OLD geography
In the fifth form you received an elementary knowledge of physical geography: a general idea of the globe, of its surface and the natural phenomena occurring on it.  In the sixth and first half of the seventh form a new course of geography will be taken up—that of the parts of the world and of the most important countries in them. As you make the acquaintance of each part of the world, you will learn its specific nature. You will be given interesting facts about great travelers and explorers. You will get to know how people in other lands live and work and what large countries there are in the world.
Each part of the world will be studied in the following sequence: geographical position, surrounding seas and coastlines, relief and minerals, climate, rivers and lakes, natural zones. After the descriptions of the natural zones, the book gives brief surveys of the countries in each part of the world and the peoples inhabiting them.
The study of different countries will lead to a better understanding of the course of events in the world today.
Continents and Parts of the World.
The greater part of the earth's surface is occupied by oceans, the smaller by land. The total surface area of the earth is 510 million square kilometers. The area of the land is 149 million square kilometers , or only 29 per cent of the surface of the globe (Fig. 1).
The oceans are linked and are really but one great ocean, called the World Ocean. The Pacific is the largest and deepest of all ocean, its total area being greater than that of all the dry land.
Second comes the At1antic, which is half the size of the Pacific. The Indian Ocean is only slightly smaller than the Atlantic. Far smaller than the rest is the Arctic Ocean, with the North Pole in its centre.  The vast regions surrounding the Pole are railed the Arctic (from the Greek «arctos» bear, the name given by the ancient Greeks to the Great Bear constellation in the northern skies).
Large land masses surrounded by oceans and seas are called mainlands, or continents. There are six continents in all: the vast continent of Eurasia (Europe and Asia combined), which occupies more than one-third of the entire land surface, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Antarctica, in which the South Pole is situated.
The parts of the world ' include the continents proper and their adjoining islands. The continents of North and South America combined and their adjoining islands form one part of the world-America. The continent of Eurasia, on the other hand, is divided into two parts of the world—Europe and Asia. The parts of the world are also six in number. The largest is Asia, America being slightly smaller. Next in order come Africa, Antarctica, Europe and Australia. The latter includes the numerous islands in the central part of the Pacific Ocean which, combined, are called Oceania.
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