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DEFINITIONS OF THE CONTINENTS Islands )]] ''Continents'' are so called because they are ''continuous'' bodies of land. Thus, an island is not strictly part of any continent, but many islands can be ''associated'' with one by geographical proximity (or also by historical convention, political ties or similar "human" criteria). For example, Rhodes , Cyprus , Sumatra , Singapore and Hainan are not literally "in" Asia; nevertheless, they are closer to Asia than to any other continent, and also are most closely associated with Asia, so this article will consider them Asiatic islands, and Indonesia and Greece transcontinental countries (likewise for other continents and their adjacent islands). Alternate associations would be defensible in some cases. Using this definition, the following countries could all be considered transcontinental, solely by virtue of the fact that an integral part of their national territory consists of islands that are situated within the Continental Shelf of another continent or are otherwise geographically closer to another continent than the mainland (mainland continent shown below in bold text):
Four countries also include both continental territory and islands in mid-ocean; see Oceania , below. Europe and Asia The nature and boundaries of Europe are as much sociopolitical questions as geographical. Many geologists and geographers agree that Europe and Asia share many common geographical features and they are sometimes referred to as the single continent Eurasia . Europe is nevertheless a distinct geographical entity, a peninsula off the mainland of Asia. The eastern boundary of Europe has been variously defined since antiquity. Herodotus regarded Europe as extending all the way to the Eastern Ocean, and therefore being as long as (and much larger than) Africa and Asia together. The modern world is in consensus that Europe ends at the Aegean Sea , the Black Sea and the Ural Mountains , but the two boundaries between these three features are uncertain; that leading from the Urals to the Black Sea, for example, has been drawn by different authorities as at the Don , the Caucasus , the Phasis or the Russian frontier. A widely accepted border (explained in detail below as Line B)was proposed in 1730 by Philip Johan Von Strahlenberg and was adopted by the Tsar s of Russia. Numerous sources (e.g. the on the Kara Sea , the border follows the eastern side of the Ural mountains, then the Ural River until the Mugodzhar Hills , then the Emba River to the Caspian Sea . The Caspian section of the border goes through the deepest parts of the sea, then on the Kura River (in Azerbaijan and Georgia ), through the Surami passage, and on the Qvirila River in the Kolkhida Lowland to the coastal city of Poti . The Black Sea section of the border again follows the deepest troughs, then through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, then the deepest parts of the Mediterranean Sea and on to the Strait Of Gibraltar . By this definition, Europe includes all the Ural Mountains and the Greater Caucasus (not least . Georgia's capital Tbilisi is located exactly on the border by this definition, while its south-eastern city Rustavi and Azerbaijan's capital Baku are both in Europe. By this definition, the Georgian republics South Ossetia and Abkhazia lie entirely in Europe, but Azerbaijan's Exclave of Nakhichevan is located entirely in Asia. The three additional lines on the map show common interpretations about the border that are mostly non-geographicaly grounded:
Because of Kazakhstan's Central Asian culture and political orientation, it is very rarely regarded as a European country, despite its sizeable territory in Europe (larger than the whole of Portugal or Greece ). Three nations of the South Caucasus, however – Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia – have a stronger sociopolitical claim to be European. Of these three, only Georgia and Azerbaijan are sometimes regarded as having small portions of territory in Europe, but Armenia may be regarded as European for cultural and historical reasons. By this definition, the majority of Georgia's and Azerbaijan's populations live in Europe, and two-thirds of the Georgian territory and a little less than half of Azerbaijan's territory are in Europe. However, they are often excluded today from lists of European states (unlike Russia and Turkey, with proportionally less European territory and population). This may be due in part to the popular , Belarus , Ukraine , and Moldova ); and "other, Asian" states. Recent maps, therefore, often fail to distinguish between the South Caucasus states and those of Central Asia. Culturally European states Other nations have strong cultural ties with Europe, such as the north African states Morocco , Algeria and Tunisia . However, the clear boundary of the Mediterranean Sea excludes these nations geographically. Israel also has European ties, due in part to its unique history; thus, perhaps confusingly, a Middle Eastern state geographically in Asia is represented in the UEFA European football league ( Australia similarly has joined the Asian Football Confederation ), and the Eurovision Song Contest . Some in Israel, as in Morocco and Tunisia, have shown ambition to become a state of the European Union , but currently full membership is disallowed (Morocco has actually applied to join, but was rejected on Geographical Grounds ). Of course, many other countries outside Europe have cultural and historical ties to Europe as a consequence of Colonization and Migration . Politically European states Europe ends in the west at the Atlantic Ocean , although Iceland (in the Atlantic, between Europe and North America) is usually considered European. Greenland is geographically associated with North America but politically associated with Europe (as it is still part of Denmark , although EU law no longer applies there). Turkey , despite having only 3% of its land in Europe, has been a member of the Council Of Europe since 1949 and an official candidate for membership of