A lunch discussion at work led to this argument: I had said that I had never been off this continent and a cow-orker commented that she had, rattling off a list of locations that are indeed not in North America (Scotland, Spain) but she also mentioned a couple of Caribbean islands (Cayman and another one I can’t remember) and I made the point that if you’re from the USA and you travel to Grand Cayman or Cuba or Antigua or any of the Caribbean islands, you have not been off the North American continent.
The counter argument was along the lines of - they’re islands, of course they’re not on the continent. But, what ho! If I travel to Peaks Islands a mile out in Casco Bay have I now been off the continent? No, says I. That’s the best argument I had. So I put it to the Teeming Millions.
Are Caribbean Islands part of the North American continent?
Looks like the major islands of the Caribbean are on the border between the North American Plate and the Caribbean Plate. Geological plates are only loosely correlated with continents, which are a matter of visible geography rather than the underlying geology (and in some cases also human culture and history–there is certainly no well-defined geological or even geographical separation between “Europe” and “Asia”).
I do tend to lump the Caribbean islands in with North America, as part of the geographical continent (if not, obviously, part of the mainland of that continent).
We had a report when I was in the navy that stated our location when we pulled into port, that also list the continent for some reason. I remember that it was a big deal (to some at the time) that while in Aruba we were actully in South America. I just googled Aruba, and it and the first link stated that Aruba was indeed in South America. I don’t have time now to pull the sting on that, but there is at least some “dispute.”
The site stated that Aruba “sits on the South American continental plate” for what it’s worth.
For me, geographically, they are either part of “The Caribbean”, even those that are geologically on the North American plate, or part of South America, for those that are very close to the mainland South America.
Curacao is on the South American continental plate too, just like Bonaire and Aruba. To me, that makes it part of South, rather than North America.
Well, let’s amend that to say that it’s on the border of the Caribbean and south American plate. Some maps are pretty iffy about where the plates start and end.
I had an elementary school teacher who insisted that Greenland was not part of North America, because it was part of Denmark, and Denmark was part of Europe, so Greenland was part of Europe.
There is no universal definition of “continent.” As you say, geological and geographical considerations may be taken into account.
“North America” is made up of parts of at least 4 tectonic plates. Most of Cuba and the Bahamas are on the large North American Plate. The rest of the Greater and Lesser Antilles are on the Caribbean Plate, as is Nicaragua. These islands have never been directly connected to North America, even at times of low sea level. I wouldn’t regard them as being part of the continent of North America.
Trinidad, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao are not only on the South American Plate, they were connected to South America before about 11,000 years ago when sea level was lower. Such “land bridge” islands I think would be included in the continent they are attached to. In North America, islands such as Long Island, Vancouver, and the Canadian Archipelago would be part of the continent.
Now there are also conventional “geographical continents,” which may take into account cultural considerations. In such a classification the Greater and Lesser Antilles are generally assigned to North America. Iceland, although it is not geologically part of any continent, is typically assigned to Europe.
In any case, I would agree that visiting the Greater or Lesser Antilles would count as being “off the North American continent.” Going to Key West (or Brooklyn), however, would not.
By that standard, French Guiana isn’t part of South America, either.
And we can also nest the concept of islands being part of their mainland. Ireland is an island that’s part of Europe. The Aran Islands are islands that are part of Ireland.
As I said, there is no strict definition of continent. The continental system used in Spain, Latin America, France, Italy, and some other countries recognizes both Americas as comprising a single continent. If we consider geographical continents, then Columbus did discover “The Americas” in 1492.
Columbus discovered the continent of South America (by any definition) on his third voyage in 1498. He first touched on the mainland of the continent of North America on his fourth voyage in 1502, although eastern Panama had been reached by Bastidas in the previous year. Of course, the Norse had reached the North American mainland almost 500 years earlier, and John Cabot also visited it in 1497.
That’s a cultural question more than a geographic one. The first *European *(despite all the Indians) to find the Americas, report it publicly (unlike the Norsemen who wanted to preserve the fertile fishing grounds for themselves), and in such a way as to keep them “found” in Europe, was indeed Columbus.
The definitions of continents are also by social convention rather than geography. That’s the only way you can say Europe and Asia are not the same continent.
Well just to make things more complicated. Culturally and politically Guyana is considered part of the Caribbean, and its a country on the South American mainland.
