Category Archives: Continents

Europe Population 2013

Europe is the third-most populous continent after Asia and Africa, with a population of 733 million or about 11% of the world’s population. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Black Sea and connected waterways to the southeast. Europe is a peninsula that makes up the western fifth of the Eurasian landmass. Its maritime borders are made up of the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas to the south. The southern regions are more mountainous, while moving north the terrain descends from the high Alps, Pyrenees, and Carpathians, through hilly uplands, into broad, low northern plains, which are vast in the east. This extended lowland is known as the Great European Plain, and at its heart lies the North German Plain. An arc of uplands also exists along the north-western seaboard, which begins in the western parts of the islands of Britain and Ireland, and then continues along the mountainous, fjord-cut spine of Norway.

Europe Land and Mass

Europe is the world’s second-smallest continent by surface area, covering about 10,180,000 square kilometres (3,930,000 sq mi) or 2% of the Earth’s surface and about 6.8% of its land area. Of the 50 European countries, Russia is by far the largest by both area and population, taking up 40% of the continent and Vatican City is the smallest.

European Population Growth

Europe’s population growth rate is approximated 0.212%. The average annual percent change in the population, resulting from a surplus or deficit of births over deaths and the balance of migrants entering and leaving a country. The rate may be positive or negative. The growth rate is a factor in determining how great a burden would be imposed on a country by the changing needs of its people for infrastructure, resources, and jobs. Rapid population growth can be seen as threatening by neighboring countries.

European Wildlife

Europe stretches from the Ural Mountains in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the south and encompasses a variety of habitats including tundra, taiga, montane forest, temperate forest, and steppe. Its wildlife includes alpine newts, European tree frogs, Eurasian lynxes, badgers, European otters, chamois, European bison, hedgehogs  and wild boars.

There are nearly fourteen thousand Brown Bears that now live in Europe in ten separate populations. Their habitat spans from the west of Spain to the east of Russia and from the north of Scandinavia to southern Romania and Bulgaria. In France the bears are critically endangered. There are not many wild bears in Central Europe and none at all on the British Isles.

Europeans still live near places where you can hear wolfs howl at night, where bears walk on forest paths and where, in the fall of summer, you can see mighty buffalo engaged in a fight. For centuries, wild nature has been pushed back into the most remote places however, despite that, modern society has managed to develop not only a new relationship to restrained nature, it has also come up with new ways to protect it.

European Climate

The climate is milder in comparison to other areas of the same latitude around the globe due to the influence of the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream is nicknamed “Europe’s central heating”, because it makes Europe’s climate warmer and wetter than it would otherwise be. The Gulf Stream not only carries warm water to Europe’s coast but also warms up the prevailing westerly winds that blow across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean.
Therefore the average temperature throughout the year of Naples is 16 °C (60.8 °F), while it is only 12 °C (53.6 °F) in New York City which is almost on the same latitude. Berlin, Germany; Calgary, Canada; and Irkutsk, Russia all lie on around the same latitude; January temperatures in Berlin average around 8 °C (15 °F) higher than those in Calgary, and they are almost 22 °C (40 °F) higher than average temperatures in Irkutsk.

European Currency

The official currency of the European Union is the euro used in all its documents and policies. The Stability and Growth Pact sets out the fiscal criteria to maintain for stability and economic convergence. The euro is also the most widely used currency in the EU, which is in use in 17 member states known as the Eurozone. All other member states, apart from Denmark and the United Kingdom, which have special opt-outs, have committed to changing over to the euro once they have fulfilled the requirements needed to do so. Also, Sweden can effectively opt out by choosing when or whether to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, which is the preliminary step towards joining. The remaining states are committed to join the Euro through their Treaties of Accession.

Changes in European Populatoin Demographics

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Africa Population 2013

Africa is the world’s second-largest and second-most-populous continent with a population of 1.033 billion people. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagoes. It has 54 fully recognized sovereign states and countries, 9 territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition.

Africa Population Growth

AFRICA’S fast-growing population boom is being seen as both a blessing and a curse with some seeing it as a decisive boost for economic growth and a unique opportunity for development. The dramatic growth began in the second half of the 20th century, when the number of people on the continent almost quadrupled from 230 million to 811 million. This had reached one billion by 2010, according to the United Nations World Population Prospects. If current demographic trends persist, the population will increase to 1.4 billion in 2025 and 1.9 billion in 2050. One in every three children in the world will be born in Sub Saharan Africa.

