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6 The continents
What do you remember?
• Which is the largest continent in the world? And the smallest?
• Do you know anything about their relief and climates?
• Can you name at least three countries on each continent (except Antarctica)?
• What different kinds of physical features are there around the world?
EUROPE
ASIA
AMERICA AFRICA
OCEANIA
ANTARCTICA
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1. Where are these physical features found? 9
A. The Andes mountain range in South America D. Japan is an Asian country in the Pacific Ocean. It is formed
is 7,200 km long and 240 km wide. by over three thousand islands. The highest mountain,
There are many high volcanoes (over 5,000 m). Mount Fuji, is a volcano.
B. The Mississippi River in North America is 1.6 km wide at E. The Great Rift Valley is a fracture which started to be formed
its widest point. It has 250 tributaries. A total of 25,900 km about 50 million years ago. It is approximately 6,000 km long
in the Mississippi River basin are navigable. and runs from Southwest Asia to Mozambique in East Africa.
C. Ayers Rock, also known as Uluru, is a large sandstone F. Antarctica is the continent with the highest average
rock in central Australia. It is 340 m high. altitude: 2,000 m. However, ice covers 98 % of the continent
It is sacred to the Aboriginal people of the region. and hides its relief. There are many glaciers.
Activities
1. What continents are these physical features in? 2. Investigate.
Mount Fuji the Mississippi River Ayers Rock Find out more about Antarctica: its area, its relief,
glaciers the Great Rift Valley the Andes its climate and its plant and animal life. You can use
websites such as www.nationalgeographic.com
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2. What are Africa’s relief and climate like?
The landscape of Africa
Africa is the third largest continent. It has • Which ocean is on its east coast?
an area of over 30 million square metres (m2). • Which is the longest river in Africa?
• What two bodies of water separate Africa How long is it?
from Europe and Asia? • What is the name of the highest mountain
• Which ocean is on Africa’s west coast? in Africa? How high is it? Where is it?
N
LIBYAN 0
H A
IL
E
A DESERT Depression
Tropic of Cance r
S AHA
GGA
R
RIVER
TIBESTI
Re
Tahat
3,003
M NTAI
d
OU MOU N
20º NTAINS Emi Koussi S A S I A 20º
NUBIAN
Se
3,415
CAPE VERDE
DESERT
a
ISLANDS
Rive
r R iver
S Chad
Niger Darfur
Cape
Bl
R iv e r
ue
Verde 4.620
Ni
e en
Ad
eg
Socotra
ge
of
Riv
r
Lake
Nil
ETH
al
Gulf
Riv
Chad
IA
V o l ta
Cape
er
le
River
Ni N
Guardafui
C ha
e HIGHLANDS
Lake SOMALIA
W hit
MEROO
C A Cameroon N
EY
er Uba Lake
M O 4,070 ng Turkana
LL
OCEAN Gulf of
Riv
Karisimbi
o
5,199
ng
Nile Kilimanjaro
Co
Lopez
M ou n tai n s
EA
Victoria 5,895
Mi tu m b a
6,000
GR
SEYCHELLES
er
GR
EA
5,000
Lake
ve
Zanzibar Island
T
4,000
RI
asa
FT
3,000 COMORO
Zambezi
i ISLANDS
VAL
2,000 Orange
Okavango Lake Malawi Cape Amber
SOUTH AFRICAN (Nyasa)
LEY
1,000
r Zam
Ri
ve b
Ri
l
ve
Maromokotro
ne
0 r
Ponta da
ez
v
i
Marca
Ch
Falls Madagascar
an
go
20º
biq
(in m) PLATEAU
MI
zam
er
Mo
6,000
o
KALAHARI v
Jbel
S
Mount Kenya
i
Tropic of Capricorn
R
IN
Thabana Cape
NT
4,000 Orange
R i 3,482
U
ve
O
3,000 r
M
G re a t
G
K a ro o
ER
2,000
SB SCALE
Cape of EN
1,000 DRAK 0 557 1,114
Good Hope
0 Kilometres
20º 40º 60º
62
Rivers and lakes
Many African rivers are long with large flows.
