Quizzes & Puzzles36 mins ago
geography.
7 Answers
Which continent is New Zealand part of.
Answers
1 to 7 of 7
Best Answer
No best answer has yet been selected by cucuhullan. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
There are seven continents...in alphabetical order - Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America. Some people consider Australasia and/or Oceania to be continents, too. However, there is just no way these places could fit the definition of what a continent is according to The Oxford English Dictionary (TOED), which is the 'bible' of English word-meanings. It says: "One of the main continuous bodies of land on the earth's surface." It's pretty clear that, if there is one thing that just cannot be said of a myriad of separate islands, it's that they fit the description 'continuous'! The dictionary goes on to list the continents exactly as in the opening sentence above.
Australasia was a name invented by Charles de Brosses, a French cartographer, in the 1750s and Oceania was a name invented by Victor Malte-Brun, a French geographer of Danish extraction, in the 1840s. TOED does not use the word �continent' in its entry for of either of these names - Australasia and Oceania.
Significantly, nor it seems did either Frenchman imagine he was naming a continent when he created the given name, but rather just a means of identifying a body of islands. One thing you can be certain of is that 18th century scientists knew their Latin and it is perfectly clear that �continent' comes from the same Latin root as the words �contain' and �continuous' - ie �continere', literally meaning �to hold together'.
Call Australasia and Oceania �geographical regions', call them �archipelagoes', call them whatever you like...but you really can't justify calling them �continents'. (Yes, I know some people who ought to know better do, but they shouldn't!)
New Zealand is not part of any continent.
Australasia was a name invented by Charles de Brosses, a French cartographer, in the 1750s and Oceania was a name invented by Victor Malte-Brun, a French geographer of Danish extraction, in the 1840s. TOED does not use the word �continent' in its entry for of either of these names - Australasia and Oceania.
Significantly, nor it seems did either Frenchman imagine he was naming a continent when he created the given name, but rather just a means of identifying a body of islands. One thing you can be certain of is that 18th century scientists knew their Latin and it is perfectly clear that �continent' comes from the same Latin root as the words �contain' and �continuous' - ie �continere', literally meaning �to hold together'.
Call Australasia and Oceania �geographical regions', call them �archipelagoes', call them whatever you like...but you really can't justify calling them �continents'. (Yes, I know some people who ought to know better do, but they shouldn't!)
New Zealand is not part of any continent.
Quizmonster.
Your answer is ,more or less,the reason why I asked the question in the first place.I simply could not find New Zealand placed in any of the "recognised "continents.
You have gone to considerable lengths to answer my query and I very much appreciate your efforts and thank you and the other respondents sincerely.
Your answer is ,more or less,the reason why I asked the question in the first place.I simply could not find New Zealand placed in any of the "recognised "continents.
You have gone to considerable lengths to answer my query and I very much appreciate your efforts and thank you and the other respondents sincerely.
1 to 7 of 7
