I was wrong... Well, sorta!

Talk amongst yourselves, I'll give you a topic:

Australia is NOT a continent, while Australasia is.

Discuss!

Finished?

This was one of the exciting topics of debate from last night's dinner. Rog and Vic had had words on this a while back (including a 2 a.m. text battle and Internet/Atlas check- even I am not that much of a pedant! I mean, really!).

So anyway:

We says- Australia is a continent in its own right though it sometimes gets lumped in as the great continent of Oceania (named after the airline in Lost).

She says- Australasia is a continent (though it has nothing to do with Asia) and it includes New Zealand and probably some other islands, I can't remember.

Wikipedia says (okay, I am pedantic)-

Australia (also called Australia-New Guinea, Sahul, or Meganesia) is a continent made up of the Australian landmass, New Guinea, Tasmania, and intervening islands. These landmasses are separated by the Torres Strait (Australia and New Guinea) and the Bass Strait (Australia and Tasmania). From biological and geological points of view, however, they form a single unit.

It is the smallest and most low-lying of the Earth's continents. Though the Commonwealth of Australia occupies much of the continent and is often mistaken for being the entire continent, like the other continents its geographic area is defined by its continental shelf which covers some 2.5 million square kilometres including the Arafura Sea and Bass Strait and half of which is less than 50 metres deep. The total land area of the region is 8,560,000 square kilometres.

So basically, I was wrong (unfortunately I fall into the "often mistaken for being the entire continent" camp). As always though I take comfort in the fact that (that's right, go down fighting) the way I have used Australasia and Oceania are also valid, so I haven't been looking foolish all my life.

For a run-down of current thought on the matter click on these buzzwords: Continent, Australia (Continent), Australasia, Oceania, Incontinent.

Now, discovery or invasion!