Did you know?
Some rivers, such as the Congo and the Zaire, are
navigable for long distances. The River Congo has
the largest flow in Africa and the second largest in
the world. The River Nile is the longest river in
the world.
Africa has some very large lakes.
The largest is Lake Victoria. The region
of African Great Lakes (Victoria, Tanganyika,
Turkana) is in the Great Rift Valley.
Relief
Large plateaus are found throughout Africa. The Sahara is the biggest desert in the world.
Africa’s average altitude is high (750 m). It covers 9,000,000 km2. Eight thousand years
ago it was a fertile area. However, it is now
• Several deserts, such as the Sahara and
very dry, and temperatures reach 54 °C. In a
Kalahari, are found on these plateaus.
few areas, fruits, dates and corn are grown.
• Several mountain ranges are also found on the
plateaus. The east of the continent is the
highest part. The volcano Mount Kilimanjaro,
the highest mountain in Africa, is located here
near the Great Rift Valley.
• Some depressions, such as the Congo and
Niger basins, are found between the central
plateaus. Activities
There are not many islands off the coast of Africa.
1. Study the map opposite and the text above.
The largest is Madagascar.
Answer these questions.
a. What is Africa’s relief like?
Prime Meridian
63
3. What are Asia’s relief and climate like?
Asia is the largest continent, with an area of 44 million km2. Its average
altitude is 950 m. Only the average altitude of Antarctica is greater. Physical map of Asia
80º Be r i ng S
0º 20º 40º 60º 80º 100º 120º 140º 160º 80º 180º tr º
60
ai
t
Bering
ALTITUDE metres A R C T I C O C E A N Sea
Mo Koly 180º
6,000 un m
ta a
4,000 V in
er s
Kara kh
2,000 Sea oy
an KAMCHATKA
1,000 sk PENINSULA
S M
0 N ou
I nt Cape
TA Narodnaya r ai Sea Lopatka
Depression 1,895
S I B E R I A ve ns
Ri of Ok ho t s k 16
S
UN
0º
Lena
AND
Ye
S t a n ov oy
Ri v
nis
MO
IL ISL
er
º
ey
40
S ik ho te
E U R O P E
M o u n ta
Ri Amur
Ob
Ri
Riv
KUR
v
AL
er
ve
Lake
e r Irt
r
Baikal
UR
20º
- A li n
Hokkaido Island
in s
ys
JAPANESE
Sea
h
C ARCHIPELAGO
Bl A CASPIAN of
40 ac
º k S DEPRESSION Alt Japan Mount Fuji
ea Lake ay
U
3,776
C
Sy Balkhash Mo
Sea
un
A
PENINSULA Sea ns G O BI D E SE RT
U
PENINSULA
D
u a ng
it
Am
S
ary
S t ra
Caspian
River H
Tig
Jengish Chokusu
He
ea
River Yellow Kyushu Island
Zag
Mediterranean
Kor
7,439
Da
ris
Sea Sea
Eup
ry
ir r
ros
s
Rive
Ri Pa Kunlu
hr
r Mo 7,495
pic
r
4,547
C
es
sh er
FI Tro
Mo
º
Ku s Riv
K2
du I 20
Ri
n
AC
8,611
Hin untai TIBETAN ze
un
ve
Iran Mo H P
ian P
t
Pers
r
PLATEAU
ng
ta
lateau I
A R A B IA N Nanda Devi M
Ya
in
r A L
Red
ve Taiwan Island
ian
7,816
140
Ri A Y A S
s
DESERT Everest
River N
G
lf
Jiang River
i v 8,848 Kanchenjunga
º
EA
u
20º tra
s
e apu Xi
Indu
r 8,598 a it
Str
O CP h i li p p in e
Sea
Gu Ganges m on
lf o
f Om
ah Luz
Br
an
ARABIAN Deccan Me Luzon Se a
