Population: 1,340,598,447
World percentage: 17.20%
Data from: 2019

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, being behind Asia in both categories. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles), including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area and 20% of its land area. With 1.2 billion people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the world's human population.

The Mediterranean Sea surrounds the African continent to the north, the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos. It contains 54 fully recognised sovereign states (countries), nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. The majority of the continent, and its countries, are located in the Northern Hemisphere. A substantial portion and several countries in the Southern Hemisphere.

Population: 4,294,516,659
World percentage: 55.10%
Data from: 2019

Asia is Earth's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the Eastern and Northern Hemispheres. It shares the continental landmass of Eurasia with the continent of Europe and the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Europe and Africa. Asia covers an area of 44,579,000 square kilometers (17,212,000 sq mi), about 30% of Earth's total land area, and 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area.

The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the human population, was the origin of many first civilizations. Asia is notable for not only its overall large size and population but also dense and large settlements, as well as vast barely populated regions. With 4.5 billion people (as of June 2019), Asia constitutes roughly 60% of the world's population.

Population: 42,690,838
World percentage: 0.50%
Data from: 2019

Oceania is a geographic region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the eastern and western hemispheres, Oceania has a land area of 8,525,989 square kilometers (3,291,903 sq mi) and a population of 40 million.

Located in the southeast of the Asia-Pacific region, Oceania, when compared to the continental areas, is the smallest in land area and the second smallest in population after Antarctica.

Population: 834,995,197
World percentage: 10.70%
Data from: 2019

Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. The Arctic Ocean borders it to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Asia to the east, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia.

Europe is commonly acknowledged to be separated from Asia by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways of the Turkish Straits. Although the term "continent" implies physical geography, the land border is somewhat arbitrary. It has been redefined several times since its first conception in classical antiquity.

The division of Eurasia into two continents reflects East-West cultural, linguistic, and ethnic differences, which vary on a spectrum rather than with a sharp dividing line. The geographic border between Europe and Asia does not follow any state boundaries: Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan are transcontinental countries. Spain is also transcontinental in that its central portion is on the Iberian peninsula (Europe). At the same time, pockets of Spanish territory are located across the Strait of Gibraltar on the North African region (i.e., mainly Melilla, Ceuta, and the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean).

Population: 368,869,647
World percentage: 4.70%
Data from: 2019

North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered by some to be a northern subcontinent of the Americas. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea.

North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 579 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7.5% of the world's population, if included the nearby islands (most notably the Caribbean).

Population: 658,345,826
World percentage: 8.50%
Data from: 2019

South America is a continent in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It may also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas, which is how it is viewed in the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking regions of the Americas. The reference to South America instead of other regions (like Latin America or the Southern Cone) has increased in the last decades due to changing geopolitical dynamics (in particular, the rise of Brazil).

It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest. It includes twelve sovereign states (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela), a part of France (French Guiana), and a non-sovereign area (the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory though this is disputed by Argentina). In addition to this, the ABC islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, and Panama may also be considered part of South America.