the European Union since 2005. Islands geographically associated with one continent sometimes have stronger political and cultural ties to another. For example, Cyprus , an island off the coast of Asia, was admitted to the Council Of Europe in 1961 and joined the EU in 2004 . Cape Verde , an island group off the Atlantic coast of Africa, has also shown an interest in joining the EU. Armenia , also a geographically Asian state, joined the Council Of Europe in 2001 . Africa The natural geographical boundaries of Africa are the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea . The boundary between them has been drawn either up the Gulf Of Suez or up the Gulf Of Aqaba . On purely geological grounds, the boundary could be drawn along the faultline into the Jordan River valley (which would make Israel an African country). The usual line today is at the Isthmus of Suez along the path of the Suez Canal . This makes the Sinai Peninsula geographically Asian, and Egypt a transcontinental country. Nevertheless Egypt is commonly referred to as an African state, because most of its population and territory is there. In historical geography, several of the larger Mediterranean islands have often been more akin to Africa than to Europe or Asia. Egypt often ruled Cyprus, and sometimes Rhodes. The Roman Empire grouped Crete with Cyrenaica . The Balearic Islands and half of Sicily were ruled from Carthage . Americas The border between North America and South America has been drawn variously, generally somewhere along the Isthmus Of Panama . One common demarcation follows the Darien Mountains watershed divide along the Colombia -Panama boundary where the isthmus meets the South American continent. Another reckons the continental divide at the Panama Canal , whereby Panama has territory on either side in both continents. Geopolitically (i.e., not strictly geophysical), Panama is usually included with the other Central America n countries in North America. The border between North and South America has also been drawn (infrequently) between Costa Rica and Panama, or at one of several other lines across the Isthmus of Panama. In some cultures, ''America'' (singular usage) is thought of as one continent or Supercontinent encompassing the entire landmass between Alaska and Tierra Del Fuego . In this context, North and South America (and sometimes, Central America) are thought of as Region s of the greater landmass, rather than continents of their own. This collectivity of lands and regions in the Western Hemisphere is referred to as the Americas . From a sociopolitical and Cultural perspective, the Americas are generally divided into Anglo-America (namely the U.S. and Canada , where English prevails) and Latin America (the rest of the Americas, where Romance Languages generally predominate). Latin America – particularly Hispanic America – is generally considered a transcontinental region straddling two continents, much like the Middle East . Moreover, the Guyanas are sometimes grouped with the Caribbean along with Belize . Asia and Oceania Indonesia is a multi-island, transcontinental state belonging both to Asia and to Oceania. The geological and zoological border follows the Wallace Line . Alternatively it may be divided according to the Melanesia definition – accounting for human language, genetics, history and crafts – placing more territory in Asia (shown by the line labelled M on the map). Indonesia is today more commonly referred to as one of the Southeast Asian countries, and thus simply Asian. East Timor , an independent state that was formerly a territory of Indonesia, is sometimes considered part of Oceania, but is classified by the United Nations as part of the "South-Eastern Asia" bloc. Oceania Oceania is not a continent; however, Australia by itself is usually considered one. Therefore the admission of Hawaii to the United States in 1959 did not make the U.S. a transcontinental nation (whether the U.S. was transcontinental from 1898 to 1946, by its possession of the Philippines , is a historical question). If Oceania were a continent, rather than the part of the Earth furthest from any of them, the following countries might be considered transcontinental, as occupying both Oceania and a continent: DEFINITIONS OF TRANSCONTINENTAL NATION A nation divided between two (or more) nationalities may also be termed a transcontinental nation, for several reasons: immigration (e.g. Chinese in the U.S.); historical reasons (colonization, especially of extraterritorial possessions and dependencies of European states – for example Spain 's Ceuta and Melilla ); islands belonging to the more distant state in a sea shared between continents (such as Yemen 's islands of Socotra , east of the Horn Of Africa ). Sometimes these overseas territories are regarded as an integral part of the main state (e.g. French Guiana , part of France ), in which case the state (here, France) could be regarded as a transcontinental nation. LIST OF GEOGRAPHICALLY TRANSCONTINENTAL STATES A transcontinental state is a country whose contiguous continental territory (or in the case of an island state, its different islands) lies in two (or more) different continents. Non-contiguous parts of countries are not considered (i.e. distant integral parts, extraterritorial possessions, dependencies and the like – examples include French Guiana, Hawaii, Socotra, and Ceuta and Melilla). This list includes the countries meeting that definition and presents tables showing the calculated area and population of the country on each continent. Methodology of calculation There are two main methods for non-scientific calculation of parts of the state area:
The total area and population of countries is well known from various sources, so when there is data for the part of the country on one continent - then the other part (on the other continent) and the percentages can be easily calculated. Countries in both Asia and Europe See the introduction of this page for more details about the geographical border between Europe and Asia . See also Geographic Criteria For EU Membership .
