diverse of the continents, with thousands of ethnic groups and its people speaking over 1000 languages. Black Africans make up the majority of the continent but there are large groups of Asians, Arabs, Europeans and other communities from all over the world. The population of Africa is predominantly rural, only a third living in towns or cities. The urban centres of Africa attract large numbers of people with cities such as Johannesburg and Durban experiencing some of the highest rates of urban growth.

The tallest mountain in Africa is Mount Kilimanjaro 5963m (19563ft) high.

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North America is the Earth's third largest continent and includes the countries Canada, the United States of America, Mexico, Greenland as well as the French department of Saint-Pierre and Miguelon and the British dependency of Bermuda. North America is the earth's fourth most populous continent holding 405 million inhabitants (2000 estimate). In the late 1990's more than 76% of Canada's, the United States and Greenlands and 74% of Mexicans inhabitants were located in urban areas.

In both Canada and the United States the rate of population increase has declined since the 1950's and in Mexico the rate has increased at an average of 2,2% per year.

English is the most widely spoken language in North America, however French is also spoken in Canada and Spanish is spoken by Hispanic people in the United States. Several of the indigenous people of the North America's such as the Inuit people and those of Greenland speak indigenous languages.

The tallest mountain in North America is Mount McKinley 6194m (20320ft) high.

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South America is the fourth largest of the Earth's continents occupying 17,820,900 square kilometers. The continent lies from the Caribbean Sea to the north to Cape Horn in the south and Ponta do Seixas in Brazil on the east to Punta Parinas on Peru's west coast.

The continent comprises of twelve nations and has a 2000 estimated population of 348 million people. The continents overall population density is 20 persons per square kilometer, and a large portion of the continent having a density of as little as 2 persons per square kilometer. The overall population in South America has more than doubled between 1960 and 2000, with more than half of the continent's people living in Brazil.

Spanish is most widely spoken on the continent but many other languages such as Portuguese, English, French and numerous Native American languages are also being spoken.

The tallest mountain in South America is Aconcagua, which is 6959m (22831ft) high.

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Europe is referred to as a continent but is geographically the western part of Asia. The common boundary between the two continents is traditionally the Ural River, the Ural Mountain range and a part of the Caspian Sea.

Europe has a land area of 10,355,000 square kilometers. The northernmost point of the European mainland is Cape Nordkinn, in Norway; the southernmost, Punta de Tarifa, in southern Spain near Gibraltar. From west to east the mainland ranges from Cabo da Roca, in Portugal, to the northeastern slopes of the Urals, in Russia.

The continent has a 2000 estimated population of 726 million. The annual average growth rate for Europe from 1885-1995 was 0.28 % and by 2000 the growth rate was decreasing due to a decrease in the birth rate which was 10.3 per 1000 in 2000.

Europeans speak a wide variety of languages, mainly associated with the country or region in which they live. The principal linguistic groups are those of the Slavic which includes Russian, Czech and many others; Germanic which includes English, German and others; and Roman which include Italian, French and others.

The tallest mountain in Europe is Mount Elbrus which is 5633m high.

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Australasia, is located southeast of Asia and consists of Australia, New Zealand and the islands such as Tasmania. The area of the Commonwealth of Nations of Australia extend for about 4,000 kilometers from east to west and about 3,700 kilometers from north to south and the continent is 7,614,500 square kilometers.

A 2000 estimate for the continent puts the population at 18,950,108, giving it an overall population of 2 persons per square kilometer. The population growth of Australia was at 0.9% annually in 2000 and more than 85% of the country of Australia is urbanised.

English is most widely spoken however other native languages are spoken in ethnic communities.

The tallest mountain in Australasia is Mount Willhelm which is 4509m (14789ft) high.

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Antarctica is the fifth largest of the Earth's continents and the most southern, the coldest, windiest, highest and most remote of the continents. The name Antarctica means ' opposite to the Arctic' and is almost completely covered in ice. There is no permanent inhabitation in the continent, however since the 1940's scientists have established stations on the continent to study the wildlife and the ice.

Since 1961 Antarctica has been administered by an international agreement called the Antarctic Treaty, which is to preserve the continent for study. Argentina, Australia, Britain, Chile, France, New Zealand, and Norway all claim territory in Antarctica, however other nations, including the United States and Russia, do not acknowledge these claims but reserve rights to claim territory in the future.

The tallest mountain in Antarctica is Vinson Massif which is 4897m (16066ft) high.