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Cratons are subdivided geographically into provinces, each province being classified as an Archon, a Proton or a Tecton according to its age:

• Archons: consist of rocks from the Archaean era, older than 2.5 billion years (2.5 Ga).
• Protons: consist of rocks from the early to middle Proterozoic era, older than 1.6 Ga.
• Tectons: consist of rocks from the late Proterozoic era, with ages between 1.6 Ga and 800 million years (800 Ma).

As minerals (such as precious metals and diamonds) in the Earth's crust tend to become separated with time, the oldest cratons are of the greatest interest to mining companies. Cratons are still being discovered as prospectors search the globe.

Named cratons, listed by continent, include:

• Australia
  • Altjawarra craton
  • Central craton
  • Curnamona craton, South Australia
  • Gawler craton, central South Australia (1.5 Ma)
  • Pilbara craton, Western Australia
  • Yilgarn craton, Western Australia
• Americas
  • Amazonian craton
  • Laurentian Shield (Canadian shield/Precambrian Shield)
  • North American craton
  • Slave craton, Northwest Canada
  • Superior craton, Canada
  • Wyoming craton
• Africa
  • Arabian craton
  • Kaapvaal craton, South Africa (3.6 - 2.5 Ga)
  • Kalahari craton
  • Saharan craton, AlgeriaAlgeria is a country in northern Africa with a coast on the Mediterranean Sea along the north and bordered by Tunisia in the northeast, Libya in the east, Niger in the southeast, Mali and Mauritania in the southwest, and Morocco in the west (the Moroccan
  • TanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania in Swahili) is a country on the east coast of central Africa. It is bordered by Kenya and Uganda on the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west, and Zambian craton
  • West AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. 30,244,050 km2 (11,677,240 mi2) including the islands, it covers 20. 3% of the total land area on Earth, and with over 800 million human inhabitants it accounts for arn craton
  • ZaireZaire was the name between 1971 and 1997 of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Belgian Congo became independent in 1960 as the "Republic of the Congo", the same name as its neighbour the former French colony of Congo. The title Democratic Republic craton
  • ZimbabweThe Republic of Zimbabwe is a country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Victoria Falls, Zambesi river, Kariba Dam and Limpopo river. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the west, Zambia to the northan craton (3.5 Ga)
• Eurasia
  • East European craton
    • Baltic ShieldThe Baltic Shield (or Fennoscandian Shield is a segment of the Earth's crust belonging to the East European Craton, representing a large part of Scandinavia, northwestern Russia and the northern Baltic Sea. It is composed mostly of Archaean and Proterozoi (or Fennocanadian Shield), part of the East European craton
  • Dharwar craton, IndiaThe Republic of India is a large multicultural country in South Asia, with a population of over one billion. The Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, and is the world's second-fastest growing economy. (3.4 - 2.6 Ga)
  • East China craton
  • Indian craton
  • Karelian craton, Finland (3.1 - 2.7 Ga)
  • Midland craton of England and Wales
  • North China craton (2.5 Ga)
  • Sarmatian craton (3.7 - 2.8 Ga)
  • Siberian craton
  • Sino- Korean craton, Northern China
  • Tarim craton, China
  • Volgo- Uralian craton, Russia (3.0 - 2.7 Ga)
  • Yangtze craton