This is a list of countries with territory that straddles more than one continent, known as transcontinental states or intercontinental states.
Contiguous transcontinental countries are states that have one continuous or immediately-adjacent piece of territory that spans a continental boundary, most commonly the line that separates Asia and Europe. By contrast, non-contiguous transcontinental countries are those states that have portions of territory that are separated from one another either by a body of water or by other countries (such as in the case of France). Most non-contiguous transcontinental countries are countries with dependencies like the United Kingdom with its overseas territories, but can be countries that have fully integrated former dependencies in their central states like France with its overseas regions.
For the purposes of this article, a seven-continent model is assumed based on common terms of reference by English language geographers. Combined continents like "the Americas" and "Eurasia" are not acknowledged or referenced. The boundary between Asia and Europe is largely conventional (much of it over land), and several conventions remained in use well into the 20th century. However, the now-prevalent convention—which has been in use by some cartographers since about 1850—follows the Caucasus northern chain, the Ural River and the Ural Mountains, is used for the purposes of this list.The question was treated as a "controversy" in British geographical literature until at least the 1860s, with Douglas Freshfield advocating the Caucasus crest boundary as the "best possible", citing support from various "modern geographers" (Journey in the Caucasus , Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, Volumes 13–14, 1869). In 1958, the Soviet Geographical Society formally recommended that the boundary between Europe and Asia be drawn in textbooks from Baydaratskaya Bay, on the Kara Sea, along the eastern foot of the Ural Mountains, then the Ural River to the Mugodzhar Hills, the Emba River, and the Kuma–Manych Depression (i.e. passing well north of the Caucasus); ; . Nevertheless, most Soviet-era geographers continued to favour the boundary along the Caucasus crest. (E. M. Moores, R. W. Fairbridge, Encyclopedia of European and Asian regional geology, Springer, 1997, , p. 34: "most Soviet geographers took the watershed of the Main Range of the Greater Caucasus as the boundary between Europe and Asia.") This convention results in several countries such as in the case of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkey finding themselves almost entirely in 'Asia', with a few small enclaves or districts technically in 'Europe'. Notwithstanding these anomalies, this list of transcontinental or intercontinental states respects the convention that Europe and Asia are full continents rather than subcontinents or component landmasses of a larger Eurasian continent.
Listed further below, separately, are countries with distant non-contiguous parts (overseas territories) on separate continents.
Definition The lists within this article include entries that meet the following criteria:
Transcontinental or intercontinental states are sovereign states that have some portion of their territory geographically divided between at least two continents. Transcontinental states can be classed as either contiguous or non-contiguous transcontinental states. Contiguous transcontinental states are those countries that have one continuous or immediately adjacent piece of territory that spans a continental boundary. More specifically, they contain a portion of their territory on one continent and a portion of their territory on another continent, while having these two portions connected via a natural geological land connection (e.g. Russia) or the two portions being immediately adjacent to one another (e.g. Turkey). Non-contiguous transcontinental states are those that have portions of territory that are separated from one another either by a significant body of water or by other land. Most non-contiguous transcontinental countries are countries with overseas territories.
The boundaries between the continents can be vague and subject to interpretation, making it difficult to conclusively define what counts as a 'transcontinental state'. For the purposes of this article, a seven-continent model is assumed. Therefore, states that have territory across sub-continental boundaries, as well as plate boundaries that are only internal to continents, are excluded from this article. Some non-contiguous transcontinental states have territory situated on distant islands that may or may not be considered a part of another nearby continent (e.g. Yemen's Socotra and Portugal's Madeira). Though there is debate as to whether these states ought to be considered 'transcontinental', they are still included in this article. States that only have uninhabited island territories as parts of another continent (e.g., Venezuela's Aves Island) are considered transcontinental for the purpose of this article. While it is debatable as to whether states that have claimed territory within the Antarctic Treaty System can have actual control of that claimed territory (e.g., Chilean Antarctic Territory), they are included in this article. Some autonomous regions (or dependent territories) may be constitutionally distinguishable from the parent state that claims them as their territory (e.g., in the case of British Overseas Territories and the United Kingdom), thereby causing debate as to whether such states ought to be considered 'transcontinental'. They are nevertheless included in this article. Micronations, autonomous regions, and subnational entities that are in themselves transcontinental are excluded from the lists in this article as a separate entry from their controlling state. Any entry must be a UN member state or a part of the United Nations System. Therefore, states with limited recognition are excluded from the lists in this article.
