Determining the boundaries between thecontinents is generally a matter ofgeographical convention and consensus. Several slightly different conventions are in use. The number of continents is most commonly considered seven (inEnglish-speaking countries) but may range as low as four whenAfro-Eurasia and theAmericas are both considered as single continents.[1] Anisland can be considered to beassociated with a given continent by either lying on the continent's adjacentcontinental shelf (e.g.Singapore, theBritish Isles) or being a part of amicrocontinent on the sameprincipal tectonic plate (e.g.Madagascar andSeychelles). An island can also be entirelyoceanic while still being associated with a continent bygeology (e.g.Bermuda, theAustralian Indian Ocean Territories) or by commongeopolitical convention (e.g.Ascension Island, theSouth Sandwich Islands). Another example is the grouping intoOceania of thePacific Islands withAustralia andZealandia.
There are three overland boundaries subject to definition:
While today theisthmus between Asia and Africa is navigable via theSuez Canal, and that between North and South America via thePanama Canal, these artificial channels are not generally accepted as continent-defining boundaries in themselves. The Suez Canal happens to traverse the Isthmus of Suez between theMediterranean Sea and theRed Sea, dividing Africa and Asia. The continental boundaries are considered to be within the very narrow land connections joining the continents.
The remaining boundaries concern the association of islands and archipelagos with specific continents, notably:
Historically inGreco-Roman geography, "Africa" meantAncient Libya, and its eastern extent was taken to be aroundMarmarica, at theCatabathmus Magnus. This was not considered to be a continent. As wider knowledge of geography developed, the shape of the African landmass (and Egypt's "natural" inclusion in that landmass) became apparent. In 1806,William George Browne still titled his travelogueTravels in Africa, Egypt, and Syria. Similarly,James Bruce in 1835 publishedTravels through part of Africa, Syria, Egypt, and Arabia. On the other hand, as early as 1670John Ogilby under the titleAfrica published"an accurate Description of the Regions of Egypt, Barbary, Libya, and Billedulgerid, the Land of Negroes, Guinea, Æthiopia, and the Abyssines, with all the adjacent Islands, either in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, Southern, or Oriental Seas, belonging thereunto".
The usual line taken to divide Africa from Asia today is at theIsthmus of Suez, the narrowest gap between theMediterranean Sea and theGulf of Suez, the route today followed by theSuez Canal. This makes theSinai Peninsula geographically Asian, andEgypt a transcontinental country. Less than 2% of the Egyptian population live on the Sinai Peninsula, and hence Egypt, even though technically transcontinental, is usually considered an African country entirely and not partly Asian. But when discussing the geopolitical region of theMiddle East and North Africa, Egypt is usually grouped with the Western Asian countries as part of theMiddle East, while Egypt's western neighborLibya is grouped with the remaining North African countries as theMaghreb. Both are members of theAfrican Union. However, the geological boundary is located further to the east, along theGulf of Aqaba and theDead Sea Transform, with the Sinai Peninsula,Israel,Palestine, much ofLebanon and the coastal governorates of Syria being located on theAfrican Plate.
TheComoros,Madagascar,Mauritius, andSeychelles are island countries in theIndian Ocean which are nominally associated with Africa.[2][3][4] TheSocotra Archipelago may be considered African as it lies on its continental shelf; however, it is politically a part ofYemen, an Asian country.
TheAfrican andEuropean mainlands are non-contiguous, and the delineation between these continents is thus merely a question of which islands are to be associated with which continent.
The Portuguese Atlantic island possession of theAzores is 1,368 km (850 mi) from Europe and 1,507 km (936 mi) from Africa, and is sometimes grouped with Europe. By contrast, theCanary Islands and theMadeira islands (the latter of which also include theDesertas Islands and theSavage Islands) off the Atlantic coast ofMorocco are much closer to, and usually grouped with, Africa; the Canary Islands are only 100 km (62 mi) from the African mainland at their closest point but 945 km (587 mi) from the European mainland, while Madeira is 520 km (320 mi) from the African mainland and 1,000 km (620 mi) from the European mainland.[5] In his 1895 bookAfrica: Volume 2, author Augustus Henry Keane remarked, "In the North Atlantic there are four insular groups — Madeira, the Canaries,Cape Verde and Azores — which are usually assigned to Africa, although the Canaries and Cape Verde alone belong geographically to that continent, the Azores are lost, so to say, in mid-Atlantic."[6]
The Mediterraneanisland country ofMalta is about 81 km (50 mi) from the coast ofSicily — much closer than the 288 km (179 mi) distance to the African mainland.[7] The nearby Italian island ofLampedusa (principal island of thePelagie Islands) is 207 km (129 mi) from Sicily while just 127 km (79 mi) from the African mainland; similarly,Pantelleria is 100 km (62 mi) from Sicily and just 71 km (44 mi) from the African mainland. All of these Mediterranean islands, including Malta and Sicily, are actually located on theAfrican Plate, and could be considered part of the African continent geologically.[8][9][10] However, for political and cultural reasons, maps generally display them as part of Europe instead.[11]
A single Spanish islet, known asAlboran Island, is also debatably located on either theAfrican Plate or theEurasian Plate.[12] This island is located in theAlboran Sea, 50 km (31 mi) north of theMoroccan coast and 90 km (56 mi) south ofSpain.
