How does the internet actually transmit information across continents?

The internet sends messages across big distances using special highways made of wires and light.

Imagine you have a really long jump rope that stretches from your house to your friend's house, all the way across the world. When you shake one end, the shake travels along the rope until it reaches the other end. That’s kind of how the internet works, except instead of a jump rope, it uses cables and light signals.

When you send a message on your phone or computer, it gets broken into tiny pieces called packets. These packets are like little envelopes that carry parts of your message. Each envelope has an address so it knows where to go.

These envelopes zoom through cables under the ocean, or sometimes they ride on light beams inside glass tubes, kind of like a super-fast train made of light!

When all the envelopes arrive at their final destination, they put themselves back together, and you get your full message, just like when you receive a letter in the mail!