Contiguous boundary
Contiguous transcontinental states are those countries that have one continuous or immediately adjacent piece of territory that spans a continental boundary. More specifically, they contain a portion of their territory on one continent and a portion of their territory on another continent, while having these two portions connected via a natural geological land connection (e.g. Russia) or the two portions being immediately adjacent to one another (e.g. Turkey). In other words, someone can travel to another continent without changing the country (without crossing a border).
Africa and Asia
The modern convention for the land boundary between Asia and Africa runs along the Isthmus of Suez and the Suez Canal in Egypt. The border continues through the Gulf of Suez, Red Sea, and Gulf of Aden. In antiquity, Egypt had been considered part of Asia, with the Catabathmus Magnus escarpment taken as the boundary with Africa (Libya).
: Out of the 27 governorates of Egypt, two lie entirely on the Asian Sinai Peninsula and two are transcontinental: Ismailia Governorate is nearly equally divided by the Suez Canal, and Suez Governorate—which is coterminous with the "transcontinental city" of Suez—has a small portion east of the Canal.
Asia and Europe
The conventional Asia-Europe boundary was subject to considerable variation during the 18th and 19th centuries, indicated anywhere between the Don River and the Caucasus to the south or the Ural Mountains to the east. Since the late 19th century, the Caucasus–Urals boundary has become almost universally accepted. According to this now-standard convention, the boundary follows the Aegean Sea, the Turkish Straits, the Black Sea, along the watershed of the Greater Caucasus, the northwestern portion of the Caspian Sea and along the Ural River and Ural Mountains to the Arctic Ocean.
According to this convention, the following countries have territory in both Asia and Europe.
is a country located mainly on the Asian portion of the Caucasus, with a small portion of the country, its Qusar, Shabran, Siazan, Khachmaz and Quba districts north of the Greater Caucasus Watershed, and thus in Europe, placing a population of about half a million (or c. 5% of the country's total population) in Europe. is located mainly on the Asian portion of the Caucasus; however, the Municipality of Kazbegi, north Khevsureti and Tusheti are located north of the Greater Caucasus Watershed, which is geographically in Europe, with mountain peaks throughout the Caucasus ridge, placing around 5% of the country's total territory in Europe. Despite its geography, Georgia is considered a European country geopolitically because of its historical, cultural, ethnic, and political ties to the continent. is a country mainly located in Central Asia, with a small portion of the country extending west of the Ural River in Eastern Europe. The country's physical, cultural, ethnic, and geographic characteristics are Central Asian,"Kazakhstan" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 8 May 2016. with a large European influence and influx of European settlers from Russia from when it was a part of the Soviet Union and the earlier Russian Empire. Its West Kazakhstan and Atyrau regions extend on either side of the Ural River, Kazakhstan: Geography placing a population of less than one million residents (out of a 15 million total population) geographically in Europe. Because the city of Atyrau straddles the Ural River, it can be considered a transcontinental city. , the largest country in the world, spans most of northern Eurasia, stretching over a vast expanse of Eastern Europe and North Asia. Its sparsely populated Asian territory (which covers 77% of Russia) was historically incorporated into the Tsardom of Russia in the 17th century by conquests. Russia is considered a European country, as it has historical, cultural, ethnic, and political ties to the continent. The vast majority of its population (80%) lives within its European portion, making it the most populous European nation. Russia's capital Moscow is the largest city entirely in Europe. falls almost wholly within West Asia (the Asian portion of Turkey consisting of the Anatolian Peninsula and additional land) plus a smaller portion of the country in the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe called East Thrace, which covers only 3% of the country's total area, with a population of about 11 million people, or some 14% of the country's population. Turkey's largest city Istanbul spans both sides of the Bosphorus, making it a transcontinental city in both Europe and Asia, while the country's capital Ankara is located in Asia. The territory of the current Turkish state is the core territory of the previous Ottoman Empire that was also transcontinental in the same geographic region, which itself had also supplanted the earlier, similarly transcontinental Byzantine Empire.
Other conventions separating Asia and Europe put different portions of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and the Russian area of the Caucasus in either continent.
North America and South America