There are six definitive occurrences of territories unequivocally being a part of the African continent, but legally being administered by a European state. Three of these are administered byFrance, and the other three bySpain. The existence of these territories further blurs the line between the borders of Africa and Europe, in particular with regard to the Spanish territories which lie immediately adjacent to and/or connected to the African mainland. The French territories lie within theIndian Ocean, and, consequently, are more dislocated from the principal boundary between the two continents.
Theuninhabited Spanishunincorporated overseas minor territories, known as theplazas de soberanía ("Localities of Sovereignty"),[13] are small islands that lie immediately adjacent to the North African coastline, with the exception ofPeñón de Vélez de la Gomera, which was originally an island like the other 'localities' but has subsequently become directly connected to theMoroccan (African) mainland. The two other Spanish territories are the exclaves ofCeuta andMelilla, which are twopopulated coastal cities located directly on the African mainland, both bordering only Morocco.
Two of the French territories are the inhabitedoverseas departments and regions ofMayotte andRéunion. Mayotte is an island territory located west of the island country of Madagascar within theMozambique Channel. Réunion is an island territory located near the island country of Mauritius and to the east of Madagascar (both nominally considered part of the African continent).[14][15] The final territory is theScattered Islands in the Indian Ocean, administratively a part of theFrench Southern and Antarctic Lands. This French territory consists of a range of minor uninhabitedatolls in the Indian Ocean, located in the deep sea surrounding Madagascar.
Antarctica along with its outlying islands have no permanent population. All land claims south of 60°S latitude are held in abeyance by theAntarctic Treaty System.
Australia'sHeard Island and McDonald Islands (anexternal territory) and the FrenchKerguelen Islands are located on theKerguelen Plateau, on theAntarctic continental plate. Both are still within the bounds of the Indian Ocean. The United Nations categorizes Heard Island and McDonald Islands, which are politically affiliated with Australia, as being part of Oceania.[14] The islands are 4,000 km fromPerth in Australia, and have never been inhabited byindigenous peoples of Oceania or any other humans. Heard Island has only been visited 240 times throughout its entire history, and theMcDonald Islands have only ever been visited twice, in 1971 and 1980.[16][17]The World Factbook categorizes these islands as part of Antarctica rather than Oceania.[18]
The FrenchCrozet Islands,Île Amsterdam,Île Saint-Paul, and the NorwegianBouvet Island are also located on the Antarctic continental plate, and are not often associated with other continents. The United Nations categorize Bouvet Island as part of South America,[14] while the World Factbook categorizes it as part of Antarctica.[19]
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are closer to Antarctica than to any other continent. However, they are politically associated with theFalkland Islands, which are less geographically isolated from South America. Furthermore,Argentina, a South American country, maintains itsirredentist claims on all of these islands, which are administered by theUnited Kingdom. The United Nations consider them to be part of South America.[14] Definitions of South America that exclude theGalápagos Islands andJuan Fernández Islands (bothoceanic in nature) still generally include the Falklands, which share biographical affinities toPatagonia andTierra del Fuego, and which are located on the South American continental shelf.[20] The Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands were uninhabited when discovered by Europeans, with some theorizing that the Falklands were visited byIndigenous peoples of the Americas during prehistoric times.[21][22] These theories are usually considered dubious, as there is no archaeological evidence indicating prehistoric human inhabitation on the Falklands.[23] South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands do not have any permanent residents. The Falkland Islands have historically had aBritish population, with a culture distinct from that of mainland South America.[24] There wasa violent war between Argentina and the United Kingdom regarding ownership of the islands in 1982, and the residents of the Falklands do not currently wish to be associated with South America, despite their geographical proximity.[23]
ThePrince Edward Islands are located between Africa and Antarctica, and are the territory of South Africa, an African country.