Africa Land Mass

At about 30.2 million km² (11.7 million sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers six percent of the Earth’s total surface area and 20.4 percent of the total land area. With 1.033 billion people. Africa’s population accounts for about 15% of the world’s human population.

Africa Climate

Africa’s climatic zones are largely controlled by the continent’s location astride the equator and its almost symmetrical extensions into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Thus, except where altitude exerts a moderating influence on temperature or precipitation, Africa may be divided into six general climatic regions. Areas near the equator and on the windward shores of SE Madagascar have a tropical rain forest climate, with heavy rain and high temperatures throughout the year. North and south of the rain forest are belts of tropical savanna climate, with high temperatures all year and a seasonal distribution of rain during the summer season. The savanna grades poleward in both hemispheres into a region of semiarid steppe and then into the arid conditions of the extensive Sahara and the Kalahari. Belts of semiarid steppe with limited winter rain occur on the poleward sides of the desert regions. At the northern and southern extremities of the continent are narrow belts of Mediterranean-type climate with subtropical temperatures and a concentration of rainfall mostly in the autumn and winter months.

History of Man in Africa

About 1.75 million years ago, early man spread throughout parts of Africa. They became aggressive hunters, lived in caves and used fire and their ability to create stone tools just to survive.

The Neanderthals arose some 200,000 years ago and inhabited regions in northern Africa and across parts of southern Europe. There is also clear evidence that they had control of fire, lived in caves, as well as open-air structures of stone and vegetation.

African Wildlife

Africa is a huge continent that’s made up of many different habitats, including sand, rock, water and grass. Each of those habitats is the perfect place for all sorts of cool creatures to live. The hippo is responsible for more human fatalities in Africa than any other large animal. Male hippos actively defend their territories which run along the banks of rivers and lakes. Females have also been known to get extremely aggressive if they sense anyone coming in between their babies, who stay in the water while she feeds on the shore. Hippos can run at speeds of over 20 miles an hour and they have enormous jaws which host up to 20 inch canines.

Africa’s Nile River

The Nile River is the longest river in the world. It rises south of the Equator and flows northward through northeastern Africa to drain into the Mediterranean Sea. It has a length of about 4,132 miles (6,650 kilometres) and drains an area estimated at 1,293,000 square miles (3,349,000 square kilometres). Its basin includes parts of Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Sudan, and the cultivated part of Egypt. Its most distant source is the Kagera River in Burundi.

Africa’s Sahara Desert

The Sahara Desert is located in the northern portion of Africa and covers over 3,500,000 square miles (9,000,000 sq km) or roughly 10% of the continent. It is bounded in the east by the Red Sea and it stretches west to the Atlantic Ocean. To the north, the Sahara Desert’s northern boundary is the Mediterranean Sea, while in the south it ends at the Sahel, an area where the desert landscape transforms into a semi-arid tropical savanna.

The Sahara covers parts of several African nations including Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan and Tunisia. Most of the Sahara Desert is undeveloped and features a varied topography. Most of its landscape has been shaped over time by wind and includes sand dunes, sand seas called ergs, barren stone plateaus, gravel plains, dry valleys and salt flats. Around 25% of the desert is sand dunes, some of which reach over 500 ft (152 m) in height.

Top 5 African Countries By Population

Rank	Country	Population
1	Nigeria	177,096,000
2	Ethiopia	86,614,000
3	Egypt	84,605,000
4	Democratic Republic of the Congo	74,618,000
5	South Africa	52,982,000

Africa’s Population Growth

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South America Population 2013

According to national estimates and statistical calculations, South America’s Population in 2013 is approximately 386,000,000. South America is a continent located in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. The present population of South America is the result of four centuries of mixture among these four components—American Indians, Iberians, Africans, and more recent overseas immigrants—and their descendants. The mixing process began when the first Iberians reached South America. The previous traditions and basic values and attitudes of the Iberians—coupled with other characteristics of their conquest and colonization—facilitated intermixing not only with the Indians but in general among all the various ethnic groups, although the intensity, extent, and frequency of this mixing varied both among different groups and at different times.

South America Land Mass

South America has an area of 17,840,000 square kilometers (6,890,000 sq mi). Its population as of 2005 has been estimated at more than 371,090,000. South America ranks fourth in area (after Asia, Africa, and North America) and fifth in population (after Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America).

South America Geography

It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest. It includes twelve sovereign states – Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela – and two non-sovereign areas – French Guiana, an overseas region of France, and the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory. In addition to this, Trinidad and Tobago and the ABC islands of the Netherlands may also be considered part of South America.

