This page is about the various uses of the term "land". The term has a multitude of uses and this page explains each of them in turn to give various interpretations of what the term actually means.
The term "land" is often used to describe the area of the world that is not covered by water. Land covers 29.22 percent of the Earth's surface. This is about 57.5 million square miles (149 x 106 square kilometers). The balance is covered by water which covers the other 70.78 percent of the Earth's surface. This is about 139.4 million square miles (361 x 106 square kilometers).http://www.enotes.com/science-fact-finder/earth/how-much-earths-surface-land-how-much-water
The term "land" can be used as part of the description of a country. For example all of the following countries have the term "land" in their name (England, Finland, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands or Holland, New Zealand, Poland, Scotland, Swaziland, Switzerland and Thailand.
An island is a piece of "land" that is surrounded by water. All of the following countries therefore use the name "land" within their name through the word "island". Country names are British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cook Islands, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Marshall Islands, Midway Islands, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Pitcairn Island, Solomon Islands, South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Virgin Islands (US) and Wake Island.
The term "land" is also used to an area belonging to a group of people. Therefore terms like motherland, fatherland, heartland, the promised land and homeland have come into everyday use.
In Economics the term "land" is one of the four factors of production. http://www.enotes.com/business-finance-encyclopedia/factors-production Along with land the other factors of production are labour, capital and enterprise. Essentially some businesses can not operate without land (e.g. for factories, offices, retail premises, agricultural production, etc). Even internet based businesses need premises to operate their businesses from.
Many laws apply to the ownership of land. The following are all examples of law applying to land. Buying and selling land, adverse possession, freehold/leasehold, mortgages, easements, covenants, land dispute resolution, unregistered land, transfer of ownership/registration, trusts of land, Implied Trusts and Proprietary Estoppel and land licenses. Land may be legally owned by an individual, couple, family, government, co-operatives, charity, church or company, etc
Land can be used for many purposes, e.g. Residential, Commercial, Agricultural, Public amenity, Industrial, vacation/tourism, etc
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby
Connie Talbot aged 6 sings somewhere over the rainbow.
Originally recorded in the 1939 film the Wizard of Oz the song features the classic line "There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby".
This is the number one searched video with the term "land" within it.
References
Fast Facts
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Economics
One of four factors of production with labour, capital, and enterprise
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Amount of Earth Covered by Land
57.5 million square miles
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Percentage of Earth Covered by Land
29.22%
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Other Use for "Land"
The name of an American rock band from the 1990s, called "Land"
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Other Use for "Land"
A verb that means to return to the earth from the air.
