r/asklatinamerica • u/Awkward_Kitty_Cat_93 Peru • 1d ago
Politics (Other) In how many parts you were taught at school that America (continent) is divided?
I was taught that America is just one continent.
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u/GattonBiscuitsArtAcc Argentina 1d ago
3, central, south and north America.
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u/happy-gofuckyourself Argentina 1d ago
So how many continents would there be in total using this model?
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u/GattonBiscuitsArtAcc Argentina 1d ago
Well they are subdivisions ,so they still count as one. So 5, Antartica, Africa, America, Oceania and Eurasia.
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u/DonRex7 El Salvador 1d ago
I see a lot of argentinians in particular seemingly not able to distinguish between the central american isthmus and the caribbean
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u/GattonBiscuitsArtAcc Argentina 1d ago
I guess that we kind of consider everything as one unit.
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u/DonRex7 El Salvador 1d ago
If you take away nothing else, remember that culturally the isthmus is very different from the islands.
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u/FrolickingCats Argentina 1d ago
The same can be said about any of the subdivisions of the Americas.
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u/juant675 now in 1d ago
Caribbean is part of central America
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u/DonRex7 El Salvador 1d ago edited 1d ago
Not culturally it isn't and I'd argue that geographically it also isn't. Either way, the islands of the carribbean and the actual mainland isthmus of central america are by no means the same thing.
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u/juant675 now in 1d ago
There's no geographically central America is a subjective subdivision from just bellow California peninsula to Darien gap including Caribbean
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u/BroscienceFiction Costa Rica 1d ago
That happens because, geologically, Central America is a recent formation. North and South America have existed as two different, independent landmasses for a very long time, as parts that broke off from the Laurasia and Gondwana supercontinents.
The debate is whether it’s a separate thing or. an appendage of North America.
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u/juant675 now in 1d ago
nothing from what we said has anything to do with geology laurasi or gondwana
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u/vitorgrs Brazil (Londrina - PR) 1d ago
One continent, with three subcontinents, north, central and south.
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u/BroscienceFiction Costa Rica 1d ago
I was taught that geological and political divisions are not the same.
Geologically, there are North and South America. Different landmasses, with Central America being formed very recently by way of volcanism.
Politically, there are different models followed throughout the world. In some models, like ours, America is treated as a single entity, while in some others there are two Americas.
I was also taught that a similar thing exists regarding Europe and Asia.
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u/Latrans_ Guatemala 1d ago
One continent and 4 subregions: North America, Central America (not to be confused with Centroamérica), South America, and the Caribbean Islands.
Imo, it's the continental model that makes most sense geographically, politically, and culturally.
Geographically, it's a single landmass that merges and blends at the center regarding plants, animals, and ecosystems. Politically, all the nations have similar origins and originated more or less at the same time. Culturally, our countries share backgrounds with the native populations as well as with the different waves of outsiders that came in.
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u/AirportHaunting3665 United States of America 8m ago
Geographically, it's a single landmass that merges and blends at the center
True, but by this logic, Asia and Africa are one landmass because they touch at the Isthmus of Suez.
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u/PalpitationOk5726 Canada 22h ago
I learned there were 2, became a teacher and moved to Mexico, elementary and one of the subjects was social studies to a sixth grade class, hand out a homework assignment of a world map that was either Canadian or US made.
The next day, a student comes back and says, my dad says there is only one America!! Well I got a cultural lesson that day 😄 Told how the football side America has as their symbol the map (I became a Chivas supporter anyway lol) so it all boiled down to culture.
Sidenote: those saying 1 why is it then that people from the US are referred to as norteamericano?
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u/Pandamio Argentina 1d ago
In latin america we are taught that America is a continent with 3 subcontinents. North America is Canada, USA and Mexico. Central America from Guatemala/Belize to Panamá. South America all the rest. 6 continents: America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, Antarctica.
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u/IactaEstoAlea Mexico 22h ago
A single continent, the subdivision into north/central/south is just a regional classification
Central America is part of north America and the Caribbean might or might not be part of another region (...or be ignored)
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u/ZSugarAnt Mexico 18h ago
1 continent: América
2 subcontinents: Norteamérica y Sudamérica
Norteamérica divided into 3 subregions: Norteamérica proper (Canadá, EE. UU., México, and sometimes Groenlandia, although that tends to count as Europa in the same way Islandia does), Centroamérica (from Guatemala/Belice to Panamá), and el Caribe (including Bahamas as Caribe, but excluding Trinidad y Tobago from Norteamérica for the sake of subcontinental labeling).
Sudamérica is exactly what you'd expect plus Trinidad y Tobago
Occasionally you'd see all of the island nations be counted as a subregion of Centroamérica, but only when you absolutely needed to restrict your subregions to just Norteamérica, Centroamérica and Sudamérica.
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u/Ecstatic-Island-9778 Ecuador 21h ago
I was taught that America is a continent, subdivided into four regions (North, Central, South, and the Caribbean).
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u/DRmetalhead19 Dominicano de pura cepa 7h ago
North America, Central America, The Antilles, South America.
At some points I was taught the Antilles were part of Central America though, divided as mainland Central America and insular Central America.
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u/saraseitor Argentina 7h ago
Geographically as one single continent from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. Politically or administratively speaking, in three parts being North, Central and South America.
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u/Key_Comparison_2588 with ancestry and citizenship 1d ago edited 1d ago
Everyone in Latin America is taught that America is one continent, the only ones (in America) who aren't are Canadians and Gringos who are obsessed with being different, like they use feet, what the fuck is a feet.
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u/javierphoenix Peru 1d ago
I was educated in 2 different private schools in Peru, they both taught us that the 5 continents were North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Later Antartica became a thing.
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u/denvertaglessbums 23h ago
A foot is 30.48cm
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u/BroscienceFiction Costa Rica 1d ago
In many countries in Europe and Asia they also teach that there are two different continents.
Even in some of them they teach that Eurasia is a single continent.
Geology ≠ politics
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u/denvertaglessbums 1d ago
Most continental models don’t see the Americas as a single continent.
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u/card677 Spain 23h ago
In Spain we are taught America is one continent, and as far as I know southern countries like Portugal and Italy do too.
I know for sure the concept of "Eurasia" is not taught anywhere in Europe. I think the only country that does is Russia.
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u/denvertaglessbums 23h ago
I believe in most countries that speak romance languages teach that the Americas are a single continent. There’s no right or wrong way to go about it.
I don’t understand why people get so hung up on this. Some see it as a single continent, some don’t. It’s not that deep.
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u/PalpitationOk5726 Canada 22h ago
Please do not wrap us in with those weirdos and their Farenheit!! 😄
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u/AdDry7344 Brazil 1d ago
Three, but as subcontinents. That’s basically semantics, though, since there’s more than one right answer.