this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2023
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That's exactly what happens to me when I tell them America is a continent. Like, WTF?
So is America one or two continents? Our US schools call them North America and South America despite being connected as a single land mass.
The other fun one to spring on we United States of America citizens if that the full and proper name of Mexico is "The United Mexican States". Having Mexico have a name and a similar idea of states forming a union, but not bring the USA doing it really bugs people here.
Well, they're separated by the Panama canal, so by the same token that Africa and Asia aren't the same land mass, neither are the Americas.
The more important part of what defines continents is tectonic plates and plate movement, though the definitions used are fairly arbitrary. It's also interesting how different regions in the world define continent in different ways.
The following bit is entirely in humor:
Before the Suez and Panama canals were dug they should have been treated as a single continents? Europe and Asia need to figure out how to dig from the Black Sea to the North Sea so they get some clarity too.
Oh! And while the Evergreen ship was stuck sideways in the Suez, did that make Asia and Africa a single continent for a bit?