Macquarie Island and theAntipodes Islands,Auckland Islands, andCampbell Islands are all uninhabited, and are located between Australia and New Zealand and Antarctica. The Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands and Campbell Islands are politically part of New Zealand, while Macquarie Island has been integrated into the Australian state ofTasmania. None are discrete political entities like Heard Island and McDonald Islands. As such, they are likely considered by the United Nations also to be part of Oceania. The Auckland Islands could be considered part of Oceania on cultural grounds rather than mere political grounds, as they are believed to be the southernmost island group to have been settled byPolynesians during prehistoric times.[25] The islands were uninhabited when discovered by Europeans, but archaeological traces have since been found to indicate Polynesian settlement, dating to the 13th century, on Enderby Island. Macquarie Island is theorized to have possibly had contact with Polynesians, although there is no archaeological evidence to support this.[26][27]
The continental boundary between Asia andAustralia is somewhere in theWallacean region of the Malay Archipelago. The boundary is frequently divided along the anthropologic Melanesian Line or the biogeographicWeber's Line.[citation needed] Geologically, theAru Islands inMaluku Province andwestern New Guinea, which contain six provinces of Indonesia, are part of theAustralian continent. The eastern half of New Guinea is a part ofPapua New Guinea which is considered to be a part of Oceania.[14] Indonesia is commonly referred to as one of theSoutheast Asian countries.[28][29][30][14] Indonesia'seastern region of Western New Guinea and nearby islands, makes it a transcontinental country; Western New Guinea is often considered part of Oceania because of its IndigenousMelanesian inhabitants and geological association with the Australian continental landmass.[31][32]East Timor, an independent state that was formerly a part of Indonesia, is classified by theUnited Nations as a part of theSouth-eastern Asia subregion. It hasjoined theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations,[33] having been involved as an ASEAN Regional Forum member since independence, and has participated in theSoutheast Asian Games since2003.[34]
Occasionally, all of theMalay Archipelago is included in Oceania, although this is extremely rare, especially as most of the archipelago lies on theAsian continental shelf.[35] The Malay Archipelago was more frequently associated with Oceania during the 19th century, when the term was first coined.[36][37] Many inhabitants in the Malay Archipelago are Austronesians, sharing genetic and linguistic affinities to the Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian inhabitants of Oceania, who also fall under the Austronesian umbrella. However, the Austronesians of the Malay Archipelago had significant contact with mainland Asia during prehistoric times, unlike with the Austronesians andIndigenous Australians of Oceania, who were isolated from the culture of Asia and theeastern world.[38]Epeli Hauʻofa, a scholar ofTongan andFijian descent, considered the Malay Archipelago separate from Oceania for this very reason. He wrote, "Before the advent of Europeans into the Pacific, our cultures were truly oceanic, in the sense that the sea barrier shielded us for millennia from the great cultural influences that raged through continental land masses and adjacent islands. This prolonged period of isolation allowed for the emergence of distinctive oceanic cultures with the only non-oceanic influences being the original cultures that the earliest settlers brought with them when they entered the vast, uninhabited region. Scholars of antiquity may raise the issue of continental cultural influences on the western and northwestern border islands of Oceania, but these are exceptions, and the Asian mainland influences were largely absent until the modern era. On the eastern extremity of the region there were some influences from the Americas, but these were minimal. It is for these reasons that Pacific Ocean islands fromJapan, through thePhilippines and Indonesia, which are adjacent to the Asian mainland, do not have oceanic cultures, and are therefore not part of Oceania. This definition of our region delineates us clearly from Asia and thepre-Columbian Americas and is based on our own historical developments, rather than on other people's perceptions of us."[38]
The United Nations and The World Factbook categorize the AustralianIndian Ocean external territories ofChristmas Island andCocos (Keeling) Islands (both geographically adjacent toJava) as being part of Oceania, rather than Asia.[14] The islands lie within the bounds of theAustralian Plate, and were uninhabited prior to European discovery in the 17th century. They haveoceanic geology, making them distinct from both mainland Asia and mainland Australia.[39][40]
Japan possesses theBonin Islands (also known as the Ogasawara Islands),[41] theVolcano Islands, and three remote islets (Nishinoshima,Minami-Tori-shima andOkinotorishima), all governed collectively asOgasawara Village, which is anadministrative division consisting of scattered islandatolls located in thePacific Ocean. These mostly uninhabited islands are located at some distance southeast of theJapanese archipelago. Owing to the location and oceanic nature of these islands, they are sometimes considered to be a part of Oceania as well.[42][43][44][45] The islands are within theOceanian biogeographical realm, unlike the rest of Japan,[46] and may have been inhabited byMicronesians around 2,000 years ago.[47] Their official discovery came much later in the 16th century, through Europeans.[41][47] The most remote island within this group, Minami-Tori-shima (also known as Marcus Island) is nearly 2,000 km removed fromTokyo, and is geographically closer to the Micronesian territories ofGuam andNorthern Mariana Islands.[41][48] Inhabitants of theRyukyu Islands, on the periphery of the main Japanese archipelago, are sometimes associated with Austronesians.[49] The islands are geologically and historically linked with Asia, and are excluded from most definitions of Oceania, along with the similarly non-oceanic Japanese archipelago, which is not associated with Austronesians.[30][50] To the north of Japan is the disputedKuril Islands, currently administered byRussia. Usually, these islands are associated with the RussianFar East. This is primarily as a result of their non-tropical biogeography, and their inhabitants, who are mostlyethnically Russian mainlanders.[51]
Australia has a more developed economy than neighboring Pacific Island nations, and is occasionally associated with mainland Asia as a result of this, despite being geologically distinct and having no cultural links to it prior to European discovery. It has historically been included in definitions of Oceania, ever since the term was first coined in the early 1810s. In the 19th century, many geographers divided up Oceania into mostly racially-based subdivisions;Australasia,Malaysia (encompassing the Malay Archipelago),Melanesia,Micronesia andPolynesia.[52] Australia, Guam and Northern Mariana Islands currently compete in theAsian Football Confederation (AFC), with Australia and Northern Mariana Islands having originally been part of theOceania Football Confederation (OFC).[53] Guam was never an official OFC member, although they exclusively played against teams from Oceania prior to joining the AFC.[53] The presence of these teams in the AFC is not necessarily related to geography or politics, but rather because the Asian Football Confederation have far more resources than the Oceania Football Confederation.[53] All three are members of thePacific Islands Forum, the major governing body for the Oceania region, with Australia being a founding member in 1971. Guam and Northern Mariana Islands have had similar histories to the rest ofMicronesia, and are biogeographically and geologically distinct from mainland Asia.[54]Palau made an unsuccessful attempt to join the Asian Football Confederation in 2009.[55] They too share much of the same history as the rest of Micronesia, and are a member of the Pacific Islands Forum.[54]
Taiwan has at times been associated with Oceania,[56][57][58][59] not only because of their loose status as a Pacific Island, but also because of theirindigenous population, who are related to the natives of Oceania.[60] In 2010, Australian historianBronwen Douglas claimed inThe Journal of Pacific History that "a strong case could be made for extending Oceania to at least Taiwan, the homeland of the Austronesian language family whose speakers colonized significant parts of the region about 6,000 years ago."[61] Definitions of Oceania which include Taiwan are extremely rare because Taiwan has historical ties to mainland Asia, Taiwan is close toChina (being 180 km away), and Taiwan lies on the continental shelf of Asia.[62][59] Taiwan was formerly a member of the Oceania Football Confederation; this was for political reasons: It was forced to compete against teams from Oceania because China, its political administrator, did not recognize its sovereignty and would not compete against them. It was a member from 1975 to 1989, but now competes as part of the Asian Football Confederation.[63] Taiwan, Japan and most of the nations in the Malay Archipelago are dialogue partners of the Pacific Islands Forum, but none have full membership, only Australia, New Zealand and the island states in Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia do.[54]
The boundary betweenAsia andEurope is unusual among continental boundaries because of its largely mountain-and-river-based characteristics north and east of the Black Sea. Asia and Europe are considered separate continents for historical reasons; the division between the two goes back to theearly Greek geographers.
