Earth, also called the world[n 4] and, less frequently, Gaia[n 5] (and Terra in

some works of science fiction[27]) is the third planet from the Sun, the densest
planet in the Solar System, the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial
planets, and the only astronomical object known to accommodate life. The earlies
t life on Earth arose at least 3.5 billion years ago.[28][29][30] Earth's biodiv
ersity has expanded continually except when interrupted by mass extinctions.[31]
Although scholars estimate that over 99 percent of all species that ever lived
on the planet are extinct,[32][33] Earth is currently home to 10 14 million specie
s of life,[34][35] including over 7.3 billion humans[36] who depend upon its bio
sphere and minerals. Earth's human population is divided among about two hundred
sovereign states which interact through diplomacy, conflict, travel, trade and
communication media.
According to evidence from radiometric dating and other sources, Earth was forme
d around four and a half billion years ago. Within its first billion years,[37]
life appeared in its oceans and began to affect its atmosphere and surface, prom
oting the proliferation of aerobic as well as anaerobic organisms and causing th
e formation of the atmosphere's ozone layer. This layer and the geomagnetic fiel
d blocked the most life-threatening parts of the Sun's radiation, so life was ab
le to flourish on land as well as in water.[38] Since then, the combination of E
arth's distance from the Sun, its physical properties and its geological history
have allowed life to thrive and evolve.
Earth's lithosphere is divided into several rigid tectonic plates that migrate a
cross the surface over periods of many millions of years. Seventy-one percent of
Earth's surface is covered with water,[39] with the remainder consisting of con
tinents and islands that together have many lakes and other sources of water tha
t contribute to the hydrosphere. Earth's poles are mostly covered with ice that
includes the solid ice of the Antarctic ice sheet and the sea ice of the polar i
ce packs. Earth's interior remains active with a solid iron inner core, a liquid
outer core that generates the magnetic field, and a thick layer of relatively s
olid mantle.
Earth gravitationally interacts with other objects in space, especially the Sun
and the Moon. During one orbit around the Sun, Earth rotates about its own axis
366.26 times, creating 365.26 solar days or one sidereal year.[n 6] Earth's axis
of rotation is tilted 23.4 away from the perpendicular of its orbital plane, pro
ducing seasonal variations on the planet's surface with a period of one tropical
year (365.24 solar days).[40] The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It be
gan orbiting Earth about 4.53 billion years ago. The Moon's gravitational intera
ction with Earth stimulates ocean tides, stabilizes the axial tilt and gradually
slows the planet's rotation.