View source for Earth:Boundaries between the continents of Earth

{{Short description|Overview of the boundaries between Earth's main geographical regions}}

[[File:Continents vide couleurs.png|thumb|300px|Color-coded map of continents:<br />
{{legend0|#0f0}}{{legend0|#0a5}}[[Earth:Americas|America]]<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;{{legend0|#0f0}}[[Earth:North America|North America]]<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;{{legend0|#0a5}}[[Earth:South America|South America]]<br />
{{legend0|#fed52e}}{{legend0|#f33e01}}{{legend0|#c10000}}[[Earth:Afro-Eurasia|Afro-Eurasia]]<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;{{legend0|#fed52e}}[[Earth:Africa|Africa]]<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;{{legend0|#f33e01}}{{legend0|#c10000}}[[Earth:Eurasia|Eurasia]]<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;{{legend0|#c10000}}[[Earth:Europe|Europe]]<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;{{legend0|#f33e01}}[[Earth:Asia|Asia]]<br />
{{legend0|#c04080}}[[Earth:Australia (continent)|Australia]]<br />
{{legend0|#0040ff}}[[Earth:Antarctica|Antarctica]]]]
[[File:Island nations.svg|thumb|300px|Map of [[Earth:Island country|island countries]]: these states are not located on any continent-sized landmass, but they are usually grouped geographically with a neighbouring continent]]

Determining the '''boundaries between the [[Earth:Continent|continent]]s of [[Astronomy:Earth|Earth]]''' is generally a matter of [[Earth:Geography|geographical]] convention. Several slightly different conventions are in use. The number of continents is most commonly considered seven (in English-speaking countries) but may range as low as four when [[Earth:Afro-Eurasia|Afro-Eurasia]] and the [[Earth:Americas|Americas]] are both considered a single continent.<ref name="McColl">{{cite encyclopedia|title=continents|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of World Geography|volume=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DJgnebGbAB8C&pg=PA215|editor=R.W. McColl|year=2005|publisher=Facts on File, Inc.|isbn=978-0-8160-7229-3|page=215|access-date=26 June 2012|quote=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).}}</ref> An [[Earth:Island|island]] can be considered to be [[Earth:Island#Continental islands|associated with a given continent]] by either lying on the continent's adjacent [[Earth:Continental shelf|continental shelf]] (e.g. [[Place:Singapore|Singapore]], the [[Place:British Isles|British Isles]]) or being [[Earth:Island#Microcontinental islands|a part of a microcontinent]] on the same [[Earth:List of tectonic plates|principal tectonic plate]] (e.g. {{wipe|Madagascar}} and Seychelles). An island can also be entirely [[Earth:Island#Oceanic islands|oceanic]] while still being associated with a continent by [[Earth:Geology|geology]] (e.g. Bermuda, the Australian Indian Ocean Territories) or by common [[Earth:Geopolitics|geopolitical]] convention (e.g. Ascension Island, the South Sandwich Islands). Another example is the grouping into [[Earth:Oceania|Oceania]] of the Pacific Islands with [[Earth:Australia (continent)|Australia]] and [[Earth:Zealandia|Zealandia]].

There are three overland boundaries subject to definition:

* between [[Earth:Africa|Africa]] and [[Earth:Asia|Asia]] (dividing Afro-Eurasia into Africa and [[Earth:Eurasia|Eurasia]]): at the Isthmus of Suez;
* between Asia and [[Earth:Europe|Europe]] (dividing [[Earth:Eurasia|Eurasia]]): along the Turkish Straits, the [[Earth:Caucasus|Caucasus]], and the Urals and the Ural River (historically also north of the Caucasus, along the Kuma–Manych Depression or along the Don River);
* between [[Earth:North America|North America]] and [[Earth:South America|South America]] (dividing the [[Earth:Americas|Americas]]): at some point on the Isthmus of Panama, with the most common demarcation in atlases and other sources following the Darién Mountains watershed that divides along the Colombia–Panama border where the isthmus meets the South American continent (see Darién Gap).

While today the isthmus between Asia and Africa is navigable via the Suez Canal, and that between North and South America via the Panama Canal, these artificial channels are not  generally accepted as continent-defining boundaries in themselves. The Suez Canal happens to traverse the isthmus between the [[Place:Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean Sea]] and the Red 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:

* the delineation between Africa, Asia, and Europe in the [[Place:Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean Sea]];
* the delineation between Asia and Europe in the [[Earth:Arctic Ocean|Arctic Ocean]];
* the delineation between Europe and North America in the [[Earth:Atlantic Ocean|North Atlantic Ocean]];
* the delineation between North and South America in the Caribbean Sea;
* the delineation of Antarctica from Africa, [[Earth:Australia (continent)|Australia]], and South America in the [[Earth:Indian Ocean|Indian]], [[Earth:Pacific Ocean|South Pacific]], and [[Earth:Atlantic Ocean|South Atlantic]] oceans, respectively (referred to collectively by some geographers as the [[Earth:Southern Ocean|Southern Ocean]] or the Antarctic Ocean);
* the delineation of Asia from [[Earth:Australia (continent)|Australia]] in the Ceram Sea, Arafura Sea, Timor Sea, Halmahera Sea, and the [[Biology:Wallacea|Wallacea]]n region of the [[Place:Malay Archipelago|Malay Archipelago]]
* the delineation of Asia from North America in the [[Earth:Pacific Ocean|North Pacific Ocean]].

==Africa and Asia==
[[File:TransAfrica.PNG|thumb|
{{legend|#FF0000|African part of Egypt}}
{{legend|#FFA500|Asian part of Egypt}}
{{legend|#C0C0C0|Rest of Africa}}
{{legend|#FFFF00|Rest of Asia}}]]

Historically in Greco-Roman geography, "Africa" meant [[Place:Ancient Libya|Ancient Libya]], and its eastern extent was taken to be around [[Place:Marmarica|Marmarica]], at the ''[[Earth:Catabathmus Magnus|Catabathmus Magnus]]'', placing Egypt in Asia entirely{{Citation needed|date=February 2020}}. The idea of Egypt being an "African" country seems to develop in around the mid-19th century;{{Citation needed|date=August 2016}} the term ''Africa'' was classically reserved for what is now known as the [[Place:Maghreb|Maghreb]], to the explicit exclusion of Egypt, but with the exploration of Africa, the shape of the African landmass (and Egypt's "natural" inclusion in that landmass) became apparent. In 1806, William George Browne still titled his travelogue ''Travels in Africa, Egypt, and Syria''. Similarly, James Bruce in 1835 published ''Travels through part of Africa, Syria, Egypt, and Arabia''. On the other hand, as early as 1670 John Ogilby under the title ''Africa'' 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 the Isthmus of Suez, the narrowest gap between the [[Place:Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean Sea]] and the Gulf of Suez, the route today followed by the Suez Canal. This makes the [[Place:Sinai Peninsula|Sinai Peninsula]] geographically Asian, and [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]] a transcontinental country. Less than 2% of 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 the [[Finance:MENA|Middle East and North Africa]], Egypt is usually grouped with the Western Asian countries as part of the [[Place:Middle East|Middle East]], while Egypt's western neighbor [[Place:Libya|Libya]] is grouped with the remaining North African countries as the [[Place:Maghreb|Maghreb]]. Both are members of the African Union.

The Comoros, {{wipe|Madagascar}}, [[Earth:Mauritius|Mauritius]], and Seychelles are island countries in the [[Earth:Indian Ocean|Indian Ocean]] which are nominally associated with Africa.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Abegunrin |first1=Olayiwola |last2=Manyeruke |first2=Charity |title=China's Power in Africa: A New Global Order |date=2019 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |pages=10 |isbn=9783030219949 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/China_s_Power_in_Africa/4ci1DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22madAGASCAR+IN+EAST+AFRICA%22&pg=PA10&printsec=frontcover |access-date=11 August 2022 |quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/comoros/|title=Comoros|date=11 July 2022|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|via=CIA.gov}}</ref><ref name="stats"/><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1889176,00.html|title=Life Cycle|first=Richard|last=Stengel|magazine=Time |date=2 April 2009|via=content.time.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/madagascar/|title=Madagascar|date=12 July 2022|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|via=CIA.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/seychelles/|title=Seychelles|date=1 July 2022|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|via=CIA.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mauritius/|title=Mauritius|date=12 July 2022|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|via=CIA.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/10-african-countries-with-the-highest-gdp-per-capita/3qtpzde|title=10 African countries with the highest GDP per capita, according to latest data|first=Emmanuel Abara|last=Benson|date=9 March 2022|website=Business Insider Africa}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uneca.org/sites/default/files/SROs/Eastern-Africa/ICSOE-24/full_report_services_trade_report_.pdf |title=The Economic and Social Impacts of the COVID-19 Crisis on Eastern Africa|website=Uneca.org|access-date=26 July 2022}}</ref> The Socotra Archipelago may be considered African as it lies on its continental shelf; however, it is politically a part of Yemen, an Asian country.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/list-of-countries-by-continent|title=List of Countries by Continent 2022|website=Worldpopulationreview.com}}</ref>

==Africa and Europe==
[[File:Mediterranean Relief.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.35|The Mediterranean Sea, between Africa and Europe]]
[[File:Makaronesia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|The Atlantic Ocean around the plate boundaries (text is in [[Social:Finnish language|Finnish]])]]

