SKILL INDIA

The central steppe region had long been inhabited by horse-mounted nomads who could reach all areas of Asia from the steppes. The earliest postulated expansion out of the steppe is that of the Indo-Europeans, who spread their languages into the Middle East, South Asia, and the borders of China, where the Tocharians resided. The northernmost part of Asia, including much of Siberia, was largely inaccessible to the steppe nomads, owing to the dense forests, climate and tundra. These areas remained very sparsely populated.

The center and the peripheries were mostly kept separated by mountains and deserts. The Caucasus and Himalaya mountains and the Karakum and Gobi deserts formed barriers that the steppe horsemen could cross only with difficulty. While the urban city dwellers were more advanced technologically and socially, in many cases they could do little in a military aspect to defend against the mounted hordes of the steppe. However, the lowlands did not have enough open grasslands to support a large horsebound force; for this and other reasons, the nomads who conquered states in China, India, and the Middle East often found themselves adapting to the local, more affluent societies. When geographers identify a continent, they usually include all the islands associated with it. Japan, for instance, is part of the continent of Asia. Greenland and all the islands in the Caribbean Sea are usually considered part of North America.

Together, the continents add up to about 148 million square kilometers (57 million square miles) of land. Continents make up most-but not all-of Earth’s land surface. A very small portion of the total land area is made up of islands that are not considered physical parts of continents. The ocean covers almost three-fourths of Earth. The area of the ocean is more than double the area of all the continents combined. All continents border at least one ocean. Asia, the largest continent, has the longest series of coastlines.

Coastlines, however, do not indicate the actual boundaries of the continents. Continents are defined by their continental shelves. A continental shelf is a gently sloping area that extends outward from the beach far into the ocean. A continental shelf is part of the ocean, but also part of the continent.

To geographers, continents are also culturally distinct. The continents of Europe and Asia, for example, are actually part of a single, enormous piece of land called Eurasia. But linguistically and ethnically, the areas of Asia and Europe are distinct. Because of this, most geographers divide Eurasia into Europe and Asia. An imaginary line, running from the northern Ural Mountains in Russia south to the Caspian and Black Seas, separates Europe, to the west, from Asia, to the east.

A giant landmass that would become Europe, Asia, and North America separated from another mass that would split up into other continents. In time, Antarctica and Australia, still joined together, broke away and drifted south. The small piece of land that would become the peninsula of India broke away and for millions of years moved north as a large island. It eventually collided with Asia. Gradually, the different landmasses moved to their present locations.

The positions of the continents are always changing. North America and Europe are moving away from each other at the rate of about 2.5 centimeters (one inch) per year. If you could visit the planet in the future, you might find that part of the United States’s state of California had separated from North America and become an island. Africa might have split in two along the Great Rift
Valley. It is even possible that another supercontinent may from someday.
[10/15, 22:27] SKILL INDIA: Samoa is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai’i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono and Apolima); and several smaller, uninhabited islands, including the Aleipata Islands (Nu’utele, Nu’ulua, Fanuatapu and Namua). Samoa is located 64 km (40 mi) west of American Samoa, 889 km (552 mi) northeast of Tonga (closest foreign country), 1,152 km (716 mi) northeast of Fiji, 483 km (300 mi) east of Wallis and Futuna, 1,151 km (715 mi) southeast of Tuvalu, 519 km (322 mi) south of Tokelau, 4,190 km (2,600 mi) southwest of Hawaii, and 610 km (380 mi) northwest of Niue. The capital and largest city is Apia. The Lapita people discovered and settled the Samoan Islands around 3,500 years ago. They developed a Samoan language and Samoan cultural identity. Samoa was discovered and settled by the Lapita people (Austronesian people who spoke Oceanic languages), who travelled from Island Melanesia. The earliest human remains
found in Samoa are dated to between roughly 2,900 and 3,500 years ago.