In the modern sense of the term "continent",Eurasia is more readily identifiable as a "continent", and Europe has occasionally been described as asubcontinent of Eurasia.[64]
The threefold division of theOld World into Africa, Asia, and Europe has been in use since the 6th century BC byearly Greek geographers such asAnaximander andHecataeus.[64]
Anaximander placed the boundary between Asia and Europe along thePhasis River (the modernRioni inGeorgia in theCaucasus Mountains), from Rioni mouth inPoti on theBlack Sea coast, through theSurami Pass and along theKura River to the Caspian Sea, a convention still followed byHerodotus in the 5th century BC.[66][67]As geographic knowledge of the Greeks increased during theHellenistic period,[68] this archaic convention was revised, and the boundary between Asia and Europe was now considered to be theTanais (the modern Don River). This is the convention used by Roman era authors such asPosidonius,[69]Strabo[70] andPtolemy.[71]
Throughout the Middle Ages and into the 18th century, the traditional division of the landmass ofEurasia into two continents, Asia and Europe, followed Ptolemy, with the boundary following theTurkish Straits, theBlack Sea, theKerch Strait, theSea of Azov and theDon (known in antiquity as the Tanais). But maps produced during the 16th to 18th centuries tended to differ in how to continue the boundary beyond the Don bend atKalach-na-Donu (where it is closest to the Volga, now joined with it by theVolga–Don Canal), into territory not described in any detail by the ancient geographers.
Philip Johan von Strahlenberg in 1725 was the first to depart from the classical Don boundary by drawing the line along theVolga, following the Volga north until theSamara Bend, alongObshchy Syrt (thedrainage divide between theUral andVolga rivers) and then north along theUral Mountains.[72][73] The mapmakers continued to differ on the boundary between the lower Don and Samara well into the 19th century. The1745 atlas published by theRussian Academy of Sciences has the boundary follow the Don beyond Kalach as far asSerafimovich before cutting north towardsArkhangelsk, while other 18th- to 19th-century mapmakers such asJohn Cary followed Strahlenberg's prescription. To the south, theKuma–Manych Depression was identified circa 1773 by a German naturalist,Peter Simon Pallas, as a valley that, once upon a time, connected the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea,[73][74] and subsequently was proposed as a natural boundary between continents.
By the mid-19th century, there were three main conventions, one following the Don, theVolga–Don Canal and the Volga, the other following the Kuma–Manych Depression to the Caspian and then the Ural River, and the third abandoning the Don altogether, following theGreater Caucasus watershed to the Caspian. The question was still treated as a controversy in geographical literature of the 1860s, withDouglas Freshfield advocating the Caucasus crest boundary as the best possible, citing support from various modern geographers.[75]
In Russia and theSoviet Union, the boundary along the Kuma–Manych Depression was the most commonly used as early as 1906.[76] Despite this, outside the geographical context, the territories of the North and South Caucasus were often classified as the European part of the country, for political, economic and historical-cultural reasons.[77] Thus, the political boundaries of Europe in the southern section were based on political and administrative borders. According to this principle, the extended boundary between Europe and Asia followed the state border of the USSR with Turkey and Iran (now it is the border from Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan).[78] In 1958, the Soviet Geographical Society formally recommended that the boundary between Asia and Europe be drawn in textbooks fromBaydaratskaya Bay, on theKara Sea, along the eastern foot of the Ural Mountains, then following theUral River until theMugodzhar Hills, and then theEmba River; and Kuma–Manych Depression,[79] thus placing the Caucasus entirely in Asia and the Urals entirely in Europe.[80] However, most geographers in the Soviet Union favoured the boundary along the Caucasus crest[81] and this became the standard convention in the latter 20th century, although the Kuma–Manych boundary remained in use in some 20th-century maps.
