Eurasia
Largest continental area, comprising Europe and Asia.
Eurasia is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some models, it is a single supercontinent, though the division between Europe and Asia is largely cultural and has historically been subject to change. Eurasia has been host to many ancient civilizations and, from the Axial Age onward, a continuous belt of civilizations stretched through its subtropical zone, becoming the mainstream of world history for two millennia.
- area
- ~55 million square kilometers (21 million square miles)
- land_percentage
- ~36.2% of Earth's total land area
- population
- Well over 5 billion people (~70% of human population)
Lore & Background
Eurasia spans from Iceland and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Russian Far East, and from the Russian Far North to Maritime Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Africa to the southwest, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the east, and the Indo-Mediterranean to the south. The coastline contains many peninsulas, including the Arabian, Korean, Indian, Anatolia, Kamchatka, and Italian peninsulas. Due to its vast size, Eurasia exhibits all types of climates under the Köppen classification.
Reader's Guide
Eurasia's significance lies in its sheer scale and its role as the primary stage of human civilization. It has hosted ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China. Geopolitically, Eurasia is a critical concept; as Zbigniew Brzezinski observed, a power that dominates Eurasia would control two of the world's three most advanced regions and about three-fourths of the world's known energy resources. Regional organizations such as the Eurasian Economic Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States seek to promote integration across the landmass.
Did You Know?
- Eurasia covers around 55 million square kilometers, or about 36.2% of Earth's total land area.
- The five most-populated islands in the world are Java, Honshu, Great Britain, Luzon, and Sumatra, all in Eurasia.
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