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America is not a continent. North America is a continent. As is South America. But the United States of America is the only country on either continent that has "America" in its name, so everyone knows what is meant when people refer to "America."
North america and South america being different continents or a single continent depends on the model used. in Latin america for example we consider the whole of America as a single continent. There are models that consider europe and asia as a single continent.
Now I personally don't have a problem calling the people of the US americans, in fact I like your country and its people, but I preffer calling it the US instead of "America"
North america and South america being different continents or a single continent depends on the model used. in Latin america for example we consider the whole of America as a single continent. There are models that consider europe and asia as a single continent.
Now I personally don't have a problem calling the people of the US americans, in fact I like your country and its people, but I preffer calling it the US instead of "America"
I know that some consider the continents to be one continent. Others consider there to only be 4 continents. The dominant teaching (in my experience), however, is that there are 7 continents, with North and South America being two separate continents. In any event, its important to reiterate that no country in either North or South America has the word "America" in its name except for the United States of America.
America is a continent, not a country, that goes from Canada to Chile. As for "Cooler" animals, well that depends each person's view of what's cool, but sheer number of species does not depend on someone's opinión.
Nah dude. America is the United States of America. Just as Mexico is the United States of Mexico. Or Germany is the Federal Republic of Germany. If you want the continents individually you call them North and South America, if you want both you say "the Americas". That's how it is in English at least.
Anyway back on topic I've thought more about this in the past couple days, mostly between China and the USA. I've determined that America definitely wins, once you get past the Himalayas China ain't ****. And technically by some definitions Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world. Also Denali is more prominent than Everest, not in the actual definition of prominence, just my completely unbiased definition of how high it rises from it's immediate surroundings, Everest only rises like 4000m from the tibetan plateau on the Chinese side, weak if you ask me.
And they might have big deserts but our deserts are hotter, the true mark of a desert. Our coastal geography is top notch, from na pali to kelp forests to big sur to the coast mountains, fjords and glaciers of Alaska. Meanwhile China's only good coastal landscapes won't actually be Chinese until 2047. But at least their beaches have no sharks, aside from the soup of the day at the beach shack. Also we have way bigger lakes, bigger trees, and Texas.
And what else, they have some cool rock formations and mountains, so does America. Really it's no contest.
Nah dude. America is the United States of America. Just as Mexico is the United States of Mexico. Or Germany is the Federal Republic of Germany. If you want the continents individually you call them North and South America, if you want both you say "the Americas". That's how it is in English at least.
You are only partially right but the issue is not that simpe. First it's only in the english speaking world where North and south america are seen as two different continents "thats why the term americas (plural) instead of america (singular) was invented) as it encompasses two continents. Even in the english speaking world, throught most of their history, viewed america as a single continent, it only changed after WW2. That is why during the creation of that marvelous country they choose the name "the United States of America".
If at that time they had thought North america was a single continent then the name of the country would have been "The united states of North America" So its not "America is the united states of america" but "The united states is the united states of America"
I agree with you on the rest of your post. The US is the most geographically diverse country of the world. Excluding alaska and hawaii it would still be on the top five of the most diverse.
On climate its the country with more types of climates followed by China
on coastal landscapes its the undisputed champion
on biomes or lifezones it has a lot "Argentina may have more, I don't know if china or india also have more" as the US lacks tropical biomes "hawaii and even puerto rico or the virgin islands if we include them as part of te US have subtropical, not tropical biomes".
btw Deserts are not defined by how hot they are but by the ammount of rainfall. the driest deserts in the world "antartica dry valleys and atacama" are cold. on driest deserts the death valley "driest spot in the US" is not even among the top 20 of driest places on earth
Last edited by jfbatemanz; 02-01-2020 at 02:46 PM..
Nah dude. America is the United States of America. Just as Mexico is the United States of Mexico. Or Germany is the Federal Republic of Germany. If you want the continents individually you call them North and South America, if you want both you say "the Americas". That's how it is in English at least.
