Shape and size of Earth
Earth is a planet in the Solar system, which revolves around the Sun at a distance of 149.6 million Kilometres. Earth is shaped like a ball. It is not a perfect sphere but an oblate spheroid or a ball flattened at the poles with a slight bulge at the center (equator). Photographs taken from space by astronauts have verified and testified this. The television cameras aboard the spacecraft which landed on the moon showed Earth as a tiny planet in the wilderness of space. Against the dash sky, the Earth displayed a range of colours from the blue of oceans, the green of forests and the brown vegetated land to the great while swirls of the weathers systems in the atmosphere. Thus the planet Earth is a flattened sphere (Geoid) with its own atmosphere and weather systems.
Landmasses:
Circumference of Earth at the equator is 40,075 km but the circumference at the poles is 40,024 km. Similarly, Earth’s diameter at the equator is 12,755 km while it is 12,712 km at poles. Earth covers an area of 196.94 million square miles (510.072 million sq.km). Out of this, 29.3 percent area is covered by land and 70.7 percent by water. The Earth is divided into six landmasses viz., Africa, Eurasia, North America, South America, Australia and Antarctica. Out of these, Eurasia is the largest with an area of 54.65 million sq.km (36.5%), followed by Africa with 30.3 million. sq.km (20.2%), and North America with 24.35 sq.km (16.3%).
Area of the Landmasses
| Continent /Ocean | Area (Sq.km) | Area (Sq.mile) | Percentage |
| Asia | 44,500,000 | 17,177,000 | 29.8 |
| Africa | 30,302,000 | 11,697,000 | 20.3 |
| North America | 24,241,000 | 9,357,000 | 16.2 |
| South America | 17,793,000 | 6,868,000 | 11.9 |
| Europe | 9,957,000 | 3,843,000 | 6.7 |
| Australia & Oceania | 8,557,000 | 3,303,000 | 5.3 |
| Antarctica | 14,100,000 | 5,443,000 | 9.4 |
| Pacific Ocean | 179,697,000 | 69,356,000 | 49.9 |
| Atlantic Ocean | 92,373,000 | 35,657,000 | 25.7 |
| Indian Ocean | 73,917,000 | 28,532,000 | 20.5 |
| Arctic Ocean | 14.090,000 | 5,439,000 | 3.9 |
Eurasia covers 36.5 % of the total area of land surface and is the largest landmass on Earth. The topography of Eurasia is dominated by many mountains out of which the Himalayas (Asia) and Alps (Europe) are prominent. North America is one sixth of the total landmass. Western part of this mass is mostly covered by mountains. South America covers 12 % of the land. Gigantic Andes mountains cover western part of this continent. Africa is called a plateau continent because it lacks a linear mountain range and much of its mass lies above 3300 feet in elevation.
Statistics of the size of Earth
| Diameter of Earth at Equator | 12750 km |
| Diameter at poles | 12712 km |
| Circumference at equator | 40075 km |
| Circumference at poles | 40,024 km |
| Total area of Earth | 196.94 million sq.km |
| Area covered by land | 29.3 %, 148.95 million sq.km |
| Area covered by water | 70.7%, 361.1 million sq.km |
| Total area of Africa | 30,300,000 sq.km |
| Total area of Asia | 44,500,000 sq.km |
| Total area of Europe | 9,957,000 sq.km |
| Total area of N. America | 24,241,000 sq.km |
| Total Area of South America | 17,793,000 sq.km |
| Total Area of Australia | 8,557,000 sq.km |
| Total area of Antarctica | 1,410,0000 sq.km |
| Total mass of Earth | 6 ×1024 kg |
| Total Volume of Earth | 1,083,208,840,000 cubic km |
| Mean depth of hydrosphere | 3,554 m |
| Mean distance from the Sun | 14407000 km |
| Highest point of the Earth | Mt. Everest, 8848 meter high |
| Lowest Point | Dead Sea (396 m) |
About Author
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Writer at Geo Studies Organization; https://geostudies.org