> it’s actually necessary to stipulate that continents cannot be islands, as otherwise the largest island would be the Americas, or perhaps mainland Asia + Africa + Europe.
I don't understand. Why does considering a single continent to be an island also mean that you need to include groupings of multiple continents in that definition? Europe + Asia + Africa is 3 continents, not one.
Is it transitive? Does "continent cannot be island" imply "island cannot be continent"? I don't even know the other word to describe "island cannot be a single continent, but it CAN be multiple continents".
I guess that gets into the question: "Can a river count as the border of an island?". What happens if the river dries up sometimes?
It seems people have already decided there are 7 continents, and will adjust the definition until it gives the result.
I don't understand. Why does considering a single continent to be an island also mean that you need to include groupings of multiple continents in that definition? Europe + Asia + Africa is 3 continents, not one.