The political division is used to demarcate the limits between countries and, in turn, the limits of their territorial political units. The government of each country exercises its sovereignty within these limits. These divisions of the world respond to a series of circumstances, historical, cultural and social events that have been determining factors in the composition of the limits of a territory.
Political geography is the branch that studies the political division, including the states and countries that make up the world. To carry out this work, it takes into account the culture of each entity, as well as the way in which its borders have been transformed.
In general, the segmentations of the world respond to armed conflicts or agreements between regions. Source: pixabay.com
Concept
The words that make up the term political division come from Latin. The first becomes divide, which refers to separating or dividing; the second is derived from polis, which means "city."
Thus, political division is a form of division or separation of a territory through which limits called borders are placed. These boundaries can be natural - such as rivers and mountains - or artificial, such as the use of imaginary lines based on the coordinate system.
Many of these limits arise from armed conflicts or from peaceful agreements, through which the extension of a territory is claimed, which may include continental, maritime and air extensions. It is worth noting that these territories can be transformed.
In addition to separating territories, the demarcations seek to create a healthy coexistence under the same government regime between dissimilar groups that have their own customs, religions and languages. In this way, conflicts for ideological or religious reasons are avoided, for example.
Political division of the world
The political division of the world corresponds to the segmentation of our planet Earth into continents, which are huge units of land separated by oceans.
The international scientific community is not unanimous regarding the existing continents: some scientists say there are 6, others say there are 5 and others say there are 7.
The model of the 5 continents - which is the one accepted by the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee and, in general, by the whole world - refers to those that are more populated: Asia, Africa, America, Europe and Oceania.
Asia, Africa, America, Europe, Oceania and Antarctica are integrated into the 6 continent model. Finally, the 7 continents model divides America into North and South America, and adds the 6 continents from the previous model; altogether they are considered North America, South America, Asia, Africa, America, Europe, Oceania and Antarctica.
Asia
It is the largest continent in the world. With an area of 44 176 876 km2, it covers about a third of the Earth's surface.
It is located between the northern and eastern hemispheres and is where the largest amount of the world's population is concentrated, approximately 61%.
It is made up of 48 countries, 41 of which are Asian and 7 whose boundaries are divided between Asia and Europe, being considered Eurasian as they are on two continents. Among those 48 countries, two in particular stand out, which are the largest in the world: Russia and China.
Within the Asian continent there are numerous languages and languages; the most used are Mandarin, Hindi, Cantonese, Arabic and Chinese.
Africa
Considered the third continent in the world due to its size (America precedes it), it covers approximately 20% of the surface of the planet and is located in the northern and southern hemispheres.
This continent is often called "the cradle of humanity" since, according to the evolutionary theory of scientist and naturalist Charles Darwin, man arose and evolved in Africa. This theory gained relevance with the discovery of a large number of fossils of human ancestors.
It is made up of 54 countries, within which 2,000 types of languages are spoken. The main ones are Yoruba, Arabic, Swahili and Hausa.
Europe
It is the second continent with the smallest land area (7%), but the most populated after Asia and Africa. It is located in the eastern hemisphere with respect to the Greenwich meridian, and in the northern hemisphere with respect to the Equator.
It is made up of 49 countries that are grouped into 4 subdivisions of the continent: Central Europe, Northern Europe, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe. It is the continent with the largest number of developed countries.
More than 50 languages are spoken on this continent; the most predominant are English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and French.
In the 18th century, the so-called Industrial Revolution took place on the European continent; Since then the industry has had a great boost, occupying an important role in the world arena.
America
It is the second largest continent in the world, with 42,262,142 km2. Its extension ranges from the North Pole to Cape Horn, which is its border at the South Pole. It concentrates about 12% of the world population.
Due to its great extension and diversity of climate, it is divided into 3 subcontinents: North America, Central America and the Caribbean, and South America.
The American continent is made up of 35 countries; Similarly, there are 25 dependencies or colonies from other countries. The most economically developed countries are the United States and Canada, which are located in the north of the continent; the rest of the countries are developing.
The predominant language in the American continent is Spanish. There are also other languages such as Portuguese and English, but they are less prevalent.
Oceania
It is the smallest continent on Earth and is made up of millions of islands that are scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean. In itself, its extension is made up of more sea than land; that's where its name comes from.
This continent is considered the least populated and the most unknown. It is made up of 14 countries, among which Australia stands out since it occupies 85% of the continent.
The predominant language is English, in most countries it is an official or co-official language. Oceania is a continent with a very rich ethnic diversity, due to the fact that most of the islands (20,000 islands in total) have different cultures.
References
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- "The continents of the world: surface, population and resources" (2014) in History and Biography. Retrieved on March 30, 2019 from History and Biographies: historiaybiografias.com
- "World Geography" (2018) in Geographical Epicenter. Retrieved March 31, 2019 from Epicentro Geografico: epicentrogeografico.com
- "Physical geography" (S / F) in La Geografía. Retrieved on March 31, 2019 from La Geografía: lageografia.com
- "The continents and oceans" (S / F) in Educational Portal. Retrieved on March 31, 2019 from Portal Educativo: portaleducativo.net
- "World Administrative Divisions" (2014) at ArcGIS Online. Retrieved on March 30, 2019 from Arcgis: arcgis.com
- “7 Continents of the World and the 5 Oceans List” (S / F) in 7 Continents and 5 Oceans of the Wordl. Retrieved on March 31, 2019 from 7 Continents and 5 Oceans of the Wordl: 7continents5oceans.com