The map of the world

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the World Ocean	западные границы
above the level of the sea	прибрежные равнины
in order of size	за исключением
coastal plains	Мировой Океан
western margins	полноводная река
with the exception of	над уровнем моря
full-flowing river	по размеру

If you look at the map of the world, you will see continents and oceans, seas and islands, rivers and mountains, lakes and deserts, etc. You will see that the greater part of the earth’s surface, about 71 percent is occupied by water. The large continuous bodies of water, broken info irregular parts by continents and islands are known as the oceans. Four are commonly recognized – the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic. All the oceans are linked up, forming great ocean, the World Ocean.

The continents are the large masses of land stand above the level of the sea. In order of size they are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia. Together they occupy only about 29 per cent of the earth surface.

The earth’s surface can be described as being rough or smooth. The rough lands include the world’s mountains and hilly uplands. The flat lands are its plateaus and plains. Each continent has an individual arrangement of landforms, though similarities do exist. For example, high mountain ranges are located along the western part of both North and South America. Each part has older, worn-down mountains near its eastern borders. Wide plains drained by great river system full the spaces between the mountain masses. Both have narrow coastal plains along their western margins and wider plains in the east. The largest river system in North America is the Mississippi - the Missouri. The longest river of South America is the Amazon.

Eurasia (Europe and Asia combined) and Africa differ remarkably from North and South America in their surfaces. A long mountain axis extends across south – central Eurasia. To the north and north-west of this mountain core lies the largest lowland in the world, stretching from the Atlantic ocean far info Asia. The main mountain systems in Eurasia are the Himalayas (Mount Chomolungma (Everest) is the highest in the world, 8,848 metres), the Alps, the Caucasus, the Carpathians, the Altai, the Urals, the Tien Shan. There are a lot of rivers there, for example, the Lena, the Enisei, the Amur, the Ob, the Volga, the Danube, the Brahmaputra, the Ganges. The longest river is the Yangtze.

Africa is not nearly as mountainous as Asia. With the exception of the Atlas Mountains, in the north-west, the highest mountains are in the east-central part of Africa. Most inner Africa is a vast plateau. It is co cut and worn by rivers that it has become a hilly or mountainous region. The main rivers are the Nile (the longest river in the world, 6671 km.), the Congo, the Niger, the Orange River, and the Zambezi.

Australia has three dominant landforms. They are the highlands in the east, the plateaus in the west, and a vast plain is covering the east-central part of the continent. The most full-flowing river is the Murray.

Antarctica is a mountainous land, which has many ranges and peaks. Of all continents only Antarctica is uninhabited. Only scientific stations and expeditions from a number of countries are to be found there. And the most populated continent is Eurasia.

Дата добавления: 2015-01-03