Researchers measure a new part of the world. The continent is larger than India, but most of it is located under the ocean.
For centuries students have learned that the earth has seven continents. But in 2017 a group of geologists announced that they had discovered another continent, Zealand.
According to the latest measurements, Zealand has an area of ??4.9 million square kilometers - about six times the area of ??Madagascar.
Encyclopedias and maps, however, continue to reflect only seven continents. This is also related to the fact that about 94% of the world's smallest continent is under water.
From the ocean depths appear on the surface only a small part of this continent, New Zealand as well as the group of New Caledonia islands belonging to France.
Zealand's existence has also been indirectly acknowledged by the UN, as it has made an exception for New Zealand in terms of maritime area that coastal states can claim as an "exclusive economic zone". This area is limited to 200 miles for other states, while for New Zealand this restriction does not apply.
New Zealand has exclusive rights to all of Zealand's mineral resources and the underwater continent contains gas, oil, iron and manganese.
