List of transcontinental countries

This is a list of countries spanning more than one continent. The definitions of what continent(s) a particular country covers may vary according to which criteria are used (whether purely geographical or, on the other hand, political, economic or cultural criteria). An example is Russia, which has its historical core as well as most of its population (74%), economic activity and political institutions (such as its capital city) in Europe, yet geographically most of the territory (77%) is actually in Asia. By most definitions, Russia straddles Eurasia.

This list includes countries whose contiguous continental territory or, (in the case of an island state, its different islands) lie in two (or more) different continents, or which has nearby outlying islands associated with a continent other than where it is based. Non-contiguous parts of countries are not considered (i.e. distant integral parts, extraterritorial possessions, dependencies and the like – examples include Bermuda, French Guiana, Greenland, and Hawaii,) although they may still be considered portions of transcontinental countries. This list includes the countries meeting that definition and presents tables showing the calculated area and population of each country on each continent.

These classifications are dependent on the borders of the continents under various definitions.

Methodology of calculation

There are two main methods for non-scientific calculation of parts of the territorial area:

• The smaller part of the territory is divided into rectangles, which area can be easily calculated using simple distance tools. This method gives results with moderate errors and can be used only for area, but not for population.
• If the administrative divisions (sub-regions) of the state are going along the continents' geographical border (or near it) then much more correct data (widely available area and population data for the regions) can be added up together.

The total area and population of countries is well known from various sources, so when there is data for the part of the country on one continent - then the percentages of the other part (on the other continent) can be easily calculated by subtraction.

Countries in both Asia and Europe

See "Europe and Asia" section of this article for more details about the geographical border between Europe and Asia.

See also Geographic criteria for EU membership.

• Azerbaijan - situated in both Western Asia and Eastern Europe.
• Georgia - situated in both Western Asia and Eastern Europe.
• Greece - situated in both Southeastern Europe and Western Asia. See top map.
• Kazakhstan - situated in both Central Asia and Eastern Europe.
• Russia - situated in both Northern Asia and Eastern Europe.
• South Ossetia (if its de facto independence from Georgia since the cease-fire of July 14, 1992 is recognized) - situated in both Western Asia and Eastern Europe.
• Turkey - situated in both Western Asia and Southeastern Europe.

Greece

Mainland Greece and most of its islands are associated with Europe, but the Dodecanese Prefecture of the transcontinental South Aegean Periphery and most of the transcontinental North Aegean Periphery are associated with Asia. The intercontinental boundary mostly follows prefecture and periphery boundaries. The Lesbos Prefecture consists of the Asian Lesbos Island and the European Lemnos and Agios Efstratios islands. North Aegean's other two prefectures are entirely in Asia. The Cyclades Prefecture of the South Aegean Periphery is entirely in Europe.

Russia

Russian regions' borders follow the Ural Mountains and Ural River closely enough. There is a very small area (less than 300 km²) of Russian territory south of the main Caucasus watershed in Asia. Orenburg on the Ural River is a transcontinental city.

Azerbaijan

The northeastern Azerbaijan district borders run mostly along the main Caucasus watershed. Five districts are entirely within Europe, and the transcontinental Khizi district is almost equally divided on the two sides of the watershed.

Georgia

Georgia's regional borders cross the main Caucasus watershed perpendicularly in the east-central region of the country, though some of its subdivisional lines follow it. Georgia's three transcontinental regions are Shida Kartli, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, and Kakheti.

The Java district of Shida Kartli is transcontinental (mostly in Europe) and the region's other four districts are entirely within Asia. The Kazbegi and Dusheti districts of Mtskheta-Mtianeti are transcontinental, with the Khevi subdivision of Kazbegi and the Khevsureti subdivision of Dusheti being entirely in Europe and the Mtiuleti subdivision of Kazbegi being transcontinental, and the region's other three districts are entirely within Asia. The Akhmeta district of Kakheti is transcontinental, with its Tusheti subdivision in Europe, and the region's other seven districts are entirely within Asia.

