SESS7267 – Reviewer North America is surrounded by Arctic ocean in its north side,
Atlantic Ocean to the east, Pacific Ocean to its south and west,
Landforms and Waterforms of the World
NORTH AMERICA
Landforms:
 Alaska Range: Mountains of south-central Alaska
that extend from the Alaska Peninsula to the border of
the Yukon Territory, Canada. The highest point in
North America.
 Appalachian Mountains: The Appalachians, about
1,500 miles in length, extend from central Alabama in
the U.S. up through the New England states and the
Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland
and Quebec.
 Canadian Shield: This plateau region of eastern and
northern Canada and the Great Lakes area of North
America mainly includes rough and rocky surfaces,
and large areas of coniferous (evergreen) forests.
 Cascades: A mountain range stretching from
northeastern California across Oregon and
Washington. Major peaks included Mt. Hood, Mt.
Ranier, and Mt. St. Helens.
 Coast Range: Mountains running along the Pacific
Ocean coastlines of California, Oregon, Washington.
They also extend along the western border of British
Columbia, Canada, and the southern edge of Alaska,
all the way to Kenai Peninsula and Kodiak Island.
 Sierra Nevada: The Sierra Nevada is part of the
American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges that
consists of an almost continuous sequence of such
ranges that form the western "backbone" of North
America, Central America, South America and
Antarctica.
 Brooks Range: The Brooks Range is a mountain
range in far northern North America stretching some
700 miles from west to east across northern Alaska
into Canada's Yukon Territory.
 Death Valley Desert & Mojave Valley: The high
Mojave and low Death Valley Deserts cover a huge
acreage and include valuable mineral deposits, such
as borax.
 Denali: is the highest mountain peak in North
America, with a summit elevation of 20,310 feet above
sea level. With a topographic prominence of 20,156
feet and a topographic isolation of 4,629 miles, Denali
is the third most prominent and third most isolated
peak on Earth, after Mount Everest and Aconcagua.
and South America and Caribbean Sea to its south east side.
Waterforms in North America
 Oceans
o Atlantic Ocean
 body of saltwater covering
approximately one-fifth of Earth's
surface and separating the
continents of Europe and Africa to
the east from those of North and
South America to the west.
 It is also the highway for the
explorers, settlers and immigrants
o Pacific Ocean
 body of salt water extending from
the Antarctic region in the south to
the Arctic in the north and lying
between the continents of Asia and
Australia on the west and North and
South America on the east.
 River
o Missouri River
 the second longest river in North
America/the United States. The
Missouri River flows entirely though
the United States, crossing seven
states: Montana, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa,
Kansas and Missouri.
 The Missouri is 3,767.47 kilometres
long. When combined with the
lower Mississippi River, the total
length amounts to 6,275 kilometres,
forming the world's fourth longest
river system, after the Amazon, Nile
and Yangtze rivers.
o Mississippi River
 one of the world’s major river
systems in size, habitat diversity
and biological productivity. It is also
one of the world's most important
commercial waterways and one of
North America's great migration
routes for both birds and fishes.
 Ojibwe Misi-ziibi, meaning "Great
River"
 It is 3,770 kilometres long and flows
through 10 US states: Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois,
Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas,
Mississippi and Louisiana.
o Rio Grande
 Spanish Río Grande del Norte, or
(in Mexico) Río Bravo, or Río Bravo
del Norte, fifth longest river of North
America, and the 20th longest in the
world, forming the border between
the U.S. state of Texas and Mexico.
 Rising as a clear, snow-fed
mountain stream more than 12,000
feet (3,700 metres) above sea level
in the Rocky Mountains, the Rio
Grande descends across steppes
and deserts, watering rich
agricultural regions as it flows on its
way to the Gulf of Mexico.
  The total length of the river is about
1,900 miles (3,060 km).
 Lakes
o Lake Superior
 The largest lake in North America.
 The lake's name did not initially
refer to its enormous size, but was
described as “la lac superior” by
early French explorers in reference
to the fact that it was the only lake
upstream from the other Great
Lakes of North America.
 Lake Superior is the largest
freshwater lake in the world and
covers a total area of 82,100 square
miles.
o Lake Huron
 the second-largest Great Lake with
a surface area of 23,000 square
miles – slightly smaller than the
state of West Virginia – making it
the fifth-largest freshwater lake in
the world.
 It has the longest shoreline of the
Great Lakes, extending 3,827 miles
and home to 30,000 islands.
