Physical Boundaries That Separate Asia From Europe And Africa

1. a. How did Asia become a continent, who were the key players that determined the continent 's creation, and the naming of the area as such?

One of the earliest civilization to use the name Asia were the Greeks; it is considered that the name originated from the Persian word “Asu” which means east as it is situated to the East of their land. Herodotus, a Greek philosopher was one of the acknowledged people to use Asia as a continent through his writings and prose. As years passed by and Westerners reached South and East Asia the name was expanded to the entire region(Alexeeva,2015).

b. How do you describe the geography of Asia? Discuss the physical boundaries that separate Asia from Europe and Africa. What were the reasons for the drawing of such boundaries?

Its boundaries are composed of oceans though its lands are surrounded by Europe and Africa. The Arctic ocean borders the Northern region, the Indian ocean at the south and Pacific Ocean borders the East. The geographical border mostly considered between Asia and Europe to the west is the line that trails the Ural Mountains, the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Seas. Thus Asia occupies the Eastern part of the Eurasian supercontinent and the west belongs to Europe. The Asia-Africa boundaries is at the Isthmus of Suez and the Red sea(National Geographic,1996-2015). The case with the territorial setting of Egypt being an Asian country dates back before 19th century until it was recognized as an African country though it is transcontinental (in the 19th century). However in considering the geopolitical relation between Africa and the Middle East, Egypt is usually grouped with the Middle East in