Elements of The World

My only submission to The Luminarium's exhibit themed "Elements" which speaks for itself. Though I had an idea like it for quite some time already, I was mentally storing it for a time where I could make really good use of the clever concept and the timing seemed about right

Seven continents representing seven natural elements, each one chosen based off either the natural characteristics or history affiliated with each one, with the added bonus of having seven special features embedded on each one:

Africa - Earth - Seven Precious Stones: Africa is probably the continent that represents Earth throughout the ages the most, almost as if it is the origin point of life, or just humanity, the place where we rose from the Earth itself, and yes - a constant source of some amazing and valuable rocks.
Europe - Metal - Seven Bright Sparks: If Africa is where humanity was born, then Europe could be considered where it grew up, the birthplace of the industrial revolution that paved the way to the metallic world we comfortably live in today. The discovery and use of metal in general can be considered one of mankind's greatest achievements.
Asia - Water - Seven Koi Fish: The largest continent is chosen to represent the largest elemental coverage seen on Earth from space, water. While water has always been highly valued and deep-rooted into the life of every civilization that has existed, it's safe to say it carries an especially important role in Eastern cultures.
North America - Air - Seven Lightning Bolts: America is more than just the self-proclaimed home of the brave, it also houses some of the worlds most powerful storms on a regular basis. The right blend of landscape features and location on the global sphere makes many areas of this continent a breeding ground for frequent record-breaking winds.
South America - Wood - Seven Forest Plants: A natural-colour look at any map of the world has South America show up as the greenest landmass of them all. Blessed with dense and seemingly endless rainforests, it has become a buzzing biological mass of thousands of exotic species and a hot topic when it comes to environmental preservation efforts.
Australia/Oceania - Fire - Seven Blue Flames: The harsh climate dominating much of smallest continent has such a reputation of burning things up that fire and drought has even become a part of the life and reproduction cycle of certain local plants and animals who had evolved to take advantage of an otherwise lethal situation, while surrounding islands in the pacific are frequently born in fire via undersea volcanoes.
Antarctica - Ice - Seven Ice Crystals: The forgotten continent, frozen in time at the bottom of the world, its ever-freezing climate is the only thing stopping humans from making a permanent settlement there, making it arguably the purest place on Earth. While not as famous as the North Pole, it's important to remember that Antarctica holds significantly more long-term ice and is on average - the coldest place on Earth.

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