Gondwana. Artwork of prehistoric Earth during the formation of the supercontinent, Gondwana (landmass, centre left). Gondwana was formed around 550 million years ago after the break up of the supercontinent Pangaea. Gondwana includes most of the landmasses in today's southern hemisphere, including Antarctica, South America, Africa and Australia. It also includes India, Madagascar and Arabia. Gondwana began to break up about 167 million years ago. The landmass at upper right is Laurentia and at lower right is Baltica. Continents come together or break apart over the surface of the Earth as a result of movements in the fluid mantle below the crust. Several such supercontinents have formed in the 4.5-billion- year history of the Earth.