There is a debate going on in the What should we do with the USA thread about how many continents there are.

It is taught that there are seven continents in the US.

Someone in that thread claims that in the rest of the world six is the magic number.

How many were you taught?

I've been taught seven and a half:

1. Europe
2. Asia
3. Africa
4. Australasia
5. North America
6. South America
7. Antarctica
7.5. The Indian sub-continent

I'd agree with 7.5 far more than 6. Wish I would have foreseen that. I briefly considered putting in 5 and 8 as options, but I figured it wouldn't be that varied.

I'd say that 7.5 counts as 7, if you count only full continents.

I think everyone thinks I'm a dumbass that doesn't know how many continents there are. Nobody's answering the poll. :(

4
shore based
Afro-Eurasia
America
Antarctica
Australia

Are you serious? You count Africa, Europe, and Asia as one continent? That's what you were taught? I guess maybe I should have put 1 through 10 as choices. What a world.

Ok, 76 views and 3 responses.

I guess nobody else is interested in the possible variations of what seems to be a simple concept. I was amazed by the idea that other nations teach other than 7 continents.

Or is it just that I should have put more choices? Is the variation really that much? Were you serious about 4 continents, Curioucity?

I notice that not even the two who were arguing the matter in the original thread care enough to post. Ho-hum.

8, althou my teacher did keep arguing that the Dansih capital was not a continent

as of now:
1. EurAsia
2. Africa
3. Australia
4. America
5. Antarctica

1

The world is one, and we are one with the world, and one with the universe. There is one. :D

Are you serious? You count Africa, Europe, and Asia as one continent? That's what you were taught? I guess maybe I should have put 1 through 10 as choices. What a world.

It's not what I'm taught.... see my key-word: shore based?
Bugeyes?

Ok, how am I supposed to derive where your continent knowledge comes from by "shore-based"? Obviously it's a good thing I asked. The point of the thread was to find out differences in educational systems, note my keyword: taught.
Who's bugeyes?

Note: In some parts of the world students are taught that there are only six continents, as they combine North America and South America into one continent called Americas. Other experts use only six continents by combining Europe and Asia into a continent called Eurasia.

link to worldatlas on continents (http://www.graphicmaps.com/aatlas/infopage/contnent.htm)

As for tectonic plates the situation might not correspond to actual continents

http://geology.er.usgs.gov/eastern/plates.gif

CONTINENTS (by the number of countries)

#1 Africa
#2 Europe
#3 Asia
#4 North America
#5 Oceania
#6 South America
#7 Antarctica
#8 Copenhagen

I think that the Artic should be a continent too.

It is a pure case of discrimination against ice based continents.

#1 Africa
#2 Europe
#3 Asia
#4 North America
#5 Oceania
#6 South America
#7 Antarctica
#8 Artic
#9 Copenhagen
#10 Atlantis

It is taught that there are seven continents in the US.

Really? I though there were a number of states in the U.S. but NO CONTINENTS :D

I have a dymaxion map that Buckminster Fuller signed and gave to me. It is "THE MOST ACCURATE FLAT MAP OF THE EARTH" http://www.bfi.org/map.htm

Sure looks like the land masses are close to each other surrounded by one ocean.

Why are Europe and Asia considered as two separate continents? Seems to me the word often relates only on cultural difference rather than physical boundaries, at least, physical boundaries that mean ever less as humanity's abilities to communicate and travel improve.

I always thought they were two tectonic plates being pushed together in the middle. It looks like from spuriousmonkey's map that that's not the case. There used to be a sea there, but I guess there used to be a sea in the middle of the US as well.

It's interesting that arabia is on it's own plate as well. I wonder what direction it's heading. Probably not out to sea. Wouldn't that be nice though? Arabia the island. Far away from anyone else. Bet the world would be somewhat more peaceful that way. :p

I would agree with Avatar, five continents:

1. EurAsia
2. Africa
3. Australia
4. America
5. Antarctica

Alas, it looks that nobody is quite sure about this.
For more information, take a look at wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent)

I have been taught seven
Asia
Europe
Africa
North America
South America
Australia
Antarctica

Encarta says it's these seven too

is there any other than cultural reason to devide Europa and Asia? - I wouldn't advice to bring in culture into geology

you culd argue about S and N America, though, but where would you put CA? devide it into half? I think that would be stupid - and in which place/? the chanel was dug only a couple of decades ago.
I think that N and S and C America is 1 continent

you missed an option, there's just 1.

1 big ass continent, it's just that most of it is under water at the moment.

