Antarctica / the Antarctic

[Mnemon]

English Vocabulary in Use book

Don't quite get the difference between Antarctica and the Antarctic. Could someone shed some light on it?
*The book says the continent is Antarctica not the Antarctic.

 

[5jj]

The Antarctic is the continent of Antarctica and the surrounding waters.

Incidentally that representation has claimed that much of Asia is in Europe. It also suggests that Australia and New Zealand are continents and that Great Britain is the same size as India.

 

[emsr2d2]

This is probably much more helpful for you as far as the seven continents go.

 

[Tdol]

Though when I was a child there was only one American continent. It seems that these things are not 100% fixed and may change. However, continents don't take the definite article- it is Europe, not the Europe.

 

[Skrej]

I also don't know why that image labels Canada and the US as if they're not part of the same continent. Sometimes Mexico down to Panama is labeled separately as Central America, but that's a regional geographic distinction, not a continental one.

As far as that goes, labeling Europe and Asia as separate continents is based on language, culture, history, and politics not geography - they lie on the same tectonic plate.

Some argue for just four continents, based on pure geographical distinctions - The Americas, Afro-Eurasia, Antarctica, and Australia. The line between geography and geopolitics often blurs.