 Falls
o Yosemite Falls
 the highest waterfall in North
America (1,647 m) and 5th highest
in the world
o Niagara Falls
 a group of three waterfalls at the
southern end of Niagara Gorge,
spanning the border between the
US state of New York and the
Canadian province of Ontario.
 15,000 years ago, southern Ontario
was pure ice and not much else. As
the last Ice Age began to change,
around 12,000 years ago, new
landscapes and rivers were formed
from the glaciers. When this
happened, Niagara River was
created and, shortly after, Niagara
Falls was born.
 Ocean Basin
o The Gulf of Mexico
 connected to the Atlantic Ocean by
the Straits of Florida, between Cuba
and the U.S. state of Florida. It is
connected to the Caribbean Sea by
the Yucatan Channel, between
Cuba and the Mexican peninsula of
Yucatan. The Gulf of Mexico is an
important economic site for all three
countries.
Highest and Lowest Points of Continents
Continent Waterforms Landforms
ASIA Mt. Everest Dead Sea
AFRICA Mt. Kilimanjaro Lake Assal
N. AMERICA Mt. Mckinley Badwater Basin
S. AMERICA Mt. Acoucaqua Valdes Penisula/
Laguna del Calbou
EUROPE Mt. Elbrus Caspian Sea
AUSTRALIA Mt. Vinsou Denman Glacier
ANTARCTICA Mt. Kosciuszko Lake Eyre
AUSTRALIA
 The smallest continent and one of the largest
countries on Earth, lying between Pacific and Indian
Ocean in the Southern Hemisphere.
 Australia’s capital is CANBERRA
 Australia has been called “The Oldest Continent”,
“The Last of Lands,” and the “The Last Frontier.”
Landforms and Waterforms:
 Uluru
o Also known as Ayers Rock and it is a large
sandstone rock formation in the southern
parts of the Northern Territory in Central
Australia.
o Uluru is sacred to the Aborigines (Aboriginal
people).
 Heart Reef
o Heart Reef, in the Great Barrier Reef of the
Whitsundays, is a stunning composition of
coral that has naturally formed into the shape
of a heart.
 The Bungle Bungle Range
o The Bungle Bungle Range is the landform
that is the major component of the Purnululu
National Park situated in the Kimberly region
of Western Australia.
o In 2003, the Purnululu National Park was
listed as a World Heritage site.
 The Twelve Apostles
o The Twelve Apostles is a collection of
limestone stacks off the shore of Port
Campbell National Park, by the Great Ocean
Road in Victoria, Australia.
o The Twelve Apostles were formed by
erosion.
 The Three Sisters
o The Three Sisters are unusual rock
formation in the Blue Mountains of New
South Wales, Australia, on the north
escarpment of the Jamison Valley.
o Named after the Aboriginal Legend three
sisters, Meehni, Wimlah, and Gunnedoo.
 Indian Ocean
o Located at the north western to western
portions of Australia.
 Coral Sea
o Contains numerous islands and the Great
Barrier Reef.
 Gulf Of Carpentaria
o The gulf is located on the northern portion of
the continent and is dominated with amounts
of eucalyptus species.
 River Torrens
o This river is situated in the city of Adelaide,
and is one of the main reasons for its
existence.
 Great Australian Bright
o Located in southern Australia and is home to
a variety of resources such as gas, oil, and
fisheries.
 More than 16 million people—nearly
a third of all Italians—live in this
fertile basin, in which are located 12
cities with populations surpassing
100,000,
o Economic Aspects:
 The Po Valley is one of the most
EUROPE important industrial and agricultural
areas in Europe. Hydroelectricity is
Landforms: produced by the flow of the Po. The
 The Alps river is extensively used for
o Geography: irrigation for the region's agriculture
 highest and most extensive
mountain range system that lies
entirely in Europe, and stretching
approximately 1,200 kilometres
across eight Alpine countries:
France, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy,
Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany,
and Slovenia.
o Economic Aspects:
 The Alpine economy is based on a
symbiosis of diverse sectors:
tourism, services, industry,  Carpathian Mountains
electricity generation, and o Geography:
agriculture.  The Carpathian Mountains form a
1,500km-long range in Central and
Eastern Europe. They stretch west
to east in an arc from the Czech
Republic to Romania. It is divided
into three major sections: West,
East, South
o Economic Aspects:
 natural resources such as quartz,
feldspar, granite, gneiss, and mica.
Besides, in these mountains, there
are extensive deposits of natural
gas and oil.