South America Politics

During the first decade of the 21st century, South American governments have drifted to the political left, with socialist leaders being elected in Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. Most South American countries use free market policies, and it is taking an active path toward greater continental integration.

South America Population Geography

Most of the population lives near the western or eastern coasts of the continent while the interior and the far south are sparsely populated. The geography of western South America is dominated by the Andes mountains; in contrast, the eastern part contains both highland regions and large river basins such as the Amazon, Paraná and Orinoco. Most of the continent lies in the tropics.

South America Wildlife

Home to marsupials, monkeys and the world’s largest rainforest, South America is the continent with everything from glaciers to deserts. It became a continent in its own right on breaking away from Africa and Antarctica 120 million years ago. Its fauna and flora are therefore descended from organisms either on the continent then or that managed to make their way there during its isolation whose ancestors crossed the early Atlantic Ocean from Africa. Three million years ago, the Isthmus of Panama formed, uniting North and South America and allowing animals including big cats, bears, coral snakes and condors to move in.

South America Population By Country

Rank	Country	Population
1	Brazil	195,632,000
2	Colombia	47,130,000
3	Argentina	41,350,000
4	Peru	30,476,000
5	Venezuela	29,760,000
6	Chile	16,841,000
7	Ecuador	15,779,000
8	Bolivia	10,517,000
9	Paraguay	6,849,000
10	Uruguay	3,297,000
11	Guyana	798,000
12	Suriname	539,000
13	French Guiana	259,000
14	Falkland Islands (UK)	3,000

South America Demographic Patterns

The continent’s demographics reflect an unusual settlement history: South America is a “hollow continent,” with most of the population concentrated around its margins. The highest population densities are found in the old Indian core areas of the Andes, the former slave areas of northeastern Brazil, and the areas of European immigration in southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. The interior is relatively empty because of the decline in Indian populations, poor communications with coastal areas, and the absence of economic opportunities capable of attracting large numbers of immigrants.

South America Population

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North America Population 2013

North America’s population in 2013 is currently calculated based on national estimations at 529,000,000 people. North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. The first people to live in North America were Paleoindians who began to arrive during the last glacial period by crossing the Bering land bridge. They differentiated into a number of diverse cultures and communities across the continent. The largest and most advanced Pre-Columbian civilizations in North America were the Aztecs in what is now Mexico and the Mayans in Central America. European colonists began to arrive starting in the 16th and 17th centuries, wiping out large numbers of the native populations and beginning an era of European dominance.

North America Land Mass

North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 4.8% of the planet’s surface or about 16.5% of its land area. As of July 2008, its population was estimated at nearly 529 million people across 23 independent states, representing about 7.5% of the human population. North America is the third-largest continent in area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth in population after Asia, Africa, and Europe.

North America Languages

The languages of North America reflect not only that continent’s indigenous peoples, but the European colonization as well. The most widely spoken languages in North America are English, Spanish, and French.

North America is home to a large number of language families and some language isolates. In the Arctic north, the Eskimo–Aleut languages are spoken from Alaska to Greenland. This group includes the Aleut language of the Aleutian Islands, the Yupik languages of Alaska and the Russian Far East, and the Inuit languages of Alaska, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Greenland.

North America Wildlife

North America is a land of varied landscapes that stretches from the Arctic in the north to the narrow landbridge of Central America in the south. The wildlife of North America, like its habitats, is diverse and includes animals such as bison, pronghorn, brown bears, bald eagles, hummingbirds, bullfrogs, snapping turtles, rattlesnakes, cougars, and American alligators.Deer are the most common animal in North America. Rabbits are also very common in North America. The turtle is the most common reptile. The most common animal in the United States is the Tree Squirrel. Dogs are the most popular pets in North America, followed by the domestic cat.

Top 5 North American Countries By Population

Rank	Country	Population
1	United States	316,094,000
2	Mexico	118,419,000
3	Canada	35,236,000
4	Guatemala	15,440,000
5	Cuba	11,163,000

Top 10 North American Cities By Population

Rank	City	Population
1	Mexico City	8,851,080
2	New York City	8,244,910
3	Los Angeles	3,819,702
4	Toronto	2,791,140
5	Chicago	2,707,120
6	Houston	2,145,146
7	Havana	2,141,993
8	Montréal	1,688,481
9	Ecatepec de Morelos	1,655,015
10	Guadalajara	1,564,514

North America Visual Population Data

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