I was taught, the same thing as Max, 6. So I remember the fact that the Olympic flag only had 5 rings representing the continents used to confuse me....
However, when the time came to study each continent we did study North, Central, and South America separately....
Posts: 627 | Location: Brussels | Registered: 16 December 2001
North and South America are not continuous land masses. There's a great hulking (from the point of view of small mammals) canal splitting the two in another US abused land called Panama.
The countries in North America are:
Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Rep. El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama St. Kitts & Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent & the Grenadines Trinidad & Tobago United States
... for a grand total of.... yep, you guessed it... 23 countries.
Additional trivia: Only 2 of the above nations have a seat on the UN Security Council and only one has a permanent seat. Mexico's expires the end of this year. Guess which one has a permanent seat.
Posts: 289 | Location: Madrid via DC via Mexico via ... | Registered: 01 August 2003
I am so glad this topic came up. I felt really stupid when my Spanish student told me there were 5 and I swore that there were 7. Then she said the same thing about the Olympic's rings.
I have been thinking about this for a few months (at random times. No, I do not lose sleep over the issue), and kept wondering the same. So, good to know that I was right and so was she. It all depends on where you were taught it.
Posts: 331 | Location: San Diego | Registered: 14 December 2002
Aaaaaahhhh yes Roland, but if the Panama canal is man-made can we really consider North and South America 2 continents as far as the natural order of things goes?
If so and since the canal was completed in 1914, does that mean there was one less continent before the USA split up North & South America?
You're right. After all, the Panama canal cuts Panama in two and the lower part of Panama is not considered part of South America. However, continental South America has always been considered everything below Panama.
Here's a quick question for all you geography buffs.
Without looking at a map, globe, etc., in which direction (west or east) does a cruise ship sail when passing through the Panama Canal from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean?
Posts: 289 | Location: Madrid via DC via Mexico via ... | Registered: 01 August 2003
Here's a quick question for all you geography buffs.
Without looking at a map, globe, etc., in which direction (west or east) does a cruise ship sail when passing through the Panama Canal from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean? [/qb]
Because of the curvature of Panama, and the direction of the Panama Canal cut, at some points an Pacific->Atlantic bound boat actually goes west.
"An honest man is always a child" - Socrates ...no wonder I'm so immature!
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