Do you prefer divide America in North America & South America, or in North, Central & South America?

Question

America, also called the Western Continent or the New World, consists of three main divisions: North America, Central America, and South America. The first of these extends from (about) 70° to 15° north latitude. Central America forms an isthmus running from northwest to southeast and narrowing to a strip of thirty miles in width at Panama; this isthmus extends from 15° to 8° north latitude, where it connects with the western coast of South America. South America begins in latitude 12° north, terminating in latitude 55° south. Hence North America approximately extends over 3,800 English miles from north to south, South America 4,500, and Central America constitutes a diagonal running between the two larger masses, from northwest to southeast and is approximately a thousand miles in length.

Answer 1

See it in the geographic way: either America is one single continent or two (North and South America). There is no such thing as Central America as a continent. It belongs to North America. Check this:

#1 - Seven Continents
Africa - Antarctica - Asia - Europe
North America - South America - Oceania

#2 - Six Continents
Africa - Antarctica - Eurasia - Oceania
North America - South America

#3 - Six Continents
Africa - America - Antarctica
Asia - Europe - Oceania

#4 - Five Continents
Africa - America - Antarctica
Eurasia - Oceania

#5 - Four Continents
Eurafrasia - America - Antarctica - Oceania

Oceania stands for Australia and the Pacific Islands to its east and northeast.

Answer 2

If you are referring to geographical divisions (rather than cultural or other criteria), I prefer to divide the Americas into North and South America.
There seems to be no geographic barrier separating North and Central America: the Rio Grande which separates part of Mexico (Central America) from the US, may not be a sufficiently formidable barrier. The mountainous backbone of Canada and the US extends into Mexico. Certain geographical features also point to a continuation of North America into Central America: the Sonora Desert, the California-Baja California continuity, among others. The foregoing point to a lack of basis for distinguishing Central from North America. In short, Central America, as I see it, should be a part of North America.
On the other hand, the boundary between Central America and South America is more clear-cut: the Isthmus of Panama. This constriction, as you yourself stated, narrows to 30 miles, somewhat analogous to the boundary between Asia and Africa. In fact, I think it is a more convincing boundary than that of Asia and Europe (the Ural Mountains, not particularly a high mountain range).
The more tricky question is: where do you situate the West Indies? Do these islands belong to North or South America? Some islands (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola) seem to be closer to North America. On the other hand, Trinidad, Aruba, Puerto Rico, Curacao, among others, seem closer to South America. Is proximity to a landmass a sufficient crtierion for classifying islands as belonging to it? If not, what other criteria should be used? Corollarily, is it possible to delineate which islands of the West Indies are parts of North or South America? If so, where do you draw the boundary?
I asked a question before but I haven't been satisfied with the answers. Would you dare to answer my questions?

Answer 3

While I don't necessarily agree with the first answer, it makes more sense to politically and culturally to divide the Americas into three segments.

Answer 4

i would go with three parts cuz im always confused on which Cenrtral American countries r in north or south america

Answer 5

You gotta keep em seperated.............i think we oughta build a 30ft high fence on Mexican Border , Repeal NAFTA and close border all together with Mexico