Category Archives: Continents

Antarctica Population 2013

Antarctica’s population is very difficult to account for since the number is so small and varies during the year. Antarctica has a permanent human population of zero. Antarctica’s population is made up entirely of researchers and scientists from around the globe. About 1,000 scientific personnel live there during the winter and this population increases to about 5,000 during the Antarctic summer. Antarctica experiences summer while it is winter in North America and Europe so a lot scientists go to Antarctica during the Northern hemisphere’s winter.

Antarctica is the Earth’s southernmost continent, containing the geographic South Pole. It has no permanent residents, but a number of governments maintain permanent manned research stations throughout the continent. It is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. On average, it is known to be the coldest, driest and windiest continent and has the highest average elevation of all the continents.

Antarctica Land Mass

At 14.0 million km2 (5.4 million sq mi), it is the fifth-largest continent in area after Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. For comparison, Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages at least 1 mile (1.6 km) in thickness.

Antarctica Climate

Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Antarctica is considered a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200 mm (8 inches) along the coast and far less inland. The temperature in Antarctica has reached −89 °C (−129 °F). Only cold-adapted organisms survive there, including many types of algae, animals (for example mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades), bacteria, fungi, plants, and protista. Vegetation where it occurs is tundra.

Discovery of Antarctica

Till the 17thcentury, most of the audacious explorers treated this voyage as something next to impossible. While Antarctica was longing to see a man, the famous explorer Captain James Cook took the lead & circumnavigated this continent during 1772 to 75. Deriving inspiration from him, numerous explorers made attempts to reach there, but many would not make it. Nearly after 150 years that is in 1911, a Norwegian explorer finally made it to the South Pole. His name was Ronald Amundsen. He led the Antarctic expedition (1910-1912) to discover the South Pole in December 1911 and he was the first expedition leader to reach the North Pole in 1926. He is also known as the first to traverse the Northwest Passage (1903–1906). He disappeared in June 1928 while taking part in a rescue mission.

Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research

The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research is an inter-disciplinary committee of the International Council for Science (ICSU). SCAR is charged with initiating, developing and coordinating high quality international scientific research in the Antarctic region, and on the role of the Antarctic region in the Earth system. The scientific business of SCAR is conducted by its Standing Scientific Groups which represent the scientific disciplines active in Antarctic research and report to SCAR.

In addition to carrying out its primary scientific role, SCAR also provides objective and independent scientific advice to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings and other organizations on issues of science and conservation affecting the management of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. In that role, SCAR has made numerous recommendations on a variety of matters, most of which have been incorporated into Antarctic Treaty instruments. Foremost amongst these have been the advice provided for the many international agreements which provide protection for the ecology and environment of the Antarctic. 

Antarctica Research Stations & Bases

Base Esperanza, Argentina’s largest Antarctic facility, is located in Hope Bay on the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The station is known for a number of Antarctica “firsts.” It is the birthplace of Emilio Marcos Palma, the first person to be born in Antarctica. Base Esperanza also houses the first Catholic chapel (1976) and first school (1978) built on the continent. In 1979, Base Esperanza became the continent’s first shortwave radio broadcaster, connecting the research station with Argentina’s continental territory.

Davis Station is Australia’s busiest scientific research station. It is located in an ice-free area known as the Vestfold Hills. Like most research stations in Antarctica, food is very important at Davis Station. Residents live and work closely together in facilities and outdoor environments that are often very monotonous. As such, food plays an important role in providing variety to residents like those at Davis Station.

Food supplies are, however, very limited. The food supply for a year at Davis Station is rationed, per person per year. Residents live mostly on frozen and canned food. The chef is often thought of as one of the most important people at Davis Station. He or she must make sure to use all commodities in such a way that is both creative and sustainable. Some of the station’s most important events revolve around the chef’s creations, such as the Midwinter Dinner, a traditional, sumptuous feast first celebrated during the 1901-04 British Antarctic Expedition.

