Why do we learn there are 7 Continents? Where is the division between Europe and Asia?

Question

Antarctica and Australia are clearly stand alone land masses. North America and South America are joined, but can still count as two because Central America is a thin land mass connecting the two. Africa is joined to Europe and Asia in the Middle East, but the Mediterranean Sea separates it from much of Europe, and the Indian Ocean from much of Asia.

If a continent is a large stand-alone land mass, there are four: (1) Antarctica, (2) Australia, (3) the Americas, and (4) Europe-Asia-Africa.

If you say they can be connected by a narrow land mass, there are six: (1) Antarctica, (2) Australia, (3) North America, (3) South America, (5) Africa, and (6) Europe-Asia.

What Separates Europe from Asia?

Answer 1

What separates Europe from Asia is a couple of things--and it has much less to do with actualy physicallity and it does psychology/culture, and centers of power.

It really started with our concept of Europe as separate because of the Roman Empire. Much of what is still Europe today (except the Scandanavian countries) is basically the extent of Ceasar's land. This rule was so long and so extensive that it really solidified the European mindset in terms of physical boundaries of the Empire (even today). This was further emphasized during the map-making explosion of the Renaisance (which, of course, went back to Rome and Greece).

Also, once trade became an everyday/every village (not just big Empire event) from the middle ages on, the Europeans were much more fluid within their area and reaching only to the western parts of Russia...any further into the interior meant unbearably harsh conditions which were not conducive to exploration or continuity.

Those who did trade to farther reaches of India, China, etc., had to grapple with the VERY foreign peoples/gov'ts of lands that had not been under Roman influence (OR AHEM, CHRISTIANITY) as much. They had created autonomous regions, and culturally were very different. Also, this was mainly done by sea exploration, which meant leaving the familiar Europe, and instead of gradually changing people/culture, landing in an entirely different area of the world, which also led the the concept of "separateness."

Because of the different empires, the middle parts of Asia was considered to be hostile, and clearly not part of Europe. When the map makers began to be prolific, they separated "continents" by civility, so to speak...which also explains the separation of Africa.

Just to touch on S. America/N. America--remember that Columbus landed on the Carribean Islands, and that subsequent exploration was to South America first, and then Mexico, North America, etc. When the original maps were drawn, it wasn't realized that the two continents were acutally connected. That was deduced later.

Back to Europe/Asia...After WWII, the Iron Curtain that separated Western Europe from Eastern Europe (E. Germany, USSR, etc) further helped to reiterate that Europe and Asia are separate.

After the fall of the USSR, we continue to consider them different continents because of old habits...and I imagine that with the center of power shifting to the very exotic and different China, that we will continue to separate the land in our minds.

Answer 2

Actually, it is taught differently in different parts of the world. Most English speaking countries teach the 7 continent model whereas Latin America teaches a 6 continent combined America model and the 6 continent combined Eurasia is typically referred to in the geographic community.

At one time, the known world consisted only of Europe, Asia, and Africa and was considered one continent. Each section was considered a peninsula based on geographic as well as political borders and these borders were later considered continental boundaries.

An interesting side note - when the Olympic flag was designed, it was commonly believed that there were five continents and that is why there are five rings. At the time, the continents were Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. Australia had been discovered by that time, but there was dispute as to the validity of it being a continent rather than just a large island.

Start with these sources to learn more:

Answer 3

The Modern scientific answer is that Europe and Asia are in fact separate land masses in the geologic sense and the Ural mountains formed when the two land masses collided many millions of years ago. India is referred to as a "sub-continent" at least in part because until recently it was a separate land mass as well, floating in the Indian ocean.
But this whole confusion occurred way back in the time of ancient Egypt and Greece ~3,000BC when those unexplored hinterlands to the south and west were referred to simply as "Africa", those unexplored hinterlands to the due east were referred to simply as "Asia" and those unexplored hinterlands to the north were referred to simply as "Europa". To the Ancients, they didn't have a clue as to what a continent was or how big the Earth really was, etc. And as is often the case, we are still stuck with their nomenclature, for better or for worse.

Answer 4

ok ill keep this simple! lol. we learnt this, this year in year 9 in aust, so its perfectly correct! Europe is separated from Asian Russia by the Ural Mountains, and if you look at a map it runs along the Ural River. To the West of the Caspian sea, the Caucasus Mountains is the border (still between Asia and Europe). The Balkans, (the route from the Aegan Sea and the Mediterranean, to the Black Sea) sepparates European Turkay from Asian Turkey. Europe stretches out into European Islands in the Mediteranean, but no further. I hope this helps! Oh and in response to someone who said Australia isnt a continent, well it is! We are also a country wich makes us an island aswell!

Answer 5

The Ural mountains. The real reason there is a europe and an asia is that in the old days the known world was just what was around the mediteranian. The land of asia was seperated from europe by the Bosphorus straight by what is now Istanbul.

Answer 6

What we have here is a carryover from the ancient Greeks, who used the terms Asia, Europe, and Africa to designate regions rather than continents. (The term continent, in the sense of "a major landmass mostly surrounded by water," originated in 17th-century England.) Nowadays, people in the know refer to Europe as "the western peninsular appendage of the Eurasian landmass," which has the added advantage of sounding like a description of Yul Brynner's wazoo.

Answer 7

Turkey is the country which connects the two continents. But there is a region in Turkey known as Eurasia, a region in which intersection between the two continents Europe and Asia occurs.
So you may consider this region as the intersept between the two continents.

Answer 8

The answer may lie in European fears of invading " hordes" from eastern Asia. Tatars, Huns and other indigenous peoples from the East were seen (from the European perspective) as murderous and barbaric armies bent on the destruction of "civilized" European peoples and culture. The Ural Mountain chain serves as a convenient demarcation line between Europe and the "barbarians".

Answer 9

Very good question. I'm going to watch for the right answer. My best guess is that it has something to do with the Black Sea or maybe the Ural Mt. range. You know, one of those subduction zones where it gets pushed apart here and pushed up there. Something like India crunching into Asia and creating the Himalayas.

Answer 10

Because it's called a Euroasia but divided by two sides Europe and Asia