The modern border between Asia and Europe is a historical and cultural construct,[82] and for that reason, its definition has varied. One commonly accepted border follows theAegean Sea, theDardanelles–Sea of Marmara–Bosporus (together known as theTurkish Straits), theBlack Sea, along thewatershed of theGreater Caucasus, the northwestern portion of theCaspian Sea, and along theUral River andUral Mountains to theKara Sea, as mapped and listed in most atlases including that of theNational Geographic Society and as described inThe World Factbook.[83][84] According to this particular definition,Georgia is a transcontinental country with some of its northern portions (such asKazbegi Municipality,Khevsureti, andTusheti) geographically located inEastern Europe, north of theGreater Caucasus Watershed, whereas the country's south is arguably in Asia. Similarly, according to this one particular definition,Azerbaijan is a transcontinental country with some northern portions (e.g.Khachmaz,Quba,Qusar,Shabran, andSiazan) located north of theGreater Caucasus Watershed and thus geographically in Europe, whereas the rest arguably falls under Asia.[85] Georgia actively identified as European throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.[86] In the 21st century, Georgia is regarded as a European country[87] for historical, cultural, religious, and political reasons.[88][89][90]
The international geographic community has never reached a universal agreement on continental borders, especially with regard to the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian seas. AsEncyclopædia Britannica explains:
"The watershed of the Greater Caucasus, the backbone of the system, traditionally has been part of the line dividing Europe and Asia, but Europe's eastern boundary has been the subject of much debate. One widely accepted scheme draws the dividing line along the crest of the Greater Caucasus range, putting the portion of the region north of the line in Europe and the portion south of it in Asia. Another puts the western portion of the Caucasus region in Europe and the eastern part (the bulk of Azerbaijan and small portions of Armenia, Georgia, and Russia's Caspian Sea coast) in Asia. Still another scheme identifies theAras River and the Turkish border as the line of continental demarcation, thereby locating Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia in Europe."[91]
Russia andTurkey are transcontinental states with territory in both Asia and Europe by any definition.[92] Russia is historically, culturally, and politically a European state, with a history ofimperial conquests in Asia. The situation for Turkey is inverse, as that of an Asian country withimperial conquests in Europe.[93]Kazakhstan is also a transcontinental state by this definition, with itsWest Kazakhstan andAtyrau provinces extending on either side of the Ural River,[94] although it is considered acentral Asian country that extends to Europe. The Turkish cityIstanbul is a transcontinental city because it lies on both sides of the Bosporus (one of the Turkish Straits).[95] The Russian and Kazakhstani cities ofMagnitogorsk,Orenburg, andAtyrau fall on the Ural River, making them transcontinental cities as well.[96]
This Ural River delineation is the only segment not to follow a major mountain range or wide water body, both of which often truly separate populations. However, the Ural River is the most common division used by authorities,[83][94][97] is the most prominent natural feature in the region, and is the "most satisfactory of those (options) proposed"[98] which include theEmba River, a much smaller stream cutting further intoCentral Asian Kazakhstan. The Ural River bridges inAtyrau andOrenburg are even labeled with permanent monuments carved with the word "Europe" on one side, "Asia" on the other.[99]
Because theKazakhs are an Asian people, after the collapse of theUSSR, the option according to which the border of Europe runs from the Caspian Sea along the state border betweenRussia andKazakhstan to theUral River has also gained popularity.[100]
TheKuma–Manych Depression (more precisely, theManych River, theKuma–Manych Canal, and theKuma River) remains cited less commonly as one possible natural boundary in contemporary sources.[101] This definition peaked in prominence in the 19th century; however, it has declined in usage over time. This is because it included in Asia certain areas of Russia inCiscaucasia (such asStavropol,Krasnodar, and areas just south ofRostov-on-Don) seen as too European to be Asian.
One formal means by which states are grouped into one specified continental area or another is by using the definition used for statistical purposes by theUnited Nations Statistics Division (UNSD):[14] According to UNSD, "assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories".[102] Furthermore, the UNSD classification often differs from those of otherUnited Nations organizations. For instance, while UNSD includes Georgia and Cyprus in Western Asia, theUnited Nations Industrial Development Organization andUNESCO include both states in Europe.[103][104]
TheCouncil of Europe and theEuropean Political Community includes transcontinental or Eurasian states, such asArmenia, Azerbaijan,Cyprus, Georgia, andTurkey as members.Cyprus is a member of theEuropean Union, whereas theEuropean Parliament noted that Armenia and Georgia are eligible to apply for EU membership "like any other European state".[105][106][107] On 14 December 2023, Georgia was officially granted EU Candidate status.[108]
TheTreaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe defined the eastern boundary of Europe to be the Ural Mountains, Ural River, and Caspian Sea. However, it also included all of the territory of the then-Soviet republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, as well as areas of Turkey north of the39th parallel (among other areas of Turkey).[109]
Cyprus is an island of the Mediterranean located on the Asian continental shelf, geologically a part of theAnatolian Plate and adjacent toAnatolia, by which it is sometimes associated with Asia (Western Asia), as in theUnited Nations geoscheme. Despite differences regarding its geographic affiliation, theRepublic of Cyprus was nevertheless admitted to the Council of Europe in 1961 and joined the EU in 2004. The northern part of the island functions as the unrecognized (except by Turkey)Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
The GreekNorth Aegean islands and theDodecanese lie on the coast of the Asian part of Turkey (on the Asian continental shelf). Thus, generally, these island groups could be considered part of Asia. More specifically, the small islands ofKastellorizo,Strongyli Megistis, andRo (all these islands are still in the Dodecanese group) are directly to the south of the TurkishAnatolia coastline, of which they are directly adjacent. Additionally, they lie at some distance to the east of the rest of the Dodecanese group in the direction ofCyprus and the Turkish city ofAntalya. Akin to Cyprus, these small islets would nominally be considered Asian if only the continental shelf were used to define the boundary, but for history and cultural influences they are considered a part of Europe.[110]
Russia'sVaygach Island andNovaya Zemlya extend northward from the northern end of theUral Mountains and are a continuation of that chain into theArctic Ocean. While Novaya Zemlya was variously grouped with Europe or with Asia in 19th-century maps it is now usually grouped with Europe, the continental boundary considered to join the Arctic Ocean along the southern shore of theKara Sea. The Russian Arcticarchipelago ofFranz Josef Land farther north is also associated with Europe.
