The highest average height of the mainland. Curious figures and facts

Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was born (July 16, 1872 - June 18, 1928) - Norwegian polar traveler and record holder, "Napoleon of the polar countries" in the words of R. Huntford.
The first person to reach South Pole(December 14, 1911). First person (with Oscar Wisting) to visit both geographic poles planets. The first traveler to make sea ​​passage Northwest Passage(along the straits of the Canadian archipelago), later made the transition by the North-East route (along the coast of Siberia), for the first time closing the circumnavigation distance beyond the Arctic Circle. One of the pioneers in the use of aviation - seaplanes and airships - in Arctic travel. He died in 1928 while searching for the missing expedition of Umberto Nobile. He had awards from many countries of the world, including the highest award of the United States - gold medal Congress, numerous geographical and other objects are named after him.

Oranienburg, 1910

Unfortunately, his dream - to conquer the North Pole - was not given to come true, as Frederick Cook was ahead of him. This American polar explorer was the first explorer North Pole April 21, 1908. After that, Roald Amundsen radically changed his plan and decided to direct all his forces to conquer the South Pole. In 1910 he went to Antarctica on the Fram.

Alaska, 1906

But still, on December 14, 1911, after a long polar winter and an unsuccessful exit in September 1911, the expedition of the Norwegian Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole. Having made the necessary measurements, on December 17, Amundsen was convinced that he was indeed at the very middle point of the pole, and 24 hours later, the team headed back.

Svalbard, 1925

Thus, the dream of the Norwegian traveler, in a sense, came true. Although Amundsen himself could not say that he had achieved the goal of his life. That wouldn't be entirely true. But, if you think about it, no one has ever been so diametrically opposed to his dream, in literally the words. All his life he wanted to conquer the North Pole, but turned out to be a pioneer to the South. Life sometimes turns everything inside out.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the era geographical discoveries on Earth is almost over. All the tropical islands were marked on the map, tireless explorers traveled along and across Africa and South America.


Only two points remained unconquered by people - the North and South Poles, which were difficult to reach because of the barren surroundings. icy desert. But in 1908-09, two American expeditions (F. Cook and R. Peary) took place to the North Pole. After them, the only worthy goal was the South Pole, located on the territory of the mainland covered with eternal ice - Antarctica.

History of Antarctic exploration

Stay at the southernmost point the globe sought by many researchers. The beginning was laid by the famous Amerigo Vespucci, whose ships in 1501 reached the fiftieth latitudes, but were forced to turn because of the ice. More successful was the attempt of J. Cook, who reached 72 degrees south latitude in 1772-75. He, too, was forced to turn back before reaching the Pole, due to mighty ice and icebergs that threatened to crush the fragile wooden ship.

The honor of discovering Antarctica belongs to the Russian sailors F. Bellingshausen and M. Lazarev. In 1820, two sailing sloops came close to the shore and recorded the presence of a previously unknown mainland. After 20 years, the expedition of J.K. Rossa circled Antarctica and plotted its coastline on a map, but still did not land on land.


The first person to set foot on the southern mainland, became the Australian explorer G. Buhl in 1895. Since that time, reaching the South Pole has become a matter of time and preparedness of the expedition.

Conquest of the South Pole

The first attempt to reach the South Pole took place in 1909 and was unsuccessful. The English explorer E. Shackleton did not reach him for about a hundred miles and was forced to turn back, as he ran out of food. In the polar spring of 1911, two expeditions went to the South Pole at once - an English one led by R. Scott and a Norwegian one led by R. Amundsen.

Over the next few months eternal ice Antarctica witnessed the grandiose triumph of one of them and the no less grandiose tragedy of the other.

The tragic fate of R. Scott's expedition

British naval officer Robert Scott was an experienced polar explorer. A few years earlier, he had already landed on the coast of Antarctica and spent about three months here, walking through the icy desert for about a thousand miles. This time he was determined to reach the Pole and plant the British flag at that point. His expedition was well prepared: Manchurian horses, accustomed to the cold, were chosen as the main draft force, there were also several dog teams and even a technical novelty - a motor sled.

