Day to day, through our limited perspectives, it would seem that the surface of the Earth is dominated by landmass. Driving through the prairies, or looking out over the city, all your eye can take in from interior Canada is land. The exact opposite actually proves to be true as only 29 per cent of the surface of the earth is constituted by land, leaving a daunting 71 per cent that is water or ice. Less than one-third of our planet is habitable by human beings, with much of this potential land being to hot, cold, or rugged, to allow for settlement. The small livable world where permanent settlement is possible is known as the ecumene. This picture from Yellowknife helps to illustrate the ecumene by showing the small amount of land that is habitable in amongst the rough terrain, and vast lake systems.
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