Like many of Antarctica’s research facilities, Davis Station has a hydroponic greenhouse. Hydroponics is the practice of growing plants with water and nutrients only. Hydroponics requires excellent gardeners because produce is grown without soil. Fresh produce adds variety and nutrition to Antarctic meals. The greenhouse also serves as a sunroom for sunlight-deprived residents, especially during the long winter months.

Antarctica Wildlife

The wildlife of Antarctica are extremophiles, having to adapt to the dryness, low temperatures, and high exposure common in Antartica. The extreme weather of the interior contrasts to the relatively mild conditions on the Antarctic Peninsula and the subantarctic islands, which have warmer temperatures and more liquid water. Much of the ocean around the mainland is covered by sea ice. The oceans themselves are a more stable environment for life, both in the water column and on the seabed.

Antarctica Territory Claim

Below is a map of the seven Antarctic territorial claims. Early Southern Ocean explorers, sealers and whalers claimed for their countries the islands closest to Antarctica as they discovered them in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Once expeditions began to discover the Antarctic continent, they too claimed the parts they saw.

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The Antarctic Treaty

Other Resources

To learn more about the population of Antarctica, click here

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Asia Population 2013

Asia is the world’s largest and most populous continent with a population of 4.3 billion people. Located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres, Asia covers 8.7% of the Earth’s total surface area and comprises 30% of its land area. With approximately 4.3 billion people, it makes up 60% of the world’s current human population. Asia’s growth rate is very high for the modern era and has quadrupled during the last 100 years. Asia’s wealth of natural resources, ecological variability, and biological diversity put it in a great position to support such a high growth rate. Asia’s population growth and quickly growing economic development efforts are threatening the region’s rich and limited resources through their expansion and intensification of agriculture,  uncontrolled growth of industrialization, destruction of natural habitats, and urban sprawl.

Asian populations will continue to grow for many decades to come which will lead to increasing pressure on the region’s natural resources. Based on historical growth rates and national calculations, it is estimated that between 2000 and 2050 the national populations are expected to grow in every country of East, Southeast, and South and Central Asia except for Japan and Kazakhstan. Populations will double or nearly double in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Cambodia, and Laos. Growth rates will also be particularly high in India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Much of the population growth projected for the next few decades will occur in countries that are least capable of coping with additional stress on land, water, and other natural resources. According to a recent studies, countries where population is projected to grow fastest have some of the lowest income levels in the world. These countries already rank high in terms of environmental stress.

Asia Borders

Asia’s borders define four-fifths of the eastern side of Eurasia. It is located to the east of the Suez Canal, the Ural River, and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Seas. It is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean and on the north by the Arctic Ocean.

Asia Economy

Asia has the second largest nominal GDP of all continents, after Europe, but the largest when measured in purchasing power parity. As of 2011, the largest economies in Asia are China, Japan, India, South Korea and Indonesia. Based on Global Office Locations 2011, Asia dominated the office locations with 4 of top 5 were in Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai. Around 68 percent of international firms have offices in Hong Kong.

Asia Air Pollution

Asian cities are among the most polluted in the world. Of the 15 largest cities on the planet with the worst air pollution 12 are in Asia. Suspended particulate levels in Delhi, Beijing, Karachi, and Jakarta are many times higher than recommended by the World Health Organization. In the countryside, nitrates from animal waste and chemical fertilizers pollute the soil and water, and in the cities, the air is contaminated with lead from vehicle exhaust. In India’s largest cities, Mumbai and Delhi, about one-half of children under age 3 show signs of harmful exposure to lead. Such elevated levels of lead in the blood can be harmful to the developing brain and central nervous system of young children and can cause damage to other body organs. In the poorest countries of Asia, indoor air pollution may pose an even greater hazard for human health. Cooking and heating with wood, crop residues, animal dung, and low-quality coal produce smoke that contains dangerous particles and gases. When fuels such as these are burned indoors, using inefficient stoves and poor ventilation, they can cause tuberculosis, other serious respiratory diseases, and blindness. In fact, indoor air pollution from cooking and heating with unsafe fuels has been designated by the World Bank as one of the four most critical environmental problems in developing countries.