R. Scott's expedition had to travel about 800 miles to reach the South Pole. It was a terrible route, full of ice hummocks and deep cracks. The air temperature almost all the time did not exceed 40 degrees below zero, a snowstorm was a frequent occurrence, during which visibility did not exceed 10-15 meters.


On the way to the Pole, all the horses died from frostbite, then the snowmobile broke down. Before reaching the final point of about 150 km, the expedition split up: only five people went further, harnessed to sleds loaded with luggage, the rest turned back.

Having overcome unthinkable difficulties, the five explorers reached the South Pole - and then Scott and his companions suffered a terrifying disappointment. At the southernmost point of the planet there was already a tent, on top of which fluttered the flag of Norway. The British were late - Amundsen was ahead of them by a whole month.

They were not destined to make their way back. One of the English explorers died of an illness, the second got frostbite on his hands and chose to leave himself, lost in the ice, so as not to become a burden for the others. The three remaining, including R. Scott himself, were frozen in the snow, only eleven miles short of the last of the intermediate food depots they left on their way to the Pole. A year later, their bodies were discovered by a rescue expedition sent after them.

Roald Amundsen - discoverer of the South Pole

The dream of the Norwegian traveler Roald Amundsen for many years was the North Pole. The expeditions of Cook and Peary were rather dubious in terms of effectiveness - neither one nor the other could reliably confirm that they had reached the most northern point planets.

Amundsen prepared for the expedition for a long time, picking up the necessary equipment and supplies. He immediately decided that in the northern latitudes there is nothing better than dog teams in terms of endurance and speed of movement. Having already set sail, he learned about Scott's expedition, which set off to conquer the South Pole, and decided to also go south.

Amundsen's expedition chose to land on the mainland good place, which was a hundred miles closer to the pole than the starting point of Scott's expedition. Four dog teams, consisting of 52 huskies, dragged sleds with everything necessary. In addition to Amundsen, four other Norwegians participated in the expedition, each of whom was an experienced cartographer and traveler.

The entire trip there and back took 99 days. Not a single explorer died, everyone safely reached the South Pole in December 1911 and returned home, covering themselves with the glory of the discoverers of the southernmost point of the planet Earth.

Attempts to reach the North Pole have been made for half a century - mainly because of the desire to perpetuate their name in this way. In 1873, the Austrian explorers Julius Payer and Karl Weyprecht approached the pole at a distance of about 950 kilometers and named the archipelago they discovered Franz Josef Land (in honor of the Austrian emperor). In 1896, the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen, drifting in arctic ice, approached the North Pole by about 500 kilometers. And finally, on March 1, 1909, an American officer, Robert Edward Peary, accompanied by 24 people on 19 sledges pulled by 133 dogs, headed for the Pole from the main camp on the northern coast of Greenland. Five weeks later, on April 6, he hoisted his country's star flag at the North Pole and then returned safely to Greenland.

Who discovered Antarctica

Antarctica was discovered by Russian round the world expedition(1819-1821) under the leadership of F. F. Bellingshausen on the sloops Vostok (commander F. F. Bellingshausen) and Mirny (commander M. P. Lazarev). This expedition was aimed at maximum penetration to the southern subpolar zone and the discovery of unknown lands - the site. Antarctica was discovered on January 28, 1820 at a point with coordinates 69 degrees 21 minutes south latitude and 2 degrees 14 minutes west longitude (the area of ​​the modern Bellingshausen ice shelf). On February 2, the expedition members saw the ice shores for the second time, and on February 17 and 18 they came almost close to the ice massif.

This allowed Bellingshausen and Lazarev to conclude that there was an "ice continent" in front of them. The discovery of Antarctica was the result of a deeply thought out and carefully implemented plan by Russian sailors. Hugh Robert Mill, one of the outstanding experts on the history of the discovery of Antarctica, author of the book "The Conquest of the South Pole", characterizes this wonderful polar journey: “A study of the route of the Bellingshausen ships shows that, even if they did not reach a degree and a quarter before the line reached by Cook, nevertheless his sloops Vostok and Mirny passed south of 60 degrees of latitude more than 242 degrees in longitude, of which 41 a degree falls on the seas beyond the Antarctic Circle, while Cook's vessels "Resolution" and "Adventure" covered only 125 degrees of longitude south of 60 degrees, of which only 24 degrees fall on the seas beyond the Antarctic Circle. But that is not all. The care with which Bellingshausen deliberately crossed all the huge gaps left by his predecessor created complete confidence that south of 60 degrees south latitude the open sea lies everywhere..

