Countries on Two Continents

Continents are a convention, so the answer depends on where you put the lines between them. I sort the countries into three groups: the ones a continental border cuts in two under every common version, the ones that count only under some versions, and the ones that reach another continent across the sea.

Which countries are on two continents?

Four, for certain: Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Egypt. In each one, the border between two continents runs across the country's own land or through a strait inside it.

• Russia

  Continents:

  Europe and Asia

  Where the line runs:

  The Ural Mountains

• Turkey

  Continents:

  Europe and Asia

  Where the line runs:

  The Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles

• Kazakhstan

  Continents:

  Europe and Asia

  Where the line runs:

  The Emba River and the Mughalzhar Hills in the far west

• Egypt

  Continents:

  Africa and Asia

  Where the line runs:

  The Suez Canal

Countries split by a continental border

Country	Continents	Where the line runs
Russia	Europe and Asia	The Ural Mountains
Turkey	Europe and Asia	The Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles
Kazakhstan	Europe and Asia	The Emba River and the Mughalzhar Hills in the far west
Egypt	Africa and Asia	The Suez Canal

Russia is the giant of the group. Britannica describes it as covering the whole of northern Asia and the eastern third of Europe. The Ural Mountains, the traditional boundary between the two, run through the west of the country. Moscow and St Petersburg are both on the European side.

Turkey is the other way round. Nearly all of it is Anatolia, in Asia; only Turkish Thrace, a small corner in the northwest, is in Europe. The Bosporus runs through Istanbul, so Turkey's largest city has a European side and an Asian side.

Kazakhstan's European part is a strip in the far west. Britannica's border follows the Emba River and the Mughalzhar Hills there, which leaves a small part of the country in Europe.

Egypt's Asian part is the Sinai Peninsula, east of the Suez Canal. Britannica gives the Sinai an area of 61,000 km², about 6 percent of Egypt, and says it is usually regarded as part of Asia.

Countries that count only under some borders

Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia are in the Caucasus, where geographers draw the border between Europe and Asia in several different places. Britannica describes four versions. Two of them put Georgia and Azerbaijan on two continents, and only one does the same for Armenia:

• Leave the whole Caucasus in Asia. Britannica says most geographers now use this one, and it puts all three countries in Asia.
• Follow the crest of the Greater Caucasus: the north side in Europe, the south side (Transcaucasia) in Asia. Nearly all of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan is south of the crest, but a few districts of northern Georgia (about 5 percent of the country) and of northern Azerbaijan lie north of it. So Georgia and Azerbaijan are split, and Armenia stays in Asia.
• Split the region west and east. The bulk of Azerbaijan and small parts of Armenia and Georgia go to Asia, the rest to Europe, and all three end up on two continents.
• Run the line along the Aras River and the Turkish border. That puts all three countries in Europe.

Panama is the other borderline case. Many definitions of North America, such as the US National Library of Medicine's, start at Panama's border with Colombia, which leaves all of Panama in North America. Some geographers use the Panama Canal as the boundary instead, and under that line Panama is on two continents.

Countries that reach other continents by sea

A longer group has its main territory on one continent and islands or territories on others. For most of the table, my rule is the UN's: a territory counts when the UN Statistics Division places it in a different region from its home country. Spain, Chile and Indonesia are there for land that is part of the country itself, and so is Hawaii, a US state that forms one corner of the Polynesian Triangle (the UN counts Polynesia as part of Oceania).

• France

  Also reaches:

  North and South America, Africa, Oceania

  Through:

  Guadeloupe and Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion and Mayotte, New Caledonia and French Polynesia

• United Kingdom

  Also reaches:

  North and South America, Africa, Oceania

  Through:

  Bermuda and the Caribbean territories, the Falkland Islands, Saint Helena, Pitcairn

• United States

  Also reaches:

  Oceania

  Through:

  Hawaii, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa

• Netherlands

  Also reaches:

  North America

  Through:

  Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba in the Caribbean; Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten are countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands

• Denmark

  Also reaches:

  North America

  Through:

  Greenland, a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark

• Spain

  Also reaches:

  Africa

  Through:

  Ceuta and Melilla, on the North African coast

• Chile

  Also reaches:

  Oceania

  Through:

  Easter Island (Rapa Nui), in Polynesia

• Indonesia

  Also reaches:

  Oceania

  Through:

  The western half of New Guinea

Countries with land on another continent across the sea

Country	Also reaches	Through
France	North and South America, Africa, Oceania	Guadeloupe and Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion and Mayotte, New Caledonia and French Polynesia
United Kingdom	North and South America, Africa, Oceania	Bermuda and the Caribbean territories, the Falkland Islands, Saint Helena, Pitcairn
United States	Oceania	Hawaii, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa
Netherlands	North America	Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba in the Caribbean; Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten are countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Denmark	North America	Greenland, a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark
Spain	Africa	Ceuta and Melilla, on the North African coast
Chile	Oceania	Easter Island (Rapa Nui), in Polynesia
Indonesia	Oceania	The western half of New Guinea

I count the Caribbean islands as North America, as the National Library of Medicine's definition does, and Britannica allocates Greenland to North America too. New Guinea is the less obvious one: its eastern half is Papua New Guinea, which the UN places in Oceania, and its western half is Indonesian. Ceuta and Melilla give the European Union its only land borders in Africa.

Some longer lists go further. They add Australia (for Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands, which the UN counts in Oceania anyway), Portugal (for Madeira, which lies off Africa, but Britannica counts it as European, as it does Spain's Canary Islands), Yemen (for Socotra, off the Horn of Africa), and Greece and Italy (for islands close to Turkey and Tunisia). Those rest on geology or distance rather than on any official grouping, so they are not in my table.

How many countries are on two continents?

It depends on the rule, which is why sources give such different numbers:

• 4 if only a country's own mainland counts and the border is the one most geographers use (Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Egypt).
• 6 if the Caucasus line follows the crest of the mountains, which adds Georgia and Azerbaijan.
• 8 if you split the Caucasus west and east instead, which adds Armenia too, and draw the Americas line along the Panama Canal.
• 16 if you add the countries that reach another continent by sea, as in the table above.

For a quiz, the four clear cases are the safe answer. For the wider picture of how Europe ends in the east, see European countries by region.

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