The [[Earth:Africa|Africa]]n and [[Earth:Europe|Europe]]an 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 the Azores is {{convert|1368|km|abbr=on}} from Europe and {{convert|1507|km|abbr=on}} from Africa, and is sometimes grouped with Europe. By contrast, the Canary Islands and the Madeira islands (the latter of which also include the Desertas Islands and the Savage Islands) off the Atlantic coast of Morocco are much closer to, and usually grouped with, Africa; the Canary Islands are only {{convert|100|km|abbr=on}} from the African mainland at their closest point but {{convert|945|km|abbr=on}} from the European mainland, while Madeira is {{convert|520|km|abbr=on}} from the African mainland and {{convert|1000|km|abbr=on}} from the European mainland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spainforvisitors.com/sections/canaryislands.htm |title=The Canary Isands |access-date=15 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121225123213/http://spainforvisitors.com/sections/canaryislands.htm |archive-date=25 December 2012 }}; {{cite web|url=http://listofafricancountries.com |title=Countries of Africa |access-date=14 June 2016}}</ref>  In his 1895 book ''Africa: 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."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Keane |first1=Augustus Henry |title=Africa: Volume 2 |date=1895 |publisher=The University of California |page=636 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Africa/gA5FAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22azores%22+%22geographically%22+%22africa%22&pg=PA636&printsec=frontcover |access-date=12 March 2022}}</ref>

The Mediterranean [[Earth:Island country|island country]] of Malta is about {{convert|81|km|abbr=on}} from the coast of [[Place:Sicily|Sicily]] - much closer than the {{convert|288|km|abbr=on}} distance to the African mainland. The nearby Italian island of Lampedusa (principal island of the Pelagie Islands) is {{convert|207|km|abbr=on}} from Sicily while just {{convert|127|km|abbr=on}} from the African mainland; similarly, [[Earth:Pantelleria|Pantelleria]] is {{convert|100|km|abbr=on}} from Sicily and just {{convert|71|km|abbr=on}} from the African mainland. All of these Mediterranean islands, including Malta and Sicily, are actually located on the [[Earth:African Plate|African Plate]], and could be considered part of the African continent geologically.<ref name="na">{{cite book |last1=Hutt |first1=Graham |title=North Africa |date=2010 |publisher=Imray, Laurie, Norie and Wilson Limited |page=265 |isbn=9781846238833 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/North_Africa/HxGQDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Lampione+%22africa%22&pg=PA265&printsec=frontcover}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://africa-arabia-plate.weebly.com/|title=African/Arabian Tectonic Plates|website=African/Arabian Tectonic Plates|access-date=2016-10-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/GeolColBk/AfricanPlate.HTM|title=African Plate|website=Uwgb.edu|access-date=2016-10-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006145431/https://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/GeolColBk/AfricanPlate.HTM|archive-date=6 October 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, for political and cultural reasons, maps generally display them as part of Europe instead.<ref name="hob">{{cite book|url=https://linguistics.stonybrook.edu/faculty/robert.hoberman/files/publications/Hoberman%202007%20Maltese%20morphology.pdf|page=257|title=Chapter 13 : Maltese Morphology|author=Robert D. Hoberman|publisher=Stony Brook University|location=Stony Brook, New York|access-date=26 July 2022}}</ref>

A single Spanish islet, known as Alboran Island, is also debatably located on either the [[Earth:African Plate|African Plate]] or the [[Earth:Eurasian Plate|Eurasian Plate]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/2015JB012073|title=Seismicity and active tectonics in the Alboran Sea, Western Mediterranean: Constraints from an offshore‐onshore seismological network and swath bathymetry data|first1=Ingo|last1=Grevemeyer|first2=Eulàlia|last2=Gràcia|first3=Antonio|last3=Villaseñor|first4=Wiebke|last4=Leuchters|first5=Anthony B.|last5=Watts|date=17 December 2015|journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth|volume=120|issue=12|pages=8348–8365|doi=10.1002/2015JB012073|bibcode=2015JGRB..120.8348G |s2cid=54792160 }}</ref> This island is located in the Alboran Sea, 50&nbsp;km (31&nbsp;mi) north of the Moroccan coast and 90&nbsp;km (56&nbsp;mi) south of {{wipe|Spain}}.

===European-governed territories in Africa===
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 by {{wipe|France}}, and three of these are administered by {{wipe|Spain}}. 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 the [[Earth:Indian Ocean|Indian Ocean]], and, consequently, are more dislocated from the principal boundary between the two continents.

The uninhabited Spanish unincorporated overseas minor territories, known as the plazas de soberanía ("Localities of Sovereignty"),<ref>{{cite web|title=plaza #5 {{!}} Diccionario de la lengua española|url=https://dle.rae.es/plaza|last1=ASALE|first1=RAE-|last2=RAE|website=«Diccionario de la lengua española» - Edición del Tricentenario|language=es|access-date=2020-05-06}}</ref> are small islands that lie immediately adjacent to the North African coastline, with the exception of Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, which was originally an island like the other 'localities' but has subsequently become directly connected to the Moroccan (African) mainland. The two other Spanish territories are the exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which are two [[Social:Population|populated]] coastal cities located directly on the African mainland, both bordering only Morocco.

Two of the French territories are the inhabited overseas departments and regions of Mayotte and Réunion. Mayotte is an island territory located west of the island country of Madagascar within the Mozambique 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).<ref name="stats"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mauritius/|title=Mauritius|date=2 March 2022|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|via=CIA.gov}}</ref> The final territory is the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean, administratively a part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. This French territory consists of a range of minor uninhabited [[Earth:Atoll|atoll]]s in the Indian Ocean, located in the deep sea surrounding Madagascar.

==Antarctica==
Antarctica along with its outlying islands have no permanent population. All land claims south of 60°S latitude are held in abeyance by the Antarctic Treaty System.

Australia's Heard Island and McDonald Islands (an external territory) and the French Kerguelen Islands are located on the [[Earth:Kerguelen Plateau|Kerguelen Plateau]], on the Antarctic 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.<ref name="stats"/> The islands are 4,000 km from Perth in Australia, and have never been inhabited by indigenous peoples of Oceania or any other humans. Heard Island has only been visited 240 times throughout its entire history, and the [[Earth:McDonald Islands (Australia)|McDonald Islands]] have only ever been visited twice, in 1971 and 1980.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.traveller.com.au/australias-most-remote-territories-and-how-to-visit-them-12nz6m|title=Advance Australia far: Our most remote outposts|first=David|last=Whitley|date=14 January 2015|website=Traveller}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/dimensions/remote-offshore-territories/heard-and-mcdonald-islands|title=Heard and McDonald Islands|first=c\=AU\;o\=Australia Government\;ou\=Geoscience|last=Australia|date=15 May 2014|website=Ga.gov.au}}</ref> The World Factbook categorizes these islands as part of Antarctica rather than Oceania.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/heard-island-and-mcdonald-islands/|title=Heard Island and McDonald Islands|date=21 June 2022|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|via=CIA.gov}}</ref>

The French Crozet Islands, [[Earth:Île Amsterdam|Île Amsterdam]], Île Saint-Paul, and the Norwegian [[Earth:Bouvet Island|Bouvet 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,<ref name="stats"/> while the World Factbook categorizes it as part of Antarctica.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/bouvet-island/|title=Bouvet Island|date=6 June 2022|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|via=CIA.gov}}</ref>

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are closer to Antarctica than to any other continent. However, they are politically associated with the Falkland Islands, which are less geographically isolated from South America. Furthermore, {{wipe|Argentina}}, a South American country, maintains its [[Social:Irredentism|irredentist]] claims on all of these islands, which are administered by the {{wipe|United Kingdom}}. The United Nations consider them to be part of South America.<ref name="stats"/> Definitions of South America that exclude the [[Earth:Galápagos Islands|Galápagos Islands]] and Juan Fernández Islands (both [[Earth:Island#Oceanic islands|oceanic]] in nature) still generally include the Falklands, which share biographical affinities to [[Place:Patagonia|Patagonia]] and [[Earth:Tierra del Fuego|Tierra del Fuego]], and which are located on the South American continental shelf.<ref name="sabirds">{{cite book |last1=S. Ridgely |first1=Robert |last2=Guy |first2=Tudor |title=The Birds of South America: Volume 1: The Oscine Passerines |date=1989 |publisher=University of Texas Press |page=14 |isbn=9780292707566 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tRBb15pk4w0C&dq=%22SOUTH+GEORGIA%22+%22PART+OF+SOUTH+AMERICA%22&pg=PA14 |access-date=12 March 2022 |quote=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 islands ''are'' 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) are ''not''. 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.}}</ref> 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 by Indigenous peoples of the Americas during prehistoric times.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hamley|first1=Kit M.|last2=Gill|first2=Jacquelyn L.|last3=Krasinski|first3=Kathryn E.|last4=Groff|first4=Dulcinea V.|last5=Hall|first5=Brenda L.|last6=Sandweiss|first6=Daniel H.|last7=Southon|first7=John R.|last8=Brickle|first8=Paul|last9=Lowell|first9=Thomas V.|date=29 October 2021|title=Evidence of prehistoric human activity in the Falkland Islands|journal=Science Advances|language=en|volume=7|issue=44|pages=eabh3803|doi=10.1126/sciadv.abh3803|pmid=34705512|pmc=8550247|bibcode=2021SciA....7H3803H|issn=2375-2548}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=G. Hattersley-Smith |date=June 1983 |title=Fuegian Indians in the Falkland Islands |journal=[[Earth:Polar Record|Polar Record]] |volume=21 |issue=135 |pages=605–06 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/S003224740002204X |s2cid=129083566 }}</ref> These theories are usually considered dubious, as there is no archaeological evidence indicating prehistoric human inhabitation on the Falklands.<ref name="aljaz"/> South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands do not have any permanent residents. The Falkland Islands have historically had a British population, with a distinct culture to that of mainland South America.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/falklands-rights-and-referendum-on-sovereignty-088584|title=Falklands' rights and sovereignty|first=Sir Peter|last=Westmacott|website=POLITICO}}</ref> There was a 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.<ref name="aljaz">{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2007/4/1/uk-regrets-falklands-war-deaths |title=UK 'regrets' Falklands war deaths &#124; News |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=2007-04-01 |access-date=2022-03-09}}</ref>

The Prince Edward Islands are located between Africa and Antarctica, and are the territory of South Africa, an African country.