 Mont Blanc
o Geography:
 The highest mountain in the Alps
and the highest in Europe west of
the Caucasus peaks of Russia and
Georgia. It rises 4,808 m above sea
level and is ranked 11th in the world
in topographic prominence.

 Scandinavian Peninsula
o Geography:
 The largest peninsula in Europe,
the Scandinavian Peninsula is
approximately 1,850 kilometres
(1,150 mi) long with a width varying
approximately from 370 to 805
kilometres (230 to 500 miles). The
Scandinavian mountain range
 Po Valley generally defines the border
o Geography: between Norway and Sweden.
 THE PO RIVER VALLEY is the
largest and most important
economic region in Italy. It is the
center of most Italian industry as
well as Italy's agricultural heartland.
  It can also be formed through
glaciation
 1000 Fjords in Norway
o Economic Aspect:
 Tourism

 Danube River
o Geography:
 It passes through 10 countries:
Germany, Austria, Slovakia,
Waterforms: HUngary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria,
 Mediterranean Sea (Sea Between the Lands) Romania, Moldova & Ukraine.
o Geology:  Second largest river in Europe
 Due to seafloor spreading, o Economic Aspects:
volcanism and mountain building in  Hydroelectric power (Austria,
Africa and Eurasia were formed. Hungary & Serbia)
o Economic Aspects:  Irrigation
 Commercial fishing (Sardines and  Fishing Port
Bluelif Tuna)
 Sea salt
 Oil and natural gas
 Trade and tourism

 Gulf of Venice (Golfo Di Venecia)

 English Channel (The Channel or la manche)
o Geography:
o Geology:
 It is a gulf that borders Italy,
 It is a narrow arm of the Atlantic
Slovenia and Croatia.
Ocean separating the southern
 It is linked in the north of the
coast of England from the northern
Adriatic Sea.
coast of France.
 A northeast wind called Bora,
 The channel was said to be formed
causes rough seas and shipping
from downfolding and galcier
hazards.
withdrawal.
o Economic Aspects:
o Economic Aspects:
 Shipping Port
 Tourism (Good climate + sandy
beaches)
 powering nuclear generating
stations
 transportation

 Norwegian Fjords
o Geology: ASIA
 A fjord is a long, deep, narrow body  Lake Baikal
of water that reaches far inland. o The lake is known as the “Galápagos of
 Fjords are often set in a U-shaped
Russia” because of its importance to the
valley with steep walls of rock on
study of evolutionary science. It has 1,340
either side.
 species of animals and 570 species of
plants.
 Ural Mountains
o runs for approximately 2,500 kilometers
(1,550 miles) in an indirect north-south line
from Russia to Kazakhstan. The Ural
Mountains are some of the world’s oldest, at
250 million to 300 million years old. Millions
of years of erosion have lowered the
mountains significantly, and today their
average elevation is between 914 and 1,220
meters (3,000 to 4,000 feet).
SOUTH ASIA
 Himalayas
o The Himalayas stretch across the
northeastern portion of India. They cover
approximately 1,500 mi (2,400 km) and pass
through the nations of India, Pakistan,
Afghanistan, China, Bhutan and Nepal. The
Himalayan range is made up of three parallel
ranges often referred to as the Greater
Himalayas, the Lesser Himalayas, and the
Outer Himalayas.
 Mount Everest
o Reaching an elevation of 29,035 feet (8,850
metres), Mount Everest is the highest
mountain in the world.
 Indo-Gangetic Plain
o also called North Indian Plain, extensive
north-central section of the Indian
subcontinent, stretching westward from (and
including) the combined delta of the
Brahmaputra River valley and the Ganges
(Ganga) River to the Indus River valley.
 Indus River
o the longest and most important river in
Pakistan and one of the most important
rivers on the Indian subcontinent.
o  the river runs a 3200 kilometers (2000 mile)
course
 Bay of Bengal
o Bay of Bengal is the largest bay in the world,
covering almost 2.2 million square kilometers
(839,000 square miles) and bordering
Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Burma.
o Many large rivers, including the Ganges and
Brahmaputra, empty into the bay. The briny
wetlands formed by the Ganges-
Brahmaputra on the Bay of Bengal is the
largest delta in the world.
SOUTH EAST ASIA
 Mekong River
o the longest river in Southeast Asia, the 7th
longest in Asia, and the 12th longest in the
world. It has a length of about 2,700 miles
(4,350 km).