Who was the first to reach the South Pole

Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian polar explorer, was the first to reach the South Pole by hoisting the Norwegian flag on December 14, 1911. On January 17, 1912, an English expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott arrived at the Pole - to their greatest disappointment, to see the flag hoisted by Amundsen. The expeditions reached the Pole by various routes and were equipped differently. Amundsen took the shorter route. On the way, he set up camps with enough provisions for the return. As a vehicle, he used a sleigh drawn by Eskimo dogs, accustomed to extreme climatic conditions. Unlike the Norwegians, the British went to the Pole on a motor sled, and the dogs were taken only in case the sled failed. The sleigh quickly broke down, and there were too few dogs. The polar explorers were forced to leave part of the cargo and harness themselves to the sled. The track Scott walked along was 150 kilometers longer than Amundsen's. On the way back Scott and his companions were killed.

Who and when first sailed around Eurasia

In 1878-1879, the Swedish Arctic explorer and navigator Niels Adolf Eric Nordenskiöld (1832-1901) on the steamer Vega for the first time carried out through navigation (with wintering off the coast of Chukotka) through the Northeast Passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean (along northern shores Europe and Asia) and through the Suez Canal in 1880 returned to Sweden, for the first time bypassing all of Eurasia in this way.

Who was the first sailor to circumnavigate the world solo

First circumnavigation single-handedly accomplished Canadian Joshua Slocum (1844-1909). On July 2, 1895, on July 2, 1895, he sailed from the port of Yarmouth in the Canadian province Nova Scotia and went to Europe. Arriving in Gibraltar, Slocum decided to reverse the direction of his world tour. After spending the summer southern hemisphere 1897 in Tasmania, Slocum again went out into the ocean and, rounding the Cape of Good Hope on January 1, 1898, returned to the Atlantic. On entering Saint Helena, he took on board a goat, intending to milk it and drink its milk. But on Ascension Island, he landed a goat that destroyed all his nautical charts. June 28, 1898 Joshua Slocum came ashore in Newport (USA). The only living creature that circumnavigated the globe with him was a spider, which Slocum spotted on the day he sailed and kept him alive.

By what other name is the Republic of Grenada commonly known?

Due to the fact that the main export of Grenada is nutmeg and other spices, this small state, located on the island of the same name between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, is often called the Spice Island.

A continent is a large landmass surrounded by seas and oceans. In tectonics, continents are characterized as sections of the lithosphere with a continental structure.

Mainland, continent or part of the world? What is the difference?

In geography, another term is often used, denoting the mainland - the continent. But the concepts of "mainland" and "continent" are not synonymous. AT different countries accepted various points view of the number of continents, called continental models.

There are several such models:

• In China, India, as well as in the English-speaking countries of Europe, it is customary to consider that continents 7 - Europe and Asia, they consider separately;
• In Hispanics European countries, as well as in the countries of South America, they imply a division into 6 parts of the world - with a united America;
• in Greece and some countries of Eastern Europe a model with 5 continents was adopted - only those where people live, i.e. except for Antarctica;
• in Russia and the countries of Eurasia adjacent to it, they traditionally designate 4 - continents united into large groups.

(The figure clearly shows different views continental models on Earth, from 7 to 4)

Continents

There are 6 continents in total on Earth. We list them in descending order by area size:

1. - the largest continent on our planet (54.6 million sq. km)
2. (30.3 million sq. km)
3. (24.4 million sq. km)
4. (17.8 million sq. km)
5. (14.1 million sq. km)
6. (7.7 million sq. km)

All of them are separated by the waters of the seas and oceans. Four continents have a land border: Eurasia and Africa are separated by the Isthmus of Suez, North and South America - the Isthmus of Panama.