Macquarie Island and the [[Earth:Antipodes Islands|Antipodes Islands]], [[Earth:Auckland Islands|Auckland Islands]], and Campbell Islands are all uninhabited, and located between Australia and New Zealand and Antarctica.<!-- see discussion --> The Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands and Campbell Islands are politically part of New Zealand, while Macquarie Island has been integrated into the Australian state of Tasmania. None are discrete political entities like Heard Island and McDonald Islands. As such, they are likely considered to also be part of Oceania by the United Nations. 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 by Polynesians during prehistoric times.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/subantarctic-islands/page-4 |title=4. Early human settlement – Subantarctic islands |publisher=Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand |date=24 January 2013 |access-date=2 August 2013}}</ref> 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.<ref name="fr">{{cite web|url=https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers19-08/010044590.pdf|title=Island locations and classifications |website=Horizon.documentation.ird.fr |access-date=29 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/history/stations/macquarie-island/ |title=Macquarie Island station: a brief history – Australian Antarctic Program |website=Antarctica.gov.au |date= |access-date=29 December 2021}}</ref>

==Asia and Australia==
[[File:Map of Sunda and Sahul.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|The Wallace, Weber, and Lydekker Lines, the three principal biogeographic boundaries in Wallacea]]

The continental boundary between Asia and [[Earth:Australia (continent)|Australia]] is somewhere in the [[Biology:Wallacea|Wallacea]]n region of the Malay Archipelago. The boundary is frequently divided along the anthropologic Melanesian Line or the biogeographic Weber's Line.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} Two provinces of Indonesia are located at the western half of New Guinea, geologically a part of the [[Earth:Australia (continent)|Australian continent]]. The eastern half of the island is a part of Papua New Guinea which is considered to be a part of Oceania.<ref name="stats"/> Indonesia is commonly referred to as one of the [[Place:Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]]n countries.<ref>{{cite book | chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1355/9789814311175-016/pdf | doi=10.1355/9789814311175-016 | chapter=13. The Early Inscriptions of Indonesia and the Problem of the Sanskrit Cosmopolis | title=Early Interactions between South and Southeast Asia | year=2011 | pages=277–298 | isbn=9789814311175 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/07/16/indonesias-new-economics-who-gains/8e3edd2b-6e71-4fe3-81e8-ec3b3cdf9b60/ |title=INDONESIA'S NEW ECONOMICS WHO GAINS? |date=1990-07-16 |author1=JACK ANDERSON |author2=DALE VAN ATTA |newspaper={{wipe|The Washington Post}} |place=Washington, D.C. |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=1330888409}}</ref><ref name="handbook"/><ref name="stats"/> Indonesia's current ownership of Western New Guinea makes it a transcontinental country; Western New Guinea is often considered part of Oceania because of its Indigenous Melanesian inhabitants and geological association with the Australian continental landmass.<ref name="devchris">{{cite book |doi=10.1002/9781118556115.ch44 |chapter=The Historical Development of Christianity in Oceania |title=The Wiley Blackwell Companion to World Christianity |year=2016 |last1=Ernst |first1=Manfred |last2=Anisi |first2=Anna |pages=588–604 |isbn=978-1-4051-5376-8 }}</ref><ref name="asianpacific"/> East Timor, an independent state that was formerly a part of Indonesia, is classified by the {{wipe|United Nations}} as a part of the South-eastern Asia subregion. It is expected to join the [[Organization:ASEAN|Association of Southeast Asian Nations]],<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/east-timor-asean-bid/2006/07/22/1153166635002.html | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | title=East Timor ASEAN bid | date=23 July 2006}}</ref> having been involved as an ASEAN Regional Forum member since independence, and has participated in the Southeast Asian Games since 2003.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/postcolonial-blog/2019/nov/13/australias-history-with-east-timor-isnt-pretty-but-it-must-be-told-truthfully|title=Australia's history with East Timor isn't pretty but it must be told truthfully &#124; Paul Daley|date=13 November 2019|website=The Guardian}}</ref>

Occasionally, all of the [[Place:Malay Archipelago|Malay Archipelago]] is included in Oceania, although this is extremely rare, especially as most of the archipelago lies on the Asian continental shelf.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.skimountaineer.com/ROF/Region.php?region=Oceania|title = Skiing the Pacific Ring of Fire and Beyond: Oceania}}</ref> The Malay Archipelago was more frequently associated with Oceania during the 19th century, when the term was first coined.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cornell |first1=Sophia S. |title=Cornell's First Steps in Geography |date=1859 |publisher=The University of Michigan |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Cornell_s_First_Steps_in_Geography/wew1AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22malaysia+oceania%22&pg=PT1&printsec=frontcover |access-date=11 March 2022}}</ref><ref name="countriesoftheworld">{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Robert |chapter-url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/The_countries_of_the_world/3-0DAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22oceania%22+%22juan%22+%22galapagos%22&pg=PA2&printsec=frontcover |title=The countries of the world |date=1876 |publisher=Oxford University |chapter=Oceania: General Characteristics |access-date=1 February 2022}}</ref> 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 and Indigenous Australians of Oceania, who were isolated from the culture of Asia and the [[Place:Eastern world|eastern world]].<ref name="understanding"/> Epeli Hauʻofa, a scholar of Tongan and Fijian 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 from {{wipe|Japan}}, through the {{wipe|Philippines}} 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 the [[History:Pre-Columbian era|pre-Columbian Americas]] and is based on our own historical developments, rather than on other people’s perceptions of us."<ref name="understanding">{{cite book |last1=Firth |first1=Stewart |last2=Naidu |first2=Vijay |title=Understanding Oceania: Celebrating the University of the South Pacific and its collaboration with The Australian National University |date=2019 |publisher=ANU Press |page=354 |isbn=9781760462895 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHmfDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22spread+of+our+islands+allowed+a+great+deal+of+mobility+within+the+region%22&pg=PA354}}</ref>

The United Nations and The World Factbook categorize the Australian [[Earth:Indian Ocean|Indian Ocean]] external territories of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands (both geographically adjacent to Java) as being part of Oceania, rather than Asia.<ref name="stats"/> The islands lie within the bounds of the [[Earth:Australian Plate|Australian Plate]], and were uninhabited prior to European discovery in the 17th century. They have oceanic geology, making them distinct from both mainland Asia and mainland Australia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/api/records/a05f7892-8f70-7506-e044-00144fdd4fa6|title=BMR Cruise 107: Seabed Morphology and Offshore Resources around Christmas Island, Indian Ocean|website=Product catalogue}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://parksaustralia.gov.au/marine/pub/scientific-publications/archive/conservation-christmas-cocos.pdf |title=Conservation values in Commonwealth waters of the Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Island remote Australian territories|date=August 2009|website=Parksaustralia.gov.au|access-date=26 July 2022}}</ref>

Japan possesses the Bonin Islands (also known as the Ogasawara Islands),<ref name="guamschool"/> the Volcano Islands, and three remote islets ([[Earth:Nishinoshima (Ogasawara)|Nishinoshima]], [[Earth:Minami-Tori-shima|Minami-Tori-shima]] and [[Earth:Okinotorishima|Okinotorishima]]), all governed collectively as Ogasawara Village, which is an [[Place:Administrative division|administrative division]] consisting of scattered island [[Earth:Atoll|atoll]]s located in the [[Earth:Pacific Ocean|Pacific Ocean]]. These mostly uninhabited islands are located at some distance southeast of the Japanese archipelago. Owing to the location and oceanic nature of these islands, they are sometimes considered to be a part of Oceania as well.<ref name="isl"/><ref name="global"/><ref name="realm">{{cite book |last1=Todd |first1=Ian |title=Island Realm: A Pacific Panorama |date=1974 |publisher=Angus & Robertson |page=190 |isbn=9780207127618 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Island_Realm/gcEJAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22French+language+cultures%22+1974+pacific&dq=%22French+language+cultures%22+1974+pacific&printsec=frontcover |access-date=2 February 2022 |quote=[we] can further define the word ''culture'' to mean ''language''. 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.}}</ref><ref name="ausgov"/> The islands are within the [[Biology:Oceanian realm|Oceanian biogeographical realm]], unlike the rest of Japan,<ref name="class">{{cite web |last1=Udvardy |first1=Miklos D.F. |title=A Classification of the Biogeographical Provinces of the World |url=https://fnad.org/Documentos/A%20Classification%20of%20the%20Biogeographical%20Provinces%20of%20the%20World%20Miklos%20D.F.%20Udvardy.pdf |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=7 March 2022}}</ref> and may have been inhabited by Micronesians around 2,000 years ago.<ref name="history"/> Their official discovery came much later in the 16th century, through Europeans.<ref name="guamschool">{{cite book |title=Oceania in the 21st Century - Color |date=2010 |publisher=St. John's School, Guam, USA |isbn=9780557445059 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Oceania_in_the_21st_Century_Color/W1cudnPlxEsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22oceania%22+%22bonin%22&pg=PA5&printsec=frontcover |access-date=12 March 2022 |quote=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” [,,,]}}</ref><ref name="history">{{cite web|url=http://www.iwojima.jp/ogasa2.html|title=小笠原諸島の歴史|website=Iwojima.jp}}</ref> The most remote island within this group, Minami-Tori-shima (also known as Marcus Island) is nearly 2,000 km removed from [[Place:Tokyo|Tokyo]], and is geographically closer to the Micronesian territories of Guam and Northern Mariana Islands.<ref name="guamschool"/><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.gsi.go.jp/common/000001188.pdf |title=Spatial Data Infrastructure Work in Japan 2000 − 2003 |journal=Bulletin of the Geographical Survey Institute |volume=50 |date=March 2004 |pages=9–25 }}</ref> Inhabitants of the Ryukyu Islands, on the periphery of the main Japanese archipelago, are sometimes associated with Austronesians.<ref>{{Cite book | chapter-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/j.ctt1pwtd26.17.pdf | jstor=j.ctt1pwtd26.17 | chapter=The Ryukyu Islands and the Northern Frontier of Prehistoric Austronesian Settlement | last1=Hudson | first1=Mark J. | title=New Perspectives in Southeast Asian and Pacific Prehistory | year=2017 | volume=45 | pages=189–200 | publisher=ANU Press | isbn=9781760460945 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="handbook"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Pandian |first1=Jacob |last2=Parman |first2=Susan |title=The Making of Anthropology: The Semiotics of Self and Other in the Western Tradition |date=2004 |publisher=Vedams |page=206 |isbn=9788179360149 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/The_Making_of_Anthropology/RgO8nLql2KwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22some+exclude+from+oceania%22&pg=PA206&printsec=frontcover |access-date=19 July 2022}}</ref> To the north of Japan is the disputed Kuril Islands, currently administered by {{wipe|Russia}}. Usually, these islands are associated with the Russian Far East. This is primarily as a result of their non-tropical biogeography, and their inhabitants, who are mostly white Russian mainlanders.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SxBZAAAAYAAJ&q=%22aleutians%22+%22oceania%22 | title=Asia and the Americas | year=1943 }}</ref>

