How many continents are there officially

Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Matt Rosenberg. Geography Expert. Updated August 18, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format.

Rosenberg, Matt. How Many Continents Are There? Greenland and Australia: Continents or Not? You can even forget about models based on the continental crust or a continental shelf, which also support the above number of continents, and just look at things at face value.

Whereas, Europe, Africa, and Asia are connected as well, but by much broader swaths of land. Instead, we have to come up with convoluted reasons why North and South America are one, but Europe and Asia should be considered two… Huh?

The reason why I believe that Europe and Asia should be considered one because there is NO distinguishable boundary between them. It changed whenever they could think of a better excuse.

The highest peak in the Urals is just 1, m 6, ft … Compare that to the Appalachians in the eastern United States which have at least TEN peaks that are higher than the Urals… So is the east coast of the United States its own separate continent? Of course not, that makes NO logical sense. Today, Europe and Asia are connected by countless roads, trains, and no one could actually tell you where one starts and the other begins.

Not only that, though, we would also have to consider Africa as part of the same continent, because the physical connection between Africa and Asia is MUCH larger than the physical link between North America and South America — nearly twice as large the narrowest point in Panama is like 60 miles across compared to miles in Egypt.

They would be better thought of as very large regions, something like Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, etc. There is land under that snow and ice. And they fall victim to the same logical fallacies in the six continent system.

America, EurAfricAsia, and Oceania. No, in terms of the modern definition of continents as large continuous landmasses, I would say that there are indeed six continents, but those six continents would be North America, South America, Eurasia, Africa, Oceania, and Antarctica.

Was I able to answer your question about how many continents are there? Did I just make you made or confuse you more? Either way, take a second to share this article on Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter. And some experts think four is the way to go, using as their criteria landmasses naturally separated by water, rather than manmade canals AfroEurasia, America, Antarctica and Australia. Heck, as recently as the s, some people says there were just two continents , the Old — including Europe, Africa and Asia — and the New, which encompassed North and South America.

It doesn't take much imagination to see why this is more complicated than it seems. Even as a child, you may have wondered how anyone would regard Asia and Europe as different continents when they are welded together in enormous expanse of land. Traditionally, we've learned that continents are enormous landmasses with clearly defined boundaries and separated by oceans.

According to a paper published in the Geological Society of America's journal, GSA Today , "The 'Glossary of Geology' defines a continent as 'one of the Earth's major landmasses, including both dry land and continental shelves. To our knowledge, the last point — how 'major' a piece of continental crust has to be to be called a continent — is almost never discussed.

Certain factors make a landmass more or less likely to be called a continent at various times in history, by various people, but nothing can be said to determine continentality in a completely principled, nonarbitrary way.

Take for example, the vast country of Russia, 6. Why is it part of Europe rather than Asia? How about plate tectonics? If certain landmasses are constrained to one of those massive shifting hulks, we can safely call it a continent? Montello says no. The same goes for climate. All 7 of them have their own special qualities, uniqueness and you should definitely visit as many of them as possible.

There are tons of definitions that people use to identify a continent. The most commonly used and most simple is to identify a large landmass which is separated by oceans from other large landmasses. Now we can easily recognize that there are 7 distinct continents.

Number Of Countries: Africa is the second-largest continent on the planet and is an awesome place to travel through. The last frontier of authentic travel, it may be said.

Check out my article about how many countries are there in Africa , there are plenty of disputed territories in the region which is why my country count may surprise you. How many countries are there in Antarctica is a pretty simple question to answer because there are none! You may also see it referred to as either the White or Frozen continent. There are no permanent residents in Antarctica but you will find adventurous travellers.

Here are some reasons why you should consider visiting Antarctica. My home! If you want to see how many countries in Asia I think there are then check out my article.

It can be a bit controversial when deciding which countries are part of Asia and Europe. First things first, Australia is a continent and you can also call it Australasia. Check out my article to read my explanation. Home to nearly 3 quarters of a million people, including me in my Irish youth. How many countries are there in North America is a long-debated topic because some people argue that North and South America are one continent.

If you want to know how many countries in the Caribbean , I blogged that too. If you want to know how many countries in Central America , I blogged that too. My article about how many countries in South America will show you the 12 countries and lesser-known dependencies which make up the continent. Aconcagua is there which I completed on my mission to climb all 7 peaks , the Amazon river, Angel Falls and much more.

Interestingly enough not everyone agrees that there are 7 continents in the world. Coming from Ireland, I have only ever been taught that there are 7 continents in the world.