{"id":503,"date":"2016-04-07T17:27:26","date_gmt":"2016-04-07T16:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/?page_id=503"},"modified":"2025-01-09T20:20:25","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T20:20:25","slug":"geography-of-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/geography-of-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"Geography of Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"CenterPaneLayer\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal style7\" style=\"text-align:justify; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"><em>The Geography of Earth is unique in our solar system in that it is predominantly  covered by water with the oceans covering 70.1% of the surface and with only  29.1% dry land (this is without taking into account all the lakes and rivers  etc).<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Land-Mass\">Land Mass<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Continents\">Continents<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Six-Continents\">Six continent of the world<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Seven-Continents\">Seven continents<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Islands\">Islands<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Lines-Of-Latitude\">Lines  of Latitude<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Lines-Of-Longitude\">Lines of Longitude<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Time-Zones\">Time Zones<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Interactive-map-of-World-Geography\">Interactive map of World  Geography<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Earths-Environment\">Earth&rsquo;s Environment<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Temperature-Variations\">Temperature variations<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Topography\">Topography<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a href=\"#Atmospheric-Pressure\">Atmospheric Pressure<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal style7\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">The Geography of Earth is unique in our solar system in that it is predominantly  covered by water with the oceans covering 70.1% of the surface and with only  29.1% dry land (this is without taking into account all the lakes and rivers  etc).<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"line-height:115%; font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Land-Mass\" id=\"Land-Mass\"><\/a>Land<\/span><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"> <\/span><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \">Masses<\/span><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"> <\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal style7\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Continents\" id=\"Continents\"><\/a>Continents<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">The  land masses of the world are normally divided into seven continents. The term  continent comes from the Latin &ldquo;terra continens&rdquo; meaning continuous land and  this ambiguous term has led to many variations as to the number of continents.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Six-Continents\" id=\"Six-Continents\"><\/a>Six continent of the world<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">There  are a few variations in the six continent description of the world&rsquo;s landmass.  In the past it was considered that both North and South America as a single  continent and this led to the Olympic symbol of five interlocking circles  (Antarctica not included).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">This  view has now changed but some now consider Europe and Asia to be a single  continent known as Eurasia as they are a single landmass. However this logic  would also revert thinking back to America as a single continent and Africa  being combined with Asia and Europe to form a super continent. This would allow  the landmass of the world to be divided into four distinct continents of  Afro-Eurasia, America, Antarctica and Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Seven-Continents\" id=\"Seven-Continents\"><\/a>Seven continents<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Seven  continents is the most commonly recognised division of the worlds landmass and  this consists of (in order of size) Asia, Africa, North America, South America,  Antarctica, Europe, and Australia (or Oceania which groups Australia with the  many Islands of the Pacific).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">(See the continents of  Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, Oceania for more  information)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Islands\" id=\"Islands\"><\/a>Islands<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The Geography of Earth includes approximately 180,500 islands dotted around the world in various sizes. The biggest of which is Greenland at 2,166,086 sq km while the smallest is Bishop Rock, off the coast of Cornwall at approximately 736 sq meters. The top ten largest islands of the world are as follows.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Greenland 2,166,086 sq km; <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">New Guinea (Indonesia, Papua New  Guinea) 785,753 sq km; <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Borneo (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia)  751,929 sq km; <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Madagascar 587,713 sq km; <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Baffin Island (Canada) 507,451 sq  km; <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Sumatra (Indonesia) 472,784 sq km; <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Honshu (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/japan\/\" title=\"Japan\">Japan<\/a>) 227,963 sq km; <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Victoria Island (Canada) 217,291 sq  km; <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Great Britain (United Kingdom)  209,331 sq km; <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Ellesmere