List of transcontinental countries

This is a list of countries with territory that straddles more than one continent, known as transcontinental states or intercontinental states.^[1]

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 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.^[1]

For the purposes of this article, a seven-continent model is assumed based on common terms of reference by English language geographers.^[2] 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.^[3] 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.^[1]^[4]

Transcontinental states can be classed as either contiguous or non-contiguous transcontinental states.^[5]

- 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).^[6]^[7]

- 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.^[6]^[7] Most non-contiguous transcontinental countries are countries with overseas territories.^[1]

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.^[2]

- 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^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

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'.^{[citation needed]} 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).^[6]^[7] In other words, someone can travel to another continent without changing the country (without crossing a border).

Africa and Asia

African land part of Egypt

  Asian land part of Egypt

  The rest of Africa

  The rest of 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,^{[citation needed]} with the Catabathmus Magnus escarpment taken as the boundary with Africa (Libya).

Egypt: 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.^[8]^[9]

According to this convention, the following countries have territory in both Asia and Europe.

Azerbaijan 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.
Georgia 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^[10] because of its historical, cultural, ethnic, and political ties to the continent.^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]
Kazakhstan is a country mainly located in Central Asia,^[15] 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,^[16]^[17] 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,^[18] 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.^[19]
Russia, the largest country in the world, spans most of northern Eurasia, stretching over a vast expanse of Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Its sparsely populated Asian territory 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.^[20] 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.
Turkey falls almost wholly within Western 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 Southeastern 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,^[21] 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.

North America and South America

The conventional boundary between North America and South America is at some point on the Colombia–Panama border, with the most common demarcation in atlases and other sources following the Darién Mountains watershed where the Isthmus of Panama meets the South American continent (see Darién Gap). This area encompasses a large watershed, forest and mountains in the northern portion of Colombia's Chocó Department and Panama's Darién province.

Some geographers prefer to use the Panama Canal^[22] as the physical boundary between North and South America instead.^[23]^{[full citation needed]} Under this convention, its capital Panama City is classified as a South American city. Given the competing claims, the Panamanian sports governing bodies affiliate to differing continental/regional confederations: its athletics federation to South America's, its soccer federation to North, Central America and Caribbean's; its Olympic committee to both South America's and Central America's.

Non-contiguous

North America and South America

Colombia: Most of the Colombian mainland is located in northern South America (see North America and South America above) and the Malpelo Island in the Pacific Ocean is also associated with South America (or on rare occasion Oceania, due to its status as an oceanic island).^[24]^[25] However, the state also administers the San Andrés and Providencia archipelago, 640 kilometres (400 mi) WNW of Colombia's Caribbean Coast, in North America.
Venezuela (Aves Island): Most of Venezuela, predominantly its mainland, is located in northern South America. Aves Island, however, is geographically a definitive part of North America. It is one of the Federal Dependencies of Venezuela which are under the administration of the Ministry of Interior, Justice and Peace.

The special case of Caribbean islands adjacent to the South American coastline:

Trinidad and Tobago: The state of Trinidad and Tobago lies on two tectonic plates. The southern half of Trinidad lies on the South American Plate while the northern half of Trinidad and the island of Tobago lie on the Caribbean Plate. However, these geological features do not necessarily qualify Trinidad and Tobago as a transcontinental state, as the whole territory is often labeled geopolitically as part of North America.
Leeward Antilles (Collectively Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao of the Netherlands; Nueva Esparta of Venezuela; and the Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, excluding Aves Island): The Caribbean islands division of North America and South America is complicated. Geopolitically, all Caribbean islands in the West Indies are often labeled as North American islands, but geologically, the islands of the Leeward Antilles lie on the continental shelf of South America, and can be considered South American as well. Excluding the geographically North American Aves Island, the remaining Venezuelan islands of the Federal Dependencies are islands situated in the Caribbean on the continental shelf of South America. These islands are north of the Venezuelan mainland and are akin to the location of Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, and Trinidad and Tobago. Similarly, the islands of the State of Nueva Esparta (Margarita Island, Coche Island, and Cubagua) are also situated in the Caribbean Sea just to the north of the Caribbean coastline of the Venezuelan mainland. However, all of the non-Venezuelan islands in this area are typically considered North American rather than South American.^[26]

Caribbean Island locations

North American Caribbean islands administered by South American states:

Caribbean islands considered North American or South American:

South America and Oceania

Chile: Chile is mostly on the South American mainland and includes the islands of Easter Island and Isla Salas y Gómez, which are within the Oceania subregion of Polynesia.^[27] Those and the oceanic Juan Fernández Islands and Desventuradas Islands are part of Insular Chile.^[28]

Asia and Oceania

Australia: The Commonwealth of Australia consists of its namesake continent and island possessions associated with Oceania, Asia, and Antarctica. Its Indian Ocean territories of Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands are sometimes culturally associated with Southeast Asia. The majority of residents on these islands have Asian ancestry (mainly Chinese and Malays); there is also a proportion of Australians and New Zealanders on the islands who have European ancestry.^[29]^[30] The islands have no proper indigenous population, as they were only discovered in the 17th century, by Europeans. Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands are classified as being the westernmost areas of Oceania by the World Factbook, and are also considered part of Oceania by the United Nations. They are within the Australian Plate, and could potentially be geographically part of Oceania under definitions that include the nearby Malay Archipelago, or under definitions which are based on tectonic plates.
Japan: The Bonin Islands (comprising the Volcano Islands and three remote islands: Minamitorishima, Nishinoshima, and Okinotorishima) and the Izu Islands are sometimes considered parts of Oceania, owing to their oceanic nature.^[25]^[31]^[27]^[32]^[33] The Bonin Islands belong to the Oceanian biogeographic realm, and are believed to have once been inhabited by Indigenous peoples of Oceania around 2,000 years ago, with their official discovery coming much later in the 16th century, through Europeans.^[34] The most isolated island, Minami-Tori-shima (also known as Marcus Island) is 2,000 kilometers removed from Tokyo, lying closer to the northernmost islands of Micronesia.^[35]^[36]
Indonesia and Timor-Leste: Indonesia and Timor-Leste are occasionally associated with Oceania, as they are the closest to Australia and Melanesia out of all countries in the Malay Archipelago.^[37] Indonesia's eastern region includes Western New Guinea and nearby islands such as Maluku Islands and Lesser Sunda Islands, which are culturally and ecologically associated with Oceania. Meanwhile, Aru Islands (part of Maluku) and Western New Guinea are geologically part of the Australian landmass.^[38]^[39]^[40] Likewise, the islands of Wallacea (east of the Wallace Line), including Timor, Flores, Sumba, the Moluccan archipelago, and many others, have strong biogeographic and cultural links with Oceania.