 Ha Long Bay
o a beautiful natural wonder in northern
Vietnam near the Chinese border. The Bay is
dotted with 1,600 limestone islands and
islets and covers an area of over 1,500
sqkm. This extraordinary area was declared
a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.
 Mayon
o A perfect stratovolcano rising to 2,462
meters in Luzon.
o One of the most active volcanoes in the
Philippines.
 Mount Kinabalu
o One of the world’s most prominent peaks,
Mount Kinabalu soars up from sea level to 4,
095m, making Borneo the planet’s third
highest island (after Hawaii and New
Guinea)
EAST ASIA
 Danxia Rainbow Mountains (Gansu, China)
o Layers of different colored sandstone and
minerals were pressed together over 24
million years and then buckled up by tectonic
plates
o cretaceous sandstones and siltstones that
were deposited in China before the
Himalayan Mountains were formed. The
sand and silt was deposited with iron and
trace minerals that provided it with the key
ingredient to form the colors we see today.
 Yangtze River
o The Yangtze River in China is the longest
river in Asia, the third longest river in the
world and the longest river to flow entirely in
one country
 Tibetan Plateau
o called the "Roof of the World“, stands over 3
miles above sea level and is surrounded by
imposing mountain ranges that harbor the
world's two highest summits, Mount Everest
and K2. 
 Gobi Desert
o The Gobi (from Mongolian gobi, meaning
“waterless place”) stretches across huge
portions of both Mongolia and China.
Contrary to the perhaps romantic image long
associated with what—at least to the
European mind—was a remote and
unexplored region, much of the Gobi is not
sandy desert but bare rock. 
CENTRAL ASIA
 Caspian Sea
o The Caspian Sea is the world's largest
inland body of water, variously classed as
the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea.
It is an endorheic basin (a basin without
outflows) located between Europe and Asia,
to the east of the Caucasus Mountains and
to the west of the broad steppe of Central
Asia.
WEST OR MIDDLE EAST ASIA
 Euphrates River
o is the longest and one of the most historically
important rivers of Western Asia. Together
with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining
rivers of Mesopotamia (the "Land between
the Rivers").
 Arabian Desert
o The great desert region of extreme
southwestern Asia that occupies almost the
entire Arabian Peninsula. It is the largest
desert area on the continent—covering an
area of about 900,000 square miles
(2,300,000 square km)—and the second
 largest on Earth, surpassed in size only by
the Sahara, in northern Africa.
AFRICA
A CONTINENT WAS BORN
 A ”supercontinent" is a term used for a large
landmass formed by the convergence of multiple
continents.
 The most frequently referenced supercontinent is
known as "Pangaea" (also "Pangea"), which existed
approximately 225 million years ago.
 It is thought that all major continents at that time were
assembled into the Pangaea supercontinent.
AFRICA
 Africa is the world's second largest and second
most-populous continent, being behind Asia in both
categories.
 At about 30.3 million km² including adjacent islands,
it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area and 20% of
its land area.
 Africa is sometimes nicknamed the "Mother
Continent" due to its being the oldest inhabited
continent on Earth.
 Humans and human ancestors have lived in Africa for
more than 5 million years.
 There are 54 countries in Africa.
THE GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICA
 The Continent of Africa is located at the equator,
tropic of Cancer, and tropic of Capricorn.
 The absolute location of Africa is 30.5595° S,
22.9375° E
 Africa is a continent located to the south of Europe
across the Mediterranean Sea and to the east of
South America across the Atlantic Ocean.
 Africa is consists of savannahs, desserts, rainforests.
 The landmass of Africa is about 30.3 million
km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent
islands.
Landforms:
 The Sahara Desert
o Comprising most of North Africa, the Sahara
desert is the largest hot desert, and the
third largest desert in the world after
Antarctica and the Arctic. With an area of
3,600,000 square miles, it is comparable in
size to China or the United States.
 Sahel
o It is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic
zone of transition in Africa between the
Sahara to the north and the Sudanian
Savanna to the south.
o The region became a key part of the slave
trade during colonial times. France took
control of western Sahel during the 1800s,
and the region was one of France's
most important territories, known as French
West Africa. The eastern Sahel, however,
remained under Islamic rule after being
annexed by Egypt.
o Desertification is taking place in the
Sahel partly because of the low annual
rainfall but mostly because of effects off
human activities such as overgrazing.
Animals are left to graze on a specific part off
the land removing most of the vegetation and
leaving the soil exposed and susceptible to
erosion.
