Continent Continent A continent is one of several very large landmasses of the world. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, they are: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. Geologically, the continents largely correspond to areas of continental crust that are found on the continental plates. However, some areas of continental crust are regions covered with water not usually included in the list of continents. Zealandia is one such area (see submerged continents below). Islands are frequently grouped with
The empire on which the sun never sets in all the Asian Subcontinents, and islands in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. However, it was under his son Philip III of Spain that the Spanish Empire acquired its largest extension. Philip III and his son Philip IV of Spain were also kings of Portugal among other territories besides Spain, which made both of them the rulers of the greatest extension on earth of all time, simply by joining the global territories of Spain and Portugal empires account for more extension than any other king has ever ruled. In 1585, Giovanni Battista Guarini wrote "Il pastor fido" to mark