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan's provincial borders don't follow the Ural River, although some of its western district borders do so. Two of the provinces are transcontinental, Atyrau Province and West Kazakhstan Province. The capital of the former, Atyrau, is split by the mouth of the Ural and is a transcontinental city. Almost all of it is in Asia with a small portion in Europe. Two of Atyrau Province's districts are entirely in Europe, three of its districts are entirely in Asia, and its Inderskiy and Makhambetskiy districts are transcontinental. [1] Five of West Kazakhstan's districts and the province's capital city of Oral are entirely in Europe, five of its districts are entirely in Asia, and its Akzhaikskiy district is transcontinental. [2]

Turkey

Three of Turkey's provinces are entirely in Europe while Çanakkale and Istanbul are transcontinental provinces. Three of Çanakkale's districts are entirely in Europe and its other nine districts are entirely in Asia. 19 of Istanbul's districts are entirely in Europe and its other 12 districts are entirely in Asia.

Countries in both Asia and Africa

green - Asia, pink/grey - Africa

See Geography of Africa and Asia pages for more details about the geographical border between Africa and Asia.

• Egypt - situated in both Northeastern Africa and Southwestern Asia.
• Yemen - situated in both Southwestern Asia and Eastern Africa.

The border between the two continents is considered to go 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. International arbitration of the Hanish islands crisis in 1998 split control of the Hanish Islands in the Red Sea between Yemen and Eritrea along this border.

Statistics

State	Total Area km²	Area in Africa km²	Area in Africa % of total	Area in Asia km²	Area in Asia % of total
Egypt	1,001,450	937,894	93.65	63,556	6.35
Yemen	527,968	3,808	0.72	524,160	99.28

Countries are sorted according to percentage of African area.
Source: World Gazetteer, Statistics of administrative units, towns and cities [3]
For methodologies of calculation see below.

State	Total Population	Population in Africa	Population in Africa % of total	Population in Asia	Population in Asia % of total
Egypt	74,718,797	73,340,638	98.16	1,378,159	1.84
Yemen	20,975,000	44,260	0.21	20,930,740	99.79

Countries are sorted according to percentage of African population.
Sources: World Gazetteer, Statistics of administrative units, towns and cities [4]
Yemen: Also the MOPD-EU Socotra Development Masterplan [5]
For methodologies of calculation see below.

Egypt

Three of Egypt's governorates lie entirely in Asia 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 Suez Canal.

• Accuracy of area calculation: high (but better is possible)
• Accuracy of population calculation: high-to-medium

Yemen

Although mainland Yemen is in the southern Arabian Peninsula and thus part of Asia, and its Hanish Islands and Perim in the Red Sea are associated with Asia, Yemen controls the archipelago of Socotra, which lies east of the horn of Somalia and is much closer to Africa than Asia. Socotra and the mainland city of Aden constitute the transcontinental 'Adan Governorate, so the Socotra archipelago constitutes a portion of a political subdivision that can only be approximated.

• Accuracy of area calculation: high (better is possible)
• Accuracy of population calculation: medium

Countries in both Asia and Oceania

See also: Wallacea, Oceania, and Asia

Australia

Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands are Australian administered islands close to western Indonesian islands, and are considered a transcontinental islands.

East Timor

East Timor is classified as Asian by the United Nations, and a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum. East Timor has applied for membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), at which it is an observer; it is also an observer at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

Biogeographically, East Timor lies within Wallacea, an ecological transition zone between Asia and Australasia.

Culturally, sources are divided on whether, East Timor is closer to Pacific peoples than to Asians.

The Portuguese sources, Lello Universal and Enciclopédia Luso-Brasileira, described Timor as being in Oceania. The social organization of its tribal population is extremely similar to societies in Oceania. The languages spoken in the territory are mainly Austronesian, the same group that comprises the languages of New Guinea which is usually considered as part of Melanesia.

Indonesia

Sulawesi, the Maluku Islands, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, the Sangir Islands, the Talaud Islands, and Western New Guinea lie within the biogeographical transition one of Wallacea. Indonesia's other islands and island groups lie entirely in Asia, and none of its provinces crosses the Wallace Line. However, Indonesia is highly sensitive to ideas of separatism in its eastern borders, and would not want to be considered a country divided by two continents with distinct social characteristics. However, it is common practice on maps to consider all of Indonesia, including Western New Guinea, as 'Asia'..