TheBering Strait andBering Sea separate thelandmasses ofAsia andNorth America, as well as forming the international boundary between Russia and the United States. Thisnational and continental boundary separates theDiomede Islands in the Bering Strait, withBig Diomede inRussia andLittle Diomede in theU.S. TheAleutian Islands are an island chain extending westward from theAlaskan Peninsula toward Russia'sKomandorski Islands andKamchatka Peninsula. Most of them are always associated with North America, except for the westernmostNear Islands group, which is onAsia's continental shelf beyond theNorth Aleutians Basin and on rare occasions could be associated with Asia, which could then allow the U.S. state ofAlaska to be considered a transcontinental state. The Aleutian Islands are sometimes associated with Oceania, owing to their status as remote Pacific islands, and their proximity to the Pacific Plate.[111][112][113] This is extremely rare, however, because of their non-tropical biogeography and because theirinhabitants have historically been related toIndigenous Americans.[56][30]
St. Lawrence Island in the northern Bering Sea belongs to Alaska and may be associated with either continent but is almost always considered part of North America, as with theRat Islands in the Aleutian chain. At their nearest points,Alaska andRussia are separated by only 4 kilometres (2.5 miles).
The geographical notion of acontinent stands in opposition to islands and archipelagos.[114][115] Nevertheless, there are some islands that are considered part of Europe in a political sense. This most notably includes theBritish Isles (part of the European continental shelf and during the Ice Age of the continent itself); the islands of theNorth Sea, theBaltic Sea, and theMediterranean that are part of the territory of a country situated on the European mainland; theAzores on theMid-Atlantic Ridge, part of Portugal; and usually also theisland states ofIceland (part of Norway and/or Denmark from 13th to early 20th centuries) andMalta.
The Norwegian islands ofJan Mayen andSvalbard in theArctic Ocean are usually associated with Europe.
South of the Arctic, Europe and North America are separated by theNorth Atlantic. In terms of associating itsoceanic islands with either continent, the boundary is usually drawn betweenGreenland andIceland and between Bermuda and the Azores'Grupo Ocidental (Western Group)—all other North Atlantic islands arecontinental. Iceland and the Azores are protrusions of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and are associated with and peopled from Europe, even though they have areas on theNorth American Plate. (Definitions of "continents" are a physical andcultural construct dating back centuries, long before the advent or even knowledge ofplate tectonics; thus, defining a "continent" falls into the realm of physical and cultural geography (i.e.geopolitics), while continental plate definitions fall under plate tectonics in the realm ofgeology.) Some definitions of the Europe – America continental boundary place it on (the northern half of) theMid-Atlantic Ridge, which would make Iceland a transcontinental country.[116]
Greenland is geographically part of North America. Politically, however, it is more associated with Europe as it is part of theKingdom of Denmark, although it has extensive home rule and EU law no longer applies there. The United Nations consider Greenland to be part of North America; this is unusual, as the United Nations categorize many nations and territories purely on political convention rather than geographical or cultural convention.[14] TheGreenland national football team, while not officially part of any confederation, has historically competed against teams from Europe, rather than North America.
Three islands in the Caribbean are legally a direct part of the Netherlands, that is theCaribbean Netherlands (Bonaire,Saba andSint Eustatius). Two islands in the Caribbean are legally a direct part of France,Guadeloupe andMartinique.
The border between North America and South America is at some point on theDarién Mountains watershed that divides along theColombia–Panama border where the isthmus meets the South American continent (seeDarién Gap). Virtually all atlases list Panama as a state falling entirely withinNorth America and/orCentral America.[117][118]
Often theCaribbean islands are considered part of North America, butAruba,Bonaire,Curaçao (ABC islands), andTrinidad and Tobago lie on thecontinental shelf of South America. On the other hand, the VenezuelanIsla Aves and the ColombianSan Andrés and Providencia lie on the North American shelf. Additionally, the adjacent Venezuelan islands ofNueva Esparta and the islands of theVenezuelan Federal Dependencies can be considered to be a part of the Caribbean instead of part of South America. The circumstance of these islands is akin to that of the ABC islands, as both the ABC islands and the Venezuelan islands are at an equivalent range from the Venezuelan mainland. Thus, these Venezuelan lands could consequently be placed in North America instead.