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'' and ''Polynesia''.<ref name="corn">{{cite book |last1=Cornell |first1=Sophia S. |title=Cornell's Primary Geography: Forming Part First of a Systematic Series of School Geographies |publisher=Harvard University |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/CORNELL_S_PRIMARY_GEOGRAPHY/1Z9hizT9tiAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22included+in+oceania%22&pg=RA2-PA95&printsec=frontcover |access-date=31 March 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730064858/https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/CORNELL_S_PRIMARY_GEOGRAPHY/1Z9hizT9tiAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22included+in+oceania%22&pg=RA2-PA95&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> Australia, Guam and Northern Mariana Islands currently compete in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), with Australia and Northern Mariana Islands having originally been part of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).<ref name="ofc">{{cite web|author=Admin |url=https://footballoceania.com/2021/02/03/the-curious-case-of-northern-mariana-islands-and-what-ofc-can-learn-from-it/ |title=The curious case of Northern Mariana Islands and what OFC can learn from it - Football in Oceania |website=Footballoceania.com |date= 3 February 2021|access-date=2022-03-09}}</ref> Guam was never an official OFC member, although they exclusively played against teams from Oceania prior to joining the AFC.<ref name="ofc"/> 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.<ref name="ofc"/> All three are members of the Pacific 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 of [[Place:Micronesia|Micronesia]], and are biogeographically and geologically distinct from mainland Asia.<ref name="pif">{{cite web|url=https://cooperation-regionale.gouv.nc/en/cooperation-pacific/pacific-islands-forum-pif |title=The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) &#124; Coopération Régionale et Relations Extérieures de la Nouvelle-Calédonie |website=Cooperation-regionale.gouv.nc |date= |access-date=2022-03-02}}</ref> Palau made an unsuccessful attempt to join the Asian Football Confederation in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eaff.com/eanews/release/2009/090905.html |title=Regarding the agenda/ decisions of the 29th EAFF Executive Committee Meeting |access-date=27 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207081025/http://www.eaff.com/eanews/release/2009/090905.html |archive-date=7 February 2012}}</ref> They too share much of the same history as the rest of Micronesia, and are a member of the Pacific Islands Forum.<ref name="pif"/>

Taiwan has at times been associated with Oceania,<ref name="flick"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Marshall Cavendish Corporation |title=Encyclopedia of Earth and Physical Sciences: Nuclear physics-Plate tectonics |date=1998 |publisher=Pennsylvania State University |page=876 |isbn=9780761405511 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Encyclopedia_of_Earth_and_Physical_Scien/px7YAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22japan%22+%22aleutian%22+%22oceania%22&dq=%22japan%22+%22aleutian%22+%22oceania%22&printsec=frontcover |access-date=29 March 2022}}</ref><ref name="ling">{{cite book |last1=Bowen |first1=James Dean |title=Linguistics in Oceania, 2 |date=1971 |publisher=The University of Michigan |page= |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Current_Trends_in_Linguistics_Linguistic/lYouAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=taiwan+Linguistics+in+Oceania+(2+v.&dq=taiwan+Linguistics+in+Oceania+(2+v.&printsec=frontcover |access-date=2 February 2022 |chapter= Japanese in Taiwan|quote=}}</ref><ref name="intmil">{{cite book |editor1-last=Dupuy |editor1-first=Trevor N. |title=International Military and Defense Encyclopedia: Volume 4 |date=1992 |publisher=The University of Michigan |page=2009 |isbn=9780028810119 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/International_Military_and_Defense_Encyc/wKYRAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22taiwan+oceania%22&dq=%22taiwan+oceania%22&printsec=frontcover |access-date=19 March 2022 |quote=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.}}</ref> not only because of their loose status as a Pacific Island, but also because of their indigenous population, who are related to the natives of Oceania.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/destinations/asia/67390585/new-zealands-long-lost-taiwanese-cuzzies|title=New Zealand's long-lost Taiwanese cuzzies|first=Adam|last=Dudding|date=15 March 2015|website=Stuff}}</ref> In 2010, Australian historian Bronwen Douglas claimed in ''The 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."<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/25764398|title="Terra Australis" to Oceania: Racial Geography in the 'Fifth Part of the World'|author=DOUGLAS, BRONWEN|year=2010|journal=The Journal of Pacific History|volume=45|issue=2|pages=179–210|doi=10.1080/00223344.2010.501696 |jstor=25764398 |pmid=20836257 |hdl=1885/52012 |s2cid=205438654 |via=JSTOR|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Definitions of Oceania which include Taiwan are extremely rare, due to their historical ties to mainland Asia, their proximity to {{wipe|China}} (being 180 km removed), and the fact that they lie on the continental shelf of Asia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Oceania-region-Pacific-Ocean|title=Oceania &#124; Definition, Population, & Facts &#124; Britannica|website=Britannica.com}}</ref><ref name="intmil"/> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goal.com/en-au/news/chinese-taipei-india-intercontinental-cup-know-your-rivals/bugueu6dtcwd1u6nbyi6wmj90/match/4c8k8i08ssh8dc5lclsl4sxuy|title=Indian National Football Team: Know Your Rivals - Chinese Taipei|website=Goal.com}}</ref> 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.<ref name="pif"/>

=={{anchor|Asia and Europe|Europe and Asia}}Asia and Europe==
The boundary between [[Earth:Asia|Asia]] and [[Earth:Europe|Europe]] is unusual among continental boundaries because of its largely mountain-and-river-based characteristics north and east of the Black Sea. The reason is historical, the division of Asia and Europe going back to the [[History:List of Graeco-Roman geographers|early Greek geographers]].

In the modern sense of the term "continent", [[Earth:Eurasia|Eurasia]] is more readily identifiable as a "continent", and Europe has occasionally been described as a [[Earth:Continent#Subcontinents|subcontinent]] of Eurasia.<ref name="europe">{{cite book |author=Hans Slomp |title=Europe: A Political Profile |year=2011 |isbn=9780313391828 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LmfAPmwE6YYC&q=%22european+subcontinent%22&pg=PA634 |access-date=2014-09-10}}</ref>

===Mainland===
====History====
[[File:Eurasian borders.jpg|thumb|Red line "'''A'''" was once commonly accepted in Russia and Kazakhstan during the Soviet Union era.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} However, the commonly accepted modern definition mostly fits with the lines "'''B'''" and "'''F'''" in this image.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}]]

The threefold division of the [[Earth:Old World|Old World]] into Africa, Asia, and Europe has been in use since the 6th century BC, due to [[History:List of Graeco-Roman geographers|early Greek geographers]] such as [[Biography:Anaximander|Anaximander]] and Hecataeus.<ref name="europe"/>

