Quote:
Originally Posted by Nate the great
So you were taught that America is one continent, not 2? Interesting. I'm curious, when and where did you go to primary school?
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In Spain, 20-something years ago. From here (and I guess from the rest of Europe too) the whole of America is seen as one big continent which can be divided in two or three regions or sub-continents, after all it's the "New World" for us
(and Columbus arrived to an island, and both sub-continents were colonized more or less simultaneously). Indeed, it makes sense to talk about North America and South America, but Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, etc. belong to North America, which some people don't realize.
Also, we tend to see US-people calling their country "America" and themselves "Americans" as a rather arrogant attitude, since for us America extends from Argentina to Canada. But I understand it's just a habit and there's usually nothing arrogant in it, I consider it more a case of "false friends" between languages.
From our Europe-centric view, Asian countries and cultures were so different and alien that they couldn't be considered the same "area", I believe that's the main reason behind the division between Europe and Asia.