Color-coded map of continents: America North America South America Afro-Eurasia Africa Eurasia Europe Asia Australia AntarcticaMap of 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 continents is generally a matter of 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 Afro-Eurasia and the Americas are both considered as single continents.[1] An island can be considered to be associated with a given continent by either lying on the continent's adjacent continental shelf (e.g. Singapore, the British Isles) or being a part of a microcontinent on the same principal tectonic plate (e.g. Madagascar and Seychelles). An island can also be entirely oceanic while still being associated with a continent by geology (e.g. Bermuda, the Australian Indian Ocean Territories) or by common geopolitical convention (e.g. Ascension Island, the South Sandwich Islands). Another example is the grouping into Oceania of the Pacific Islands with Australia and Zealandia.
There are three overland boundaries subject to definition:
between Africa and Asia (dividing Afro-Eurasia into Africa and Eurasia): at the Isthmus of Suez;
between Asia and Europe (dividing Eurasia): along the Turkish straits, the 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 North America and South America (dividing the Americas): at some point on the Isthmus of Panama, with the most common demarcation in atlases and other sources following the Darién Mountains watershed 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 of Suez between the 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 Mediterranean Sea;
the delineation between Asia and Europe in the Arctic Ocean;
the delineation between Europe and North America in the North Atlantic Ocean;
the delineation between North and South America in the Caribbean Sea;
the delineation of Antarctica from Africa, Australia, and South America in the Indian, South Pacific, and South Atlantic oceans, respectively (referred to collectively by some geographers as the Southern Ocean or the Antarctic Ocean);
the delineation of Asia from Australia in the Ceram Sea, Arafura Sea, Timor Sea, Halmahera Sea, and the Wallacean region of the Malay Archipelago
the delineation of Asia from North America in the North Pacific Ocean.
^R.W. McColl, ed. (2005). "continents". Encyclopedia of World Geography. Vol. 1. Facts on File, Inc. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-8160-7229-3. Retrieved 26 June 2012. 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).
and 28 Related for: Boundaries between the continents information
Determining theboundariesbetweenthecontinents is generally a matter of geographical convention. Several slightly different conventions are in use. The number...
than a continent. This divides the entire land surface of Earth into continents, regions or quasi-continents. The criterion that each continent is a discrete...
on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, see theBoundariesbetweenthecontinents of Earth. Turkey is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian...
language geographers. Combined continents like "the Americas" and "Eurasia" are not acknowledged or referenced. Theboundarybetween Asia and Europe is largely...
into adjacent continents. Variations on are noted below and discussed in the following articles: Continent, Boundariesbetweenthecontinents of Earth, and...
political and geographic borders Geography portal Politics portal Boundariesbetweenthecontinents of Earth Category:Border-related lists This article includes...
Australasia, the continent Australia and the country Australia) Coastline paradox ContinentBoundariesbetweenthecontinents of Earth Island List of islands by...
Divergent boundaries within continents initially produce rifts, which eventually become rift valleys. Most active divergent plate boundaries occur between oceanic...
irregularities of the United States Borders of the Roman Empire Boundariesbetweenthecontinents of Earth Boundary delimitation Boundary (real estate) Enclave...
part of the landmass of Eurasia, the Straits are conventionally considered theboundarybetweenthecontinents of Europe and Asia, as well as the dividing...
merely part of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, Antarctica borders on all three. Borders of the oceans Boundariesbetweenthecontinents of Earth Sea...
Canal, theboundarybetweenthecontinents of Africa and Asia. To the south is the Gulf of Suez, dividing mainland Egypt from the Sinai Peninsula. The area...
the continents of Europe and Asia. Vaygach Island and the islands of Novaya Zemlya form a further continuation of the chain to the north into the Arctic...
considerably between basins, mountain ranges, and stable cratonic interiors of continents. The location where two plates meet is called a plate boundary. Plate...
better-known, such as the San Andreas Fault and North Anatolian Fault. Transform boundaries are also known as conservative plate boundaries because they involve...
their European part only, excluding Greece due to the not clearly defined boundaries of its islands between Europe and Asia. Inland water is included in area...
newly discovered continent, which is why it was accorded with the feminine names of the other continents: Asia, Africa, and Europa. Since the 1950s, however...
Under the commonly used geographic definition, theboundarybetweenthecontinents of Asia and Europe stretches along the Ural Mountains, the Ural River...
regarded the Tanais (Don) to be theboundarybetween Europe and Asia. Both rivers flow into the Sea of Azov. See further: Boundariesbetweenthecontinents. Hollis...
world map requires global knowledge of the Earth, its oceans, and its continents. From prehistory through the Middle Ages, creating an accurate world...
most of the ocean basins are large geologic basins that are below sea level. Most commonly the ocean is divided into basins following thecontinents distribution:...
The scheme represents a compromise between political and botanical divisions. All boundaries either follow a political boundary (country boundary, province...
rocky islands rising above sea level. The ridges are continental rock, but are lower in elevation than normal continents because their crust is thinner than...
geographers, physiographically, Eurasia is a single continent. The concepts of Europe and Asia as distinct continents date back to antiquity, but their borders...
Global Information
