Wait, isn't Central America its own continent???
But anyway. In Spanish, there is only one continent: América. Or so I was taught. Has this changed?
this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2026
31 points (91.9% liked)
Geography
3195 readers
2 users here now
Welcome to c/Geography @ Mander.xyz!
Geography is just physics slowed down, with a couple of trees stuck in it. - Terry Pratchett
Notice Board
- 2023-06-13: We are looking for mods. Send a dm to @fossilesque@mander.xyz if interested! This is a work in progress, please don't mind the mess.
Geography is the study of places and the relationships between people and their environments. Geographers explore both the physical properties of Earth’s surface and the human societies spread across it. They also examine how human culture interacts with the natural environment and the way that locations and places can have an impact on people. Geography seeks to understand where things are found, why they are there, and how they develop and change over time. Read more...
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Be kind and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
Quick Links
- What is geography?
- What is climate change and how do we know it is real?
- What can you do about climate change?
-
Links
News & Publications
Resources
- List of Professional Organisations
- List of personal actions and resources you can use to help combat climate change.
- Academics on Mastodon
- Inclusive Fieldwork
- The 'publishing and getting read' guide for researchers in geography - RGS
Similar Communities
- !geology@lemmy.ca
- !geophysics@lemmy.ca
- !geologycareers@lemmy.ca
- !mining@lemmy.ca
- !openscience@lemmy.ml
Sister Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
Plants & Gardening
Physical Sciences
Humanities and Social Sciences
Memes
Find us on Reddit!
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
It does depend on how you define a continent, and whether you're talking colloquially or in a specific formal system.
Then again, I suck at Spanish and never get a chance to use what little I have, so I'm going off of what I've been told by native Spanish speakers from the Americas.
Central america is not it's own continent , there's only 7 continents.
In Spanish you have: America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Antarctica and Oceania.
With North and South America, you have seven in English. Neat!
Might be a cultural difference. Continents are mostly cultural constructs, which is why most people don't consider Afro-Eurasia a continent, even though it's a continuous landmass.
Given that Spain had a lot of colonies in South-America and that Columbus' voyage that led to the "discovery" of the Americas (more concretely, parts that are currently considered part of South or Central America) was funded by the Spanish crown, I can imagine that Spanish-speakers may have a different view on "America" compared to northern Europeans and their diaspora.
When and where you grew up and how continent was defined will change this. It ranges from 4-7 IIRC based on where you grew up. There are some good YouTube videos on the subject that shows, however you want to measure it, there are issues with consistency.
Imo, South America has the best distribution of countries. No microstates or tiny countries, Brazil is somewhat outsized but not too much, borders are logical despite colonial origins.
Why the dislike of small countries? As a friend of microstates, I am in the opposite team here :)
Guyana?
Which one ? 🤣
Damnit, you got me! I can't remember. 😄
Wow, that is the most meaningless categorization ever :)
But I can suggest even funnier and more useless type: rank the continents by the median length of countries names in 20% of the most widespread languages of the corresponding continents.
It's kind of absurd how the second smallest continent has a similar number of countries as the two biggest ones.