7 Continents of the World

Continents of the World

There are seven continents in the world:

Asia
Africa
Europe
North America
South America
Oceania
Antarctica

As of 2022, the global population has reached more than 7.9 billion people, spanning the inhabited continents of Africa, North and South America, Asia, Europe and Australia/Oceania. Encompassing the two most highly populated countries in the world – China and India – Asia is by far the largest of the continents, with a total population of over 4.5 billion people.

Continents by Size

Continents by Size (million km²)

The world’s largest continent is Asia, which spans over 17,212,000 square miles (44,579,000 square kilometers). Asia comprises about 30.0% of the Earth’s total land area.

Africa is the world’s second-largest continent with 11,508,000 square miles (30,065,000 square kilometers) of land, making up 20.3% of the Earth’s total land area.

Below are the rest of the continents from next largest to smallest by land area:

North America – 9,365,000 sq. mi. (24,256,000 sq. km)
South America – 6,880,000 sq. mi. (17,819,000 sq. km)
Antarctica – 5,100,000 sq. mi. (13,209,000 sq. km)
Europe – 3,837,000 sq. mi (9,938,000 sq. km)
Australia/Oceania – 2,968,000 sq. mi. (7,687,000 sq. km)

Continents by Population 2022

Rank	Continent	Population 2022	% of World
-	World	7,973,828,215	100%
1	Asia	4,756,790,221	59.33 %
2	Africa	1,418,364,297	17.69 %
3	Europe	748,087,103	9.37 %
4	North America	605,287,221	7.55 %
5	South America	441,245,311	5.50 %
6	Oceania	44,809,620	0.55 %
7	Antarctica	2,500	N/a

There are seven continents: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica. Each continent is extremely diverse – even Antarctica has various teams of scientists from all over the world, as well as different animals that live there. Think of them as mega-regions – they have some broad, general things in common, but when discussed in terms of individual people groups that live on each continent, there can be profound differences.

Asia

Asia Current Population

4.756 Billion

This continent is the largest of the seven, with 30% of the earth’s land mass and 60% of its population. It is connected to the main land mass of Europe, with the border defined somewhat by the Ural Mountains that run through Russia and the Bosphorus that cuts through Türkiye. Two countries are split between Europe and Asia: Turkey and Russia. Additionally, Asia borders North Africa via the sections that Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia share with Egypt.

Rank	Name	Population 2022	Density (km²)
1	China	1,425,887,337	146.89
2	India	1,417,173,173	431.07
3	Indonesia	275,501,339	144.65
4	Pakistan	235,824,862	267.40
5	Bangladesh	171,186,372	1160.04
6	Japan	123,951,692	327.98
7	Philippines	115,559,009	337.54
8	Vietnam	98,186,856	296.45
9	Iran	88,550,570	53.73
10	Turkey	85,341,241	108.91
11	Thailand	71,697,030	139.73
12	Myanmar	54,179,306	80.08
13	South Korea	51,815,810	517.07
14	Iraq	44,496,122	101.52
15	Afghanistan	41,128,771	63.06
16	Saudi Arabia	36,408,820	16.94
17	Uzbekistan	34,627,652	77.40
18	Malaysia	33,938,221	102.59
19	Yemen	33,696,614	63.82
20	Nepal	30,547,580	207.55
21	North Korea	26,069,416	216.28
22	Taiwan	23,893,394	660.17
23	Syria	22,125,249	119.48
24	Sri Lanka	21,832,143	332.76
25	Kazakhstan	19,397,998	7.12
26	Cambodia	16,767,842	92.62
27	Jordan	11,285,869	126.32
28	Azerbaijan	10,358,074	119.61
29	Tajikistan	9,952,787	69.55
30	United Arab Emirates	9,441,129	112.93
31	Israel	9,038,309	435.16
32	Laos	7,529,475	31.80
33	Hong Kong	7,488,865	6783.39
34	Kyrgyzstan	6,630,623	33.16
35	Turkmenistan	6,430,770	13.18
36	Singapore	5,975,689	8416.46
37	Lebanon	5,489,739	525.23
38	Palestine	5,250,072	844.06
39	Oman	4,576,298	14.79
40	Kuwait	4,268,873	239.58
41	Georgia	3,744,385	53.72
42	Mongolia	3,398,366	2.17
43	Armenia	2,780,469	93.48
44	Qatar	2,695,122	232.62
45	Bahrain	1,472,233	1924.49
46	Timor-Leste	1,341,296	90.18
47	Bhutan	782,455	20.38
48	Macau	695,168	23172.27
49	Maldives	523,787	1745.96
50	Brunei	449,002	77.88

Africa

Africa Current Population

1.418 Billion

After Asia, Africa is the largest and most populous of the seven continents. Today, there are 55 sovereign states in Africa, though there are thousands of people groups, many of which speak their own languages, have their own traditions and cultures, and consider themselves to be nations.

