I am from the U.S. and my wife is from South America. We were having a conversation and I mentioned the 7 continents and she looked at me like I was insane. We started talking about it and I said there was N. America, S.America, Europe, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, and Asia.
According to her there are 5. She counts the Americas as one and doesn’t count Antarctica. Also Australia was taught as Oceania.
Is this how everyone else was taught?
Comments
Yeah I got the 7 as well
Numbers of continents are actually nation dependent.
Same as you, seven.
We say 7 here. Different regions teach geography differently. (Europe often uses the 6 continent model)
I believe a lot of Latin America considers the Americas as one continent. Never heard about them not counting Antarctica though, I guess they don’t.
I was taught the same as you, in Texas.
I was taught 7, same as you
But, FWIW, this is why Spanish speakers are often so touchy about us calling ourselves “America,” because “America” is what they call the whole (both to us) continent(s)
English speaking world teaches the 7 continent model
Spanish speaking world generally counts 5.
Personally I don’t understand how the Americas count as one, but Europe, Asia, and Africa are counted separately.
EDIT: People keep mentioning canals as separating continents, but aren’t canals man made?
I was taught seven just like you. I was under the impression that some Latin Americans were taught the the Americas are actually one continent.
7
Some countries count the Americas as one. This is the first I’ve heard of Antarctica not being counted.
Seven. How does she not count a whole continent that is Antarctica lmao?
I guess different countries define the continents different ways, but seven is what Americans are taught.
There’s seven continents, and your wife is wrong.
Yeah, Americans are taught 7 continents. This is a debate that comes up on Reddit occasionally, but even within Europe they teach anywhere from 5-7 continents. There isn’t really a right answer.
If Antarctica isn’t a continent what is it?
In America we are traditionally taught that there are 7 just as you said.
They are arbitrary political divisions, however, which don’t line up with any underlying scientific explanation.
In the plate tectonic world, for example, Eurasia is one big continental plate.
Lots of maps call Australia Oceana, but it’s actually referring to the oceanic region including the surrounding islands. Australia is just the largest land mass in Oceana so it gets called Oceana sometimes.
But I grew up in the US and there are 7.
There are 7
I was taught seven early in school, and by the end “Eurasia” had become predominant. We never merged the Americas though. Oceania was sometimes taught in place of Australia.
If you asked me, I would answer North America, South Africa, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.
Personally, I think it’s hilarious how bothered some people from South America get about it. That, and if you’re going to merge the Americas, you also have to merge Africa, Europe, and Asia. The only water between them is man-made.
I guess we can argue whether the Americas are one, same with Eurasia, but what does Latin America have against antarctica??
Way back in the 80’s when I was in jail for a couple weeks, I shared a cell with a Mexican guy, and we got along fine, at least until somehow we got to this question, with him insisting North & South America were one continent.
While technically connected, North America and South America are separate continents to me. Some countries and regions outside of the US do teach it as one large continent though. And Antarctica is definitely a continent.
I was taught 7.
I mean we dug a ditch between North and South America. So that’s at least two
She was taught N and S America are one…but Europe and Asia are separate?!?
Tell her that, as an Antarctic scientist, I can 100% state that Antarctica indeed fits every single category of a continent.
I’ll never understand why Latin America thinks that Europe is a separate continent from Asia, but the Americas are one.
Make it make sense
It sucks because there isn’t an internationally accepted standard definition of a continent. Some countries teach a 7 continent model, some teach 6, and some teach 5 (and they don’t all agree on what those 5 are, either). It really is a mess.
It’s also why you get people from Latin American countries (mostly Brazil, but people from elsewhere, too) refusing to refer to people from the US as “American,” calling us dumb because we apparently don’t realize our nation is the “United States” and “America” is a continent, not a country.
I got 7 as well, but was taught Oceania to include the islands that surround Australia
I leaned it as 7 but I believe now Europe and Asia should be one.
7 until college, then it was and took geology courses, then it became 6. Europe and Asia are single continent. Plate tectonics separate clearly define where they are.
Also, Greenland, Madagascar, India, and Zelandia are sub-continents.
North and South America can be separated by the Caribbean Plate, and in doing so, it is just before the Darrian Gap.
As a US citizen who went to school in the 70s/80s, I was taught 7: N. America; S. America; Europe; Asia; Africa; Australia/Oceania; Antarctica
But I understand the rationale behind the claim of 5.
I learned 7, my parents (South America) believe in 5, and when I’ve been to Europe, they think there’s 6: that the Americas are one continent. IMO: If the Americas are a single continent, that makes Africa, Asia, and Europe a single continent …
lol just discounting Antarctica completely is crazy to me.
