Countries and Continents: What's the Difference?

Imagine you are writing your address on an envelope. You write your house number, your street, your town, and your country. But what if someone asked you to go one step bigger? What would come after your country? Think about a globe spinning slowly in space. You can see big patches of land separated by oceans. What are those giant pieces of land called? Hold that thought — you are about to find out.

Our planet is covered by enormous pieces of land called continents. There are seven continents on Earth: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia (also called Oceania), Europe, North America, and South America. Continents are huge — so huge that each one holds many different countries inside it. A country is a land that has its own government, its own laws, and its own borders. A border is the line that separates one country from another. Countries are much smaller than continents. Think of a continent as a giant pizza, and each country as a different slice. Here is a real example you might know. France is a country. It sits inside the continent of Europe. Germany is also a country inside Europe. Both France and Germany are countries, but neither of them IS Europe — they are just part of it. Another example: Brazil is a large country, but it is not a continent. Brazil sits inside the continent of South America. Many other countries, such as Peru and Argentina, also sit inside South America. The trick to telling them apart: if someone asks 'Is it a continent or a country?', ask yourself — does it hold lots of other countries inside it? If yes, it is a continent. If it has its own single government and borders, it is a country.