This may sound stupid, I know, but the truth is that there is not much consensus around this subject.
A friend of mine, while playing a game, was asked "How many continents are there?" The possible answers were 5, 6, 7, 8. I told him: "Wait! That one is tricky... it all depends on what you consider a continent... There's Europe, Asia, Africa... America... North and South... Antarctica, Artic... Oceania..." :-)
He said: "Hell no! I learned in school that there are five continents! And the Olympic rings are five!"
He answered five...
He lost...
The correct answer for the game was 7...
Now, I wonder... how many continents are there really? What would you consider a continent to be?
I learned (in the USA) that it was 7: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica. However, in my French class, my teacher said she thought there were 5; I think she counted North and South America as one (joined by an isthmus) and maybe Europe and Asia as one. Or maybe Australia was just an island. Or Antarctica wasn't one. I don't remember.
According to `dict continent`, there are 6:
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.
Re:5, 6, 7?
cog on 2004-08-31T13:10:40
I remember some teacher saying something about 5 continents... Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and South America...
I guess he/she never looked that way down on the map:-) Re:5, 6, 7?
polock on 2006-12-02T17:56:06
Was the French teacher's name Evette, who had a wealthy husband who was nervous?
Re:There are only 3
spur on 2004-08-31T16:38:05
LOL;-) Who's in war with whom now, btw
:-) ?
Re:Five rings
jdavidb on 2004-08-31T17:08:20
According to this Wikipedia article (which is not the same as the one posted in another comment here), one of the rings represents both Americas.
Either the Americas or Eurasia are getting shortchanged by having two continents represented with only one ring.
:) I propose we move to four or six rings to eliminate the confusion. ;)
Going by political or historical definitions doesn’t make much sense to me. I go by a mostly geological definition, for which the answer is 8:
However, that’s not truly consistent: the Arabias and the Carribean are on their own small tectonic plates; moreover there are three small plates that harbour no large land mass of their own.
So the answer should probably be 10, possibly 13.
