Why did I always think North America only included the U.S., Canada, and Mexico?

Islands are part of Central America. North America is Canada, US, and Mexico.

Define "North America" though. If you mean "the contiguous landmass of North America" then nations that are not physically on that continent are indeed not included.

If you mean part of some cultural constellation such as the FIFA "North American Cup," then yes, Jamaica and Cuba should, for example, also be included.

You just have to figure out if you are talking about a cultural union or a fact of geology.

Central America isn’t a continent

Haiti is not an island

So the continent just stops at the Mexican southern border? What if Mexico were to take over Guatamala?

it’s a geological fact that Jamaica and Cuba are on the same tectonic plate as America. You know, the definition of a continent..

I like your thinking. I agree. The only thing is, I think the notion of a continent is a contiguous landmass. But honestly, you are 100% correct that islands are on the same plates. Plus, during periods of higher sea levels, peninsulas can become islands, and so on. After all, we all agree that Hong Kong and Taiwan are part of Asia. So it is obvious that you are right, now that I think about it.

What about Greenland...?

You sure about that?

Open image

Ah, this discussion again. The definition of the continents will vary depending on where you grew up, because different cultures teach it differently. There's no magic universal definition that everyone accepts.

Latin Americans and Iberians, for instance, will tell you that there's only one continent in the New World, called "America," that incorporates all of what others think of as North, South, and/or Central America. Then they get pissy when people use "America" to refer to the United States, because that's not how they were taught.

But the Anglo-American notion of the continents says that there's a North and South America, and that the line separating the two is the southern border of Panama. We were taught that the combined landmass of all of that is "the Americas," rather than "America."

The rest of the world varies in how they think about the New World. In Europe, some countries think of it similar to the Latin American/Spaniard way, while others will happily call the USA "America."

Beyond the definition of continents, there's all other sorts of ways to divide up the New World that can serve to confuse you. As an example, some people consider the US + Canada to be "Northern America."

How about Iceland and Svalbard being part of Europe?

What about Belize? Etc

What about Belize?

Who defines 'continents'? SCIENCE!! Through convention.

Central America is a 'region' of North America.

Alan

How many continents did you think there were and how would you have listed them?

Ill admit, I thought Greenland was part of Europe, not North America.

Denmark shares a land border with Canada on Hans Island, so I guess add Denmark to the list.

Maybe cuz of NAFTA?

Obviously the North American continent has 23 countries but if Central America is a region, what do you call the region consisting of Canada, US, and Mexico?

Everyone knows America is the USA. We are known worldwide as Americans. This never includes other countries. Case closed.