Island (Canada) 196,236 sq  km<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Lines-Of-Latitude\" id=\"Lines-Of-Latitude\"><\/a>Lines  of Latitude<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"bodytext\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span class=\"bodytext\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">As an aid to determining a position in the geography of Earth we can use a grid reference. A grid reference is a way of  describing a position of something in relation to a given space. One set of  numbers can describe the horizontal position (longitude) while another can describe the  vertical position <span class=\"style7\">(<\/span>lat<span class=\"style7\">itude)<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"bodytext\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">(For  more information see Grid References). <\/span><\/em> <\/p>\n<p class=\"bodytext\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">Grid referencing can only work if  the grid reference number corresponds to the same numbers on the map (the same  grid referencing system) but there are several well established systems that  use different coordinates (so specifying the system used is required). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/understanding-latitude-and-longitude\/\" title=\"Understanding Latitude and Longitude\">Longitude  and Latitude<\/a> is a universal grid reference system which was established and  agreed upon in the 19<sup>th<\/sup> century by delegates from around the globe  ensuring that all nations follow the same system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"line-height:115%; font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style=\"text-align:center;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"> <\/span><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"> <\/span><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/Education\/Images\/Geography\/Latitude.png\" alt=\"Latitude\" width=\"589\" height=\"413\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"bodytext\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">Lines  of Latitude (sometimes known as the meridians) are lines that run horizontally  across a globe. The best known point of reference on a globe is the Equator  which is an imaginary line that runs horizontally across the planet half way  between the north and south poles. This imaginary line splits the globe into the  northern and southern hemispheres and makes a perfect starting point to begin  dividing the planet into horizontal sections. <\/p>\n<p align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"bodytext\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">As  the planet is spherical it has an angle of 360&#730; in any direction. This means  that there are 180&#730; from the north to south poles or 90&#730;from the equator to  either of the poles (half of 180&#730;). Taking the equator as a starting point this  allows the globe to be divided equally into 90 equal sections North and South  of the equator. <\/p>\n<p class=\"bodytext\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">The  coordinates of Latitude therefore are given in degrees north or south of the  equator. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Example: Co-ordinates  for the UK are <span style=\"color:#8DB3E2; \">54 00 N<\/span>, <span style=\"color:#9BBB59; \">2 00 W <\/span>(based  on the centre of the United Kingdom(<span style=\"color:#8DB3E2; \">latitude<\/span>, <span style=\"color:#9BBB59; \">longitude<\/span>) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Sometimes  more precision is required and therefore minutes and even seconds are added to  the coordinates. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Minutes  are the coordinates divided by 60 and are denoted by a ( &rsquo; ) symbol after the  value. Minutes can then be divided by 60 again to give you seconds (these are  denoted by a &rdquo; symbol after the value (see example below)).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Example: Co-ordinates  for London are <span style=\"color:#8DB3E2; \">51 30&rsquo; 26&rdquo; N<\/span>, <span style=\"color:#9BBB59; \">0  7&rsquo;39&rdquo; W <\/span>(based on the centre of London (<span style=\"color:#8DB3E2; \">latitude<\/span>, <span style=\"color:#9BBB59; \">longitude<\/span>) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Line-Of-fLongitude\" id=\"Line-Of-fLongitude\"><\/a>Lines of Longitude<\/span><\/h2>\n<p align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style=\"text-align:center;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"> <\/span><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"> <\/span><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/Education\/Images\/Geography\/Longitude.png\" alt=\"Longitude\" width=\"597\" height=\"373\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style=\"text-align:center;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"><span class=\"bodytext\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">As an aid to determining a position in the geography of Earth we can use a grid reference. A grid reference is a way of  describing a position of something in relation to a given space. One set of  numbers can describe the horizontal position (longitude) while another can describe the  vertical position <span class=\"style7\">(<\/span>lat<span class=\"style7\">itude)<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Lines of Longitude are the lines  that run from West to East (also known as the meridian lines) and are the second  set of numbers in a grid reference.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">As previously highlighted the planet  Earth is roughly spherical and therefore is made up of 360&#730;. Again this allows  us to divide the globe into 360 equal vertical sections but we need a starting  point from which to start the imaginary dissection. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">In October 1888 an international conference  discussed this very issue and it was agreed that the starting point &#8211; or  Meridian Line as it is known &#8211; should run through Greenwich, London.