Today, Africa is best understood as being divided into two regions. North Africa is north of the Sahara desert; its countries are predominantly Muslim, and most of the people speak Arabic. Sub-Saharan Africa lies south of the Sahara desert, and while it includes many Muslim populations, it also has significant communities of Christians and other religions.

Rank	Name	Population 2022
1	Nigeria	218,541,212
2	Ethiopia	123,379,924
3	Egypt	110,990,103
4	DR Congo	99,010,212
5	Tanzania	65,497,748
6	South Africa	59,893,885
7	Kenya	54,027,487
8	Uganda	47,249,585
9	Sudan	46,874,204
10	Algeria	44,903,225
11	Morocco	37,457,971
12	Angola	35,588,987
13	Ghana	33,475,870
14	Mozambique	32,969,518
15	Madagascar	29,611,714
16	Ivory Coast	28,160,542
17	Cameroon	27,914,536
18	Niger	26,207,977
19	Burkina Faso	22,673,762
20	Mali	22,593,590
21	Malawi	20,405,317
22	Zambia	20,017,675
23	Chad	17,723,315
24	Somalia	17,597,511
25	Senegal	17,316,449
26	Zimbabwe	16,320,537
27	Guinea	13,859,341
28	Rwanda	13,776,698
29	Benin	13,352,864
30	Burundi	12,889,576
31	Tunisia	12,356,117
32	South Sudan	10,913,164
33	Togo	8,848,699
34	Sierra Leone	8,605,718
35	Libya	6,812,341
36	Republic of the Congo	5,970,424
37	Central African Republic	5,579,144
38	Liberia	5,302,681
39	Mauritania	4,736,139
40	Eritrea	3,684,032
41	Gambia	2,705,992
42	Botswana	2,630,296
43	Namibia	2,567,012
44	Gabon	2,388,992
45	Lesotho	2,305,825
46	Guinea-Bissau	2,105,566
47	Equatorial Guinea	1,674,908
48	Mauritius	1,299,469
49	Eswatini	1,201,670
50	Djibouti	1,120,849
51	Reunion	974,052
52	Comoros	836,774
53	Cape Verde	593,149
54	Western Sahara	575,986
55	Mayotte	326,101
56	Sao Tome and Principe	227,380
57	Seychelles	107,118

Europe

Europe Current Population

748 Million

Europe has the second-smallest landmass (after Australia), but its people and culture have done more to shape the entire world than those from any other continent. It has about 50 sovereign states, though two of them (Russia and Turkey) are located in both Europe and Asia; Armenia, though a party to many European agreements, is actually in Asia. The smallest country is Luxembourg, measuring at just 11 miles across, whereas Russia is the largest, which crosses 11 time zones.

Rank	Name	Population 2022	Density (km²)
1	Russia	144,713,314	8.46
2	Germany	83,369,843	233.45
3	United Kingdom	67,508,936	277.93
4	France	64,626,628	117.14
5	Italy	59,037,474	195.92
6	Spain	47,558,630	93.99
7	Poland	39,857,145	127.47
8	Ukraine	39,701,739	65.79
9	Romania	19,659,267	82.47
10	Netherlands	17,564,014	419.69
11	Belgium	11,655,930	381.81
12	Sweden	10,549,347	23.43
13	Czech Republic	10,493,986	133.06
14	Greece	10,384,971	78.68
15	Portugal	10,270,865	111.53
16	Hungary	9,967,308	107.14
17	Belarus	9,534,954	45.93
18	Austria	8,939,617	106.59
19	Switzerland	8,740,472	211.72
20	Serbia	7,221,365	81.73
21	Bulgaria	6,781,953	61.17
22	Denmark	5,882,261	136.50
23	Slovakia	5,643,453	115.09
24	Finland	5,540,745	16.37
25	Norway	5,434,319	16.78
26	Ireland	5,023,109	71.48
27	Croatia	4,030,358	71.22
28	Moldova	3,272,996	96.70
29	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3,233,526	63.14
30	Albania	2,842,321	98.87
31	Lithuania	2,750,055	42.11
32	Slovenia	2,119,844	104.56
33	North Macedonia	2,093,599	81.42
34	Latvia	1,850,651	28.67
35	Estonia	1,326,062	29.32
36	Cyprus	1,251,488	135.28
37	Luxembourg	647,599	250.42
38	Montenegro	627,082	45.40
39	Malta	533,286	1687.61
40	Iceland	372,899	3.62
41	Jersey	110,778	954.98
42	Isle of Man	84,519	147.76
43	Andorra	79,824	170.56
44	Guernsey	63,301	811.55
45	Faroe Islands	53,090	38.11
46	Liechtenstein	39,327	245.79
47	Monaco	36,469	18053.96
48	San Marino	33,660	551.80
49	Gibraltar	32,649	5441.50
50	Vatican City	510	1159.09

North America

North America Current Population

605.2 Million

In terms of land mass, North America is the third-largest of the seven continents. It also has just three countries including Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico. It extends from Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, which stretch to the maritime border with Russia, down to the tiny Isthmus of Panama, and all the way to Greenland off the eastern coast of Canada.