EDIT: oops, I just noticed someone already said that.

yeah it doesn't matter how many continents there are, the important thing is that we are all living on one big planet called Earth, which we all love :)

1:North/South Amefrica
2:Eurosiartic
2 for me

Of course it doesn't matter how many continents there are. But I thought it was interesting that other countries teach numbers other than seven. I had always thought it was pretty much universal. I see that seven is ahead in the poll by a large margin, only one vote for six so far. But, I think the poll is faulty if there is that large a dichotomy in the number. I should have made a poll with 1 to 10. I see there are almost 500 views of this thread and about 20 votes.

ChildOfTheMind,

So where does Australia fall? Be careful, the owner of this site is Australian. :p

Nice graphic, Spuriousmonkey. I'd agree with Avatar, except for compressing Europe and Asia into one (Eurasia) and adding 2 more "halfs" - New Zealand, which is a fragment of Gondwana isolated at least as long as Australia, and East Africa, which is in the process of breaking away along the Great Rift Valley. In 20 million years or so, there'll be a big island some way south of India.

What about Baja? It'll be off by itself in 20 million years too. And the smog polluted city of LA will be no more.

More likely that the Cocos Plate will be subducted under North America, and Baja fuse with the main continent as a terran.

Hmm, my understanding is that it's sliding south and west. It's not an area that I spend a lot of time researching though.

Which direction is the arabian plate moving? Is it moving inland or out to sea?

I think people are getting the word continent confused with the word island.
There are 7 continents. Some are joined, it don't think it matters, nothing in the continent rulebook says continents can't be joined. Islands are landmasses surrounded by water. Continents are just masses of land humans named continents.

True, Doc - there is no well-defined size threshold at which an island becomes a continent. Greenland is considered an island, Australia a continent; but both are landmasses surrounded by water.

The best way of defining a continent might be whether or not that particular landmass is the MAIN landmass on a distinct tectonic plate - unless it's ridiculously small (like Hawaii), or already in contact with a much larger landmass on a neighbouring plate(like Baja). Australia is therefore a continent, but not Arabia.

By this definition, Europe & Asia constiture a single continent: they would have been separate in the distant past, but the joint between their respective plates has long since sealed and become rigid, as marked by the Ural Mountains. India is still in the process of fusing with Asia, and the Himalayas still growing.

I thought it was seven, along with the seven seas and anything else significant about seven.

7 Seas of Rhye, 7 days of the week, 7 seals in Revelations, 7 Samurai, 7 rivers in Bangladesh... got any more?

Book of the seven seals?
Chaos uh yeah chaos rules tralalalala!

If there is truly 5 continents, why is part of Russia considered Europe, and the other part Asia? And if Europe and Asia are on the same plate, where did the Ural Mountain range come from?

When there are only 5 continents they are:

America
Eurasia
Africa
Australia
Antarctica

Oops forgotten:

That means that Russia is on only one continent.

It´s their fault for being so damn big!

Oops forgotten:

That means that Russia is on only one continent.

It´s their fault for being so damn big!

What? Why would you devide a country down the middle just because it was too big?

Just as information, tectonic plates do not define the boundaries of continents.

And how should I know why they had to divide Russia?
I think Europa and Asia are one continent anyway.
Sorry but with that problem I cannot help you,
the size may be a possibility but as it seems, people first
have to come to a conclusion how many continents there are.

Just as information, tectonic plates do not define the boundaries of continents.

Well, then maybe we have to establish what defines a continent, the rest is just calculation.

- - -

\Con"ti*nent\, n.

One of the grand divisions of land on the globe; the main land; specifically (Phys. Geog.), a large body of land differing from an island, not merely in its size, but in its structure, which is that of a large basin bordered by mountain chains; as, the continent of North America.

Note: The continents are now usually regarded as six in number: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. But other large bodies of land are also reffered to as continents; as, the Antarctic continent; the continent of Greenland. Europe, Asia, and Africa are often grouped together as the Eastern Continent, and North and South America as the Western Continent.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

- - -

Looks to me like the Ural Mountains devide two land basins, that of Asia and that of Europe, thereby defining them as seperate continents.

Looks to me like the Ural Mountains devide two land basins, that of Asia and that of Europe, thereby defining them as seperate continents.

Correct: the Urals are an old geological suture, where 2 ancient landmasses collided and pushed up a new mountain range. It long since ceased to be an active plate margin, like the Himalayas are now. I'm not sure what geologists call that event, but I believe it was roughly contemporary with the Caledonian Orogeny in Britain and North America - when the supercontinent of Laurasia was just coming together, probably Silurian-Devonian time.

Just as Dreamwalker pointed out, Tectonic plates do not define continents. The definition should seem to point to Asia and Europe being separate continents, no matter how long it has been that way.

