Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and all the countries that end with "istan"should make their own continent

>> "To start off, that cake analogy is all wrong, a country is a slice of a continent, and a continent is a slice of the planet yet they are still different in many ways. just because they come from the same are does not mean they are identical." Is not a region also a slice of a continent? and a country a subset of a region? It's like a multi-layer cake where a slice is a region and a country is a layer in that slice. The cake analogy holds. Also, how can you advocate unity when you say that "just because the come from the same are[a] does not mean they are identical?" This is directly contrary to feelings of unity, ESPECIALLY when you consider your statement below: >> "O and by the way, i am not talking about the middle east, not lebanon, not israel, not syrie, not turckeyy i am talking about the muslim part of that region that you call ME." Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey have immense Muslim populations. Actually, so does Israel, but it considered a Jewish state. I have demonstrated several times that there is considerable DISunity among the Muslim sects in this area of the world. Why would you exclude these countries from the ME? Should they be their own continent too? >> "Just because they are under a sa e continent does not mean they will start fighting. MAny if they were forced into their own country, then they would due to the government not pleasing everyone. Continents are not as important but are simply named to refer to a specific region with similar characteristics. This whole continent idea would not change all the oild business as the types of governmentsor the way countries govern would remian the same." I'm not sure what that first sentence means, but I assume you mean to say that grouping the nations together will not cause fighting. Actually, it almost certainly will. To group themselves, they have to actually display some sort of unity, which is not present at the moment. Someone will need to speak for Afghanistan, and there is nothing remotely describing unity there at the moment. There WILL be a fight over who gets to speak for Afghanistan. There WILL be a fight in Iraq, Iran, and Turkey as the Kurds want to speak for themselves and form Kurdistan. >> "Continents are not as important but are simply named to refer to a specific region with similar characteristics." What the deuce? Hello? Europe? Asia? Both are continents with VAST differences across their lands. This is a completely wrong claim. Continents are recognized based on a discrete, separable geographical area, regardless of the people or similarity in terrain of the region. >> "This whole continent idea would not change all the oild business as the types of governmentsor the way countries govern would remian the same." This is also wrong. Again - consider Afghanistan. There is no real operative government in the country. Before it can speak, it MUST change. As I said above, there WILL be conflict in this region of the world. Historically, conflict springing up in the ME has ALWAYS affected the oil business. >> "all that would happen is that the area i am designating would be easier to name and feel more untiy" Again, wrong. The people that live there do not feel unity as is. They are not going to feel unity after we start calling them the Middle East as a continent, rather than a region. Classifying the region as a continent will only cause a fight over who gets to speak in self-determination, and change nothing about the unitary feeling in the region. We must recognize the IMMENSE differences in the region, and also recognize that these people want to maintain their separate identities, not be grouped as a Muslim Continent. No - the ME should not form its own continent. Especially not under the terms you suggest - that leaves out several countries in the region, as well as ambiguates where a distinction in ideologies should be made. North Africa is also very Muslim. Should it be separate continent too? India has more Muslims than a lot of Muslim countries. Should it be on this Muslim Continent? What about Indochina? Another continent? The 7 continents should remain as they are - there is no reason to draw new distinctions based on political and sociological traits when continents are traditionally and historically divided based on geographical distinctions.