Anaximander placed the boundary between Asia and Europe along the Phasis River (the modern Rioni in [[Place:Georgia (country)|Georgia]] in the [[Place:Caucasus Mountains|Caucasus Mountains]]), from Rioni mouth in Poti on the Black Sea coast, through the Surami Pass and along the Kura River to the Caspian Sea, a convention still followed by Herodotus in the 5th century BC.
<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9FrGhw9TXn8C&q=phasis+border&pg=PA23|title = A Culture of Freedom: Ancient Greece and the Origins of Europe|isbn = 978-0-19-165240-0|last1 = Meier|first1 = Christian|date = 22 September 2011}}</ref><ref>''Histories'' 4.38. C.f. James Rennell, ''The Geographical System of Herodotus Examined and Explained'', Volume 1, Rivington 1830, [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_enQ-AAAAcAAJ/page/n274 <!-- quote=Herodotus Phasis. --> p. 244]</ref>
As geographic knowledge of the Greeks increased during the Hellenistic period,<ref>according to Strabo (''Geographica'' 11.7.4) even at the time of Alexander, "it was agreed by all that the Tanais river separated Asia from Europe" ({{lang|grc|ὡμολόγητο ἐκ πάντων ὅτι διείργει τὴν Ἀσίαν ἀπὸ
τῆς Εὐρώπης ὁ Τάναϊς ποταμός}}; c.f. Duane W. Roller, ''Eratosthenes' Geography'', Princeton University Press, 2010, {{ISBN|978-0-691-14267-8}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=8peKyWK_SWsC&pg=PA57&dq=Eratosthenes+Tanais&hl=en&ei=vdGiTeTEEY7rObCruTU&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Eratosthenes%20Tanais&f=false p. 57])
</ref> this archaic convention was revised, and the boundary between Asia and Europe was now considered to be the Tanais (the modern Don River). This is the convention used by Roman era authors such as [[Biography:Posidonius|Posidonius]],<ref>
W. Theiler, ''Posidonios. Die Fragmente'', vol. 1. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1982, fragm. 47a.</ref> Strabo<ref>
I. G. Kidd (ed.), ''Posidonius: The commentary'', Cambridge University Press, 2004, {{ISBN|978-0-521-60443-7}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=_iXs1aCr1ckC&pg=PA738&dq=Posidonius+Tanais&hl=en&ei=E8-iTdzLH8aZOuXPuTQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Tanais&f=false p. 738].</ref> and [[Biography:Ptolemy|Ptolemy]].<ref>
''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geographia]]'' 7.5.6 (ed. Nobbe 1845, [https://books.google.com/books?id=vHMCAAAAQAAJ vol. 2], p. 178)) {{lang|grc|Καὶ τῇ Εὐρώπῃ δὲ συνάπτει διὰ τοῦ μεταξὺ αὐχένος τῆς τε Μαιώτιδος λίμνης καὶ τοῦ Σαρματικοῦ Ὠκεανοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς διαβάσεως τοῦ Τανάϊδος ποταμοῦ. }}
"And [Asia] is connected to Europe by the land-strait between Lake Maiotis and the Sarmatian Ocean where the river Tanais crosses through."</ref>

Throughout the Middle Ages and into the 18th century, the traditional division of the landmass of [[Earth:Eurasia|Eurasia]] into two continents, Asia and Europe, followed Ptolemy, with the boundary following the Turkish Straits, the Black Sea, the Kerch Strait, the Sea of Azov and the Don (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 at Kalach-na-Donu (where it is closest to the Volga, now joined with it by the Volga–Don Canal), into territory not described in any detail by the ancient geographers.


By the mid-19th century, there were three main conventions, one following the Don, the Volga–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 the Greater Caucasus watershed to the Caspian. The question was still treated as a controversy in geographical literature of the 1860s, with Douglas Freshfield advocating the Caucasus crest boundary as the best possible, citing support from various modern geographers.<ref>Douglas W. Freshfield, "[https://books.google.com/books?id=ips8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA71&dq=%22watershed+of+the+Caucasus%22&hl=en&ei=4bCdTeaeEpDsOeK6iOgE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFEQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=%22watershed%20of%20the%20Caucasus%22&f=false Journey in the Caucasus]", ''Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society'', Volumes 13-14, 1869.
Cited as de facto convention by Baron von Haxthausen, ''Transcaucasia'' (1854); review [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_SN0EAAAAQAAJ/page/n152 <!-- pg=140 quote="watershed of the Caucasus". --> Dublin University Magazine]</ref>

In Russia and the [[Place:Soviet Union|Soviet Union]], the boundary along the Kuma–Manych Depression was the most commonly used as early as 1906.<ref>[http://dlib.rsl.ru/view.php?path=/rsl01004000000/rsl01004103000/rsl01004103489/rsl01004103489.pdf#?page=163] {{dead link|date=August 2016}}</ref> In 1958, the Soviet Geographical Society formally recommended that the boundary between Asia and Europe be drawn in textbooks from Baydaratskaya Bay, on the Kara Sea, along the eastern foot of the Ural Mountains, then following the Ural River until the Mugodzhar Hills, and then the Emba River; and Kuma–Manych Depression,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://velikijporog.narod.ru/st_evraz_gran.htm|title=Do we live in Europe or in Asia?|language=ru}}</ref> thus placing the Caucasus entirely in Asia and the Urals entirely in Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.i-u.ru/biblio/archive/orlenok_fisicheskaja/06.aspx |title=Physical Geography |year=1998 |author=Orlenok V. |language=ru |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016212930/http://www.i-u.ru/biblio/archive/orlenok_fisicheskaja/06.aspx |archive-date=16 October 2011}}</ref> However, most geographers in the Soviet Union favoured the boundary along the Caucasus crest<ref>E. M. Moores, R. W. Fairbridge, ''Encyclopedia of European and Asian regional geology'', Springer, 1997, {{ISBN|978-0-412-74040-4}}, p. 34: "most Soviet geographers took the watershed of the Main Range of the Greater Caucasus as the boundary between Europe and Asia."</ref> and this became the standard convention in the latter 20th century, although the Kuma–Manych boundary remained in use in some 20th-century maps.

====Modern definition====
[[File:Atyrau, Kazakhstan - panoramio - 우한길(HK Woo) (5).jpg|thumb|Atyrau, Kazakhstan]]
[[File:Pedestrian bridge in Orenburg.jpg|thumb|upright|Pedestrian bridge over the Ural River in Orenburg in {{wipe|Russia}}. The bridge is between Asia and Europe]]
[[File:On the bridge over Ural, Kizilskoe.jpg|thumb|Road sign on the continental border between Asia and Europe near Magnitogorsk, Ural Mountains, Russia. It reads "Europe", above a crossed-out "Asia", as one enters Europe and leaves Asia]]

The modern border between Asia and Europe is a historical and cultural construct,<ref>[[Encyclopædia Britannica]], [http://www.britannica.com/place/Asia Asia]:"The land boundary between Asia and Europe is a historical and cultural construct that has been defined variously; only as a matter of agreement is it tied to a specific borderline...”, June 2021</ref> and for that reason, its definition has varied. One commonly accepted border follows the Aegean Sea, the Dardanelles–Sea of Marmara–Bosporus (together known as the Turkish Straits), the Black Sea, along the [[Earth:Drainage divide|watershed]] of the Greater Caucasus, the northwestern portion of the Caspian Sea, and along the Ural River and Ural Mountains to the Kara Sea, as mapped and listed in most atlases including that of the [[Organization:National Geographic Society|National Geographic Society]] and as described in The World Factbook.<ref name="NatlGeoAtlas">{{Cite book|title=National Geographic Atlas of the World|edition=9th|year=2011|location=Washington, DC|publisher=[[Organization:National Geographic Society|National Geographic]]|isbn=978-1-4262-0634-4}} "Europe" (plate 59); "Asia" (plate 74): "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."</ref><ref name="Factbook">{{Cite book|title=World Factbook | date=6 October 2021 | url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/azerbaijan/ |location=Washington, DC|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}}</ref> According to this particular definition, [[Place:Georgia (country)|Georgia]] is a transcontinental country with some of its northern portions (such as Kazbegi Municipality, Khevsureti, and [[Place:Tusheti|Tusheti]]) geographically located in [[Place:Eastern Europe|Eastern Europe]], north of the Greater Caucasus Watershed, whereas the country's south is arguably in Asia. Due to historical, cultural, religious, and political reasons, the country is regarded as a European country.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/country-profiles_en|title=Country profiles|website=european-union.europa.eu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/eastern-partnership/georgia/|title=EU relations with Georgia|website=Consilium.europa.eu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-23072361|title=10 things you might not know about Georgia|work=BBC News|date=4 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/easternorthodox_1.shtml|title=BBC - Religions - Christianity: Eastern Orthodox Church|website=Bbc.co.uk}}</ref> Similarly, according to this one particular definition, [[Place:Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]] is a transcontinental country with some northern portions (e.g. Khachmaz, Quba, Qusar, Shabran, and Siazan) located north of the Greater Caucasus Watershed and thus geographically in Europe, whereas the rest arguably falls under Asia.<ref>{{Cite book |title=World Factbook | date=6 October 2021 | url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/azerbaijan/ |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}} Azerbaijan: Geography and Georgia: Geography</ref>

However, 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. As [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] explains:

<blockquote>
“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 the Aras River and the Turkish border as the line of continental demarcation, thereby locating Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia in Europe”<ref>Encyclopedia Britannica”, [https://www.britannica.com/place/Caucasus Caucasus], June 2021</ref>
</blockquote>

{{wipe|Russia}} and [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]] are transcontinental states with territory in both Asia and Europe.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Berend |first1=Ivan T. |title=Economic History of a Divided Europe: Four Diverse Regions in an Integrating Continent |date=28 February 2020 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781000038477 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FmnTDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22russia+and+turkey+are+transcontinental%22&pg=PT193 |access-date=13 March 2022 |quote=Most of these countries are located on the east and southeast half-circle of the European continent, but two, Russia and Turkey, are transcontinental}}</ref> Russia is historically, culturally, and politically a European state, with a history of [[Place:Russian Empire|imperial conquests]] in Asia. Conversely, Turkey is an Asian state with [[Place:Ottoman Empire|imperial conquests]] in Europe. Kazakhstan is also a transcontinental state by this definition, with its West Kazakhstan and Atyrau provinces extending on either side of the Ural River.<ref name="Factbook-Ural">{{Cite book | title=World Factbook | date=11 October 2021 | url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/kazakhstan/ |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}} Kazakhstan: Geography</ref> The Turkish city Istanbul is a transcontinental city due to its location on both sides of the Bosporus (one of the Turkish Straits).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Borneman |first=Elizabeth |date=2016-03-02 |title=Transcontinental Cities |url=https://www.geographyrealm.com/transcontinental-cities/ |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=Geography Realm |language=en-US}}</ref> The Russian and Kazakhstani cities of Magnitogorsk, Orenburg, and Atyrau fall on the Ural River, making them transcontinental cities as well.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-08-06 |title=Which Cities Are Located On Two Continents? |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/which-cities-are-located-on-two-continents.html |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=WorldAtlas |language=en-US}}</ref>

