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Question About Antarctica; Is It a Country?
Topic Started: Apr 4 2006, 01:09 PM (269 Views)
QuirtEvans
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
I'm posting this question on behalf of a second grade teacher. She and I discussed this this morning, and neither one of us was sure of the answer.

Is Antarctica a country?

She says that, according to Wikipedia, it is a country, albeit without a government. I don't think it's a country ... to me, a country is a defined entity, with rules and governance. I think it's a territory, and that the rules there vary depending on which country is occupying which piece of Antarctica.

But the bottom line is, neither of us is sure.

So I told her I'd ask the people here, because the breadth of useless knowledge here is, to say the least, overwhelming.

Does anyone here know?
It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010.
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Qaanaaq-Liaaq
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Senior Carp
It's a continent, not a country. I think the U.N. manages Antarctica's affairs.
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JBryan
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I am the grey one
Antarctica is a continent.
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From The Lion in Winter.
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justme
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HOLY CARP!!!
It's a continent. Not a country.

http://www.worldatlas.com/cntycont.htm
"Men sway more towards hussies." G-D3
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The 89th Key
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Well it's definitely a continent, no doubt there.

But is it a country?

Australia is both...

Quirt, I never thought about it, but logically I agree with you. It's a land (or ice) mass. It has no government and the population is negligible.

I say it's not a country. Just my opinion though...

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sarah_blueparrot
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Fulla-Carp
Australia isn't a continent!! Try Australasia!
Death is simply a shedding of the physical body like the butterfly shedding its cocoon. It is a transition to a higher state of consciousness where you continue to perceive, to understand, to laugh, and to be able to grow.

- Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
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Improviso
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HOLY CARP!!!
A continent. As opposed to say Australia, it's not a country.

Here's why: no indigenous inhabitants, but there are both permanent and summer-only staffed research stations.

Antarctica

Speculation over the existence of a "southern land" was not confirmed until the early 1820s when British and American commercial operators and British and Russian national expeditions began exploring the Antarctic Peninsula region and other areas south of the Antarctic Circle. Not until 1840 was it established that Antarctica was indeed a continent and not just a group of islands. Several exploration "firsts" were achieved in the early 20th century. Following World War II, there was an upsurge in scientific research on the continent. A number of countries have set up year-round research stations on Antarctica. Seven have made territorial claims, but not all countries recognize these claims. In order to form a legal framework for the activities of nations on the continent, an Antarctic Treaty was negotiated that neither denies nor gives recognition to existing territorial claims; signed in 1959, it entered into force in 1961.
Identifying narcissists isn't difficult. Just look for the person who is constantly fishing for compliments
and admiration while breaking down over even the slightest bit of criticism.

We have the freedom to choose our actions, but we do not get to choose our consequences.
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QuirtEvans
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
Quote:
 
But is it a country?

Australia is both...


Quote:
 
Australia isn't a continent!! Try Australasia!


I think the continent on which Australia sits is called Oceania.
It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010.
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The 89th Key
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Posted Image
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QuirtEvans
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
Your picture is out of date.

Countries Listed By Continent
dot
NOTE: Only recognized countries are listed, not dependencies and/or territories
dot
AFRICA (53)
Algeria
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African
dot Republic
Chad
Comoros
Congo
Congo
dot (Dem. Rep.)
Djibouti
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Ivory Coast
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Rwanda
Sao Tome
dot and Principe
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
Sudan
Swaziland
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe dot ASIA (44)
Afghanistan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Brunei
Burma (Myanmar)
Cambodia
China
East Timor
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Korea (north)
Korea (south)
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Lebanon
Malaysia
Maldives
Mongolia
Nepal
Oman
Pakistan
Philippines
Qatar
Russian
dotFederation
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Syria
Tajikistan
Thailand
Turkey
Turkmenistan
United Arab
dot Emirates
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
Yemen
dot EUROPE (46)
Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia
dotand Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malta
Moldova
Monaco
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
San Marino
Serbia and
dotMontenegro (Yugoslavia)
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Vatican City
dot N. AMERICA (23)
Antigua and Barbuda
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Canada
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Rep.
El Salvador
Grenada
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
St. Kitts & Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent &
dotthe Grenadines
Trinidad & Tobago
United States
dot

