landmassan

Landmassan is a geographic term used to refer to a large, continuous expanse of land. In Swedish usage, landmassan translates to 'the landmass' and is used in discussions of the major land areas of Earth. In English, landmass denotes a large connected area of land, including continents and large islands.

The concept is not bounded by political borders and does not imply political unity. Landmasses are defined by physical continuity of land above sea level and by geological and topographic coherence. They range from vast continental masses to single, large islands such as Greenland.

Geologically, landmasses form through plate tectonics, crustal deformation, uplift, and changes in sea level. Over geological time, continents have collided, broken apart, and reassembled; glacial cycles have repeatedly altered coastlines and the size of landmasses.

In mapping, climate science, and biodiversity studies, the notion of landmasses provides a framework for understanding land–sea distribution, continental climates, and biogeographic regions. The concept also appears in discussions of past supercontinents, such as Pangaea, when reconstructing Earth's paleogeography.