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Land, sometimes referred to as dry land, is the solid surface of the Earth that is not permanently covered by water.〔Michael Allaby, Chris Park, ''A Dictionary of Environment and Conservation'' (2013), page 239, ISBN 0199641668.〕 The vast majority of human activity occurs in land areas that support agriculture, habitat, and various natural resources. Some life forms (including terrestrial plants and terrestrial animals) have developed from predecessor species that lived in bodies of water. Areas where land meets large bodies of water are called coastal zones. The division between land and water is a fundamental concept to humans. The demarcation between land and water can vary by local jurisdiction and other factors. A maritime boundary is one example of a political demarcation. A variety of natural boundaries exist to help clearly define where water meets land. Solid rock landforms are easier to demarcate than marshy or swampy boundaries, where there is no clear point at which the land ends and a body of water has begun. Demarcation can further vary due to tides and weather. ==Etymology and terminology== The word 'land' is derived from Middle English ''land'', ''lond'' and Old English ''land'', ''lond'' (“earth, land, soil, ground; defined piece of land, territory, realm, province, district; landed property; country (not town); ridge in a ploughed field”), from Proto-Germanic '' *landą'' (“land”), and from Proto-Indo-European '' *lendʰ-'' (“land, heath”). Cognate with Scots ''land'' (“land”), West Frisian ''lân'' (“land”), Dutch ''land'' (“land”), German ''Land'' (“land, country, state”), Swedish ''land'' (“land, country, shore, territory”), Icelandic ''land'' (“land”). Non-Germanic cognates include Old Irish ''lann'' (“heath”), Welsh ''llan'' (“enclosure”), Breton ''lann'' (“heath”), Old Church Slavonic ''lędо'' from Proto-Slavic '' *lenda'' (“heath, wasteland”) and Albanian ''lëndinë'' (“heath, grassland”) from ''lëndë'' (“matter, substance”). A continuous area of land surrounded by ocean is called a "landmass". Although it may be most often written as one word to distinguish it from the usage "land mass"—the measure of land area—it is also used as two words. Landmasses include supercontinents, continents, and islands. There are four major continuous landmasses of the Earth: Afro-Eurasia, Americas, Australia and Antarctica. Land, capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops, is called arable land.〔''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj.'' and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013.〕 A country or region may be referred to as the motherland, fatherland, or homeland of its people. Many countries and other places have names incorporating -land (e.g. Iceland). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「land」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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