--- In
BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, "Francisco <xuax@n...>"
<xuax@n...> wrote:
> "acroorca2002 <orc@o...>" <orc@o...> wrote:
> > but seriously & strictly speaking the continents are just the 4
> largest islands in the world namely
> > 1 afroeurasia
> > 2 america
> > 3 antarctica
> > 4 australia
> > period
>
>
> And now from the dictionaries:
> Collins Cobuild English Dictionary:
> A continent is a very large area of land, such as Africa or Asia,
> that consists of several countries.
> Purnell's Family Dictionary:
> Continent: continuous large stretch of land, esp. major divisions
of
> land-surface of world (Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australasia,
> Europe, North America, South America).
> Microsoft Encarta:
> Continent:
> 1. land mass: any one of the seven large continuous land masses
that
> constitute most of the dry land on the surface of the earth. They
> are Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and
> South America
> 2. geography. land above sea level: the part of the earth's crust
> that rises above the oceans.
> [Mid-16th century. From Latin terra continens, "continuous land",
> from the participle of continere (see contain).]
yes i certainly understand & agree with all the above
as far as you take it
as well as all the below
however
please dont lose sight of the strict & original meaning of continere
that is what i am talking about
to hold together
not merely to contain
but to cohere as a single recognizable entity
you all can argue all you like about what you or others think the
word continent means & about what the continents are & where their
boundaries lie
& you probably will
there is & can be no final agreement about that
just a general & necessarily vague consensus
& for no known purpose yet
but i am talking about what the word continent actually says it means
a single thing that is holding all together
africa europe asia & the 2 americas dont individually qualify because
they arent single things all holding together
they are artifical & conventional continents
& not strictly etymological ones
>
> My conclusions:
> there are seven continents;
> Australia or Australasia are the most usual names for the smallest
> continent, which is also called Oceania;
> the islands are not continents (are not continuous land masses),
> therefore they don't belong to any continent;
> the continents have no political borders;
> in geopolitical sense, what is usually called continent would be
> better called "part of the world".
>
> Francisco,
> Portugal
just taking a moment here in the air conditioned comfort of the
chiefland library while also taking aim at the bacaja & bajawa
tricounty points farther up the road
perhaps later today
i am also tempted to try to get an authoritative determination on the
location of the peculiar time zone boundary in gulf county for peter
perhaps if the timing is right
i will run into the county government building & just ask
i personally dont really care about timekeeping
but the question has been out there hanging for so long
& that weird deflection in the line does get my attention every time
i look at the map
beeps