The distinction is rather artificial. The National Geographic Society delimits
the continents on its Europe and Asia whole-continent political maps with this
explanation: "A commonly accepted division between Asia and Europe is formed by
the Ural Mountains, Ural River, Caspian Sea, Caucasus Mountains, and the Black
Sea with its outlets, the Bosporus and Dardanelles, here marked by green line."
Any continental demarcations on the landscape are geographically and
touritsically interesting but officially insignificant roadside baubles, rather
akin to the Mexican monuments on the Tropic of Cancer.
We usually think of Russia and Turkey as the nations that lie in both Europe and
Asia. However, (using the NGS's green line) we find that Kazakhstan,
Azerbaijan, and Georgia are similarly bicontinental. It's hard to think of Baku
as a European city, but it is!
I've always rankled at the notion of assigning islands or parts of the sea to
one "continent" or another. Neither the NGS nor I assign any of the Turkish
islands in the Sea of Marmara or the Greek or Turkish islands in the Aegean Sea
to either continent. Therefore, I would do not include Greece among
bicontinental nations, despite the presence of many Greek islands in the eastern
side of the Aegean Sea. The Greek Island of Sámos lies within three miles of
Asia, but it is neither Europe nor Asia. It is Sámos! That is what it means to
be an island.
I would similarly reject the suggestion of a tricontinental Africa-Asia-Europe
tripoint somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea. Continents stop where the sea
begins. Such a wet tricontinental tripoint would be as bizarre as a dry
Atlantic-Indian-Mediterranean tripoint in the middle of Africa!
Lowell G. McManus
Leesville, Louisiana, USA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Kaufman" <mikekaufman79@...>
To: <BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, March 08, 2004 11:15 PM
Subject: Re: [BoundaryPoint] Asia-Europe
> Search Google Images for "Asia Europe border" for
> quite a few photos of the obelisks.
>
> For a Soviet-style marker see
>
http://www.wbur.org/special/dispatches/russiabikeride/photogallery/week11/images/11.jpg
>
http://www.wbur.org/special/dispatches/russiabikeride/photogallery/week11/images/12.jpg
>
> Is the Border marked on the Bosphorus Strait Turkey
> bridge???
>
> --- Jesper Nielsen <jesniel@...> wrote:
> > http://parovoz.com/gallery/europa-asia.jpg
> >
> > http://www.brooksgreen.net/Siberia/Yekaterinburg.htm
> >
> >
>
>
>
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