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continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with up to seven regions commonly regarded as continents. These are (from largest in size to smallest): Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.〔 "Most people recognize seven continents—Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia, from largest to smallest—although sometimes Europe and Asia are considered a single continent, Eurasia."〕 In geology, areas of continental crust include regions covered with water.
== Definitions and application ==
By convention, "continents are understood to be large, continuous, discrete masses of land, ideally separated by expanses of water." Many of the seven most commonly recognized continents identified by convention are not discrete landmasses separated completely by water. The criterion "large" leads to arbitrary classification: Greenland, with a surface area of is considered the world's largest island, while Australia, at is deemed the smallest continent.
The Earth's major landmasses all have coasts on a single, continuous world ocean, which is divided into a number of principal oceanic components by the continents and various geographic criteria.〔"(Ocean )". ''Columbia Encyclopedia'' (2006). New York: Columbia University Press. Retrieved 20 February 2007.〕〔"(Distribution of land and water on the planet )." ''(UN Atlas of the Oceans )'' (2004). Retrieved 20 February 2007.〕 The definitions of continents are sometimes extended beyond the major landmasses, in a way that every bit of land on earth is included in a continent.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Definition of a continent in Merriam-Webster Dictionary ) "one of the six or seven great divisions of land on the globe"〕
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
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