OCEANIA (14)
Australia
Fiji
Kiribati
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Nauru
New Zealand
Palau
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu

S. AMERICA (12)
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Guyana
Paraguay
Peru
Suriname
Uruguay
Venezuela
It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010.
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QuirtEvans
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceania
It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010.
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The 89th Key
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From CIA's "World Factbook": Posted Image
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QuirtEvans
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
And you think the CIA is up-to-date?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010.
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John D'Oh
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MAMIL
Oceania always sounds so Orwellian.

I think it would be better if it were called South Poland. South Pole-land - get it? Never mind.

:leaving:
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
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The 89th Key
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continents
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The 89th Key
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Actually Wikipedia mentions multiple naming conventions with continents, although when it lists continents and their stats, they mention "Australia" quite a bit.
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The 89th Key
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A list of different "continent" models:

* 7 continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia.
* 6 continents: Asia, America, Africa, Antarctica, Europe and Australia.
* 6 continents: Eurasia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica and Australia.
* 5 continents: Eurasia, America, Africa, Antarctica and Australia.
* 5 continents: Laurasia, Africa, South America, Antarctica and Australia.
* 4 continents: Afrasia, America, Antarctica and Australia.
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The 89th Key
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Ok I'm done...time to leave work. :wave:
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justme
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HOLY CARP!!!
The 89th Key
Apr 4 2006, 07:13 PM
Ok I'm done...time to leave work. :wave:

Drive careful.
"Men sway more towards hussies." G-D3
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Improviso
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HOLY CARP!!!
I just went over to WTF and read MattG's answer...

Quote:
 
Antarctica has no citizens (much less permanent human residents) nor internal government. Antarctica is not recognized as an independent political entity by any other earthly independent political entity.

No, Antarctica is not a country.


And let's face it, Matt knows everything. So there. :tongue:


Identifying narcissists isn't difficult. Just look for the person who is constantly fishing for compliments
and admiration while breaking down over even the slightest bit of criticism.

We have the freedom to choose our actions, but we do not get to choose our consequences.
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
sarah_blueparrot
Apr 4 2006, 02:56 PM
Australia isn't a continent!! Try Australasia!

:shrug:
I don't find "Australasia" a helpful designation since NZ and the Melanesia are all islands off the greater landmass (continent means "mainland").

I subscribe to the 6 continent theory (Asia, Africa, N America, S America, Australia and Antarctica). Generically, a continent is a large mass of land (predominently) surrounded by water. The only continents entirely naturally surrounded by water are Antarctica and Australia. Africa and Asia are connected, as are N and S America.

Europe is a subcontinent -- but I suspect that the Eurocentric mapmakers and geopoliticians got it dubbed a continent so that they wouldn't be associated with the non-caucasians that inhabit the same land mass.

The dogma lives loudly within me.
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
The 89th Key
Apr 4 2006, 04:12 PM
A list of different "continent" models:

* 7 continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia.
* 6 continents: Asia, America, Africa, Antarctica, Europe and Australia.
* 6 continents: Eurasia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica and Australia.
* 5 continents: Eurasia, America, Africa, Antarctica and Australia.
* 5 continents: Laurasia, Africa, South America, Antarctica and Australia.
* 4 continents: Afrasia, America, Antarctica and Australia.

I inhabit Afrodisia.
The dogma lives loudly within me.
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John D'Oh
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MAMIL
ivorythumper
Apr 4 2006, 07:25 PM

I inhabit Afrodisia.

You're a lucky man. I once booked a holiday to go there, but due to unforeseen circumstances the plane was diverted to menopausia, a small barren island just of the coast.
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
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The 89th Key
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:lol: :lol:
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