''Map colors: Geographical Europe by one definition is colored green. The Asian territory of states that lie both in Europe and Asia are coloured light pink. Dark-pink are colored states that lie entirely on the Asian continent, but are considered European because of cultural and historical reasons. Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhchivan is also coloured dark-pink because it is not a continuous extension of Azerbaijan's territory.'' Statistics Countries are sorted according to percentage of European area. Source: World Gazetteer, Statistics of administrative units, towns and cities {Link without Title} For methodologies of calculation see below. 1 Including the districts of Istanbul city that are lying in Asia. Countries are sorted according to percentage of European population. Source: World Gazetteer, Statistics of administrative units, towns and cities {Link without Title} For methodologies of calculation see below. Azerbaijan The Azerbaijan territory is more finely granulated into regions than the territory of the other states in this list. The consequence is that the area and population calculations should be more accurate. Of the regions that touch the border five lie entierly in Europe by this defintion (best accuracy), one lies almost entierly in Asia, eight lie in both Europe and Asia. Another twenty regions lie entierly in Europe, the rest - in Asia.
Georgia Georgia regions' borders in most cases follow the geographical Europe/Asia border. The exclusions are two regions that are divided in half, one region that stretches by this definition a little into Asia and one region that has a quarter of it in Europe.
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan regions' borders don't follow the Emba river. There is one region entirely in Europe and two regions that are lying in both Europe and Asia by this definition.
Russia Most of Russia regions' borders follow closely enough the Europe/Asia border. The deviations of the borders are such that if one mainly European region has a small part of its territory in Asia, then another mainly Asian region has a small part of its territory in Europe. Such cases are rare and nearly compensating one-another, so for such a rough calculation high accuracy can be claimed.
Turkey Turkey regions' are helpful for the calculation, but one should note some things. The area that the mainly Asian region of Çanakkale occupies in Europe is compensating the Asian territory of the Istanbul region. The population calculation is more problematic, because it is not sure if the population density (inhabitants/sq. km.) of these two parts are equal and then there is the case with the city of Istanbul, which is lying on both Europe and Asia. Should the city be looked as one big 'dot', located in Europe, or should the population figures be divided? Currently the whole population of the city is added to the table as European. Also, precise data about the particular districts of Istanbul is missing.
1 (wrong if Istanbul statistics are to be divided) Cyprus Geographically entirely in Asia , so the accuracy of both area and population percentages is the highest possible. Armenia Geographically entirely in Asia , so the accuracy of both area and population percentages is the highest possible. Countries in both Asia and Africa See Geography Of Africa and Asia pages for more details about the geographical border between Africa and Asia.
Statistics Source: World Gazetteer, Statistics of administrative units, towns and cities {Link without Title} For methodologies of calculation see below. Source: World Gazetteer, Statistics of administrative units, towns and cities {Link without Title} For methodologies of calculation see below. Egypt Three of Egypt's regions lie entirely in Asia. One of the regions is nearly equally divided by the Suez Canal and another has a small portion east of the Suez Canal .
Countries in both Asia and Oceania See Wallace Line and the Oceania and Asia pages for more details about the grouping of the islands between Oceania and Asia. The best option for geographical definition about which island should be included with Oceania and which with Asia is to use the Wallace line.
Statistics Countries are sorted according to percentage of Oceanian area. Source: World Gazetteer, Statistics of administrative units, towns and cities {Link without Title} For methodologies of calculation see below. Countries are sorted according to percentage of Oceanian population. Source: World Gazetteer, Statistics of administrative units, towns and cities {Link without Title} For methodologies of calculation see below. East Timor Geographically (and even culturally) entirely in Oceania , so the accuracy of both area and population percentages is the highest possible. Indonesia Nine of Indonesia's provinces (island groups) lie entirely in Oceania, while the others lie in Asia, so the accuracy of both area and population percentages is the highest possible. Countries in both North America and South America See North America and South America pages for more details about the geographical border between the two Americas.
Statistics 1 Extraterritorial part of the Kingdom Of The Netherlands . Countries are sorted according to percentage of South American area. Source: World Gazetteer, Statistics of administrative units, towns and cities {Link without Title} For methodologies of calculation see below. 1 Extraterritorial part of the Kingdom Of The Netherlands . Countries are sorted according to percentage of South American population. Source: World Gazetteer, Statistics of administrative units, towns and cities {Link without Title} For methodologies of calculation see below. Trinidad and Tobago Geographically entirely in South America , so the accuracy of both area and population percentages is the highest possible. Aruba Geographically entirely in South America , so the accuracy of both area and population percentages is the highest possible. Netherland Antilles Two of the islands groups lie entirely in South America and the other - in North America , so the accuracy of both area and population percentages is the highest possible. Panama Five of the provinces lie entirely in South America. One of the regions is nearly equally divided between both Americas and another - unequally, nearly 1:4 ratio.
TRANSCONTINENTAL EMPIRES IN HISTORY Pre-colonial empires straddling at least two continents (number of continents in parentheses):
Colonial-era empires with non-contiguous overseas possessions (number of continents in parentheses):
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