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">With this imaginary line agreed upon  it was possible to dived the planet by 180&#730; East and West of the Meridian.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Example: Co-ordinates  for the UK are <span style=\"color:#8DB3E2; \">54 00 N<\/span>, <span style=\"color:#9BBB59; \">2 00 W <\/span>(based  on the centre of the United Kingdom(<span style=\"color:#8DB3E2; \">latitude<\/span>, <span style=\"color:#9BBB59; \">longitude<\/span>) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Sometimes  more precision is required and therefore minutes and even seconds are added to  the coordinates. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Minutes  are the coordinates divided by 60 and are denoted by a ( &rsquo; ) symbol after the  value. Minutes can then be divided by 60 again to give you seconds (these are  denoted by a &rdquo; symbol after the value (see example below)).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Example: Co-ordinates  for London are <span style=\"color:#8DB3E2; \">51 30&rsquo; 26&rdquo; N<\/span>, <span style=\"color:#9BBB59; \">0  7&rsquo;39&rdquo; W <\/span>(based on the centre of London (<span style=\"color:#8DB3E2; \">latitude<\/span>, <span style=\"color:#9BBB59; \">longitude<\/span>) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Time-Zones\" id=\"Time-Zones\"><\/a>Time zones<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style=\"text-align:center;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"> <\/span><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"> <\/span><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/Education\/Images\/Geography\/Time Zones.png\" alt=\"Geography of earth time zones\" width=\"474\" height=\"394\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style=\"text-align:center;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">On  the 29th of September 1707 a Royal Naval fleet of 21 ships left Gibraltar and  headed home to England but severely bad weather made navigation almost  impossible and the fleet got turned around. They headed for what they believed  to be an island of Brittany but they were actually headed for an island in  Sicily. On the 22nd of October Four of the ships hit rocks and 2,000 men lost  their lives in Britain&rsquo;s worst maritime disaster. The British Parliament  offered a prize of &pound;20,000 (around &pound;2,000,000 today) for anyone that could  solve the problem of determining longitude around the world. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">As  the world was round its 360 degrees could be divided into 24 portions of 15  degrees which give us lines of longitude. So if you knew the time in a point of  reference and the local solar time (using the method above) you could calculate  your position (in this arrangement 1 degree equals a 4 minute difference). King  Charles II ordered the construction of the Royal observatory in 1675 to &ldquo;in  order to the finding out of the longitude of places for perfecting navigation  and astronomy&rdquo; (Charles II). The problem was that all accurate clocks of the  day used pendulums to keep time and the motion on ships disrupted this. By 1735  inventor John Harrison had created a time piece that used springs instead of a  pendulum and this solved the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Prior  to this day all major towns and cities in the world set their clocks based on  the position of the sun in their own area. 12:00 pm or noon was based on when  the sun was directly overhead. This could be determined by placing a rod in the  ground and when the shadow pointed directly north, south or disappeared  (depending on the time of year) local time was set to noon. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">This  was adequate and served as a standard for centuries but with the introduction  trains in the 1820&rsquo;s, people would have to reset their pocket watches  continually as they travelled long distances. To solve this a standard time was  established throughout Britain using the solar time at the Royal Greenwich  Observatory as a bases but the rest of the world still required a central point  of reference.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;The  attended by 51 delegates from 25 nations around the world. On the 13th of  October 1884 Greenwich was chosen as the standard time throughout the world  from which all clocks would be set and the meridian line which runs through  Greenwich would become the centre of longitude (just as the equator marks the  centre of latitude).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">London  time became known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). For every 15&#730; a country lay West  of the Meridian would set its clocks one hour behind GMT and for every 15&#730; East  of the meridian they would set their clocks ahead one hour. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Interactive-map-of-World-Geography\" id=\"Interactive-map-of-World-Geography\"><\/a>Interactive map of the Geography of Earth<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\" style=\"text-align:center;\">\n  <object data=http:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Interactive%20Maps\/Geography\/web\/StatPlanet.html width=\"700\" height=\"500\" align=\"absmiddle\"><embed src=https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/Interactive Maps\/Geography\/web\/StatPlanet.html width=\"700\" height=\"500\" align=\"absmiddle\"><\/embed>Error: Embedded data could not be displayed.<\/object><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Continent <\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">&ndash; <em>The Continent in which the country resides based on the most common  seven continent system (Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica,  Europe, Oceania). <\/em><\/span><span class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"> Data used in the geography of earth interactive map.