The News
Geologists disagree on how many continents Earth has, with answers ranging from two to nine. Europe and Asia are visibly connected, as are the Americas, making their dividing lines cultural rather than scientific. Asia and North America are attached via the Bering Strait, and the Gulf of Aden links Africa and Asia — meanwhile, the continental crust beneath Iceland shows “no clear point where North America ends and Europe begins,” The New York Times wrote.
Even the criteria used to define a continent is fraught, with some geologists arguing for the existence of “Zealandia” and others positing “Icelandia.” “There are basically only two major continents,” one researcher said, “Antarctica and everything else.” But another disagreed, saying that according to his colleague’s logic, “there are actually three.”