A landmass is a large, continuous area of land, like a continent or a very large island. North America is a landmass. Australia is a landmass. Antarctica, even though it's covered in ice, is also a landmass.

The word helps us talk about Earth's major chunks of land without worrying too much about political borders or what we call them. Africa is a landmass whether we're talking about Egypt, Kenya, or South Africa: the land itself connects as one enormous piece. The same goes for the landmass we call Eurasia, which includes both Europe and Asia as one giant connected land area.

Geographers use landmass when they want to focus on the physical geography rather than human divisions. When scientists study how animals spread across continents millions of years ago, they talk about landmasses connecting and separating. Greenland is the world's largest island, making it a significant landmass, though smaller than any continent.

The key idea is continuous: a landmass is land you could walk across without crossing an ocean, even if it would take months or years to do it.