You are only partially right but the issue is not that simpe. First it's only in the english speaking world where North and south america are seen as two different continents "thats why the term americas (plural) instead of america (singular) was invented) as it encompasses two continents. Even in the english speaking world, throught most of their history, viewed america as a single continent, it only changed after WW2. That is why during the creation of that marvelous country they choose the name "the United States of America".
If at that time they had thought North america was a single continent then the name of the country would have been "The united states of North America" So its not "America is the united states of america" but "The united states is the united states of America"
The two Americas are more separate continents than Europe and Asia which share a tectonic plate whereas the Americas don't. They also are in two different biomes whereas Eurasia is one.
The two Americas are more separate continents than Europe and Asia which share a tectonic plate whereas the Americas don't. They also are in two different biomes whereas Eurasia is one.
And I agree, Asia and europe should be considered as a single continent.
What do you mean by having different biomes? all continents have dozens of biomes that share similar characteristics. For example the paramos of the northern andes "venezuela, colombia, ecuador and northern peru", southern central american mountains "panama and Costarica" The mountains of new guinea "indonesia and papua new guinea" and the mountains of eastern central africa "ethiopia, kenya, tanzania, uganda, congo" are classified as the same biomes:
"tropical alpine dry tundra, tropical alpine moist tundra, tropical alpine wet tundra and tropical alpine rain tundra"
Anyhow both America or Americas are the right names to our continent, depending on if its described as a single continent or two continents, altought I agree that under some cultural "not geographic" definitions it can also be aplied to the US when its citizens reffer to their country
Last edited by jfbatemanz; 02-02-2020 at 04:27 PM..
And I agree, Asia and europe should be considered as a single continent.
What do you mean by having different biomes? all continents have dozens of biomes that share similar characteristics. For example the paramos of the northern andes "venezuela, colombia, ecuador and northern peru", southern central american mountains "panama and Costarica" The mountains of new guinea "indonesia and papua new guinea" and the mountains of eastern central africa "ethiopia, kenya, tanzania, uganda, congo" are classified as the same biomes:
"tropical alpine dry tundra, tropical alpine moist tundra, tropical alpine wet tundra and tropical alpine rain tundra"
Anyhow both America or Americas are the right names to our continent, depending on if its described as a single continent or two continents
That largely depends on how you wish to look at a continent. I like the idea of America being a single one stretching from Canada to Argentina. Technically speaking, Europe, Asia and Africa are all connected by land as well.
In the past, South America split up from Africa. In the future, North America will collide with Asia.
Does anyone know if there is a list of the driest places on earth?. As far as I know the only countries with places that receive less than 20 mm of rain anually "Besides antartica" are: Peru, Chile, Egypt, Sudan, Argelia, Lybia, Namibia, China, Saudi arabia, Yemen. There may be a few others in the middle east and central asia.
And I agree, Asia and europe should be considered as a single continent. What do you mean by having different biomes? all continents have dozens of biomes that share similar characteristics. For example the paramos of the northern andes "venezuela, colombia, ecuador and northern peru", southern central american mountains "panama and Costarica" The mountains of new guinea "indonesia and papua new guinea" and the mountains of eastern central africa "ethiopia, kenya, tanzania, uganda, congo" are classified as the same biomes:
"tropical alpine dry tundra, tropical alpine moist tundra, tropical alpine wet tundra and tropical alpine rain tundra"
Anyhow both America or Americas are the right names to our continent, depending on if its described as a single continent or two continents, altought I agree that under some cultural "not geographic" definitions it can also be aplied to the US when its citizens reffer to their country
North America=Nearctic
South America=Neotropical
The demonym for a citizen of the United States of America is American. This is understood the world over except for a segment of the South American population. If you travel overseas and tell someone you're Ameican, do you honestly believe they are going to be confused because they don't know if you mean Colombia, Argentina, or the US? Come on. This is only a debate you can have on City-Data LOL
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