Do you consider Europe a continent ?

[Craig]

See title.

[ChinaLama]

I consider the entire Eastern hemisphere to be Asia, except for Australia and part of Antarctica.

[ism]

Even though there's no strict definition of what a continent is, I do consider Europe a continent. Dividing a large mass of land generally goes by geographic boundaries, but I think cultural boundaries are just as strong. Hence, I do not think there should be an America or a Eurafrasia. 7 continents to me. I dig "Oceania."

[Hiroshi2]

I agree w/ism, even if techinically Europe and Asia are physically connected, the cultural boundaries are strong enough to justify the current boundary.

[ChinaLama]

actually, i think the cultural gap is made out to be far bigger than it really is, maybe as a way for Western Europeans to distinguish themselves from the Orient. For instance, it's arguable whether traditional European social structures are all that different from traditional Asian cultures-- people often interpose a european individualism vs an Asian communitarianism, but in reality, I think individualism only became a huge deal in europe in the last few hundred years or so. and ever since imperialism's take, individualism has been a big deal in Asia, too. And perhaps even before, individualism was a big deal in Asia but we don't hear about it often b/c the stereotypical, mainstream view continues to impose European individualism vs Asian communitarianism.

And in an increasingly globalized world where cultures are becoming more and more similar to one another, we can argue that the cultural differences aren't significant enough for any landmass to be considered separate continents. certainly, australia and north america should be considered extensions of europe in a cultural sense, and in an economic/ political sense, the vast majority of Asia should be considered European, although if you dig far back, you could say a lot of European culture originally came from the Middle East in Asia, and even in the last few hundred years, a lot of Greek and Roman culture were preserved by Muslims and transmitted back to Europe via Spain and France, so you could even then make the argument that culturally, Europeans are Asians and therefore Europe should be considered a part of Asia.

[Napoleon Chynamite]

sure y not

[ism]

"Culture" is perhaps a loaded word, encompassing religion and racial history (but not neccessarily race itself). Race is probably the major factor in dividing Europe and Asia. I agree that the cultural gap is perhaps overblown, if the EU can overcome the differences between the Spanish, Gallic, Nordic and Hessian peoples. With that in mind, when Europe and Asia form the Eurasian Union, then I'd consider the cultural gap close enough.

[ChinaLama]

Even race, it's hard to say. For instance, North Africans, Greeks, Middle Easterners, Uighurs in China, some Aryans in India are all the same "race" but live on different "continents."

then again continent's not as clearly defined as i thought it was. i thought continent meant land almost all surrounded by water, but my 80s dictionary just says "major land mass, usually defined as <and it names the 7 continents>." so i'm not even gonna argue about this anymore cuz there's no foundation to argue from except maybe "common understanding."

[teaz0r]

i went to instanbul and there was a sign that said:
"where europe meets asia". and it advertised itself
as the the only city in the world where you will visit
the two continents Europe and Asia at the same time.

i thought that was groovy.

laskdfjaskldjflaskdfjlasdkf

[tvbdude]

I would say so. if geographers call it a continent then technically it is

[ism]

That's the point though; geographers don't agree on how many continents there are. There are several models, some counting North & South America as "America", Europe and Asia as "Eurasia" and even Africa, Europe, and Asia as "Eurafrasia." So there are as few as 4 and as many as 7, although commonly there are 6 or 7.

I wasn't really debating; just pointing out the boundaries, physical, asbtract, and perceived, that could be used to define the term.

[ChinaLama]

wow so i'm not the first to call europe-africa-asia one continent? i feel like such a hack. :(

[yoMAMA]

There are only two continents: the eastern continent and the western continent.

cough 'hemisphere' cough

[nonamerasian]

If asked, I'd count Europe as a continent because that is what I've been taught to do, but visually, Europe simply looks like the peninsula of Asia.

[BeTheReds]

If california is part of North America then Europe is part of a larger Eurasian continent.

What is the basis for the continental divide between Asia and Europe? Some tiny ass mountains and a thin river.

The Rockies are much more impressive than the Ural mountains. Therefore if Europe is a continent seperate from Asia, California is also a continent.

The reason why they seperate Europe and Asia is because Europe is where all the White people live. Asia is where they White people supposedly don't live. Since we all agree that East Asians, South Asians, and West Asians (or Middle Easterners) are different races, then why is India, Arabia and the Orient not seperate continents?