It is, more often than not, a question of some political decisions.
French Guyana is definitely part of France proper, being a DOM
(overseas department). So are Martinique and Guadeloupe. A couple of
years ago there was a great deal of unease in the Neth. Antilles that
they, being not part of the EU, could not profit from the inner-EU
trade provisions when exporting to the EU, while Martinique and
Guadeloupe could.
Interestingly enough, there is talk of a further splitting up of the
Neth. Antilles at the moment. After Aruba, it is now Sint Maarten
that wants to have the so-called "status aparte". The remaining four
islands will consist of the "giant" Curacao, and three small ones.
For example Saba, where they don't want this to happen at all. So
some people are now talking about the possibility of attaching these
little islands directly to the Netherlands, possibly as
municipalities. That would give Saba a status not unlike that of
Guadeloupe. (And give the flat Netherlands a new highest point: the
870 metres of Mount Scenery).
At the moment, the kingdom of the Netherlands is more like a
commonwealth of three separate nations: the Netherlands, the
Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba.
As for Greenland, this was part of the EEC, together with Denmark
when it joined (Oct. 2, 1972). But then the Greenlanders decided to
opt out (Febr. 1, 1985).
Peter S.
--- In BoundaryPoint@y..., "Brendan Whyte" <brwhyte@h...> wrote:
> Andorra shares a president with France, but isn't in the EC either.
Does
> that mean it's not european? I don't think it enters eurovision
either!
> SEATO included the UK, US and NZ. Are they South East Asian?
>
> Canada might share a Queen with the UK, but she is Queen of Canada
and Queen
> of UK. 2 jobs. Just like Australia, NZ, PNG, etc. The queen is
above these
> things anyway, as she doesn't have a passport. And as there is no
such thing
> as a Citizen of the UK, but rather the people there are British
Subjects,
> and the queen cannot be her own subject any more than the barber
can shave
> himself in Bertrand's paradox, she is not even British in the
normally
> thought of sense.
>
> I would say Greenland is european politically but in American
physically.
> The Azoes and Canaries are part of the EC, but closer to Africa.
What do you
> count them as? you only put Greenland in America because there's a
lot of
> other islands in northern Canada that Greenland appears to form
part of on
> the map. The Canaries and Azoeres are single groups on their own,
so fit
> more easily into our concept of Europe.
> Though I must admit St Helena and Tristan de Cunha start to get a
little
> extreme!
> Even Fr. Guiana is in the EC remember
>
> BW
>
>
> >From: "Peter Smaardijk" <smaardijk@y...>
> >Reply-To: BoundaryPoint@y...
> >To: BoundaryPoint@y...
> >Subject: [BoundaryPoint] Re: Do continental names matter?
> >Date: Thu, 17 May 2001 07:55:00 -0000
> >
> >Continental names don't matter more or less than anything else
> >discussed here, I guess.
> >
> >--- In BoundaryPoint@y..., Emi Boass <eb3@a...> wrote:
> > >
> > > What about Israel, she is part of and has won the European Song
> >Contest.
> >
> >And plays in all kinds of European sports leagues. Israel is just
not
> >very liked by its direct neighbours.
> > >
> > > Greenland shares a King with Denmark, but that does not make
> >Greenland
> > > part of EC. Canada shares a queen with UK but is in America,
though
> > > interestingly many Canadians deny that they are Americans!!!
> >
> >Yes, but in the days the Netherlands were comprised of nl in
Europe,
> >in the Caribbean, in South America and in South-east Asia, the
> >distinction was definitely made about "the kingdom in Europe" and
the
> >rest, which wasn't in Europe. And that looks like common sense to
me.
> > >
> > > On a good day Icelanders will show you where the boundary
between
> > > America and Europe crosses the Island. They tell you at that
time
> >that
> > > the western half of the country is in America and the Eastern in
> > > Europe. They would also tell you that Greenland is the first
> >American
> > > country settled by Nordic people. If you look at the
coordinates
> >you
> > > will find that Greenland surrounds Iceland. Does that make
Iceland
> >part
> > > of America?
> >
> >We'll see. The day Iceland is split in two by a giant earthquake,
> >they can have it their way. But to split an island the Sint Maarten
> >way into parts belonging to different continents, and also
> >considering the fact that the island is not split fauna- and flora-
> >wise, looks very odd to me. Still, like I said, anything to attract
> >tourists...
> >
> >Come to think of it: Can we add the part of California west of the
> >San Andreas fault to Oceania then?
> >
> > >
> > > Emil
> >
> >Peter S.
> > >
> > > Jesper & Nicolette Nielsen wrote:
> > >
> > > > When I was in Cyprus, I regarded it as Europe. The guide even
> >made os
> > > > go to Cape Greco the most south-eastern corner of Europe. But
> >flying
> > > > home it stroke me, as we flew over Asian Turkey, that Cyprus
then
> >had
> > > > me to be Asia as it is very east compared to the Bosperus
> > > > Strait. Cyprus is regarded Europe when it comes to soccer, the
> > > > European Song Contest and the European Community, but that is
> >just man
> > > > made decissions. Look up any encyclopedia and it will say
Cyprus
> >is
> > > > Asia. Anyway, if you went to Madagascar - would you say you
went
> >to
> > > > Africa. Or if you were in Greenland, where you then in
America?
> >Jesper
> >
>
>
______________________________________________________________________
___
> Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at
http://www.hotmail.com