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Summaries · Grade 6 Geography › Atlases, world facts, forests and population
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Atlases, world facts, forests and population

How to use an atlas, big world facts, the cold coniferous forests, and where people live. Read one part at a time and tap “I know this”. Then test yourself in the quiz.

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How an atlas works

  • The contents page at the front lists the maps with their page numbers.
  • The index at the back lists places alphabetically. Nairobi 42 C3 means page 42, grid block C3. Many indexes also give the place’s latitude and longitude, such as Nairobi 1° S, 37° E: with these you can find it on any world map.
  • Atlases and statistics help us understand the news: they show where something is and give the facts.
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World facts

QuestionAnswer
How many people live on Earth?About 8 billion
Country with the most peopleIndia (then China)
Largest country by areaRussia
Continent with the most peopleAsia
SA province with the most peopleGauteng
Largest SA province, fewest peopleNorthern Cape

Many people live in river valleys and near coasts: there is water, fertile soil and easy transport. Few people live in deserts, polar lands and high mountains. Population density is the number of people per square kilometre. A census is an official count of every person in a country, done about every ten years. Stats SA held South Africa’s latest census in 2022: about 62 million people.

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The cold coniferous forests

Great coniferous forests grow in cold lands like Canada and Russia, where winters are very cold and summers short. The trees are evergreen: they keep their thin needles all year. They are cone-shaped so snow slides off the branches.

EquatorAustraliaAfricaNorth AmericaAsiaSouth AmericaEuropeAntarcticaAtlantic OceanIndian OceanPacific Ocean
The world in an atlas: continents and oceans.
  • Coniferous forests give timber, paper and furniture.
  • South Africa has no natural coniferous forests like the taiga, because our winters are not long and snowy enough. Pine trees do grow here, but in plantations that people planted for timber (for example in Mpumalanga and the Garden Route).
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What is in an atlas?

  • Physical maps: mountains, rivers, deserts and oceans.
  • Political maps: countries, provinces, borders and cities.
  • Thematic maps: climate, vegetation, population, farming and mines; also tables and graphs with statistics.
  • Look up your own province: the atlas shows its towns, rivers, mountains, rainfall, farming and mines.
  • Is a place in the news? Find it in the atlas and mark it on the class world map.
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The world’s record holders

WhatTop three
Longest riversNile and Amazon (both about 6 400–6 700 km; experts still argue which is longer), then the Yangtze
Highest mountainsEverest (8 849 m), K2, Kangchenjunga: all in Asia
Largest desertsSahara (the largest hot desert), then the Arabian Desert and the Gobi (a cold desert). If you count polar deserts, Antarctica is the largest of all
Largest forestsThe northern coniferous forests (taiga), the Amazon, the Congo rainforest
Largest oceansPacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean
Largest cities (people)Jakarta, Dhaka and Tokyo are the largest according to the UN (2025); Delhi and Shanghai are also huge. Lists differ, because cities are measured in different ways
Largest countries (area)Russia, Canada, then China and the USA (almost the same size)
Rule

All the oceans are joined: one big world ocean with different names in different parts of the world.

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Remember this and test yourself

Remember this: your summary
  • The contents page lists the maps; the index at the back gives page and block: Nairobi 42 C3.
  • About 8 billion people live on Earth; Asia has the most people; India is the country with the most people.
  • Russia is the largest country; few people live in deserts, polar lands and high mountains.
  • Coniferous forests grow in cold lands like Canada and Russia: evergreen, cone-shaped, with needles.
  • A census is an official count of all the people in a country. South Africa’s latest census (2022) counted about 62 million people.

Write these points in your book. Read them again the night before the test.

Memory trick

Contents at the front, index at the back. The index gives page and block: 42 C3.

Flash cards · Tap to turn over

Important words

First say what the word means, then turn the card over.

Test yourself · Part 2

True or false?

Read the question and the answer. Is the answer right? Tap True or False.

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    Follows CAPS for Grade 6 Social Sciences (Geography). Always check your teacher’s notes and textbook too.

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