I wonder how literally to take that definition. If a continent was any basin surrounded by mountain chains, we'd have a lot more continents. We'd have east america (east of appalachians), the great plains of america (between Rockis and Appalachians), and west america (west of Rockies). And that's just in the US. There's got to be more criteria than that.

It does make the decision to split Asia from Europe sensible though.

The 7's still have it. And the original argument I heard was between 7 and 6, so we're the winners so far. :p

I wonder how high the answer would be if you'd asked:

"How many INCONTINENTS are there?"

im in the rest of the world (AU) and i was always taught 7. and never Australasia as a continent but only Australia, as australia is the biggest island continent, or something like that.

p.s. for most mainland australians, we dont consider tasmania as part of our continent :P hehe

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=continent

Alright, after viewing this link, these official sources say:

7 continents

"One of the principal land masses of the earth, usually regarded as including Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America."

\Con"ti*nent\, a. [L. continens, -entis, prop., p. pr. of continere to hold together, to repress: cf. F. continent. See Contain.] 1. Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing. [Obs.] --Shak.

2. Exercising restraint as to the indulgence of desires or passions; temperate; moderate.

Have a continent forbearance till the speed of his rage goes slower. --Shak.

3. Abstaining from sexual intercourse; exercising restraint upon the sexual appetite; esp., abstaining from illicit sexual intercourse; chaste.

My past life

Hath been as continent, as chaste, as true,

As I am now unhappy. --Shak.

4. Not interrupted; connected; continuous; as, a continent fever. [Obs.]

The northeast part of Asia is, if not continent with the west side of America, yet certainly it is the least disoined by sea of all that coast. --Berrewood.

Princeton says: continent

adj 1: having control over urination and defecation [ant: incontinent] 2: abstaining from sexual intercourse; "celibate priests" [syn: celibate] n 1: one of the large landmasses of the earth; "there are seven continents"; "pioneers had to cross the continent on foot" 2: the European mainland; "Englishmen like to visit the Continent but they wouldn't like to live there" [syn: Continent]

Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University


Solved again by I Like Salt

This is why I love this place...

Until now, I had no idea that this subject was argued... What the Hell, isn't anything I've ever learned true?

hmmmm and I had to say 6
Think I'll have to look up the word continant.

This is why I love this place...

Until now, I had no idea that this subject was argued... What the Hell, isn't anything I've ever learned true?

Not really, most of what we learn are merely theories, upon which can be argued at anytime, although some are more difficult to argue than others because they've become so well-rooted in human knowledge. Other times, some theories are just agreed upon by a bunch of "officials" and schools around the world then just teach it to students who accept what these officials say.

For example, how planets are in the solar system? It doesn't really matter, I know, but for the sake of knowledge, most people would think it's 9 because that's what's written in the books - and there are in fact nine. But one could easily say eight and be still correct. (Pluto as merely just a huge object in the Kuiper Belt)

The word continent is ambiguously defined as "a principal landmass of the earth". But I still think Europe, Asia and Africa are one. North and South America as one. Australia. Antarctica. The islands in the sea would not be a part of any continent :(

Thus, New Zealand and Madagascar would be independent or simply miniature continents which we know as "islands".

Only in the USA North America and South America are considered two diferent continents. The rest of the world(the culturally independent one) and cartographers speak of one continent by the name of America. Since the US appropiated the word America to describe its country(maybe i should say the government, but i don't exactly now when did this happen,for sure it wasn't 'till after the 18th century) it came to teach there are two separate continents(North and South America). In this way the logical contradiction between a continent and a country with the same name is avoided. This is why you will get this version in all US sources.
Still, i urge you to think; north and south implie a division of a whole, in this case they are used next to the word america, so logically, the whole is America. Is like speaking about eastern United States and Western United States. It's a geographicall division, that refers to whole which in this case would be the United States. It wouldn't make sense having a part of this whole(a state, for instance) also called United States, would it?

I don't think i can convince you, but i just try to make you understand why others think this.

I've been taught 7 too.
Asia
Europe
Africa
North America
South America
Australia
Antarctica

I couldn't help myself. After watching this thread expand to an incredible three pages I had to give in and look.

You people will debate absolutely anything!

This has got to be one of the most unimportant questions I've ever seen asked, and certainly one of the least likely to find a consensus on an answer!

Tectonic plates, surrounded by water, delimited by mountains, a certain minimum size, a certain minimum distance from the next continent, a certain shape. How can anybody ever agree on these parameters?

Europe, Asia, and Africa are one connected land mass, as are North and South America, at least until the polar caps melt some more. By that rather sensible criterion there are only four continents.

