Ranking the Continents

A simple ranking of the continents by population never hurt anybody... I hope...

4). North America ~ 613,149,877 people (7.51% global population share)

5). South America ~ 435,611,301 people (5.34% global population share)

6). Oceania ~ 46,502,478 people (0.57% global population share)

7). Antarctica - 0 people (no permanent settlements)

No surprises here, as Asia dominates the global population with just about or even more than half of the world's people. Africa holds a steady second place though, with Europe coming in third at about half of that of Africa. Antarctica comes in last (as to be expected), since no one truly lives there. Besides Antarctica, Oceania is the lowest ranking continent with people living there. Australia holds the majority of people living in the continent, and as we will see, it also holds the majority of its continent's land area.

Source: worldometers.info

Now that you know the populations, let's see how landmass plays its part...

4). North America ~ 21,330,000 km²

5). South America ~ 17,461,112 km²

6). Antarctica ~ 13,720,000 km²

7). Oceania ~ 8,486,460 km²

Well, its the same, except Antarctica gets a higher spot than Oceania. On standard classroom maps, Antarctica looks huge at the bottom. However, the Mercator Projection is not accurate for sizes as they near the poles; the closer an object is to the top or bottom, the larger it appears. So, Antarctica is actually smaller than many might think it is. However, it isn't in last place. This goes to our friend Oceania, who's landmass is almost entirely Australia. Australia is big, but not big enough.

Europe is also a very tiny piece of land. However, we include Russia. This one country pumps Europe all the way up to third place, just over North America with its big behemoths like Canada and the United States.

Source: worldometers.info

Which continents have the largest collective GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in billions of USD (United States Dollars)?

4). South America ~ $4,225 bn (3.8% global wealth share)

5). Africa ~ $2,781 bn (2.5% global wealth share)

6). Oceania ~ $2,097 bn (1.9% global wealth share)

7). Antarctica ~ 79 bn (0.2% global wealth share)

Again, Asia takes the number one spot on our list. Their wealth managed to top the charts, and many factors contribute to this. North America slides into second this time, with Europe grabbing a safe third place. The rest are all low, but still have a solid amount of money.

Antarctica is a weird concept. The continent doesn't actually have any people living there, so it can't have a GDP. However, Antarctica does provide valuable services that rack up big bucks. So, we put them on the list with a very small share, only 0.2% of the global wealth contribution.

Sources: statisticstimes.com - aid of wikipedia.org for updated trends

Take a look at which continents are the least safe to live in.

The higher the number, the less safe the continent is.

4). Europe - 4.74 (up 0.26)

5). Oceania - 3.23 (up 0.16)

6). Antarctica - unranked

The Americas have been combined for this one for easier ranking, as I couldn't find a good source which separated the two. Yet again, Asia makes first place. Africa managed to find it's way into second place, although not a very good second place. The combined Americas place third.

Source: ocindex.net

How do the continents match up in terms of elevation of their tallest mountain's summit?

4). Africa ~ 5,859 meters / 19,340 feet (Mount Kilimanjaro)

5). Europe ~ 5,642 meters / 18,510 feet (Mount Elbrus)

6). Antarctica ~ 4,897 meters / 16,068 feet (Mount Vinson)

7). Oceania ~ 4,884 meters / 16,023 feet (Puncak Jaya)

So, Asia managed to top every ranking in this blog. Quite impressive. Mount Everest rests snuggly in the Himalayan Mountains, reaching the highest summit in the world. South America finds its way into second place with this one, as Aconcagua stands at a staggering height hidden in the Andes Mountains. North America takes third place with Denali in Alaska. The other peaks come fairly close to the podium, even Antarctica, which isn't last place.

The summit of Oceania is technically in "Australasia" or Indonesia, but is considered to be the tallest mountain in Oceania anyway. It sits in the Sudirman Range of the Island of New Guinea, which is split between Oceania and Asia.

Source: inkaexpediciones.com

In all, this is just a little visual to the world when comparing the seven continents. If you want another ranking blog like this one, comment below :)