Seven
English and a decent majority say there is 7.
Some countries say 6 by combining the Americas or Eurasia.
The Olympic Charter, which excludes Antarctica as uninhabited and lists the following five: Africa, Europe, Asia, America, and Oceania (or Australia). Latin America is taught this way. They don’t see the Panama Canal as a divide or don’t understand how the Caribbean is split
There are 7 I was told this
I’ve never heard anything but 7
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There are 7 continents from I’ve been taught. North America and South America sit on different tectonic plates so I’ll always consider them separate continents.
Europe is different but is still based on things like geography and culture.
Technically Eurasia is the continent so id be fine if people counted it as one single continent instead of Europe and Asia.
In Texas we have 7 continents.
I don’t understand how the Americas are one but Europe and Asia aren’t?
This wasn’t what I was taught but I’m sold on 6 – Europe and Asia aren’t geographically separate
7 in English speaking world. 6 in Spanish (generally speaking) 5 in others, and sometimes as low as 3…
If Europe and Asia are separate North and South America certainly are IMHO.
Seven. I was seeing a Peruvian girl who insisted that the Americas were one continent though.
I was taught 7, USA public education.
Seven. But that is a school of thought/ teaching. There is not a good geologic based test for what is and is not a continent. So you’re both right.
That said, just because the tips are touching at Panama doesn’t mean it makes any sense to call them one continent.
Seven or four I can justify. One Americas continent but not EurAfrAsia is ridiculous and hypocritical.
Also why not consider Antarctica a continent?
7:
Africa
Antarctica
Asia
Australia
Europe
North America
South America
I just asked my husband this question a couple nights ago. He grew up in Switzerland and I was wondering how many continents he was thought there were. He was taught there were 7. His Mother is from Spain and was taught there were 7 as well.
I am a proud 4 generation Californian and was taught there were 7. My kids are going to school right now and they were taught 7.
no, i was taught 7! my aunt is a retired english-turned-social studies teacher and this is how she taught me:
north am. got married to south am., then went to europe on their honeymoon. then, they had 4 kids all beginning with the letter A: africa, asia, australia, and antarctica!
i believe oceania includes australia and other places, but i don’t think it’s considered a continent. i wasn’t taught about those places growing up.
Most people I know from: USA, Canada, Western Europe say that that there are 7, but we seem to be the only who calls the entire content Australia instead of Oceania or Australasia
Not counting Antarctica is really unusual. What does she think it is?
The anglosphere uses 7 continents. The Spanish speaking world as well as much of Europe use the 5 continent model. The Olympic rings are 5 because the Americas are counted as one and no Antarctica.
Europe counting as their own continent but the Americas as one is Euro centric.
I count 7 continents.
There are 7 continents that’s how it’s taught in the U.S. and in many other places. Honestly, there’s no logical reason to group North and South America together while still separating Europe and Asia, which are literally connected by land. The Americas have a whole natural divide, the added Panama Canal makes it even more distinct. I get that different countries teach it differently but again there is no Earthly reason for America to be counted as one.
By the strictest definition of the word “continent”:
America
Europe/Asia/Africa
Australia
Antarctica
But people from different countries/languages and cultures tend to break them up into 7 or 5.
I go with 7, but even that can cause problems as well.
The National Geographic Society says there are seven. There is an argument to be made for up to ten (based on tectonic plates).
North and South Amercian are on 2 seperate plates, but I could see why someone might join them. I could also see why Australia is combined with Oceania since it is right there.
However, why don’t they count Antarctica? That sort of baffles me. Is it because no one lives there? There are researches that live there, but maybe it isn’t a large enough amount of people?
North and South America are completely different tectonic plates. Thinking they are the same continent is just flat out wrong, and I will die on that hill. Antarctica is obviously also a continent, again with its own plate. Europe and Asia, however, are on the same tectonic plate and should be a single continent. The middle east is its own plate, and probably should be its own continent. India was it’s own continent until it slammed into the bottom of Eurasia, and has it’s own plate. Australia is on its own plate, but calling it Oceana makes sense too.
TLDR – Everyone is wrong because we decided what the continental borders are arbitrarily before we understood plate tectonics.
Seven.
N. America
S. America
Europe
Asia
Africa
Antarctica
Australia
This is the second time this week I’ve heard someone say “America is one continent.” Yet they ignore the fact that there is a NORTH America AND a SOUTH America. Check my math, but that’s two, not one. So add everything up and it makes seven
German here.
7 continents are taught in school.
From the school atlas company:
https://c.wgr.de/i/anlage/720x/afe6c73840225d059e578d8ded9874227e7a7a32acf8abb03d41906f43df7a84.jpg.jpg