The physical landmasses are not in dispute, but where the lines are drawn between them is a matter of convention that differs by educational tradition rather than by geology. The seven-continent model this atlas uses (treating Europe, Asia, North America and South America as four separate continents) is standard in the United States, the United Kingdom, China and India. A six-continent model combining Europe and Asia into Eurasia is standard in Russia and much of eastern Europe. A different six-continent model combining North and South America into a single American continent is standard in much of Latin America and Spain. A five-continent model, familiar from the five rings of the Olympic flag, combines the Americas into one and excludes Antarctica as uninhabited. No geological survey settles which grouping is correct, because the disagreement is about classification, not about where any coastline actually lies.
What would resolve this Nothing within geography itself; the count is a pedagogical and cultural convention rather than an empirical question, so no future survey or measurement resolves it. What would change the entry is a documented shift in which convention is most widely taught, which is a question for comparative education research rather than earth science.
OpenComparative education and the history of geography teaching, not earth science.United States Geological Survey