Continents

The difference is that the continents do not have a land border. Therefore, in this case, we can talk about 4 continents ( one of the continental models of the world), also in descending order by size:

1. AfroEurasia
2. America

Parts of the world

The terms "mainland" and "continent" have scientific significance, but the term "part of the world" divides the land on a historical and cultural basis. There are 6 parts of the world, only unlike the continents, Eurasia differs by Europe and Asia, but the North and South America defined together as one part of the world America:

1. Europe
2. Asia
3. America(both North and South), or New World
4. Australia and Oceania

Speaking of parts of the world, they mean the islands adjacent to them.

The difference between the mainland and the island

The definition of the mainland and the island is the same - a part of the land washed by the waters of the ocean or seas. But there are significant differences.

1. Size. Even the most small mainland, Australia, is much larger in area than the world's largest island, Greenland.

(Formation of the Earth's continents, a single continent of Pangea)

2. Education. All continents have a tiled origin. According to scientists, there was once a single continent - Pangea. Then, as a result of the split, 2 continents appeared - Gondwana and Laurasia, which later split into 6 more parts. The theory is confirmed both by geological surveys and by the shape of the continents. Many of them can be put together like a puzzle.

Islands are formed different ways. There are those that, like the continents, are located on the ruins of ancient lithospheric plates. Others are formed from volcanic lava. Still others - as a result of the activity of polyps (coral islands).

3. Habitability. All continents are inhabited, even Antarctica, which is harsh in terms of climatic conditions. Many islands are still uninhabited.

Characteristics of the continents

- the largest continent, occupying 1/3 of the land. Two parts of the world are located here at once: Europe and Asia. The border between them runs along the line Ural mountains, Black and Sea of ​​Azov, as well as the straits connecting the Black and Mediterranean Seas.

This is the only continent that is washed by all the oceans. The coastline is indented, it forms a large number of bays, peninsulas, islands. The mainland itself is located immediately on six tectonic platforms, and therefore the relief of Eurasia is incredibly diverse.

Here are the most extensive plains, the most high mountains(Himalayas from Mount Everest), the deepest lake (Baikal). This is the only continent where everything is presented at once climatic zones(and, accordingly, all natural areas) - from the Arctic with its permafrost to the equatorial with its sultry deserts and jungles.

¾ of the world's population lives on the mainland, 108 states are located here, of which 94 have the status of independent.

- the hottest continent on Earth. It is located on an ancient platform, so most of the area is occupied by plains, mountains are formed along the edges of the mainland. Africa has the most long river in the world - the Nile and the most extensive desert - the Sahara. Climate types presented on the mainland: equatorial, subequatorial, tropical and subtropical.

Africa is usually divided into five regions: North, South, West, East and Central. There are 62 countries on the mainland.

Washed by the waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. The result of the movement tectonic plates became severely cut coastline mainland, with huge amount bays, straits, coves and islands. The largest island is in the north (Greenland).

The Cordillera Mountains stretch along the western coast, and the Appalachians along the eastern coast. The central part is occupied by a vast plain.

All climatic zones are represented here, except for the equatorial one, which determines the diversity natural areas. Most rivers and lakes are located in the northern part. largest river- Mississippi.

Indigenous people- Indians and Eskimos. Currently, 23 states are located here, of which only three (Canada, the United States and Mexico) are on the mainland itself, the rest are on the islands.

Washed by the Silent and Atlantic Oceans. Along the west coast is the world's longest mountain system- Andes, or South American Cordilleras. The rest of the mainland is occupied by plateaus, plains and lowlands.

This is the rainiest continent, since most of it is located in the equator zone. Here is the largest and most abundant river in the world - the Amazon.

The indigenous people are the Indians. Currently, there are 12 independent states on the territory of the mainland.

- the only continent on the territory of which there is only 1 state - the Commonwealth of Australia. Most The mainland is occupied by plains, mountains are located only along the coast.

Australia is a unique continent with the largest number of endemic animals and plants. The indigenous people are Australian Aborigines, or Bushmen.

- the southernmost continent, completely covered with ice. The average thickness of the ice cover is 1600 m, the largest is 4000 m. If the ice in Antarctica melted, the level of the world's oceans would immediately rise by 60 meters!

Most of the mainland is occupied by an icy desert, life is glimmering only on the coasts. Antarctica is also the coldest continent. In winter, temperatures can drop below -80 ºC (record -89.2 ºC), in summer - up to -20 ºC.