Wait, you're calling Australia an island? The difference in size between Australia and the next smaller "island," Greenland, is much greater (geometrically) than its difference from the next larger "continent," Antarctica. And no, it doesn't make sense in any paradigm to count nearby islands as part of a continent. Tasmania is not part of the continent of Australia any more than Hainan is part of the continent of Asia, or all those teeny Islands that comprise a third of Denmark are parts of Europe.
Only in the USA North America and South America are considered two diferent continents. The rest of the world(the culturally independent one) and cartographers speak of one continent by the name of America. Since the US appropiated the word America to describe its country(maybe i should say the government, but i don't exactly now when did this happen,for sure it wasn't 'till after the 18th century) it came to teach there are two separate continents(North and South America). In this way the logical contradiction between a continent and a country with the same name is avoided. This is why you will get this version in all US sources.Actually we also speak of "Central America". North America is only Canada, the USA, and Mexico. Everything from Belize to Panama is Central America. It may not qualify as a continent, but it's an indispensible concept when you're drafting legal documents with names like the "North American Free Trade Agreement." ^_^

Now that you mention it, I don't know when Unitedstatesians began co-opting the name "Americans." It was well established by the end of the 19th century. Perhaps it was a politically correct movement in the aftermath of the Civil War to get people to stop saying "Yankees" and "Confederates" or even less polite words.

The rest of the world has followed suit, in almost all the languages I can think of, we're called something akin to americano or amerikanyetz. Only Spanish is able to literally call us Unitedstatesians, using the tongue twister estadounidense.

I suspect the Hungarians also have a way. They are the only people I know who treat "USA" as an acronym rather than an abbreviation. They pronounce it "OO-sha". It's probably not too hard for them to form an adjective from that.

If you think its confusing for a country to have the same name as a continent. . . . We've also got a state with the same name as a country (Georgia) and a state with the same name as one of the islands that make it up (Hawaii).

You want to get wierder? The USA has a university with the same name as a country (Columbia). We define a continent with (almost) the same name as a Jovian Moon: Europa... if there are tectonic plates beneath Europa's icy shell, will they be named after European nations?

Besides, Australia is both a single nation and an entire continent. Does that confuse anyone?

7 Continents, and isnt the largest island continent antarctica as australasia(also called oceania) is the continent with oz in it along with new zealand, tazmania, the soloman islands and a couple other islands nearby oz.
im in the rest of the world (AU) and i was always taught 7. and never Australasia as a continent but only Australia, as australia is the biggest island continent, or something like that.
p.s. for most mainland australians, we dont consider tasmania as part of our continent :P hehe
Struth what else do they teach you ozzy dingbats wrong(apart from how to play rugby)?;) Its quite possible your thinking of oz being the biggest island country not continent, you cant forget the kiwi's their in the same continent, along with their sheep.

As God created 7 days of week and 7 music notes. As Jesus held 7 stars in his hand in New Testament, and 7 circles of Hell in Divine Comedy of Dante. As there are 7 Deadly Sins and 7 colors of rainbow, there are 7 continents created by God - North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and Antarctis.

Well, I guess that settles it then!

7 seals of King Solomon.

se7en.

As God created 7 days of week and 7 music notes. .

The interval notes of the octave are a creation of man - the basis of Western music. There are, of course, intermediate half-interval notes between them; the full octave being:

C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B.

That's 12 piano keys, not 8.

Other musical traditions, such as those of India, subdivide the same range of frequencies into different numbers of notes...

It can be true as u say, but speaking about the very basic, there are 7 notes - do re mi fa so la ti do

And...in The Old testament some egyptian Pharao had a dream about 7 fat cows and 7 thin ones...

come on guys there is at least, 30...... what is a continent

Such hepta-centric hyperbole only goes so far.

There are not 7 fundamental forces, nor only 7 major planets in the Solar System, nor only 7 Zodical constellations, nor 7 vertebrate classes, nor 7 extant human species...

However, at the time of this posting, DDD had exactly seven posts.......

Seven is one of those magic numbers that mystists seem to like... they like three, eight, twelve, and thirteen… they’re arbitrary numbers that if repeated enough times gain a significance of their own. You see it in architecture too. Perhaps some of you are aware of the golden section? Same thing… not really a special number in itself, but if you organize a whole school of architecture around it, then it becomes special… the mind picks the consistent proportion out of everything.

The localities of the old German tribunals were designated by seven trees, under which were placed seven "Schoffers" (judges) who required seven(7) witnesses.

The two oldest rivers of the East – the Ganges and the Nile – had each seven(7) mouths.

Rome was built on seven(7) hills