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,<ref name="NatlGeoAtlas"/><ref name="Factbook-Ural"/><ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GDmX5XKkQCcC&q=ural+river+europe+asia&pg=PT690 |title=Rivers of Europe |author1=Klement Tockner |author2=Urs Uehlinger |author3=Christopher T. Robinson |edition=Illustrated |publisher=Academic Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780123694492 |chapter=18}}</ref> is the most prominent natural feature in the region, and is the "most satisfactory of those (options) proposed"<ref>{{Cite book|title= Encyclopedia of the Languages of Europe |author=Glanville Price|year=2000|location=Oxford, UK|publisher=Blackwell|page=xii}}</ref> which include the Emba River, a much smaller stream cutting further into [[Place:Central Asia|Central Asia]]n Kazakhstan. The Ural River bridges in Atyrau and Orenburg are even labeled with permanent monuments carved with the word "Europe" on one side, "Asia" on the other.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.katjasdacha.com/whiterose/thoughts/orenburg/orenburg3.html|title=The White Rose - Orenburg Journey - 3|website=Katjasdacha.com}}</ref>

Due to the fact that the Kazakhs are an Asian people, after the collapse of the USSR, the option according to which the border of Europe runs from the Caspian Sea along the state border between {{wipe|Russia}} and Kazakhstan to the Ural River has also gained popularity. 

The Kuma–Manych Depression (more precisely, the Manych River, the Kuma–Manych Canal, and the Kuma River) remains cited less commonly as one possible natural boundary in contemporary sources.<ref>e.g. ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]]'' (2011) s.v. [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/324715/Kuma-Manych-Depression "Kuma-Manych Depression"]: "It is often regarded as the natural boundary between Europe and Asia."</ref> This definition peaked in prominence in the 19th century; however, it has declined in usage over time, because it included traditionally European areas{{vague|date=June 2021}} of Russia, such as Stavropol, Krasnodar, and even areas just south of Rostov-on-Don, in Asia.

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 the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD):<ref name="stats">{{cite web| url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm| title=Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings| publisher=United Nations Statistics Division}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49.htm |title=Standard country or area codes and geographical regions for statistical use |publisher=Unstats.un.org |access-date=2018-06-05}}</ref> Furthermore, the UNSD classification often differs from those of other {{wipe|United Nations}} organizations. For instance, while UNSD includes Georgia and Cyprus in Western Asia, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and [[Organization:UNESCO|UNESCO]] include both states in Europe.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=FAKMBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA14&dq=west+asia+iran+2015&hl=nl&sa=X&ei=cWGRVanpKqOy7Qb1tqP4Bw&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=west%20asia%20iran%202015&f=false United Nations Industrial Organisation] p. 14</ref><ref>UNESCO, [http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/worldwide/unesco-regions/europe-and-north-america/ Europe and North America], Retrieved: 10 May 2016</ref>

The Council of Europe includes transcontinental or Eurasian states, such as [[Place:Armenia|Armenia]], Azerbaijan, [[Place:Cyprus|Cyprus]], Georgia, {{wipe|Russia}}, and [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]] as members. [[Place:Cyprus|Cyprus]] is a member of the [[Social:European Union|European Union]], where as Georgia has been explicitly told that it is eligible to apply for EU membership “like any other European state”.<ref name="EU perspective">European Parliament, [http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2014-0009 European Parliament Resolution 2014/2717(RSP)], 17 July 2014: "...pursuant to Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – like any other European state – have a European perspective and may apply to become members of the Union...”</ref> The EU reiterated its stance with regard to Georgia in 2022, expressing readiness to grant Georgia candidate status once certain reforms are implemented.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web|title=European Council conclusions on Ukraine, the membership applications of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia, Western Balkans and external relations, 23 June 2022|url=https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/06/23/european-council-conclusions-on-ukraine-the-membership-applications-of-ukraine-the-republic-of-moldova-and-georgia-western-balkans-and-external-relations-23-june-2022/|website=Consilium.europa.eu|access-date=2022-06-23}}</ref>

===Islands===
[[Place:Cyprus|Cyprus]] is an island of the Mediterranean located on the Asian continental shelf, geologically a part of the [[Earth:Anatolian Plate|Anatolian Plate]] and adjacent to [[Earth:Anatolia|Asia Minor]], by which it is sometimes associated with Asia ([[Place:Western Asia|Western Asia]]), as in the United Nations geoscheme. Despite differences regarding its geographic affiliation, the [[Place:Cyprus|Republic 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) [[Place:Northern Cyprus|Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus]].

The Greek North Aegean islands and the Dodecanese 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 of Kastellorizo, Strongyli Megistis, and Ro (all these islands are still in the Dodecanese group) are directly to the south of the Turkish [[Earth:Anatolia|Anatolia]] 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 of [[Place:Cyprus|Cyprus]] and the Turkish city of Antalya. Akin to Cyprus, these small islets would nominally be considered Asian if only the continental shelf were used to define the boundary, but due to their history and cultural influences they are considered a part of Europe.

Russia's Vaygach Island and Novaya Zemlya extend northward from the northern end of the Ural Mountains and are a continuation of that chain into the [[Earth:Arctic Ocean|Arctic 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 the Kara Sea. The Russian Arctic [[Earth:Archipelago|archipelago]] of Franz Josef Land farther north is also associated with Europe.

==Asia and North America==
The Bering Strait and Bering Sea separate the [[Earth:Landmass|landmass]]es of [[Earth:Asia|Asia]] and [[Earth:North America|North America]], as well as forming the international boundary between Russia and the United States. This national and continental boundary separates the Diomede Islands in the Bering Strait, with Big Diomede in Russia and Little Diomede in the {{wipe|United States of America}} The [[Biography:Aleutian Islands|Aleutian Islands]] are an island chain extending westward from the Alaskan Peninsula toward Russia's Komandorski Islands and Kamchatka Peninsula. Most of them are always associated with North America, except for the westernmost Near Islands group, which is on [[Earth:Asia|Asia]]'s continental shelf beyond the North Aleutians Basin and on rare occasions could be associated with Asia, which could then allow the U.S. state of [[Earth:Alaska|Alaska]] 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Danver |first1=Steven L. |title=Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues |date=2015 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |pages=185 |isbn=9781317464006 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Native_Peoples_of_the_World/vf4TBwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22aleutians%22+%22part+of+oceania%22&pg=PA185&printsec=frontcover |access-date=23 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Wallace |first1=Alfred Russel |title=Australasia |date=1879 |publisher=The University of Michigan |page=2 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Australasia/e2kcAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22oceania+is+the+word+often%22&pg=PA2&printsec=frontcover |access-date=12 March 2022 |quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kohlhoff |first1=Dean |title=Amchitka and the Bomb: Nuclear Testing in Alaska |date=2002 |publisher=University of Washington Press |page=6 |isbn=9780295800509 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Amchitka_and_the_Bomb/kSWn8lbI4q4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22aleutian+islands%22+%22oceania%22&pg=PA6&printsec=frontcover |access-date=12 March 2022 |quote=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.}}</ref> This is extremely rare however, due to their non-tropical biogeography, as well as their inhabitants, who have historically been related to Indigenous Americans.<ref name="flick">{{cite book |last1=Flick |first1=Alexander Clarence |title=Modern World History, 1776-1926: A Survey of the Origins and Development of Contemporary Civilization |date=1926 |publisher=A.A. Knopf |page=492 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Modern_World_History_1776_1926/PhGHAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=Modern%20World%20History,%201776-1926A%20Survey%20of%20the%20Origins%20and%20Development%20of%20Contemporary%20Civilization |access-date=10 July 2022}}</ref><ref name="handbook">{{cite book |last1=Henderson |first1=John William |title=Area Handbook for Oceania |date=1971 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=5 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Area_Handbook_for_Oceania/NuOIqt-UQowC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22oceania%22+%22aleutian+islands%22&pg=PR5&printsec=frontcover |access-date=11 March 2022}}</ref>

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 the Rat Islands in the Aleutian chain. At their nearest points, [[Earth:Alaska|Alaska]] and {{wipe|Russia}} are separated by only {{convert|2.5|mi|0|order=flip|abbr=off}}.

==Europe and North America==
The geographical notion of a [[Earth:Continent|continent]] stands in opposition to islands and archipelagos.<ref>
See continent on [[Social:Wiktionary|Wiktionary]]. "from Latin ''continent-, continens'' 'continuous mass of land, mainland'"</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/continent|title=Definition of CONTINENT|website=Merriam-webster.com|access-date=26 July 2022}}</ref> Nevertheless, there are some islands that are considered part of Europe in a political sense. This most notably includes the [[Place:British Isles|British Isles]] (part of the European continental shelf and during the Ice Age of the continent itself); the islands of the North Sea, the [[Place:Baltic Sea|Baltic Sea]], and the Mediterranean that are part of the territory of a country situated on the European mainland; the Azores on the [[Earth:Mid-Atlantic Ridge|Mid-Atlantic Ridge]], part of Portugal; and usually also the island states of Iceland (part of Norway and/or Denmark from 13th to early 20th centuries) and Malta.

