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Why should
Australia be considered a continent and Greenland an island? The answer is
not clear-cut, but there are rational reasons behind it.
The characteristics of continents are
these:
- Areas of geologically stable continental crust,
or cratons, tectonically independent from other continents
- Biological distinctiveness, with unique animal
and plant life
- Cultural uniqueness
- Local belief in separate continental status
Obviously, the first two are scientific,
and the second two are more subjective.
Compare Australia and Greenland, the
largest island:
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Australia
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Greenland
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Tectonic independence from other
continents
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YES
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NO
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Unique flora and fauna
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YES
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NO
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Unique cultures
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YES
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NO
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Local opinion
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MIXED
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ISLAND
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To elaborate:
- Australia is separated from all other
continents by young oceanic crust. Greenland is geologically part of
North America.
- Australia has highly distinct plants and animals.
Greenland's are largely shared with northern North America.
- Australia is considerably larger than
Greenland. If separation is key, then Antarctica should also be
considered an island (making Australia second largest).
- Australia has unique, ancient cultures.
Greenland's Arctic cultures, while unique, are part of larger North
American Arctic culture.
- Everyone agrees that everything smaller than
Australia is an island. Australians themselves are divided, and often
claim that Australia is both the world's largest island and the world's
smallest continent.
So, there are good reasons to assert that
Australia is a continent and not an island.
However, it has to be conceded that there
can be no definitive answer. The questions only grow more complex when you
look at the details:
- By scientific criteria, Madagascar and several
other islands are continents.
- Europe is really just a series of peninsulas
off western Asia. Only culture, tradition, and a sense of separateness
gave it continental status.
- Siberia and Alaska are not part of separate
continents geologically. The sea barrier between them is just a
happenstance of the current high sea levels of this interglacial period.
- Africa is solidly joined to southwest Asia,
though in the process of rifting away.
- The Americas are joined by a substantial but
recent land bridge.
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