MEPX
Chapter 9 of 10All chapters
  1. 1Continents and oceans
  2. 2Why the map looks like this
  3. 3Climate zones
  4. 4Rivers and water
  5. 5Landforms
  6. 6Where people live
  7. 7Borders and countries
  8. 8Resources
  9. 9Regions of the world
  10. 10A changing map

Chapter 9 of 10

Regions of the world

A quick tour.

By continent

Africa is the second largest and youngest by population, Asia the largest and most populous, Europe densely settled and highly urbanised, the Americas long and narrow across every climate band.

  • Oceania is mostly ocean with scattered island states.
  • Russia spans Europe and Asia across eleven contiguous time zones.

Sub-regions

Terms such as the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia are useful shorthand but blur real differences, and each carries a particular historical viewpoint.