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Coordinates &ndash; <\/span><\/strong><em><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Approximate  global coordinates of the centre of a particular country using latitude  (North\/South) and longitude (East\/West).<\/span><\/em><span class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"> Data used in the geography of earth interactive map.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Time Zone &#8211; <\/span><\/strong><em><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Time  Zone is based on the time zone of the country&rsquo;s capital city (many countries  cross many time zones and therefore need to specify &ndash;Russia for example crosses  11 time zones but in order to reduce confusion and create more uniformity  Vladimir Putin decreed that some regions would synchronise their time with  Moscow time reducing the number of observed time zones in Russia to 9). All  time zones are shown as + or &ndash; Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as adopted universally  in 1884. GMT is sometimes referred to as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) an  almost identical system introduced in 1960 which is interchangeable with GMT.<\/span><\/em><span class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"> Data used in the geography of earth interactive map.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Bordering Countries<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"> &ndash; <em>All nations that have land borders with a particular country with  either the total length of the land borders or individual lengths of each  border (in kilometres).<\/em>&nbsp; <\/span><span class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"> Data used in the geography of earth interactive map.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Total Area<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \"> &ndash; <em>This is the total surface area of a particular nation (given in square  kilometres) including its lakes and rivers but not including any maritime  claims on oceans, seas etc. To calculate total surface area of land for a  particular country subtract the &lsquo;Area of Water&rsquo; of a particular country (found  below) from the countries total area.<\/em><\/span> <span class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"> Data used in the geography of earth interactive map.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Earths-Environment\" id=\"Earths-Environment\"><\/a>Earth&rsquo;s Environment<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Despite  the ratio of less than a third of the worlds surface being covered by land  there appears to be more species of life on the land than in the sea. A study  in October 2010 by the Census of Marine Life estimates Earth contains  approximately 8.7 million species (plus or minus 1.3million) of Eukaryotic  organisms (so not including bacteria and other prokaryotic life forms). A total  of 86% (6.5 million) of these being land organisms. Of the remaining 2.2  million species believed to be in the seas it is predicted that 91% have yet to  be discovered. This is largely thanks to the insects that have more species  than any other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earth-site.co.uk\/Education\/animal-phylum\/\" title=\"Animal Phylum - Phyla\">phylum<\/a> but another reason is for the vast variation in the  environment found on dry land.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Temperature-Variations\" id=\"Temperature-Variations\"><\/a>Temperature variations<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Based  on data from the World Meteorological Organization temperatures on dry land  range from -89.2&#730;C (-128.6&#730;F), recorded at Vostok Station in Antarctica, to  56.7&#730;C (136.4&#730;F), recorded at Death Valley in the US. Temperatures in the ocean  vary from around 36&#730;C (96.8&#730;F) in the Persian Gulf to -2&#730;C (28.5&#730;F) Antarctic  waters (water on the deep ocean is between 0 to 3&#730;C). This means that  temperatures on land vary by approximately 68&#730;C (with an average of 16&#730;C) while  oceans vary 38&#730;C (with an average of 17&#730;C).<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Topography\" id=\"Topography\"><\/a>Topography<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">The geography of Earth is not flat but has a varied  features such as mountains, hills, deep crevasses, canyons, mines and caves.  The change in 3 dimensional levels of a planet&rsquo;s surface is the study of  topology and can effect the environment greatly. Caves and subterranean areas  may be without sunlight causing them to be cold dark places where not much life  survives.&nbsp; A substantial increase in  height can be just as debilitating to an abundance of life. As the altitude  increases air pressure decreases and at extreme altitude the oxygen is too thin  to breath. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size:14.0pt; \"><a name=\"Atmospheric-Pressure\" id=\"Atmospheric-Pressure\"><\/a>Atmospheric Pressure<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:justify;\"><span style=\"font-family:'Verdana','sans-serif'; \">Atmospheric  pressure is measurement of the force imposed by the volume of atmosphere on a  given area. The higher the altitude of a given point the less atmosphere is  above that point and therefore it enacts less force upon that point.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Geography of Earth is unique in our solar system in that it is predominantly covered by water with the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7954,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_edit_last":["1"],"_edit_lock":["1708119944:1"],"_wp_page_template":["default"],"ttr_page_title_checkbox":["true"],"ttr_page_foot_checkbox":["true"],"ttr_header_size_select":["None"],"ttr_background_repeat_enable_checkbox":["true"],"ttr_change_header_image_text":[""],"ttr_background_size_select":["None"],"ttr_header_repeat_enable_checkbox":["true"],"ttr_custom_style_text":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":["Geography of Earth"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":["Geography of 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