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From the 16th century the English noun continent was derived from the term continent land, meaning continuous or connected land [5] and translated from the Latin terra continens. [6] The noun was used to mean "a connected or continuous tract of land" or mainland. [5]
The word Oceania comes from the English word ocean for 'a large body of water'. It is ultimately derived from Greek Ὠκεανός (Okeanos), [24] the great river or sea surrounding the disk of the Earth. In Greek mythology, it is personified as Oceanus, son of Uranus and Gaia and husband of Tethys.
Since the 1950s, [17] however, North America and South America have generally been considered by English speakers as separate continents, and taken together are called the Americas, or more rarely America. [18] [19] [3] When conceived as a unitary continent, the form is generally the continent of America in the singular.
In other non-English-speaking countries Australia and Eurasia are thought of as continents, while Asia, Europe, and Oceania are regarded as "parts of the world". [ 34 ] [ 35 ] Nevertheless, various writers from English -speaking countries have described Oceania as a continent over the years.
Africa's population is the youngest among all the continents; [10] [11] the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. [12] Based on 2024 projections, Africa's population will reach 3.8 billion people by 2099. [13] Africa is the least wealthy inhabited continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth ...
A speculative representation of Antarctica labelled as ' Terra Australis Incognita ' on Jan Janssonius's Zeekaart van het Zuidpoolgebied (1657), Het Scheepvaartmuseum The name given to the continent originates from the word antarctic, which comes from Middle French antartique or antarctique (' opposite to the Arctic ') and, in turn, the Latin antarcticus (' opposite to the north ').
The name Australia was specifically applied to the continent for the first time in 1794. [5] The name Australia (pronounced / ə ˈ s t r eɪ l i ə / in Australian English [6]) is derived from the Latin australis, meaning ' southern ', and specifically from the hypothetical Terra Australis postulated in pre-modern geography.
The continent of Australia, sometimes known in technical contexts by the names Sahul (/ s ə ˈ h uː l /), Australia-New Guinea, Australinea, or Meganesia to distinguish it from the country of Australia, [1] [2] [3] is located within the Southern and Eastern hemispheres. [4]