What was Pangaea?

Because of continental drift, the world’s surface is always changing. About 300 million years ago, there were two continents. One, called Gondwanaland, contained parts of South America, Africa, India, Australia and Antarctica, which were then joined together. The other, called Laurasia, was made up of North America and Eurasia.

About 275 million years ago, Gondwanaland and Laurasia collided and joined up to form a single supercontinent, Pangaea, a Greek name meaning ‘all the Earth’. In the last 170 million years, Pangaea has broken up and the continents have drifted slowly apart.