Earth, also known as "the Earth" and "the World", is the third planet from the Sun and the densest planet in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets. It is sometimes referred to as the "Blue Planet",[24] the "Blue Marble", Terra or "Gaia".

According to evidence from sources such as radiometric dating, Earth was formed around four and a half billion years ago. Within its first billion years,[25] life appeared in its oceans and began to affect its atmosphere and surface, promoting the proliferation of aerobic as well as anaerobic organisms and causing the formation of the atmosphere's ozone layer. This layer and Earth's magnetic field block the most life-threatening parts of the Sun's radiation, so life was able to flourish on land as well as in water.[26] Since then, Earth's position in the Solar System, its physical properties and its geological history have allowed life to persist.

Earth's lithosphere is divided into several rigid segments, or tectonic plates, that migrate across the surface over periods of many millions of years. Over 70% percent of Earth's surface is covered with water,[27] with the remainder consisting of continents and islands which together have many lakes and other sources of water that contribute to the hydrosphere. Earth's poles are mostly covered with ice that is the solid ice of the Antarctic ice sheet and the sea ice that is the polar ice packs. The planet'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 solid mantle.

Earth gravitationally interacts with other objects in space, especially the Sun and the Moon. During one orbit around the