Countries in both North America and South America

green - South America, pink/grey - North America

See North America and South America pages for more details about the geographical border between the two Americas.

• Colombia - situated in both northwestern South America and southern North America.
• Netherlands Antilles - situated in both northwestern South America and southeastern North America.
• Panama - situated in both southern North America and northwestern South America (if the below boundary between the two is used.)
• Venezuela - situated in both northwestern South America and southeastern North America.

• Most geographic authorities delineate the land border dividing the Americas somewhere along the Isthmus of Panama. The most common demarcation follows the Darien watershed along the Colombia-Panama boundary. A less common dividing line (but used herein) is the Panama Canal transecting the isthmus; by that definition, Panama would be reckoned to have territory in both continents. Panama City, Panama's capital, sits on the Pacific (southern) coast near the Panama Canal in the eastern (South American) portion of the country. Panama lies almost entirely on the Caribbean Plate, with a small portion on the South American Plate. Geopolitically and geographically, all of Panama is generally considered a part of North America alone and among the countries of North America.
• The sea islands division is more complicated. All Caribbean islands are often labeled as North American. The Dutch dependency Aruba, some parts of the Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire and Curaçao islands), and the state of Trinidad and Tobago lie on the continental shelf of South America, and are considered South American. Venezuela's Isla Aves and the Colombian islands of San Andrés and Providencia are geographically North American. Since Isla Aves only covers a small fraction of a km² and is uninhabited, Venezuela is not included in the charts below, although it may still be considered a transcontinental state. Isla Aves is one of the Federal dependencies of Venezuela under the administration of the transcontinental city of Caracas.

North American Caribbean islands belonging to South American countries:

San Andrés and Providencia

Isla Aves [6]

South American Caribbean islands:

Aruba

Curaçao

Bonaire

Trinidad and Tobago

Statistics

State	Total Area km²	Area in North America km²	Area in North America % of total	Area in South America km²	Area in South America % of total
Aruba 1	180	0	0	180	100
Trinidad and Tobago	5,128	0	0	5,128	100
Colombia	1,141,748	57	0.005	1,141,691	99.995
Netherlands Antilles 1	800	68	8.5	732	91.5
Panama ²	77,082	45,955	59.62	31,127	40.38

¹ Extraterritorial part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
² If the disputed intercontinental boundary is regarded as the Panama Canal.
Countries are sorted according to percentage of South American area.
Source: World Gazetteer, Statistics of administrative units, towns and cities [7]
For methodologies of calculation see below.

State	Total Population	Population in North America	Population in North America % of total	Population in South America	Population in South America % of total
Aruba 1	103,000	0	0	103,000	100
Trinidad and Tobago	1,104,209	0	0	1,104,209	100
Colombia	42,090,502	83,491	0.20	42,007,011	99.80
Netherlands Antilles 1	221,226	59,226	26.77	162,000	73.23
Panama ²	3,172,537	1,726,126	54.41	1,446,411	45.59

¹ Extraterritorial part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
² If the disputed intercontinental boundary is regarded as the Panama Canal.
Countries are sorted according to percentage of South American population.
Source: World Gazetteer, Statistics of administrative units, towns and cities [8]
For methodologies of calculation see below.

Aruba

Lies on the continental shelf of South America, and is thus considered to lie entirely in South America, but all Caribbean islands are often labelled as North American, and the language and cultural links are not to South America so the accuracy of both area and population percentages may be disputed.

Trinidad and Tobago

Lies on the continental shelf of South America, and is thus considered to lie entirely in South America, but all Caribbean islands are often labelled as North American, and the language and cultural links are not to South America but to the rest of the English speaking Caribbean nations so the accuracy of both area and population percentages may be disputed.

Colombia

Mainland Colombia is in northwestern South America, but the nation also controls the San Andrés and Providencia archipelago, 400 miles WNW of Columbia's Caribbean coast, near the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. This archipelago is coterminous with the department of the same name, but the population can only be approximated.

• Accuracy of area calculation: high-to-medium
• Accuracy of population calculation: medium

Netherlands Antilles

Bonaire and Curaçao lie entirely in South America because of the position of the continental shelf, while Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten lie entirely in North America. Similarly to Aruba, its historical connections are with the other Caribbean islands that are often labelled as North American, and the language and cultural links are not to South America but increasingly because of tourism and the financial industry to other English speaking Caribbean nations so the accuracy of both area and population percentages may be disputed.

