Continents, oceans and world geography in Esperanto

The six parts of the world in Esperanto are Eŭropo, Azio, Afriko, Ameriko, Oceanio and Antarkto, and the five oceans are Atlantiko, Pacifiko, the Hinda Oceano, the Arkta Oceano and the Antarkta Oceano. These are the lists in ReVo, the online Esperanto dictionary. A geographic name is a noun in -o with a capital letter; the adjective (eŭropa) and the inhabitant (eŭropano) follow by regular endings. Country names are on countries and languages, and everyday landscape words such as rivero and monto are on nature. Stressed syllables are in capitals.

#The continents

Add -an- for a person and -in- for a woman: aziano, azianino. Compound names make compound adjectives: nordamerika, sudamerikano. Ameriko covers both continents, so a citizen of the United States is a usonano, from Usono.

#Continent or part of the world?

ReVo defines mondoparto as one of the six great divisions of the Earth's surface and notes that people often count only the five inhabited ones, leaving out Antarkto. It defines kontinento as a large landmass surrounded by ocean that you can cross without crossing a sea, such as Eŭrazio, and marks the use of kontinento for mondoparto as "evitinde" ("to be avoided"). The older names Antarktido and Antarktio became obsolete when the Academy made Antarkto official in its Ninth Official Addition (2007).

#Oceans and seas

ReVo describes a maro as a part of the ocean set apart in some way, and, mostly in names, as a large salt lake. Long and short forms mean the same: PMEG writes la Atlantika oceano = la oceano Atlantiko = Atlantiko, and notes that Afriko, Pacifiko and Gango have no real alternative to their Esperanto forms.

#Rivers

ReVo calls the Nile, next to the Amazon, the longest river in the world; which is longer is disputed (Vikipedio).

#Mountains, deserts and islands

#Geography words

Most are compounds: duon·insul·o "half-island", land·lim·o "country-border", mar·bord·o "sea-shore", ĉef·urb·o "main city". See word building, prefixes and suffixes.

#Compass points and regions

The four main points, nordo, sudo, oriento and okcidento, and the forms norde and norden are in city and transport. Joined, they give the intermediate points and name regions.

#Do geographic names take la?

PMEG sorts names into two groups. A plain proper name takes no la, while a name built from ordinary words does.

PMEG says that la Himalajo, la Atlantiko and la Mediteraneo are not correct, though sometimes tolerable. When an adjective only picks out a part of a place, PMEG writes no la and a small letter: en orienta Azio "in eastern Asia". More on la.

#World geography in sentences

Note norden "northwards" and enfluas en Mediteraneon: the accusative -n shows movement. For plej "the most", see comparison.

#Common questions

#How do you say "continent" in Esperanto?

Kontinento is a large landmass surrounded by ocean, such as Eŭrazio. For one of the six great divisions of the Earth, ReVo uses mondoparto "part of the world".

#How many continents are there in Esperanto?

ReVo lists six parts of the world: Afriko, Ameriko, Antarkto, Azio, Eŭropo and Oceanio. Counting only the inhabited ones gives five; splitting Ameriko in two and using Aŭstralio gives seven.

#What are North America and South America called in Esperanto?

Nordameriko or Nord-Ameriko, and Sudameriko or Sud-Ameriko. PMEG recommends one-word Sud-Ameriko over Suda Ameriko.

#Do you use "la" before the name of a sea or a mountain range?

For names made of ordinary words, yes: la Ruĝa Maro, la Balta Maro. For plain proper names, no: Mediteraneo, Himalajo. Plural names such as Alpoj and Andoj may take it.

#Sources

• PMEG: Nomspecoj, La ĉe propraj nomoj, Esperantigitaj nomoj, Landoj, popoloj kaj lingvoj
• Akademio de Esperanto: Naŭa Oficiala Aldono (2007)
• ReVo: mondoparto, mondo, kontinento, oceano, maro
• ReVo: Eŭropo, Azio, Afriko, Ameriko, Oceanio, Aŭstralio, Antarkto, Arkto, Eŭrazio
• ReVo: Atlantiko, Pacifiko, Mediteraneo, Kaspio
• ReVo: Nilo, Niĝero, Amazono, Misisipo, Gango, Jangzio, Tigriso, Eŭfrato, Danubo, Rejno, Volgo
• ReVo: Alpoj, Pireneoj, Uralo, Himalajo, Everesto, Andoj, Kilimanĝaro, Saharo
• ReVo: Gronlando, Borneo, Madagaskaro, insulo, duoninsulo, insularo, kabo, golfo, markolo, marbordo
• ReVo: ekvatoro, poluso, duonglobo, klimato, landlimo, ĉefurbo, loĝantaro, nordo, oriento, okcidento
• Vikipedio (Esperanto), CC BY-SA 4.0: Suda Oceano, Morta maro, Nilo, Gronlando
• Wikipedia: Mount Everest (height measured by Nepal and China in 2020)