Need an argument settled once and for all with a couple scros I'm working with:

[DD]

Is the U.K. part of the European continent or not?

[leemajors]

Islands tbh, just like Japan is not part of Asian continent

[Brazil]

There is no UK or Japan continent so by definition UK is part of Europe

[TDMVPDPOY]

intelligent life forms dont want anything to do with monkeys man

[CosmicCowboy]

Continent by definition implies a contiguous land mass, so NO.

[DD]

It's separated by a small channel, it's not like we're talking about Hawaii.

[z0sa]

The fuck? Of course it is.

[CosmicCowboy]

The narrowest meaning of continent is that of a continuous area of land or mainland, with the coastline and any land boundaries forming the edge of the continent. In this sense the term continental Europe (sometimes "the Continent") is used to refer to mainland Europe, excluding islands such as Great Britain, Ireland, Malta and Iceland, and the term continent of Australia may refer to the mainland of Australia, excluding Tasmania and New Guinea. Similarly, the continental United States refers to the 48 contiguous states in central North America and may include Alaska in the northwest of the continent (the two being separated by Canada), while excluding Hawaii in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

[mrsmaalox]

What is a "scro"?

[DMC]

What is a "scro"?

It's the opposite of a brotum.

[DMC]

Continent by definition implies a contiguous land mass, so NO.

http://www.worldatlas.com/cntycont.htm

The world atlas disagrees.

[TDMVPDPOY]

What is a "scro"?

scrotum u should know

[CosmicCowboy]

http://www.worldatlas.com/cntycont.htm

The world atlas disagrees.

Look at the islands your source lists as North America...:lol

Antigua and Barbuda
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Canada
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Grenada
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago
United States

[DD]

The fuck? Of course it is.

det was my thought exactly

[DMC]

Look at the islands your source lists as North America...:lol

Antigua and Barbuda
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Canada
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Grenada
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago
United States

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Europe_polar_stereographic_Caucasus_Urals_boundary .svg/700px-Europe_polar_stereographic_Caucasus_Urals_boundary .svg.png

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Europe_orthographic_Caucasus_Urals_boundary.svg/250px-Europe_orthographic_Caucasus_Urals_boundary.svg.pn g

Pretty sure the UK is part of the highlighted areas.


This is linked from the same Wiki page you used above to show that the UK isn't part of the European continent.

[CosmicCowboy]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Europe_polar_stereographic_Caucasus_Urals_boundary .svg/700px-Europe_polar_stereographic_Caucasus_Urals_boundary .svg.png

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Europe_orthographic_Caucasus_Urals_boundary.svg/250px-Europe_orthographic_Caucasus_Urals_boundary.svg.pn g

Pretty sure the UK is part of the highlighted areas.


This is linked from the same Wiki page you used above to show that the UK isn't part of the European continent.

There are different definitions of continent as you have seen. Logically, including Hawaii as part of the North American continent is ridiculous since they are volcanic islands in the middle of the fucking Pacific Ocean.

[DMC]

There are different definitions of continent as you have seen. Logically, including Hawaii as part of the North American continent is ridiculous since they are volcanic islands in the middle of the fucking Pacific Ocean.

What separates Europe from Asia?

Isn't Australia just a big island?

There has to be an authority and a standard. I'd say the world atlas would be a good place to start. It's certainly much better than random opinions based on arbitrary criteria. If you want to use tectonic plates as a guide, then the UK is part of the Eurasian plate and Hawaii isn't part of the North American plate.

[sandman]

There are different definitions of continent as you have seen. Logically, including Hawaii as part of the North American continent is ridiculous since they are volcanic islands in the middle of the fucking Pacific Ocean.

The UK/Ireland are a fairly large set of land masses (islands) that at their closest point are 20 miles from the mainland. The underwater portion of the Channel Tunnel is actually shorter than the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway between Covington and New Orleans. The depth of the Dover Straight is less than 140 feet, which would indicate that even a slight change in tectonic shifting way back in the day would have easily created a land bridge connecting the two. To compare it to Hawaii just because both are islands isn't very logical either.

On a side note, here in the UK they always refer to the mainland when they say Europe, or they simply say The Continent. They don't like to identify themselves as European.

[sandman]

What separates Europe from Asia?

Isn't Australia just a big island?

There has to be an authority and a standard. I'd say the world atlas would be a good place to start. It's certainly much better than random opinions based on arbitrary criteria. If you want to use tectonic plates as a guide, then the UK is part of the Eurasian plate and Hawaii isn't part of the North American plate.

Technically, it's the Ural River. I've stood on both banks.

[DMC]

Technically, it's the Ural River. I've stood on both banks.

Hardly a wide expanse and technically still part of the same land mass.

[sandman]

Hardly a wide expanse and technically still part of the same land mass.

Yep. Just giving the technical answer. Of course, they call the area Eurasia because it doesn't fit with either Westernized Europe and Southeast Asia. #blurredlines

[The Reckoning]

it's a part of the continent of Europe but not continental Europe. you're dealing in semantics here.

[anakha]

Does the definition of "maritime continent" (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1521041/maritime-continent) apply to Europe?

Here's an link defining European maritime jurisdiction: http://www.eurocean.org/np4/10

[The Reckoning]

it used to be connected to Europe though. Check out Doggerland.

[The Reckoning]

Does the definition of "maritime continent" (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1521041/maritime-continent) apply to Europe?

no

[eisfeld]

As The Reckoning said - it all comes down to semantics and depends on the definition.

If you count the 7 big landmasses as a continent - then yes, the UK is part of Europe.
From a geographical point of view - the continent Europe refers to mainland Europe excluding all the Islands
Any definition considering continental plates are obsolete because of the Eurasian plate strechting out far east.

The British dictionary states that the definition of a continent as mainland as opposed to islands is obsolete. Besides the big landmass definition they view that part of the earth's crust that rises above the oceans and is composed of sialic rocks as a valid definition of a continent.

So - to settle your argument I'd take the definition of the British dictionary as oopposed to definitions ouside of the UK as a valid one. Therefore - the UK is part of the European continent.

[tlongII]

But what about Pangea?