Panama

Most authorities and most Panamanians consider Panama to be North America's southernmost nation, entirely within both Central America and North America. An alternative view is that the man-made Panama Canal divides the continents. That would place Darién Province and four comarcas idígenas entirely in South America. Panamá Province and Colón Province would both be transcontinental, with Colón nearly equally divided between both Americas and Panamá Province unequally divided, with nearly a 1:4 ratio in South America's favour. A map of the locations of the districts of these two provinces and their area and population numbers are needed. The Pearl Islands and Taboga Island in the Gulf of Panama are part of Panamá Province and would be associated with South America and North America, respectively. Six other provinces and the comarca idígena of Ngöbe-Buglé would be entirely in North America.

• Accuracy of area calculation: medium
• Accuracy of population calculation: low

Countries in both Africa and Europe

See "Africa and Europe" section of this article for more details about the geographical border between Africa and Europe.

• Italy - situated in both Southern Europe and Northern Africa.
• Portugal - situated in both Southwestern Europe and Northwestern Africa.
• Spain - situated in both Southwestern Europe and Northwestern Africa.

Statistics

State	Total Area km²	Area in Africa km²	Area in Africa % of total	Area in Europe km²	Area in Europe % of total
Italy	301,318	110	0.037	301,208	99.963
Portugal	92,391	828	0.896	91,563	99.104
Spain	505,992	7,568	1.50	498,424	98.50

Countries are sorted according to percentage of European area.
Source: World Gazetteer, Statistics of administrative units, towns and cities [9]
For methodologies of calculation see below.

State	Total Population	Population in Africa	Population in Africa % of total	Population in Europe	Population in Europe % of total
Italy	58,751,711	13,745	0.023	58,737,966	99.977
Portugal	10,605,870	253,482	2.39	10,352,388	97.61
Spain	44,708,964	2,109,044	4.718	42,599,920	95.282

Countries are sorted according to percentage of European population.
Source: World Gazetteer, Statistics of administrative units, towns and cities [10]
For methodologies of calculation see below.

Italy

Although mainland Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, the Aegadian Islands, Ustica, and the Aeolian Islands are associated with Europe, the closest land to Pantelleria and the Pelagie Islands is Tunisia on the African mainland. They belong to the transcontinental Sicilian provinces of Trapani and Agrigento, respectively, and they are coterminous with the comuni of Pantelleria and Lampedusa e Linosa, respectively. The figures can only be approximated.

• Accuracy of area calculation: high (better is possible)
• Accuracy of population calculation: medium

Portugal

Continental Portugal is in Europe, while the Azores archipelago (also associated with Europe) and the archipelago of Madeira (geographically part of Africa) in the Atlantic Ocean constitute the Autonomous regions of Portugal. The latter autonomous region also includes Porto Santo Island, the Desertas Islands, and the Savage Islands, all of which are also African islands.

• Accuracy of area calculation: highest possible
• Accuracy of population calculation: high

Spain

Although its mainland is in Europe, Spain has holdings (the Canary Islands in the Atlantic and its Plazas de soberanía including Ceuta and Melilla on the African mainland) that are geographically part of Africa. They are considered Autonomous communities of Spain. The African Mediterranean island of Isla de Alborán belongs to the transcontinental city of Almería and the transcontinental province of Almería.

• Accuracy of area calculation: high
• Accuracy of population calculation: high

Antarctic claims

A number of nations claim ownership over portions of the continent of Antarctica. Some, including Argentina and Chile, consider the Antarctic land they claim to be integral parts of their national territory.

Other examples

France

The Republic of France includes overseas departments in Africa (Reunion), North America (Guadeloupe, Martinique), and South America (French Guiana). These entities have the same legal status as the departments of metropolitan France.

United States

While the territory of the United States lies overwhelmingly in North America, it includes the state of Hawaii in Oceania.

See also

• Colonialism
• Dependent territory
• Imperialism
• List of countries by continent
• List of transcontinental empires and countries in history
• Thalassocracy

External links

• Transcontinental states according to World Gazetteer