TheGalápagos Islands and Malpelo Island in the southeasternPacific Ocean are possessions ofEcuador and Colombia, respectively. Malpelo Island, located 500 km from Colombia, is nominally associated with South America, while the Galápagos Islands, 1,000 km from Ecuador, are also sometimes associated with Oceania.[119][120][121] The Galápagos Islands lie on the Nazca Plate and are thought of as part of Oceania because of their geographical distance from South America in the Pacific Ocean and theiroceanic geology. Malpelo is one of only two islands on theCocos Plate (with the other beingCosta Rica'sCocos Island). It is among the easternmost and least remote of the oceanic island groups in the southeastern Pacific.[122] TheFrench possession ofClipperton Island lies on thePacific Plate, about 1,000 km off theMexicancoast, and roughly 300 km to the south of Mexico's oceanicRevillagigedo Islands, which are also on the Pacific Plate.It is associated withNorth America,[citation needed] as well as with Oceania.[123][124][125] Oceanic southeastern Pacific islands such as Clipperton and Galápagos were never inhabited by Indigenous peoples of the Americas,[126] unlike with the Atlantic Ocean's Caribbean Islands. Clipperton remains uninhabited, and its marine fauna maintains interconnectivity to the marine fauna ofHawaii andKiribati'sLine Islands, with the island being labelled as a stepping stone between the south central Pacific and the southeastern Pacific.[127][128] The Galápagos Islands similarly share interconnectivity withFrench Polynesia.[127] Until 2007, Clipperton was administratively part of French Polynesia (formerly French Oceania). It has historically had very little contact with the Americas.[129][130]
Easter Island, also known by itsendonymRapa Nui, is a territory located on the Nazca Plate, and is roughly 3,500 km off theChilean coast. Because of its original inhabitants, It is culturally part of the Oceania subregionPolynesia, though politically it came to be associated with South America.[131][132] Easter Island was annexed byChile in 1888, but their first major contact with South America came during the 1860s, when islanders were kidnapped byPeruvians for slavery. This was also the case with other Polynesian islands, includingCook Islands,Niue andTokelau, who lost significant amounts of their populations through the Peruvian kidnappings.[133] Easter Island under Chilean rule has still made attempts to become politically involved with the rest of the South Pacific,[32] and has considered gaining representation in the Pacific Islands Forum, which includes Australia, New Zealand and most of the Pacific Island nations/territories.[134] Similar to Easter Island, and just to the northeast of it, is the nearby uninhabitedSalas y Gómez Island of Chile, which is also considered to be geographically in Oceania while associated with South America politically. The island was never inhabited, yet it was known about by the natives of Easter Island during prehistoric times. The name for the island in their language wasMotu Motiro Hiva. Additionally, Chile has the oceanicDesventuradas Islands, 850 km removed from the country, and theJuan Fernández Islands, which are 650 km removed. Both are located on the Nazca Plate and to the east of Salas y Gómez and Easter Island. Akin to Clipperton and Galápagos, the Desventuradas Islands and the Juan Fernández Islands were uninhabited prior to European discovery.[126] They too are associated with both the American continent and Oceania.[45][135][136][137][42] The marine fauna of the Desventuradas Islands and Juan Fernández Islands shares great similarity with the south central Pacific, more so than with the nearing South America.[136][138] Some consider the islands to be the easternmost areas of the Oceanian biogeographical realm.[46] Scientific journalPLOS One describe Easter Island, the Desventurudas Islands, the Juan Fernández Islands and Salas y Gómez (collectively titledInsular Chile) as having "cultural and ecological connections to the broader insular Pacific."[138]
And since Africa and Asia are connected at the Suez Peninsula, Europe, Africa, and Asia are sometimes combined as Afro-Eurasia or Eurafrasia. The International Olympic Committee's official flag, containing [...] the single continent of America (North and South America being connected as the Isthmus of Panama).
For instance, in one of the only two instances when China was ruled by a foreign dynasty, Yuan Dynasty ambassadors, this time Mongols, traveled to Madagascar in East Africa.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Finally, a few comments on the area we consider to be part of "South America" are in order. Essentially we have followed the limits established by Meyer de Schauensee (1970: xii) with a few minor modifications. Thus, all the continental inshore islandsare included (e.g., Trinidad and Tobago; various small islands off the northern coast of Venezuela, the Netherlands Antilles [Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao]; and Fernando de Noronha, off the northeastern coast of Brazil), but islands more properly considered part of the West Indies (e.g. Grenada) arenot. To the south, we have opted to include the Falkland Islands (or Islas Malvinas — in referring to them as the Falklands we are not making any political statement but merely recognizing that this book is being written in the English language), as their avifauna is really very similar to that of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. However, various other islands farther out in the South Atlantic (e.g., South Georgia) are not included except incidentally (e.g., endemic South Georgia Pipit have been incorporated). Likewise, the Juan Fernández Islands far off the Chilean coast have not been included (except for incidental comments), nor have the Galápagos Islands, situated even further off the Ecuadorian coast.