PENINSULA Plateau ko Hainan Island
Wes
ng Island
Ri
ve South
Arabia
tern
of
Bengal INDOCHINESE
Sea Mindanao
Gha
PENINSULA
Island
ts
r
INDIAN Gulf ato
PENINSULA Equ
of 0º
Thailand
64
Relief Highest mountains
(in m)
The highest mountains and plateaus, together with Ismoil Somoni
Everest
the deepest depression, are all in Asia. K2
Kangchenjunga
Jengish Chokusu
9,000
3,000
• Plateaus and plains. There are plateaus throughout Asia. 2,000
There are many islands off the coasts of Asia, especially in East (in km)
6,000 Yangtze
Asia, where the archipelagos of Japan, Philippines and Ob-
Irtysh
Indonesia are located. 5,000
Huang He
Mekong Amur Lena
Asian rivers are generally long. Their flows increase when 3,000
Asia has some important lakes. Lake Baikal is the deepest lake 0
in the world (1,637 m). The Caspian Sea is the largest lake. Longest rivers in Asia
Ar
cti
Activities cC
ir cle
How did the Dead Sea get its name? Why is it salty?
0º
Equa
tor
HOT CLIMATES
Equatorial
TEMPERATE CLIMATES COLD CLIMATES
Humid tropical
Dry tropical Continental Polar
Asian climates
65
4. What are Oceania’s relief and climate like?
120° 130° 140° 150° 160° 170° 180° 170° 160° 150° 140° 130° 120°
an ce r
T r op ic of C
20 ° 20°
Hawaiian Islands
(USA)
M I C R O N E S I A
Island of Guam
10° Challenger Deep MARSHALL ISLANDS 10°
11,034 m
PALAU
FEDERATED STATES
OF MICRONESIA P A C I F I C O C E A N
Equator 0°
0°
Bismarck K I R I B A T I
Sea NAURU
Puncak Jaya M
5,030 Wilhelm E
4,509 L
A
PAPU A So SOLOMON N
NEW lom E TUVALU
P O L Y N E S I A
GUIN EA
on ISLANDS
10°
Se a S 10 °
r I
T im o A SAMOA
Sea Co ral TUAMOTU
AN Se a VANUATU
INDI
Gr
ea
GR
AN Ba
OCE FIJI TONGA
t
rri
EA
er
T
20 °
R
ND Y
ee
20 ° GR EA T SA
D
IV
DE SE RT Fiji T ro pi c o f Ca
pr ic or n
ID
RALIA
Sea
IN
A U S T TORIA
G R
g AUST ALTITUDE
lin RAL
metres
ar
V IC
GREAT SERT
ANGE
AS
rD
DE IA 2,000
Rive
30°
1,000
30° North Island
G re a t River M NEW 500
B ig h t ur Ta sm an ZEALAND
Aus tr a li a n ra
y 200
Se a SCALE
A N
ps
OCE
0 678 1,356 0
Al
ia Cook
N T as m an
n
3,764
IA South Island
er
Is la n d Kilometres
IND
th
u
120° 130° 140° 150° 160° So 170° 180° 170° 160° 150° 140° 130° 120° 40 °
Oceania
Oceania is located to the south-east of Asia,
and is almost entirely in the southern
hemisphere. With a size of around
9 million km2, it is the smallest continent.
Activity
1. Study the map and find the following:
a. The oceans surrounding Oceania
b. The four largest islands
c. The names of three large groups of
islands
Now read the text on the next page and
check your answers.
Part of Oceania seen from space
66
The landscape
Oceania is formed by thousands of islands and is in
the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
• There are four large islands: Australia, New Guinea
(which is divided between Asia and Oceania) and
New Zealand (formed by North Island and South
Island).