The Norwegian islands of Jan Mayen and [[Place:Svalbard|Svalbard]] in the [[Earth:Arctic Ocean|Arctic Ocean]] are usually associated with Europe.

South of the Arctic, Europe and North America are separated by the North Atlantic. In terms of associating its oceanic islands with either continent, the boundary is usually drawn between [[Place:Greenland|Greenland]] and Iceland and between Bermuda and the Azores' {{Lang|pt|Grupo Ocidental}} (Western Group)—all other North Atlantic islands are continental. 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 the [[Earth:North American Plate|North American Plate]]. (Definitions of "continents" are a physical and cultural construct dating back centuries, long before the advent or even knowledge of [[Earth:Plate tectonics|plate tectonics]]; thus, defining a "continent" falls into the realm of physical and cultural geography [i.e., [[Earth:Geopolitics|Geopolitics]] ], while continental plate definitions fall under plate tectonics in the realm of geology.) Some definitions of the Europe – America continent boundary place it on (the northern half of) the [[Earth:Mid-Atlantic Ridge|Mid-Atlantic Ridge]], which would make Iceland a transcontinental country.

[[Place:Greenland|Greenland]] is geographically part of North America. Politically, however, it is more associated with Europe as it is part of the Kingdom 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.<ref name="stats"/> The Greenland 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 the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius). Two islands in the Caribbean are legally a direct part of France, Guadeloupe and Martinique.

==North America and South America==
{{Further|Earth:Americas}}
{{See also|Caribbean|Central America|Middle America (Americas){{!}}Middle America}}

===Mainland===
[[File:Countries-Panama-provinces-2005-10-18-en.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Panama with the Panama Canal]]

The border between North America and South America is at some point on the Isthmus of Panama. The most common demarcation in atlases and other sources follows the Darién Mountains watershed that divides along the Colombia–Panama border where the isthmus meets the South American continent (see Darién Gap). Virtually all atlases list Panama as a state falling entirely within [[Earth:North America|North America]] and/or Central America.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/mapping/outline-map/?map=Panama |title=National Geographic Education |publisher=[[Organization:National Geographic Society|National Geographic Society]] |access-date=2011-05-12 |archive-date=28 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728060745/http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/mapping/outline-map/?map=Panama |url-status=dead }}<br />{{Cite book|title=National Geographic Atlas (list)|publisher=National Geographic Society|year=2010|page=4}}<br />{{Cite book|title=Webster's New Geographical Dictionary (list and map)|publisher=Merriam-Webster Inc.|year=1984|pages=856, 859}}<br />[http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm#americas "Americas"] ''Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications (M49)'', United Nations Statistics Division<br />[http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/reference/international/north_america/referencemap_image_view "North America"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080303233306/http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/reference/international/north_america/referencemap_image_view |date=3 March 2008 }} ''Atlas of Canada''</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.org/education/|title=Education|website=Nationalgeographic.org|access-date=26 July 2022}}</ref>

===Islands===
Often the Caribbean islands are considered part of North America, but Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao (ABC islands), and Trinidad and Tobago lie on the [[Earth:Continental shelf|continental shelf]] of South America. On the other hand, the Venezuelan Isla Aves and the Colombian San Andrés and Providencia lie on the North American shelf. Additionally, the adjacent Venezuelan islands of Nueva Esparta and the islands of the Venezuelan 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.

==Oceania and the Americas==
[[File:NazcaPlate.png|thumb|A map of the [[Earth:Nazca Plate|Nazca Plate]] (depicted in pink). It is considered to be a separate tectonic plate to the neighboring South American Plate, and contains several oceanic islands of the South Pacific, which have been associated with both Oceania and South America.]]
The [[Earth:Galápagos Islands|Galápagos Islands]] and Malpelo Island in the southeastern [[Earth:Pacific Ocean|Pacific Ocean]] are possessions of Ecuador 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.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Oceania Bibliography |journal=Helictite: Journal of Australasian Cave Research |date=1987 |volume=25 |issue=1 |url=https://helictite.caves.org.au/pdf4/25.01.Issue.Print.pdf |access-date=16 March 2022 |quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Zurcher |first1=Frédéric |last2=Margollé |first2=Elie |chapter-url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Volcanoes_and_Earthquakes/yVVdDEbbBJgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22galapagos%22+%22oceania%22&pg=PA136&printsec=frontcover |title=Volcanoes and Earthquakes |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=136 |access-date=15 March 2022 |chapter=Volcanic Islands of Oceania.—The Galapagos |isbn=9781108049405 |quote=.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Stanley |first=David |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/South_Pacific_Handbook/unz2v_HT5q0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22galapagos%22+%22polynesia%22+%22oceania%22&pg=PA43&printsec=frontcover |title=South Pacific Handbook |date=1979 |publisher=Moon Publications |page=43 |isbn=9780918373298 |access-date=1 February 2022}}</ref><ref name="protectedareas">{{cite book |title=Review of the Protected Areas System in Oceania |date=1986 |publisher=International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |url=https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/30152/RevOceania.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |access-date=17 January 2022 |quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hull |first1=Frank M. |title=A Check List of the Syrphidae of Oceania |date=1937 |publisher=Department of Biology, University of Missouri |url=http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pubs-online/pdf/op13-10.pdf |access-date=17 January 2022 |quote=Oceania is primarily considered as the restricted region treated in this paper, but for comparative purposes, in the table only, it is also considered in a broad sense as including New Guinea, Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, the Antipodes, and Galapagos.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lever |first1=Christopher |title=Naturalized Reptiles and Amphibians of the World |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=183 |isbn=978-0-19-850771-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=igNPuKzHfG0C&dq=%22galapagos+islands%22+%22oceania%22&pg=PA183 |access-date=18 January 2022}}</ref><ref name="harv">{{cite book |last1=Bequaert |first1=Joseph C. |title=The Hippoboscidae of Oceania |date=1941 |publisher=Harvard Medical School |url=http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pubs-online/pdf/op16-11.pdf |access-date=24 January 2022 |quote=In the present taxonomic study of the Hippoboscidae, Oceania covers, rather arbitrarily, the many archipelagos and isolated islands scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean, from the Marianas and Caroline Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia to the Hawaiian islands and the Galapagos.}}</ref> The Galápagos Islands lie on the Nazca Plate and are thought of as being included in Oceania due to their geographical distance from South America in the Pacific Ocean, and their oceanic geology. Malpelo is one of only two islands on the [[Earth:Cocos Plate|Cocos Plate]] (with the other being Costa Rica's Cocos Island). It is among the easternmost and least remote of the oceanic island groups in the southeastern Pacific.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Manzello |first1=Derek P. |last2=Enochs |first2=Ian C. |last3=Glynn |first3=Peter W. |title=Coral Reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific: Persistence and Loss in a Dynamic Environment |date=2016 |publisher=Springer Netherlands |page=140 |isbn=9789401774994 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Coral_Reefs_of_the_Eastern_Tropical_Paci/mKLVDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22malpelo+island%22&pg=PA140&printsec=frontcover |access-date=12 March 2022 |quote=Malpelo Island, the easternmost and least remote of the five oceanic islands or archipelagos in the ETP.}}</ref> The French possession of [[Earth:Clipperton Island|Clipperton Island]] lies on the [[Earth:Pacific Plate|Pacific Plate]], about 1,000 km off the Mexican [[Earth:Coast|coast]], and roughly 300 km to the south of Mexico's oceanic Revillagigedo Islands, which are also on the Pacific Plate. {{citation needed span|It is associated with [[Earth:North America|North America]],|date=January 2022}} as well as with Oceania.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Hinz|first1=Earl R.|last2=Howard|first2=Jim|date=2006|title=Landfalls of Paradise: Cruising Guide to the Pacific Islands|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=9780824845186|url=https://www.Google.com.au/books/edition/Landfalls_of_Paradise/wZYBEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22clipperton%22+%22new+caledonia%22+%22oceania%22&pg=PA378&printsec=frontcover|access-date=4 February 2022|via=Google Books|quote=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.}}</ref><ref name=global>{{Cite web|title=Oceania Military Guide|url=https://www.GlobalSecurity.org/military/world/oceania/index.html|website=GlobalSecurity.org|publisher=Global Security|access-date=6 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Todd|first=Ian|date=1974|title=Island Realm: A Pacific Panorama|publisher=Angus & Robertson|page=190|isbn=9780207127618|url=https://www.Google.com.au/books/edition/Island_Realm/gcEJAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22French+language+cultures%22+1974+pacific&dq=%22French+language+cultures%22+1974+pacific&printsec=frontcover|access-date=2 February 2022|via=Google Books|quote=On the other side of Oceania, about 1,800 miles (2,897 km) west of the Panama Canal, is another French possession, Clipperton Island.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bempéchat|first=Paul-André|date=2017|title=Jean Cras, Polymath of Music and Letters|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781351561754|url=https://www.Google.com.au/books/edition/Jean_Cras_Polymath_of_Music_and_Letters/DCcxDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22in+oceania%22+%22clipperton%22&pg=PT72&printsec=frontcover|access-date=18 February 2022|via=Google Books|quote=In India, French settlements included Pondicherry, Karikal, Yanaon, Mahé and Chandernagore; and in Oceania, Clipperton, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Vanuatu (shared with the British Empire)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Terry|first=James P.|date=1988|url=https://www.Google.com.au/books/edition/Climate_and_Environmental_Change_in_the/Gs3aAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22cocos+island%22+%22oceania%22+%22costa%22&dq=%22cocos+island%22+%22oceania%22+%22costa%22&printsec=frontcover|title=Climate and Environmental Change in the Pacific|publisher=The University of Michigan|page=5|isbn=9789820103580|access-date=11 March 2022|via=Google Books|quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ineich|first1=Ivan|last2=Zug|first2=George|date=1991|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1446114|title=Nomenclatural status of Emoia cyanura (Lacertilia, Scincidae) populations in the Central Pacific|journal=Copeia|volume=1991|issue=4|pages=1132–1136|access-date=18 March 2022|publisher=American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists|doi=10.2307/1446114|jstor=1446114|quote=Its distribution encompasses much of Oceania from the Hawaiian archipelago, Clipperton Island, and Easter Island westward through Polynesia and Melanesia}}</ref> Oceanic southeastern Pacific islands such as Clipperton and Galápagos were never inhabited by Indigenous peoples of the Americas,<ref name="press"/> unlike with the Atlantic Ocean's Caribbean Islands. Clipperton remains uninhabited, and its marine fauna maintains interconnectivity to the marine fauna of Hawaii and Kiribati's Line Islands, with the island being labelled as a stepping stone between the south central Pacific and the southeastern Pacific.<ref name="Romero-Torres Treml Acosta Paz-García 2018">{{cite journal |last1=Romero-Torres |first1=Mauricio |last2=Treml |first2=Eric A. |last3=Acosta |first3=Alberto |last4=Paz-García |first4=David A. |title=The Eastern Tropical Pacific coral population connectivity and the role of the Eastern Pacific Barrier |journal=Scientific Reports |date=19 June 2018 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=9354 |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-27644-2 |pmid=29921956 |pmc=6008413 |bibcode=2018NatSR...8.9354R }}</ref><ref name="clip">{{cite journal |last1=Robertson |first1=D. R. |last2=Allen |first2=G. R. |title=Zoogeography of the shorefish fauna of Clipperton Atoll |journal=Coral Reefs |date=1 June 1996 |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=121–131 |doi=10.1007/BF01771902 |bibcode=1996CorRe..15..121R |s2cid=41906452 }}</ref> The Galápagos Islands similarly share interconnectivity with French Polynesia.<ref name="Romero-Torres Treml Acosta Paz-García 2018"/> Until 2007, Clipperton was administratively part of French Polynesia (formerly French Oceania). It has historically had very little contact with the Americas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/summary/French-Polynesia|title=French Polynesia summary &#124; Britannica|website=Britannica.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Clipperton-Island|title=Clipperton Island &#124; island, Pacific Ocean &#124; Britannica|website=Britannica.com}}</ref>