The Bonin Islands, now known as the Ogasawara Islands, are a group of subtropical islands located roughly equidistant between the Tokyo, Japan and the Northern Mariana Islands. This group of islands is nowhere near Tokyo, but it is still considered to be a part of Tokyo! The Ogasawara Islands consist of 30 subtropical islands made The Bonin Islands were said to be discovered first by Bernardo de la Torre, a Spanish explorer, who originally called the islands "Islas del Arzobispo" [,,,]
[we] can further define the wordculture to meanlanguage. Thus we have the French language part of Oceania, the Spanish part and the Japanese part. The Japanese culture groups of Oceania are the Bonin Islands, the Marcus Islands and the Volcano Islands. These three clusters, lying south and south-east of Japan, are inhabited either by Japanese or by people who have now completely fused with the Japanese race. Therefore they will not be taken into account in the proposed comparison of the policies of non - Oceanic cultures towards Oceanic peoples. On the eastern side of the Pacific are a number of Spanish language culture groups of islands. Two of them, the Galapagos and Easter Island, have been dealt with as separate chapters in this volume. Only one of the dozen or so Spanish culture island groups of Oceania has an Oceanic population — the Polynesians of Easter Island. The rest are either uninhabited or have a Spanish - Latin - American population consisting of people who migrated from the mainland. Therefore, the comparisons which follow refer almost exclusively to the English and French language cultures.
In a number of cases, human exploitation of certain high-value tree species, including sandalwoods and other highly prized timbers, has led to their extinction—such as the sandalwood speciesSantalum fernandezianum, in Juan Fernández Islands; and others to the brink of extinction, suchS. boninensis in Ogasawara Islands, Japan; or is an ongoing threatening factor in the examples ofS. yasi in Fiji and Tonga,Gyrinops spp. in Papua New Guinea (PNG) andIntsia bijuga throughout the Pacific Islands.
Despite varied usage, Ocean, from Madagascar off the coast of Africa to Taiwan, Oceania primarily refers to most of the thousands of islands in the Pacific Ocean, but not to the shore nations of its surrounding continents, or to the Japanese islands.
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)Most of these countries are located on the east and southeast half-circle of the European continent, but two, Russia and Turkey, are transcontinental
Since the idea of the Ural ridge as a border has been established in people's minds and a corresponding tourism industry has even emerged, this section of the border should be taken for granted. From the Urals to the Caspian Sea, I propose to take the state border between Russia and Kazakhstan abroad between parts of the world. Indeed, the idea that Kazakhstan — is a European country looks artificial.
Oceania is the word often used by continental geographers to describe the great world of islands we are now entering upon [...] This boundless watery domain, which extends northwards of Behring Straits and southward to the Antarctic barrier of ice, is studded with many island groups, which are, however, very irregularly distributed over its surface. The more northerly section, lying between Japan and California and between the Aleutian and Hawaiian Archipelagos is relived by nothing but a few solitary reefs and rocks at enormously distant intervals.
The regional name of the Pacific Islands is appropriate: Oceania, a sea of islands, including those of Alaska and Hawaii. The Pacific Basin is not insignificant or remote. It covers one third of the globe's surface. Its northern boundary is the Aleutian Islands chain. Oceania virtually touches all of the Western Hemisphere.
This paper covers the region from Irian Jaya (Western New Guinea, a province of New Guinea) in the west to Galapagos Islands (Equador) and Easter Island (Chile) in the east.
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Malpelo Island, the easternmost and least remote of the five oceanic islands or archipelagos in the ETP.
French Polynesia operates as a CEPT country under French authority, but still requires local permission and a local call sign (as do the other French colonies in Oceania: Clipperton, New Caledonia, and Wallis and Futuna.
On the other side of Oceania, about 1,800 miles (2,897 km) west of the Panama Canal, is another French possession, Clipperton Island.
The British added the Ellice, Pitcairn and portions of the Phoenix Islands; the Australians consolidated their claims to Papua; and the French consolidated their claims to Clipperton islands; Easter and adjacent islands were claimed by Chile, Cocos Island was claimed by Costa Rica, and the Galapagos claimed by Ecuador. By 1900, there were virtually no remaining islands in Oceania unclaimed by foreign powers.
It is clear that since World War II, Britain, in contrast to France and the United States (and one might say Chile and Ecuador, which hold, respectively, Easter Island and the Galapagos Islands), conceived of Oceania as a region of sovereign nations living in a spirit of commonwealth.
Britain's high commissioner in New Zealand continues to administer Pitcairn, and the other former British colonies remain members of the Commonwealth of Nations, recognizing the British Queen as their titular head of state and vesting certain residual powers in the British government or the Queen's representative in the islands. Australia did not cede control of the Torres Strait Islands, inhabited by a Melanesian population, or Lord Howe and Norfolk Island, whose residents are of European ancestry. New Zealand retains indirect rule over Niue and Tokelau and has kept close relations with another former possession, the Cook Islands, through a compact of free association. Chile rules Easter Island (Rapa Nui) and Ecuador rules the Galapagos Islands. The Aboriginals of Australia, the Maoris of New Zealand and the native Polynesians of Hawaii, despite movements demanding more cultural recognition, greater economic and political considerations or even outright sovereignty, have remained minorities in countries where massive waves of migration have completely changed society. In short, Oceania has remained one of the least completely decolonized regions on the globe.
Easter Island on the east has been included on the basis of its Polynesian and biogeographic affinities even though it is politically apart. The other islands of the eastern Pacific (Galapagos, Juan Fernandez, etc.) have sometimes been included in Oceania.
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