How big does an area of land have to be to be considered a continent?

Answer 1

Continents are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria.

Conventionally, "continents are understood to be large, continuous, discrete masses of land, ideally separated by expanses of water."[1] Many of the seven most commonly recognized continents identified by convention are not discrete landmasses separated by water. The criterion "large" leads to arbitrary classification: Greenland, with a surface area of 2,166,086 square kilometres (836,330 sq mi) is considered the world's largest island, while Australia, at 7,617,930 square kilometres (2,941,300 sq mi) is deemed to be a continent. Likewise, the ideal criterion that each be a continuous landmass is often disregarded by the inclusion of the continental shelf and oceanic islands, and contradicted by classifying North and South America as two continents; and/or Asia, Europe and Africa as three continents, with no natural separation by water. This anomaly reaches its extreme if the continuous land mass of Europe and Asia is considered to constitute two continents. The Earth's major landmasses are washed upon by a single, continuous world ocean, which is divided into a number of principal oceanic components by the continents and various geographic criteria.[2][3]

References and notes

1. ^ Lewis, Martin W.; Kären E. Wigen (1997). The Myth of Continents: a Critique of Metageography. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 21. ISBN 0-520-20742-4, ISBN 0-520-20743-2.
2. ^ "http://www.answers.com/Ocean#Encyclopedia". The Columbia Encyclopedia (2006). New York: Columbia University Press.
3. ^ "Distribution of land and water on the planet." UN Atlas of the Oceans (2004).

Answer 2

A continent is typically defined as a large, continuous landmass. There is no specific size requirement, but continents are generally large enough to be distinguished by unique geological and cultural features. The seven continents on Earth are widely recognized based on traditional boundaries and geological criteria.