Landmass

{{Short description|Large area of land}}

{{Redirect|Land mass|a list of land surface areas of the world's political entities|List of countries and dependencies by area}}

{{For|Steve Roach's album|Landmass (album){{!}}Landmass (album)}}

File:Earth Seen From DSCOVR.jpg, the largest landmass on Earth]]

A landmass, or land mass, is a large region or area of land that is in one piece and not noticeably broken up by oceans.{{cite web |title=Landmass |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/landmass |website=Cambridge Dictionary |publisher=Cambridge.org Dictionary |access-date=17 January 2023}}{{cite web |title=Landmass |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/landmass |website=Merriam-Webster |publisher=Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary |access-date=17 January 2023}} The term is often used to refer to lands surrounded by an ocean or sea, such as a continent or a large island.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ABVfvyi-8IAC&dq=continent+island+landmass&pg=PA298 |title=Continental Shelf Limits: The Scientific and Legal Interface |editor1-first=Peter J. |editor1-last=Cook |editor2-first=Chris M. |editor2-last=Carleton |page=298 |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=9 November 2000 |doi=10.1093/oso/9780195117820.001.0001 |isbn=9780197561218 |via=Google Books}}{{cite book |last1=Nijman |first1=Jan |last2=Muller |first2=Peter O. |last3=de Blij |first3=H.J. |chapter=Introduction |title=Regions: Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts |publisher=Wiley |date=2017 |edition=17th |page=11 |isbn=978-1-119-30189-9}} In the field of geology, a landmass is a defined section of continental crust extending above sea level.{{cite web |title=Landmass |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/landmass?s=t |website=Dictionary.com |publisher=Dictionary.com, LLC |access-date=25 July 2020}}

Continents are often thought of as distinct landmasses and may include any islands that are part of the associated continental shelf. When multiple continents form a single contiguous land connection, the connected continents may be viewed as a single landmass. Earth's largest landmasses are (starting with largest):{{cite web |last=Dempsey |first=Caitlin |title=Geography Facts about the World's Continents |website=Geography Realm |date=2013-10-15 |url=https://www.geographyrealm.com/continents/ |access-date=2022-08-26}}{{cite book |first1=Ross E. |last1=Dunn |first2=Laura J. |last2=Mitchell |first3=Kerry |last3=Ward |title=The New World History: A Field Guide for Teachers and Researchers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-aowDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA232 |date=23 August 2016 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-28989-5 |pages=232– |via=Google Books}}{{cite encyclopedia |title=continents |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of World Geography |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DJgnebGbAB8C&pg=PA215 |editor=R.W. McColl |year=2005 |publisher=Facts on File, Inc. |isbn=978-0-8160-7229-3 |page=215 |access-date=25 August 2022 |quote=And since Africa and Asia are connected at the Suez Peninsula, Europe, Africa, and Asia are sometimes combined as Afro-Eurasia or Eurafrasia. The International Olympic Committee's official flag, containing [...] the single continent of America (North and South America being connected as the Isthmus of Panama).}}

1. Afro-Eurasia (main landmass of the geoscheme region of the same name and its continental parts Africa and Eurasia - or Europe and Asia; the center of Earth's land hemisphere, comprising more than half of Earth's landmass)
2. Americas (main landmass of the geo-region of the same name and its continental parts North and South America; comprising most of the landmass of the Western Hemisphere)
3. Antarctica (main landmass of the geo-region and continent of the same name)
4. Mainland Australia (main landmass of the geo-region Oceania, its sub-region Australasia, the continent Australia and the country Australia)