How many continents are there in the world?
There are seven continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia, from largest to smallest. That is the count taught in English-speaking countries, China and India. Much of Latin America and southern Europe learns six, with the Americas as one continent, and the five Olympic rings stand for the five inhabited ones.
7
Continents
Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America: the most common count, and the one our world map uses.
6
With one America
North and South America as a single continent: the usual count in Latin America, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece.
5
Inhabited continents
Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania, the five rings of the Olympic flag. Antarctica has no permanent population.
4
Landmasses
Afro-Eurasia, the Americas, Antarctica and Australia: the blocks of land that no sea divides.
Updated . Sources: National Geographic, Encyclopaedia Britannica, UN M49, UN World Population Prospects.
The seven continents from largest to smallest
7 continents
Asia covers 30% of the world’s land and is home to nearly six in ten people. Africa has the most countries, 54; Antarctica has none at all.
No. 1
Asia
44.6million km²
No. 2
Africa
30.4million km²
No. 3
North America
24.7million km²
No. 4
South America
17.8million km²
No. 5
Antarctica
14.2million km²
No. 6
Europe
10.2million km²
No. 7
Australia (Oceania)
8.5million km²
Areas include each continent’s islands; people are UN estimates for 2025. Countries follow the UN’s M49 regions, as on our world map: Russia counts in Europe, Turkey and Cyprus in Asia, Central America and the Caribbean in North America. See all 195 countries by continent.
Is it 7, 6, 5 or 4 continents?
No international body defines a continent, so each country teaches its own convention. Three questions make the difference: are the Americas one continent or two, are Europe and Asia one or two, and does uninhabited Antarctica count?
| Count | The continents | Two Americas | Europe and Asia apart | Antarctica | Where you learn it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America | Yes | Yes | Yes | English-speaking countries, China, India |
| 6 | Africa, America, Antarctica, Asia, Europe, Oceania | No | Yes | Yes | Latin America, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece |
| 6 | Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Eurasia, North America, South America | Yes | No | Yes | Russia and parts of Eastern Europe |
| 5 | Africa, America, Asia, Europe, Oceania | No | Yes | No | The Olympic rings: the five inhabited continents |
| 4 | Afro-Eurasia, America, Antarctica, Australia | No | No | Yes | Physical geography: land that no sea divides |
Your world map
Track the continents you’ve visited
Our free world map counts all seven. Tap the countries you’ve been to and each continent fills up as you go: how many of its countries you’ve seen, and how many of the seven you’ve set foot on. A trip to Antarctica completes the set.
Start my world map
How the world map counts continents
- Seven continents. North and South America apart, and Antarctica one of the seven.
- Borders by the UN. The M49 regions: Russia in Europe, Turkey and Cyprus in Asia, Egypt in Africa.
- One continent per country. Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan reach into two, but each counts in one.
- Oceania for Australia. Australia counts with New Zealand and the Pacific islands: 14 countries.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the questions people ask most.
Is it 7 or 6 continents?
Both are taught. Seven splits the Americas into North and South America and is the count in English-speaking countries, China and India. Six joins them into one America, the usual count in Latin America, Spain and Portugal, or, in Russia, joins Europe and Asia into Eurasia instead. Neither is wrong: there is no official definition of a continent.
What is the largest continent?
Asia, by area and by people: about 44.6 million km², 30% of the world’s land, and about 4.8 billion people, nearly six in ten of everyone alive. Only Africa has more countries.
What is the smallest continent?
Australia, which most lists count as Oceania together with New Zealand and the Pacific islands: about 8.5 million km² and 46 million people, the fewest of any inhabited continent.
Which continent has the most countries?
Africa, with 54, every one a UN member. Asia follows with 48 and Europe with 44; Antarctica has none. Our list of all 195 countries gives each one’s continent.
Is Antarctica a continent?
Yes, in every count of more than five. It is a landmass of about 14.2 million km² under an ice sheet, but it has no countries and no permanent population: the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 puts the claims of seven countries on hold and keeps the continent for peaceful research. A few thousand scientists live there in summer.
Why are Europe and Asia separate continents?
By convention, not geography. They share one landmass, and the usual line between them, along the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus and the Turkish Straits, was drawn by history. That is why some countries teach Eurasia as one continent, and why Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan lie on both.
Is Zealandia the eighth continent?
Geologists made the case in 2017: Zealandia is a slab of continental crust about 4.9 million km² across, east of Australia, but about 94% of it lies under the sea. New Zealand and New Caledonia are its highest parts. No school count includes it yet, so the usual answer is still seven.
What are the five continents of the Olympic rings?
Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania: the five inhabited continents, linked on the Olympic flag. No ring stands for one continent: the five colours and the white ground were chosen because every nation’s flag holds at least one of them.