• Australia occupies 86% of Oceania and
is the largest island on Earth. Many people
consider it to be an island-continent.
• There are thousands of small islands in the Pacific
Ocean. Most of them originate from coral or
volcanoes. These islands are grouped into three The Tuamotu archipelago, in Polynesia
Climate
Most of Oceania is between the Tropics, so it has
warm climates. Climates are temperate in the north
and south of the continent.
• New Guinea has an equatorial climate.
• Hawaii has a tropical climate.
• Inland Australia has a desert climate.
Cyclones and typhoons are common in the tropical
region.
The islands are isolated. Consequently, they have
many plants which do not grow anywhere else. An Australian beach
Activities
1. Study the map on page 66 and complete 2. Interpret the documents.
the texts. Study the map and write the names of islands
a. In , plains and low plateaus in each group.
predominate, although there is a long mountain Melanesia
range called the .
Micronesia
It is the only island with two major rivers,
the Murray and the . Polynesia
67
5. What are America’s relief and climate like?
America is in the 160º ARCTIC
60º
20º 0º
S tr a it Physical map
B e ri n g OCEAN
western hemisphere. Bering 140º
40º
Sea of America
le
Yukon 120º
It is the second largest
i rc
60º
Alaska 100º
cC
ska
A l an g e ve Beaufort 80º
Peninsula
i
Ra
r Sea Greenland
cti
continent (42 million
R
6,194
Ar
0º
M a c k e nzi e R i v
16 McKinley
km2). It is the longest Baffin
O
Bay
Gulf of
continent: it stretches Alaska Great Bear
C
Lake Baffin
Island
from the Arctic Circle
er
Davis
Strait
to the Antarctic Circle. Great Slave
Y
0º
Lake Cape Farewell
º
40
Hudson
40
Labrador
º
Bay
M
Vancouver G r e a t Sea
it: the Atlantic, the Island LABRADOR
0º
Lake
14
O
Winnipeg PENINSULA
Pacific and the Arctic. P l a i n s
U
N Lake iv
e r
Newfoundland
R
Mis so
Superior Lake e
Cape n c s
Longest rivers GREAT Huron re a i n
T
Mendocino Whitney
aw nt
ur
(km) 4,418 LAKES tL
iR
in
ou
A
Amazon r Sa
o Rive Lake
i
7,000
ver
M
ad
Michigan Niagara falls
I
Mississippi-
Color
3.000 COLORADO N
R iver
6,000 Missouri River ATLANTIC
an
DESERT io º
S Oh 20
hi
5,000 Tr
ac
C a li f
pi
Parana op
G u lfo r n ia
al
Miss issip
ic
R
Mackenzie 20
Francisco
pp
of
io
4,000 º
Sie
Ca
G
A
of
nc
ra
Yukon
3,000 er OCEAN of Ca
nc er
nd
rra
FLORIDA
T r o p ic
e
2,000 PENINSULA
Ma
Cape Gu lf
San Lucas of Me xic o BAHAMAS 20º
dr
1,000
ISLANDS
e
Pico de Orizaba
0 5.700 Cuba
YUCATAN GREA Hispaniola LESSER ANTILLES
TE
Popocatepetl
PENINSULA ANTILL R Islands
Highest mountains 5,452 Sie
rra
ES Antigua and Barbuda
Jamaica Puerto
(metres) M ad Rico Guadaloupe
Aconcagua Huascaran Chimborazo
re Dominica
de
lS Caribbean Sea Martinique
u Grenada Island
r Lake
Ojos del Salado Nevado McKinley Trinidad and Tobago Islands
7,000 del Illimani Panama Maracaibo er
ver
Canal Riv o
6,000
oc
a Ri
Cape Orange
n
5,000 Guiana
Ori
alen
Highlands
4,000 COLUMBUS ARCHIPELAGO
gd
3,000
Chimborazo r
2,000
6,310 Amazon Rive
1,000 iv e r
añ on R
0 Mariñas Point ar Amazon Plains Cape São
M
Roque
R i ve
Huascaran o r
6,768 c
cis
MATO GROSSO
ran
N PLATEAU
A
Activity D Lake
o F
ES
Titicaca Bolivian
Sã
Altiplano
r
6,682
PACIFIC
ve
6,520 Nevado
1. Write the mountain
Ri
Sajama Illimani
na
20º
ranges, plains and Gu lf
ra
Pa
R ive r
of Ar ica Iguazu
Cape
plateaus of the o f C a p ri
co rn Falls
São Tome
ATACA MA DESERT
T ro p ic e r
ay
6,880 iv
