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Countries in both Europe and Asia


See Europe page for more details about the geographical border between Europe and Asia.
  • Azerbaijan and Georgia lie partly in Europe according to definitions which consider the main watershed of the Caucasus as the boundary with Asia.
  • Kazakhstan's European territory consists of a portion west of the Ural River (the Emba in other definitions).
  • Those territories of Russia lying west of the Ural Mountains and north of the main Caucasus watershed are considered as part of Europe.
  • European Turkey comprises territory to the west and north of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles straits.
  • Armenia and Cyprus are geographically in Asia, but considered part of Europe for cultural and historical reasons. Because of that they are not included into the statistics on this page.
Contents

Statistics


State Total Area
km²
Area in Asia
km²
Area in Asia
% of total
Area in Europe
km²
Area in Europe
% of total
Russia 17,075,200 13,115,200 76.81 3,960,000 23.19
Azerbaijan 86,600 79,490 91.79 7,110 8.21
Kazakhstan 2,717,300 2,567,300 94.48 150,000 5.52
Turkey 780,580 756,768 96.95 23,812 3.05
Georgia 69,700 67,700 97.13 2000 2.87

Countries are sorted according to percentage European area.
Source: CIA World Factbook 2004, Statistics of administrative units, towns and cities [1] http://www.world-gazetteer.com
For methodologies of calculation see below.


State Total Population Population in Asia Population in Asia
% of total
Population in Europe Population in Europe
% of total
Russia 143,780,000 37,742,857 26.25 106,037,143 73.75
Turkey 68,900,000 57,855,068 83.97 11,044,932 1 16.03 1
Kazakhstan 15,140,000 145,400,000 96.04 600,000 3.96
Azerbaijan 7,870,000 7,694,800 97.77 175,200 2.23
Georgia 4,690,000 4,652,480 99.2 37,520 0.8

Countries are sorted according to percentage European population.
Source: CIA World Factbook 2004, Statistics of administrative units, towns and cities [2] http://www.world-gazetteer.com
For methodologies of calculation see below.
1 Including the districts of Istanbul city that are lying in Asia.

Methodology of calculation

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

  • The smaller part of the territory (European in most cases) is divided into rectangles, witch 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 Asia/Europe 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 have data for one of the two parts—European and Asian— the other part and the percentages can be easily calculated.

Azerbaijan

The north-eastern Azerbaijan regions' borders are going mostly along the main Caucasus watershed, so here there can be used the more correct method. The Xisi region is almost equally divided on the two sides of the watershed, so area calculation is easily made.

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

Georgia

Georgia regions' borders don't follow the main Caucasus watershed (a newer map is needed showing South Ossetia correctly and not divided between other regions—mostly the former Tsinkvalli region). The area is calculated by the rectangle method. The population is calculated using the population density (inhabitants/sq. km.) of the Azerbaijan's European territory (because it is in the same region and is somewhat accurate).

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

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan regions' borders don't follow the Ural river. There are two regions that stretch in both Europe and Asia. It looks like the Asian territory of the northern (of these two) region is similar to the European territory of the southern. The northern has in total ~151,000 sq. km. A conservative figure of 150,000 is used, because using the rectangle method such results are also obtained. Figures from both regions are used for the population data, taking into account which cities lie in Asia and which in Europe.

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

Russia

Russia regions' borders follow closely enough the Ural mountains and river. The deviations of the borders are such that if one mainly European region has a small part of its territory in Asia, then another mainly Asian region has a small part of its territory in Europe. Such cases are rare and nearly compensating one-another, so for such a rough calculation high accuracy can be claimed. There is also a very small (less than 300 sq. km.) Russian territory south of the main Caucasus watershed—in Asia. This is also a small deviation and it does not seriously affect the accuracy.

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

Turkey

Turkey regions' are helpful for the calculation, but some things should be noted. The area that the mainly asian region of Canakkle occupies in Europe is compensating the asian territory of the Istanbul region. The population calculation is more problematic, because it is not sure if the population density (inhabitants/sq. km.) of these two parts are equal and then there is the case with the city of Istanbul, which is lying on both Europe and Asia. Should the city be looked as one big 'dot', located in Europe, or should the population figures be divided? Currently the whole population of the city is added to the table. Also, precise data about the particular districts of Istanbul is missing.

  • Accuracy of area calculation: high (but better is possible)
  • Accuracy of population calculation: high-to-medium 1

1 (wrong if Istanbul statistics are to be divided)

Last updated: 02-18-2005 23:36:51
Last updated: 05-03-2005 09:00:33