Asian Elephants

The Asian elephant is one of two species of elephants alive today. They vary greatly in size between the four subspecies, although all are smaller than the large African elephant. Throughout their range, Asian elephants experience an array of temperatures, although their habitats are found in tropical areas near the equator.

The Asian elephant can live in a wide variety of habitats, including jungle and mountain forests, but they tend to prefer forest edges bordered by grasslands and short woody plants. Due to conflicts with humans, these elephants have progressively moved into more remote areas where human interaction and conflict is at a minimum. The forested blocks can be moist, lowland evergreen forests to the much drier forests found at elevations up to 10,000 feet.

Top 10 Asian Countries by Population

Animated Chart of Population Growth in Asia

Other Asia Resources

Learn more about Asia Population Statistics here.

To learn more about the Africa Population 2013.

Interactive World Population by Continent Map

Australia Population 2013

With births outnumbering deaths two to one and a 14% increase in migration, Australia’s population is now growing by more than 1,000 people per day. National census and calculation estimates predict that there is a birth in Australia every minute and 44 seconds. Data shows that a new immigrant arrives every two minutes and 19 seconds and a there is a mortality rate of one death every three minutes and 32 seconds. Using these factors experts calculate the Australian Population to be 23 million and the Continental Region’s population to be 36 million as of April 2013. The total population in Australia of 23 million people in 2013 has grown from the year 1960 where the population was 10.3 million. This 122 percent change during the last 50 years has lead to current population growth and economic prosperity. The population of Australia represents less than 1 percent of the world’s total population. With a current population of 23 million people, approximately one person in every 300 people on the planet lives on the continent of Australia.

Australia The Continent And Country

Australia is a continent comprising mainland Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, Seram, possibly Timor, and neighboring islands. The continent is sometimes known in technical contexts by the names Sahul, Australinea or Meganesia, to distinguish it from the Australian mainland. It is the smallest of the seven traditional continents in the English conception. New Zealand is not part of the continent of Australia, but of the separate, submerged continent of Zealandia. Zealandia and Australia are both part of the wider regions known as Australasia and Oceania.

Australia is also a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands and is officially called the Commonwealth of Australia. It is the world’s sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.

Australia Population Growth

Currently 27% of Australia’s population is overseas-born which over a quarter of the total population. This proportion is considerably higher than many of the much more recognized nations that are popular for immigrants. The US is currently at 13% and Canada is at 20%. Immigration added 228 thousand people to Australia’s population in 2012 and contributed to 60% of the Australian population growth.

Australia Land Mass

With a total land area of 8,560,000 square kilometres (3,310,000 sq mi), the Australian continent is the smallest and lowest-lying human-inhabited continent on Earth. The continental shelf connecting the islands, half of which is less than 50 metres (160 ft) deep, covers some 2,500,000 square kilometres (970,000 sq mi), including the Sahul Shelf and Bass Strait. Since the country of Australia includes mostly a single landmass which comprises most of the continent, Australia is sometimes informally referred to as an “island” continent surrounded by oceans.

Australian Demographics

The population of Australia is estimated to be 23,000,000. Australia is the 52nd most populous country in the world. Its population is concentrated mainly in urban areas and is expected to exceed 28 million by 2030. Australia’s population has grown from an estimated population of about 350,000 at the time of British settlement in 1788 due to numerous waves of immigration. The European component of the population is declining as a percentage due to immigration from various countries. Australia has scarcely more than two persons per square kilometre of total land area. With 89% of its population living in urban areas, Australia is one of the world’s most urbanised countries. The life expectancy of Australians is also among the highest in the world.