Rank	Name	Population 2022	Density (km²)
1	United States	338,289,857	36.09
2	Mexico	127,504,125	64.91
3	Canada	38,454,327	3.85
4	Guatemala	17,843,908	163.87
5	Haiti	11,584,996	417.48
6	Dominican Republic	11,228,821	230.71
7	Cuba	11,212,191	102.04
8	Honduras	10,432,860	92.74
9	Nicaragua	6,948,392	53.30
10	El Salvador	6,336,392	301.15
11	Costa Rica	5,180,829	101.39
12	Panama	4,408,581	58.46
13	Puerto Rico	3,252,407	366.67
14	Jamaica	2,827,377	257.24
15	Trinidad and Tobago	1,531,044	298.45
16	Bahamas	409,984	29.40
17	Belize	405,272	17.65
18	Guadeloupe	395,752	243.09
19	Martinique	367,507	325.80
20	Barbados	281,635	654.97
21	Curacao	191,163	430.55
22	Saint Lucia	179,857	291.98
23	Grenada	125,438	364.65
24	Aruba	106,445	591.36
25	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	103,948	267.22
26	United States Virgin Islands	99,465	286.64
27	Antigua and Barbuda	93,763	212.13
28	Dominica	72,737	96.85
29	Cayman Islands	68,706	260.25
30	Bermuda	64,184	1188.59
31	Greenland	56,466	0.03
32	Saint Kitts and Nevis	47,657	182.59
33	Turks and Caicos Islands	45,703	48.21
34	Sint Maarten	44,175	1299.26
35	Saint Martin	31,791	599.83
36	British Virgin Islands	31,305	207.32
37	Anguilla	15,857	174.25
38	Saint Barthelemy	10,967	522.24
39	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	5,862	24.22
40	Montserrat	4,390	43.04

South America

South America Current Population

441.2 Million

Since Mexico and Central America are culturally more similar to South America, the entire region is here grouped as Latin America. Though the term “Latin America” generally refers to Spanish-speaking countries, the region is incredibly diverse, and many languages besides Spanish are spoken there. In Brazil, the dominant language is Portuguese, and countries like Argentina, Chile, and Venezuela have their own dialects of Spanish. There are many indigenous people groups that live throughout Latin America, such as descendants of the Maya, Aztecs, and Inca, and they still speak the indigenous languages of their ancestors.

Rank	Name	Population 2022
1	Brazil	215,313,498
2	Colombia	51,874,024
3	Argentina	45,510,318
4	Peru	34,049,588
5	Venezuela	28,301,696
6	Chile	19,603,733
7	Ecuador	18,001,000
8	Bolivia	12,224,110
9	Paraguay	6,780,744
10	Uruguay	3,422,794
11	Guyana	808,726
12	Suriname	618,040
13	French Guiana	304,557
14	Falkland Islands	3,780

Oceania

Oceania Current Population

43.80 Million

There is a country called Australia, and it is the largest country in the continent of Australia. To distinguish between the country and the continent, some have suggested calling the continent Meganesia (“great continent”) or “Australinea.” Out of the seven continents, Australia is the smallest. It includes the countries of Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea, as well as some portions of the Indonesian archipelago (known as West Papua).

Rank	Name	Population 2022	Density (km²)
1	Australia	26,177,413	3.40
2	Papua New Guinea	10,142,619	21.91
3	New Zealand	5,185,288	19.17
4	Fiji	929,766	50.88
5	Solomon Islands	724,273	25.06
6	Vanuatu	326,740	26.81
7	French Polynesia	306,279	73.50
8	New Caledonia	289,950	15.61
9	Samoa	222,382	78.25
10	Guam	171,774	312.89
11	Kiribati	131,232	161.82
12	Micronesia	114,164	162.63
13	Tonga	106,858	143.05
14	Northern Mariana Islands	49,551	106.79
15	American Samoa	44,273	222.48
16	Marshall Islands	41,569	229.66
17	Palau	18,055	39.34
18	Cook Islands	17,011	72.08
19	Nauru	12,668	603.24
20	Wallis and Futuna	11,572	81.49
21	Tuvalu	11,312	435.08
22	Niue	1,934	7.44
23	Tokelau	1,871	155.92