Why is India referred to as a subcontinent when by all known criteria it is a continent by itself?

Question

Refer to Indian and Eurasian landplates as shown at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_subcontinent .

I do not see a separation between Europe and Asia but they both are known as separate continents!

Can someone explain this?

Himalayas separate the India from Asia, as much as the Urls separate Europe from Asia!!!

Answer 1

India is considered a part of Asia. It is not a continent by itself.

The Ural mountains separate Europe and Asia. With a continuous land mass, you have to designate something as the boundary, and this is the way they did it centuries ago.

Answer 2

India and Pakistan are connected to the Eurasian plate, so it is a subcontinent and not a continent.

"A subcontinent is a large part of a continent. There is no agreement on what constitutes a subcontinent. Generally, however, a subcontinent is split from the rest of a continent by something like a mountain range or by tectonic plates. The phrase the Subcontinent, used on its own in English, commonly means the Indian subcontinent i.e. South Asia."
-wikipedia

Answer 3

The continents are not defined by tectonic plates, but as huge, separate (or almost separate) landmasses.

The exception is Europe, which is geographically in the same continent as Asia. But the concept of the continents came from the Eastern Mediterranean cultures, where there are three very obvious geographical and cultural regions: Asia (the Middle East) to the east, Africa to the south and Europe to the north and west. Europe takes its name from an Ancient Greek goddess, Europa, while Africa and Asia were Roman provinces. Africa was originally just part of the coast of Libya, Asia was one part of Turkey.

Answer 4

India is a part of Asia
Asia being the major continent, its southern lands are known as Subcontinents
The boundaries are not determined by Landplates, they are politically fixed by humans over the generations.
Maps of early Hindustan, Egypt and Roman Empires are totally different from that of today's world

Answer 5

Well. I remember something about India ramming into Asia and getting stuck there. What do you think formed the Himalayas?

Answer 6

On that basis, California is a continent, too, but I guess it would be called an itty bitty subcontinent

Answer 7

Indians are caucasian. so it is not Asia. and India has A LOT of people. I mean A LOT.