American continent. 20º
R
agu
Ojos del
OCEAN
y
Salado
U r ug ua
Par
6,959
Mountain ranges Aconcagua
MO U N T A I N S
River Plate
PAMPAS
40º
Plains
P AT A G O N I A
ALTITUDE metres
1,500 FALKLAND
ISLANDS
1,000
TIERRA DEL FUEGO
500 º
Plateaus 40 a it
of Cape Horn
SCALE S t r e ll a n
200 Mag
0 1,532 3,064
0
Kilometres 60
100º 80º 60º 40º º
68
Relief
America has a high average altitude. The main physical
features are mountain ranges, plains and plateaus.
• Mountain ranges. The youngest, highest mountains
run down the Pacific coast. The Rocky Mountains
are the highest mountain range in North America.
The Andes are the highest in South America.
Older, lower mountains, such as the Appalachians,
are found in the East.
• Plains. The Great Plains of North America are close
to the mountain ranges and rivers, such as the
Mississippi. The Amazon River runs through the Bison on the plains of North America
cle
• Plateaus. The highest plateau is the Altiplano
C ir
t ic
c
of Bolivia. Ar
Activity
1. Study the map and answer the questions. d. Are there deserts in America? Where?
a. Are there any islands in the Pacific Ocean? e. What is the climate like in most of Canada?
b. Where in America are there cold climates? f. Are there any areas in America with
c. What parts of America have temperate climates? a Mediterranean type of climate?
69
Activities
1. Memorizing information 1
Here are some tricks to help you memorize • Use initials to make words. For example,
information. Use the ones that work best for you. the Great Lakes are HOMES (Huron, Ontario,
If you have other tricks, share them with your Michigan, Erie, Superior).
teacher and your classmates. • Study names systematically. For example,
• Look carefully at maps to create an image of the learn the names of mountains with mountain
continents in your mind. ranges, such as Mount Everest in the
• Memorize the boundaries of territories by making Himalayas.
a diagram like this one. • Remember names in a particular order,
such as mountains by height, rivers by length
and lakes from north to south.
N
• Invent a trip through all the places you have to
←⎯→
W←⎯⎯⎯→ E
learn. For example, I’m going on a trip to Asia.
S First, I’m going to…
• If you find something very difficult to
remember, write it on a piece of paper.
• Associate names with something you already
Keep it in your room, and look at it every day.
know. For example, learn the capitals of Europe
by thinking of football teams, such as Arsenal But don’t forget: the best way to remember
and Chelsea in London. something is to understand it properly!
d. Invention.
• Plan a trip along African rivers.
• Invent a story to remember the relief and rivers of America.
e. Describe the distribution of the climates of America. Relate them to their latitude.
70
2. Completing blank maps
Completing maps will help you to remember
the names of places and their location.
a. Make a physical map of Asia.
• Trace a blank map of Asia.
• Decide the places you need to
include in relation to relief and water.
Look at the texts and the maps in this
unit again. For example, you should
include the Himalayas, Mount Everest,
the Ural Mountains, the Caucasus
Mountains, the Tibetan plateau,
the seas and oceans surrounding
the continent, the most important
rivers and the main archipelagos,
gulfs and peninsulas.
• Write the key.
• Colour the map and write the names
in the correct place.
71