The largest ethnic ancestral group that Australians identify with is the English group, making up about 36% of the population.  The next largest group that the population identifies as is native Australian, making up about 35% of the population.  The rest of the population is made up of Irish, Scottish, Italian, German, Chinese, Indian, Greek, and Dutch.  The official language of the country is English.  However, there are some other native languages that are spoken in the country.

Australian Wildlife

Australia’s unique animals are one of the many reasons people visit Australia. Australia has more than 378 mammal species, 828 bird species, 4000 fish species, 300 species of lizards, 140 snake species, two crocodile species and around 50 types of marine mammal. More than 80 per cent of the plants, mammals, reptiles and frogs are unique to Australia and are found no-where else. Some of Australia’s best-known animals are the kangaroo, koala, echidna, dingo, platypus, wallaby and wombat. Australia’s native animals can often be difficult to spot in the wild, but you are guaranteed to see them in the world-class zoos and wildlife parks across Australia’s major cities and regional areas.

Australian Climate

The climate of Australia varies widely due to its large geographical size. The largest part of Australia is covered in desert or semi-arid land. Only the south-east and south-west corners have a temperate climate and moderately fertile soil. The northern part of the country has a tropical climate, varied between tropical rain forests, grasslands, part desert.

Temperatures in Australia have followed an increasing trend since the 1900s. Overnight minimum temperatures have warmed more rapidly than daytime maximum temperatures in recent years. The warming has been largely attributed to the increased greenhouse effect. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, 80% of the land have a rainfall less than 600 mm (24 in) per year and 50% have even less than 300 mm (12 in). Australia has an annual average rainfall of 419 mm (16 in).

Religion in Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia has no official religion as it encourages freedom of religion and respect for those of diverse religions.  However, about 64% of the population is Christian.  Out of this 64%, Catholics make up about 26%, Anglicans make up about 19%, and the United Church of Christ makes up about 6% of the Australian population. The largest non-Christian faith is the Buddhist faith, which makes up about 2% of the population.  About 30% do not identify as religious or of any particular religious group.

Australia’s Largest City

Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. It is on Australia’s south-east coast, on the Tasman Sea. The greater metropolitan area has an approximate population of 4.6 million people. Inhabitants of Sydney are called Sydneysiders, comprising a cosmopolitan and international population. There are many fine heritage sites in Sydney. Vistiors can begin their journey at the World Heritage-listed Hyde Park Barracks on Macquarie Street before heading to attractions such as the Museum of Sydney, The Rocks precinct and Vaucluse House. If you enjoy contemporary or classical art, cutting-edge installations or beautifully-crafted Aboriginal art, you’ll find an art gallery to suit your style in Sydney. Sydney has an almost endless variety of attractions to entertain visitors of all ages. Come face-to-face with Australia’s diverse wildlife, go behind-the-scenes at an art gallery, see a performance at the Sydney Opera House, immerse yourself at a museum or visit a World Heritage-listed convict heritage site in the heart of the city.

Sports in Australia

The most popular sport in the Commonwealth of Australia is rugby.  Rugby in Australia has three different divisions: Rugby Union, Australian Rules, and Rugby Leagues.  Another popular sport in Australia is cricket.  The country is given the rank of the best cricket team in the world.  While soccer is popular in the country, it is not nearly as popular as rugby.

Population Growth and Imigration in Australia

Historical Population of Australia

Historically over the last half of a century, the population of the Commonwealth of Canada has always increased.  There were periods of faster growth than others, but there has always been growth over the last half of a century.

Projected Population of Australia

The population of the Commonwealth of Australia is expected to continue the trend of population growth that it has exhibited over the last half of a century.  This growth can be attributed to the higher than usual net migration rates and the birth to death rate ratio.  The net migration rates range from 1.8 to about 6.5, which are a much larger range and have a higher rate than most other countries.  The birth rates range from 13.7 births per 1000 people to about 12.7 births per 1000 people.  However, the death rates only range from about 7.3 deaths per 1000 people to 9.6 deaths per 1000 people.

Other Australia Resources

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Learn more about Antarctica Population 2013.

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