# POLL: How Many Continents? Oceans? What Are They? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 17, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448 "2005-02-17T00:15:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/1 "2005-02-17T00:15:19Z")
Inspired by a discussion about Australia’s classification as a continent, island, or both between **Ilsa\_Lund** , **Go You Big Red Fire Engine** , and myself in the [I once mistakenly believed …](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=302378) thread, I am curious as to how people classify the continents. In American geography, there are normally seven, those being: both Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antartica but it’s not uncommon for there to be six with Eurasia being considered one instead of two. I’ve also read that it’s not uncommon for Europeans to consider the Americas to be one continent as well so it seems “seven, sometimes six” is the norm there as well. But what about other continents and countries? And, also, since I am already asking for clarification on continents, I’d also like to ask about the world’s oceans. Growing up, I was taught that there were four – the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic – but in the past year, I’ve discovered that there’s a fifth that’s recognized by the International Hydrographic Organization, the Southern Ocean. Does anyone but the members of that community recognize it? With that in mind, please answer the following: 1. Your age 2. Your location 3a. How many continents do you consider there to be? 3b. What continents are those? 4a. How many oceans do you consider there to be? 4b. What oceans are those? 1. Any further comments or clarification. * * * 1. 23 2. United States 3a. Six Continents 3b. North America, South America, Eurasia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica 4a. Four oceans. 4b. Antlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic 1. I deviate from the more common seven continents that is taught in American schools. ---
**Author:** ![libwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/76d3ee/32.png) [@libwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/libwen)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/2 "2005-02-17T00:32:51Z")
1. 1. 2. The U.S. 3a. Six. 3b. Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Eurasia, North America and South America. 4a. Five. 4b. Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, Southern. 1. I’m a geography student at MSU, and these ideas have pretty much been beaten into me (especially the continents). ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/3 "2005-02-17T00:37:47Z")
37 U.S. 7 N. America, S. America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (ever notice how many geograical locations start and end in “A”) 4 Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic (never heard of Southern) I guess I’m a traditionalist at heart. I also consider Pluto a planet despite the debate to the contrary. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/4 "2005-02-17T00:39:15Z")
1. 40 2. Australia 3a 7 continents 3b Australia, Antarctica, Asia, Africa, South America, North America, Europe 4a 3 oceans 4b Pacific, Indian, Atlantic ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/5 "2005-02-17T00:41:19Z")
1. Nineteen. 2. United States. 3a. Seven. 3b. N. America, S. America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Antarctica, Africa. 4a. Four. 4b. Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic. 1. No special instruction in geography. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/6 "2005-02-17T00:52:12Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > 4a 3 oceans > 4b Pacific, Indian, Atlantic Is that your own interpretation or how it’s taught in Australia? If the former, why do you not consider the Arctic to be an ocean? ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/7 "2005-02-17T01:01:39Z")
1. 29 2. US (although I lived in Australia until I was 8) 3. 7 Continents: North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica 4. This is the tricky one. I immeidately thought “of course there are seven continents and five oceans,” but there was no way I was going to come up the Southern Ocean on my own (and even now it doesn’t really seem right. So, on to my answer. 5 oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and, uh… the other one. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/8 "2005-02-17T01:03:43Z")
1. 20 2. United States 3a. Seven 3b. North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Antarctica, and Australia/Oceana. 4a. Four 4b. Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/9 "2005-02-17T01:41:00Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > 5 oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and, uh… the other one. Billy Ocean perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/10 "2005-02-17T01:42:47Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Billy Ocean perhaps. And the Caribbean is a Queen. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/11 "2005-02-17T02:04:05Z")
1. 35 2. U.S. 3a. 2 3b. Gondwanaland and Laurasia 4a. 1 1/2 4b. Atlantic Ocean and Tethys Sea 1. I keed! 3a is really 6. 3b is NA, SA, Eurasia (I was taught that these were separate continents, but they haven’t been separated for at least 225 million years), Africa, Australia and Antarctica. Plus the Indian subcontinent. 4a is really 4. 4b is Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic. ---
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/12 "2005-02-17T02:28:12Z")
What is the rationale, if I may ask, of combining Asia and Europe into one continent? Is it because they are connected? If this is the case, then should we not have only one continent for the Americas? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/13 "2005-02-17T02:48:30Z")
24 UK Seven Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia, N America, S AMerica, Antarctica Six North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, Southern (The continents are definitiely generally taught that way. I couldn’t tell you whether I was taught the oceans that way, or picked up that grouping some other way.) ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/14 "2005-02-17T02:58:36Z")
> [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](#): > > What is the rationale, if I may ask, of combining Asia and Europe into one continent? Is it because they are connected? If this is the case, then should we not have only one continent for the Americas? The Americas are connected by by the Isthmus of Panama and share a tiny border of 225 km whereas Europe and Asia are not as easily delineated and is more of a cultural construct than a geographical one. If it were simple interconnectedness, there would only be four continents – America, Antarctica, Australia, and Eurafrasia. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/15 "2005-02-17T03:49:44Z")
1. 52 2. California 3a. 6 3b. N. Amer, S.Amer. Afr, Ant., Aust, Eurasia 4a. 4 4b. Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic 1. Just changed my opinion about Eurasia while reading this thread … I’ve thought of Europe & Asia as two continents which comprise one “land mass” of Eurasia … but that’s a stupid distinction. It’s all one continent. And since the oceans all run together anyway, setting aside a “Southern Ocean” seems to me at least as arbitrary as separating Europe & Asia. As **Darwin’s Finch** nicely illustrated, it’s all temporary anyway … ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/16 "2005-02-17T05:43:20Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Is that your own interpretation or how it’s taught in Australia? If the former, why do you not consider the Arctic to be an ocean? It’s a long time since I was at school, so I can’t really remember if that’s what I was taught or not. It’s probably a mixture of my own interpretation and the 1970s NSW geography curriculum. I don’t recall the Arctic Ocean ever being mentioned (or the Antarctic / Southern Oceans for that matter). I’ve always just assumed they were the northern and southern extremes of the three main oceans. ---
**Author:** ![Millit\_the\_Frail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/17 "2005-02-17T06:04:24Z")
23 US Seven NA, SA, Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, Antarctica Four Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, Indian That’s what I was always taught…never had any reason to consider doing things any differently, no matter how much sense it makes to lump Europe and Asia. They “feel” separate in my head, so they’ll probably remain so. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/18 "2005-02-17T07:46:44Z")
> [@Twoflower](#): > > setting aside a “Southern Ocean” seems to me at least as arbitrary as separating Europe & Asia Not quite true. Mariners defined it as separate for a very good reason: > [@](#): > > The Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) is the best natural definition of the northern extent of the Southern Ocean; it is a distinct region at the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that separates the very cold polar surface waters to the south from the warmer waters to the north; the Front and the Current extend entirely around Antarctica, reaching south of 60 degrees south near New Zealand and near 48 degrees south in the far South Atlantic coinciding with the path of the maximum westerly winds [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/oo.html](http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/oo.html) ---
**Author:** ![WCOT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e5b9ba/32.png) [@WCOT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WCOT)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/19 "2005-02-17T07:54:04Z")
21 US 7 N. america, S. america, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, Antarctica 4 Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic, Indian, ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448/20 "2005-02-17T08:10:52Z")
1. 27 2. Sweden 3a. Seven 3b. North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, Antarctica 4a. Four 4b. Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-continents-oceans-what-are-they/290448.md?page=2)