AntarcticaOceaniaAfricaAsiaEuropeNorthAmericaSouthAmericaPacificOceanPacificOceanAtlanticOceanIndianOceanSouthern OceanArctic OceanMiddle EastCaribbeanCentralAsiaEast AsiaNorth AsiaSouthAsiaSoutheastAsiaSW.AsiaAustralasiaMelanesiaMicronesiaPolynesiaCentralAmericaLatinAmericaNorthernAmericaAmericasC.AfricaE.AfricaN.AfricaSouthernAfricaW.AfricaC.EuropeE.EuropeN.EuropeS.EuropeW.EuropeThe World is a proper noun for the planet
Earth envisioned from an anthropocentric or
human worldview, as a place inhabited by
human beings. It is often used to signify the sum of human
experience and
history, or the '
human condition' in general. There were approximately 6.5
billion (or 6500 million) people living on the Earth as of February 2006. Especially in a
metaphysical context, World may refer to everything that constitutes
reality and the
Universe: see
World (philosophy).
Etymology
In
English,
world may be parsed as rooted in a compound of the obsolete words
were, "man", and eld, "age"; thus, its etymology may be semantically rendered as "age or life of man".
Usage
The World in
plate carrée projection'World' distinguishes the entire
planet or
population from any particular
country or
region: world affairs are those which pertain not just to one place but to the whole world, and
world history is a field of
history which examines events from a
global (rather than a national or a regional) perspective. Earth, on the other hand, refers to the planet as a physical entity, and distinguishes it from other planets and physical objects.
'World' can also be used attributively, as an
adjective, to mean 'global', 'relating to the whole world', forming usages such as
World community. See
World (adjective).
By extension, a 'world' may refer to any planet or
heavenly body, especially when it is thought of as inhabited.
'World', when qualified, can also refer to a particular domain of human experience.
The world of work describes paid work and the pursuit of a career, in all its social aspects, to distinguish it from home life and
academic study.
The fashion world describes the environment of the designers,
fashion houses and
consumers that make up the
fashion industry.
The
New World is a part of the world discovered or colonized by
Europeans later than other parts; it usually refers to the
American continents or to
Australia.
Native Americans and
Native Australians tend to dislike this usage. For them America and Australia are not new. Their ancestors have lived there since
time immemorial. The
Old World refers, by contrast, to the continents of
Europe,
Asia and north
Africa.
Physical characteristics
The World
Earth dimensions
Physical feature
Superficial area
510,000,000 km² (196,950,000 Sq. miles)
Land surface
149,000,000 km² (57,510,000 Sq. miles) (29.2% of total surface)
Water surface
361,000,000 km² (139,440,000 Sq. miles) (70.8% of total surface)
Equatorial circumferences
40,077 km (24,902 miles)
Meridional circumference
40,009 km (24,860 miles)
Equatorial diameter
12,756.3 km (7,926 miles)
Polar diameter
12,714 km (7,899.988 miles)
Polar radius
6,356.89 km (3,949.99 miles)
Volume of the Earth
1,080,000,000,000 km³ (260,000,000,000 cubic miles)
Mass
5.98x1021 tonnes (6.592x1021 U.S. tons)
Continents and population
Size
continentarea (km²)
percent
World
149 000 000
100
Afro-Eurasia84 580 000
57
Eurasia54 210 000
36
Asia43 810 000
29
Americas42 330 000
28
Africa30 370 000
20
North America24 494 000
16
South America17 840 000
12
Antarctica13 720 000
9.2
Europe10 400 000
7.0
Oceania9 142 000
6.0
Australia-New Guinea8 500 000
5.7
Australia mainland7 600 000
5.1
Human Population
continentapprox. population
percent
density (h/km²)
World
6 641 000 000
100
43.29
Afro-Eurasia5 400 000 000
84
63.84
Eurasia4 510 000 000
70
83.19
Asia3 800 000 000
59
86.74
Africa990 000 000
14
21.03
Americas886 000 000
14
29.17
Europe770 000 000
11
70.15
North America515 000 000
8.0
28.87
South America471 000 000
5.8
27.04
Oceania40 800 000
0.55
3.44
Australia-New Guinea30 000 000
0.5
3.28
Australia mainland23 000 786
0.3
2.47
Antarctica1 000
0.002
~0.00
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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