 The Savanna
o “Savannas, or grasslands, cover almost half
of Africa.”
o A mixed woodland-grassland ecosystem
characterised by the trees being sufficiently
widely spaced so that the canopy does not
close.
o Grasslands make up most roughly 5 million
square miles of central Africa, beginning
south of the Sahara and the Sahel and
ending north of the continents southern tip.
o The Serengeti in Tanzania is perhaps the
most well-known savanna region, and is
home to one of the continents highest
concentrations of large mammal species,
including lions, hyenas, zebras, giraffes, and
elephants.
 Ethiopian Highlands
o A rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia,
situated in the Horn region in northeast
Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of
its elevation in the continent, with little of its
 surface falling below 1,500 m, while the
summits reach heights of up to 4,550 m.
 Rainforests
o Around 2 million km² of Africa is covered by
tropical rainforests. They are second only in
extent to those in Amazonia, which cover
around 6 million km². Rainforests are home
to vast numbers of species. For example, the
world’s tropical rainforests are estimated to
be home to at least 40,000 tree species, with
up to 6,000 in African forests.
Waterforms:
 Nile River
o “Africa is home to the second longest river in
the world.”
o With a length of about 4,258 miles, the Nile
River rises south of the Equator and flows
northward through northeastern Africa to
drain into the Mediterranean Sea.
o Its drainage basin covers eleven countries:
Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya,
Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan, and
Egypt.
o At one time, it was considered the longest
river in the world. However, better measuring
technologies now put the Amazon River in
South America ahead of the Nile.
o The fertile Lower Nile gave rise to early
Egyptian civilization and is still home to the
Great Pyramids and Sphinx of Giza near
Cairo.
 Congo River
o Formerly known as the Zaire River under
the Mobutu regime, is the second longest
river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as
well as the second largest river in the world
by discharge volume, following only the
Amazon.
o The Congo River in Central Africa is one of
the world's great rivers, carrying 1.25 million
cubic feet of water—more than 13 Olympic-
sized swimming pools—into the Atlantic
Ocean every second.
o The canyon that the lower Congo cuts as it
empties out to sea. It's the deepest river in
the world, so deep that scientists don't really
know how deep it is.
 Lake Victoria
o It is Africa's largest lake and has a surface
area of 26,600 square miles (68,800 square
kilometers). It is the largest tropical lake in
the world.
o It is the world's second largest
freshwater lake measured by surface area.
The only larger
freshwater lake is Lake Superior in North
America.
o It is considered the most dangerous water
body of its kind in the world due to the
number of deaths recorded every year.
 Niger River
o It is the principal river in Western Africa and
provides an invaluable water source in the
Sahara Desert. It's two fertile deltas provide
critical water sources and wetlands to an
otherwise very dry region.
o It represents a major means of transportation
in Mali, particularly in some of the remote
areas in the country. From this interior
delta, the river flows in a
northeast direction before turning to the
southeast to form the great bend.
o Niger fauna include hippopotamuses, at
least three different types
of crocodiles (including the much-feared
Nile crocodile), and a variety of
lizards. There is also a rich collection of
birds.
ANTARCTICA
 Antarctica's terrain is made up of glaciers, ice shelves
and icebergs.
 Antarctica has no trees or bushes.; The only plants
that can survive the extreme cold are lichens, mosses
and algae.
Life on Antarctica
 Aside from penguins inhabiting the iced-region, only
scientists conducting research and experiments can
be found there
Significance and Contribution
 Antarctica has more meteorites within its continent
than every meteorites found in all other continents
combined
Landforms:
 Ross Ice Shelf
o The largest ice shelf in Antarctica
 Transantarctic Mountains
o The mountain that divides the western and
eastern part of Antarctica
 Mount Erebus
o Second highest volcano in Antarctica and the
southernmost active volcano on earth
 Vinson Massif
o The highest point in Antarctica
Waterforms:
 Onyx River
o Longest river in Antarctica
  Ross Sea
o Southernmost sea on Earth
 McMurdo Sound
o Earth’s most southerly navigable body of
water and home to Antarctica’s largest
research station

Drastic Effects of Global Warming

 Continuous rising of sea level
 If the whole of Antarctica were to melt, the sea level
would rise by 60 meters, enough to submerge all of
Europe.
 Alters the weather pattern of surrounding countries
 Dormant bacteria found in icebergs are released and
revived, posing a threat to humanity