I always thought North America and South America were two separate continents, like Europe and Asia. Is America one continent or two?

MonkeyOnALeash

They ARE two separate continents but this school of thought depends upon the model one follows. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent Oct 18 07, 12:13 PM

satguru

To use an internal authority when I've come across it in a quiz on geography here they still use two. Mind you, now I'd like to know where the dividing line is as there's a lot of Central America in between. Oct 18 07, 1:35 PM

zbeckabee

Two separate continents. The world's continents are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, but seven areas are commonly regarded as continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. America (as in the U.S.) is located on the North American Continent. Central America is variably defined either as the southern portion of North America, which connects with South America on the southeast, or a region of the Americas in its own right. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_america http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continents Oct 18 07, 1:56 PM

MonkeyOnALeash

The Panama Canal could be considered the "dividing line". Oct 18 07, 2:14 PM

author

My Geographical Dictionary places the dividing line between North and South America on the Panama/Colombia border, not on the Panama Canal. Wiki quote: North America consists of all the mainland and related offshore islands lying north of the Colombia-Panama border according to most sources, or the Panama Canal according to a few. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_North_America Oct 18 07, 2:50 PM

Baloo55th

Europe and Asia aren't two continents anyway. There is no narrow spit of land joining them like there is with Eurasia and Africa, and North and South America - it's one solid landmass. The distinction is ethnographic and political, and to my mind unnecessary. Oct 18 07, 3:42 PM

harryfan31

yes, but don't get me wrong now europe and asia are interlinked together.there is no real division line on any country .it is all really about politics and your view. though this does cause some confusion that is my view.(please some people just because im a kid doesn't mean i don't know any thing. my view is that all continents were once interlinked together and over time all will split apart. so maybe in 20 years south and north america will be apart and so will africa and europe and maybe even europe and asia Oct 18 07, 11:00 PM

queproblema

Any geography teacher in the USA will tell you that America is two continents. When I was a girl I was taught there were three North American countries: Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. Today we teach 23 plus a handful of territories and dependencies. This is indeed an arbitrary convention, but the Caribbean and Central American nations are considered part of North America. http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/na.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America Oct 18 07, 11:43 PM

Baloo55th

Harryfan and anyone else interested, see New Scientist 20 October 2007. Great article on the coming together again of the continents. Oct 19 07, 11:03 AM