Why is Europe considered a separate continent?

Question

Really, it's the same landmass as Asia.

Any ideas why this silliness endures?

Answer 1

The division of the landmass of Eurasia into the separate continents of Asia and Europe is an anomaly with no basis in physical geography. The separation is maintained for historical and cultural reasons. An alternative view is that Eurasia is a single continent, one of six continents in total. This view is held by some geographers and is preferred in Russia (which spans Asia and Europe) and Eastern Europe.

Answer 2

I cannot exactly prove this, but I believe it comes from the Greeks. The Greeks knew about their homeland, they also knew about Asia (Turkey) and Africa (Egypt). They thought Greece, Turkey and Egypt were all on different continents because they did not know how to travel to these other countries by land.

Why does this silliness endure? My only answer is tradition. I guess if you can declare that Pluto is not a planet, why can you not say that Europe and Asia are only one continent?

Answer 3

Many geographers and scientists now refer to six continents, where Europe and Asia are combined (since they're one solid landmass). Thus, these six continents are Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Eurasia, North America, and South America.

Answer 4

It may be because originally the Europeans drew up the maps and considered their culture substantially different from the culture(s) of Asia, and therefore thought of Europe as a distinct entity.

Answer 5

Tradition. Although, Eurasia is used quite often in geography.

Answer 6

Please dont make me an Asian.