Korean Job Discussion Forums

[steroidmaximus]

One Korean geography teacher I asked insisted there were 5

Another said 6

Yet another said 7



draw your own conclusions

[Hollywoodaction]

My gosh, you're all silly. Don't you know there's only one continent?

















































It's called Korea.

[skinhead]

How many give a rat's arse? 7 or 8?

[plattwaz]

I also always learned that there were 7 continents, but to throw things in more of a loop, my elementary school geography teacher taught us that the area over the Ural Mountains was called "Eurasia." -- So while Eurasia itself was not a continent, it was the "grey area" between Europe and Asia, and mostly consisted of Russia. Kind of like we were told that Mexico, Honduras, Belize, etc were "Central America" which was the "grey area" between NA and SA).

So in my little elementary school world there were 7 continents, 1 sub-continent and 2 "grey areas." It made matters worse for me because when I looked on the world maps, neither were coloured grey. I don't really think that this is a neccessarily a refelection on a poor education, but probably more of a mind that was too young to comprehend it at the time....

[plokiju]

If you're going to lump Europe and Asia together as a single continent, I think you have to throw Africa in as well. I think the distance from Spain to Morocco is only 10 miles. If you close that straight then the Mediterranean becomes a giant lake.

Also, I think Europe and Asia are technically seperated by the Ural mountains. I know that India is a sub-continent because it's on its own tectonic plate. I don't think it's a historical thing. It was once seperate from the rest of Asia. I don't know if that's the case for Europe (own plate that is) but I was always confused about where Europe ended and Asia began, too.

As far as the Olympic rings go, I'm guessing it's a cultural continent thing. One America and no one really competes for Antarctica. There are definitely 7 continents though.

[Ya-ta Boy]

When in doubt, google it. Here's what I found about the Olympic rings.

According to the Olympic Charter, the five-ringed symbol "represents the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games." Baron Pierre de Coubertin conceived of both the symbol and the flag. Not coincidentally, Coubertin is the founder of the modern Olympic Movement. The Olympic Committee adopted the flag in 1914, and it was first flown at the 1920 Antwerp Games.

While the charter isn't explicit, many believe that the colors of the flag-- blue, black, red, yellow, and green on a white field -- are used because at least one of these colors exists in each of the flags of the nations participating in the Olympics. This may be true; however, the notion that each ring represents a specific continent is not. The five interlocking rings represent the five continents brought together by the Olympic Movement.
The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games adds an additional layer of symbolism to the flag. Traditionally, eight people carry in the flag. Five of these flagbearers represent the continents, while the other three stand for the Olympic ideals of sport, environment, and culture.

****
So here it is:
Paragraph #1: the five-ringed symbol "represents the union of the five continents

Paragraph #2: This may be true; [b]however, the notion that each ring represents a specific continent is not.

So, Yes it is/No it isn't. That should be clear enough for anyone. If it isn't clear, blame it on Coubertin. He was French, which counts for a lot.

[Gopher]

[Grotto]

Continents

Antartica
North America
South America
Australia
Asia
Europe
Africa
Atlantis
Inner earth

[VanIslander]

[dporter]

this would be the best debate to have while at the pub getting pissed.

[Sergio Stefanuto]

[Manner of Speaking]

The delineation between Europe and Asia as separate continents dates back to the Classical Greeks. At that time they were (apparently) not aware that Eurasia is one geological landmass. The delineations of the continents do vary somewhat according to culture, but geologically speaking Europe and Asia are one unit.

Australia and the island of New Guinea form one geological unit, so one could technically argue that most of Indonesia lies in Asia, but Irian Jaya and PNG lie in Australia. Although New Zealand looks like a piece of Australia broken off, I think it's a separate geological unit, so you could technically argue that New Zealand is a separate, small continent.

Interestingly, there was a time early in Earth's history when there were no continents, and the planet was uniformly covered with water. Continents are formed when gravity causes lighter and heavier elements to differentiate in the Earth's crust, much like if you bake a loaf of bread, or allow a bottle of salad dressing to settle. The most common minerals in the rock of the continents are combinations of silicon and aluminum (aluminosilicates), but the ocean floor is made up mostly of slightly heavier combinations of silicon and magnesium (SiMa). It took something like a billion years or more for these minerals to separate out in the earth's crust, and the aluminosilicates "floated" to the top and began to emerge out of the ocean.

"Continents" (higher elevations of land covering a large area) have also been discovered at the crust-mantle boundary, and on Venus.

[BS.Dos.]

I was taught 5 and can still remember the teacher mentioning the rings on the Olympic flag.

[friendoken]

I was taught 7 continents and 6 oceans: N & S Atlantic, N & S Pacific (I gather the equator separates them), Arctic and Indian

The geography teacher at the school I taught at in Korea said there are 5 continents: America, Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceana

When I asked about Antartica he thought it was only ice and snow like the Arctic

[harlowethrombey]

Eurasia (yeah, no way Europe could be considerd seperate)
Africa
Australia
North America
South America
Antartica
Atlantis

so, 7.