Once land became capable of supporting life, biodiversity evolved over hundreds of million years, expanding continually except when punctuated by mass extinctions. The crust, which currently forms the Earth's land, was created when the molten outer layer of the planet Earth cooled to form a solid mass as the accumulated water vapor began to act in the atmosphere. The atmosphere and oceans of the Earth continuously shape the land by eroding and transporting solids on the surface. By 3.5В bya, the Earth's magnetic field was established, which helped prevent the atmosphere from being stripped away by the solar wind. In this model, atmospheric ' greenhouse gases' kept the oceans from freezing while the newly forming Sun was only at 70% luminosity. The origin of the world's oceans was condensation augmented by water and ice delivered by asteroids, proto-planets, and comets. Д®arth's atmosphere and oceans were formed by volcanic activity and outgassing that included water vapor.

The assembly of the primordial Earth proceeded for 10вЂ“ 20 myr. In nebular theory, planetesimals commence forming as particulate matter accrues by cohesive clumping and then by gravity. A nebula contains gas, ice grains and dust (including primordial nuclides). In theory, a solar nebula partitions a volume out of a molecular cloud by gravitational collapse, which begins to spin and flatten into a circumstellar disc, which the planets then grow out of in tandem with the star. The formation and evolution of the Solar System bodies occurred in tandem with the Sun. By 4.54 вђ.04В bya, the primordial Earth had formed. The earliest material found in the Solar System is dated to 4.5672 вђ.0006 bya (billion years ago) therefore, the Earth itself must have been formed by accretion around this time. Many countries and other places have names incorporating -land (e.g. A country or region may be referred to as the motherland, fatherland, or homeland of its people. Land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops, is called arable land. There are four major continuous landmasses on Earth: Afro-Eurasia, the Americas, Antarctica, and Australia. Landmasses include supercontinents, continents, and islands. Although it may be most often written as one word to distinguish it from the usage ' land mass'-the measure of land area-it is also used as two words. ДЄ continuous area of land surrounded by ocean is called a landmass.

The original meaning is now associated with country. Etymological evidence within Gothic usage suggests that the original meaning of land was 'a definite portion of the earth's surface owned by an individual or home of a nation.' The meaning was extended to 'solid surface of the earth'. The word has many cognates in other languages, such as Old Norse: land, Old Frisian: land, Gothic: land, German: Land, Old Irish: land, Middle Welsh: llan 'an open space', Welsh: llan 'enclosure, church', Breton: lann 'heath', Church Slavonic: ledina 'waste land, heath', and Czech: lada 'fallow land'. It evolved from the Proto-Germanic * landД… and from the Proto-Indo-European * lendК°- 'land, open land, heath'. The word land is derived from the Old English land 'ground, soil', also 'definite portion of the earth's surface, home region of a person or a people, territory marked by political boundaries'. In reference to business terminology land is also associated with factor of production, as well as land is the first factor of production and the income or profit earned with help of land is treated as rent. Demarcation lines can further vary due to tides and weather. Solid rock landforms are easier to demarcate than marshy or swampy boundaries, where there is no clear point at which the land ends and a body of water has begun. A variety of natural boundaries exist to help clearly define where water meets land. A maritime boundary is one example of a political demarcation. The demarcation line between land and water can vary by local jurisdiction and other factors. The division between land and water is a fundamental concept to humans. Some life forms, including terrestrial plants and terrestrial animals, have developed from predecessor species that originated in bodies of water.ДЄreas where land meets large bodies of water are called coastal zones. The vast majority of human activity throughout history has occurred in land areas that support agriculture, habitat, and various natural resources. Most but not all land is situated at elevations above sea level (variable over geologic time frames) and consists mainly of crustal components such as rock, sand, soil, and sometimes ice. Land is the solid surface of Earth that is not permanently submerged in water. Land between bodies of water at Point Reyes National Seashore, California.

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