Subject: [No Subject]<br/>
Date: Feb 24, 2003 @ 22:01<br/>
Author: Francisco &lt;xuax@netvisao.pt&gt; (&quot;Francisco &lt;xuax@...&gt;&quot; &lt;xuax@...&gt;)<br/>
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<div id="ygrps-yiv-105288150">Kevin Meynell &lt;kevin@m...&gt; wrote:<br/>
<blockquote><span title="ireply"> &gt; and there are some problematic definitions such as Cyprus, Georgia <br/>
 </span></blockquote>and Armenia being put into Asia.<br/>
<blockquote><span title="ireply"> &gt; the Canary Islands are more of a problem as they&#39;re considered <br/>
 </span></blockquote>integrated parts of Spain, whilst they should be really be included <br/>
under Africa.<br/>
&quot;anorak222 &lt;listen@w...&gt;&quot; &lt;listen@w...&gt; wrote:<br/>
<blockquote><span title="ireply"> &gt; I think the point is that the concept of continents is a cultural <br/>
 </span></blockquote>convention. <br/>
<blockquote><span title="ireply"> &gt; All the ambiguities aside, continents ought to be geographic <br/>
 </span></blockquote>entities, and political borders should not be criteria at all.<br/>
<br/>
Hello!<br/>
Do the open sea islands are parts of continents? As geographic <br/>
entities we could not say so. As a cultural convention, maybe. Or we <br/>
may say that an island belongs to the nearest continent. In strict <br/>
geographic view, the Canary Islands are obviously part of the <br/>
African continent, at the same time being integrated in an European <br/>
country. Further off shore, the nearest continent to Madeira Islands <br/>
is also Africa, but the islands are clearly part of cultural Europe. <br/>
Going deeper, some of the Azores islands belong to the European <br/>
tectonic plate, while some belong to the North American plate.<br/>
Latin America is clearly a case of cultural convention, which could <br/>
be called a cultural continent. USA and Canada are North America. <br/>
Mexico is more than North America, it is Latin America too. <br/>
Geographically Mexico is in North America; culturally it is in South <br/>
(Latin) America.<br/>
<br/>
Francisco Santos<br/>
Portugal</div>