Easter Island, also known by its [[Social:Endonym and exonym|endonym]] ''Rapa Nui'', is a territory located on the Nazca Plate, and is roughly 3,500 km off the {{wipe|Chile}}an coast. Because of its original inhabitants, It is culturally part of the Oceania subregion [[Place:Polynesia|Polynesia]], though politically it came to be associated with South America.<ref>{{cite book |last1=King |first1=Frank P. |title=Oceania and Beyond: Essays on the Pacific Since 1945 |date=1976 |publisher=Greenwood Press |pages=20–21 |isbn=9780837189048 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Oceania_and_Beyond/tzMhAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22one+might+add+Chile+and+Ecuador%22&dq=%22one+might+add+Chile+and+Ecuador%22&printsec=frontcover |access-date=7 February 2022 |quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Aldrich |first1=Robert |title=France and the South Pacific Since 1940 |date=1993 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |page=347 |isbn=9780824815585 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/France_and_the_South_Pacific_since_1940/tLTDYaHhrZgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22oceania%22+%22galapagos%22+%22south+pacific%22&pg=PA347&printsec=frontcover |access-date=18 February 2022 |quote=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.}}</ref> Easter Island was annexed by {{wipe|Chile}} in 1888, but their first major contact with South America came during the 1860s, when islanders were kidnapped by Peruvians for slavery. This was also the case with other Polynesian islands, including Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau, who lost significant amounts of their populations through the Peruvian kidnappings.<ref name="paradise">{{cite book |last1=Maude |first1=H. E |title=Slavers in paradise: the Peruvian slave trade in Polynesia, 1862-1864 |date=1981 |publisher=Stanford University Press |oclc=1088902109 |hdl=1885/114682 |hdl-access=free }}{{page needed|date=April 2022}}</ref> Easter Island under Chilean rule has still made attempts to become politically involved with the rest of the South Pacific,<ref name="asianpacific">{{Cite book |last=Crocombe |first=R. G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iDg9oAkwsXAC&dq=%22included+in+cultural+definitions+of+oceania%22&pg=PR13 |title=Asia in the Pacific Islands: Replacing the West |date=2007 |publisher=University of the South Pacific. Institute of Pacific Studies |isbn=9789820203884 |page=13 |access-date=24 January 2022}}</ref> and has considered gaining representation in the Pacific Islands Forum, which includes Australia, New Zealand and most of the Pacific Island nations/territories.<ref name="widen">{{cite news |last1=Dorney |first1=Sean |title=Pacific forum looks to widen entry |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-27/an-pacific-forum-widens-entry/4225082 |work=ABC News |date=27 August 2012 }}</ref>  Similar to Easter Island, and just to the northeast of it, is the nearby uninhabited Salas 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 was ''Motu Motiro Hiva''.  Additionally, Chile has the oceanic Desventuradas Islands, 850 km removed from the country, and the Juan 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.<ref name="press">{{cite book |last1=Flett |first1=Iona |last2=Haberle |first2=Simon |chapter=East of Easter: Traces of human impact in the far-eastern Pacific |pages=281–300 |chapter-url=http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p26551/pdf/ch181.pdf |editor1-first=Geoffrey |editor1-last=Clark |editor2-first=Foss |editor2-last=Leach |editor3-first=Sue |editor3-last=O'Connor |title=Islands of Inquiry |date=2008 |publisher=ANU Press |isbn=978-1-921313-89-9 |jstor=j.ctt24h8gp.20 |citeseerx=10.1.1.593.8988 |hdl=1885/38139 }}</ref> They too are associated with both the American continent and Oceania.<ref name="ausgov">{{cite book |last1=Thomson |first1=Lex |last2=Doran |first2=John |last3=Clarke |first3=Bronwyn |title=Trees for life in Oceania: Conservation and utilisation of genetic diversity |date=2018 |publisher=Australian Center for International Agricultural Research |location=Canberra, Australia |url=https://www.aciar.gov.au/sites/default/files/mn201_trees_for_life_-_final_artwork_-_15052018_web_upload_version.pdf |page=16 |access-date=24 January 2022 |quote=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 species ''Santalum fernandezianum'', in Juan Fernández Islands; and others to the brink of extinction, such ''S. boninensis'' in Ogasawara Islands, Japan; or is an ongoing threatening factor in the examples of ''S. yasi'' in Fiji and Tonga, ''Gyrinops spp''. in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and ''Intsia bijuga'' throughout the Pacific Islands.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/place/2000005 |title=Museum of New Zealand |website=Collections.tepapa.govt.nz |date= |access-date=2022-01-17}}</ref><ref name="east">{{cite journal |last1=Pequeño |first1=Germán |title=Shore Fishes of Easter Island, John E. Randall & Alfredo Cea Egaña |journal=Gayana |date=2011 |volume=75 |issue=2 |pages=201–202 |id={{ProQuest|920291064}} |doi=10.4067/S0717-65382011000200011 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="protectedareas"/><ref name="isl">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Pacific-Islands|title=Pacific Islands &#124; Countries, Map, & Facts &#124; Britannica|website=Britannica.com}}</ref> 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.<ref name="east"/><ref name="marine">{{cite journal |last1=Friedlander |first1=Alan M. |last2=Ballesteros |first2=Enric |last3=Caselle |first3=Jennifer E. |last4=Gaymer |first4=Carlos F. |last5=Palma |first5=Alvaro T. |last6=Petit |first6=Ignacio |last7=Varas |first7=Eduardo |last8=Muñoz Wilson |first8=Alex |last9=Sala |first9=Enric |title=Marine Biodiversity in Juan Fernández and Desventuradas Islands, Chile: Global Endemism Hotspots |journal=PLOS ONE |date=6 January 2016 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=e0145059 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0145059 |pmid=26734732 |pmc=4703205 |bibcode=2016PLoSO..1145059F |doi-access=free }}</ref> Some consider the islands to be the easternmost areas of the Oceanian biogeographical realm.<ref name="class"/> Scientific journal ''PLOS One'' describe  Easter Island, the Desventurudas Islands, the Juan Fernández Islands and Salas y Gómez (collectively titled [[Place:Insular Chile|Insular Chile]]) as having "cultural and ecological connections to the broader insular Pacific."<ref name="marine"/>

==See also==
* List of countries bordering on two or more oceans
* List of transcontinental countries
* List of former transcontinental countries
** ''The empire on which the sun never sets''
* Tricontinental Chile
* Pluricontinentalism
* List of sovereign states and dependent territories by continent
* Continental divide
* [[Earth:Borders of the oceans|Borders of the oceans]]

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Rossi |first1=Pietro |title=The Boundaries of Europe: From the Fall of the Ancient World to the Age of Decolonisation |date=2015 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-042072-2 }}

{{Continents of the world}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borders Of The Continents}}
[[Category:Continents|*]]

{{Sourceattribution|Boundaries between the continents of Earth|1}}