Is Russia Europe or Asia? Where is the border between the two parts of the world on the map of Russia?

Is Russia Europe or Asia? Residents of Moscow and Khabarovsk will certainly answer this question in different ways. And is there a single right and objective answer to it? Where is the geographical boundary of the European and Asian parts of Russia, where is the cultural, historical, and where is the political one? We try to cover various aspects of this topic in this article.

A little bit about the border of two worlds

Europe, Asia ... These two terms are quite often used in modern life. We meet them in books and on geographic maps. Politicians, sociologists, cultural figures speak about them from the TV screens, as a rule, opposing them. Indeed, these are two completely different worlds with different views on life, different cultural traditions and religions.

The border between Europe and Asia is rather conditional. After all, if two neighboring continents are separated by the ocean or the seas, then in the case of these parts of the world, there are no obvious natural boundaries. Nevertheless, the "cordon" between them has persistently and persistently been attempted by scientists and geographers for several centuries in a row.

It is interesting that the ancient Greeks called Europe only the northern regions of their country - Ancient Greece. But over time, this name spread to larger areas. With regard to establishing a clear boundary between Europe and Asia, this issue became relevant only in the middle of the XVIII century. The well-known Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov proposed to take her along the Don River. VN Tatishchev went further, suggesting that the Ural Mountains be considered such a boundary.

To date, geographers of the planet, fortunately, have come to a common opinion on this issue. And it is obvious that the border of two worlds passes just on the Russian territory. In this connection, the natural question arises: is Russia Europe or Asia? Let's try to answer it.

Is Russia Europe or Asia?

From the point of view of modern political geography, Russia is a European state. It is on this basis that the country is a member of the Council of Europe.

If we consider this issue from the standpoint of physical geography, then Russia is difficult to attribute to any of these parts of the world. About 70% of its territory is located within Asia, but the capital of the state, like most of its population, is located in the European part.

It is interesting that on old American maps the border between Europe and Asia was conducted along the western borders of the USSR. Today, overseas cartographers often spend it on the Donbas and Georgia, including Ukraine, Georgia, and Turkey to Europe. However, in this case it is rather a formal division of the territories into Europe and non-Europe, proceeding from the so-called "zone of Russian influence".

To what part of the world is Russia more closely culturally and spiritually? According to the well-known historian A. S. Alekseev, Russia is a self-sufficient state, qualitatively different from both Western European civilization and all Asian cultures.

The border of Europe and Asia on the map of Russia

When talking about the border, in the imagination immediately appear the corresponding images: fences with barbed wire, severe border guards and checkpoints. However, in our world there are other types of borders. And for their crossing a person does not need a passport or a visa.

The border between Europe and Asia is shown on many maps. And on the ground, it is marked by dozens of special signs, obelisks and tablets, which we'll talk about a little later. Within Russia this border passes through the uninhabited expanses of the northern tundra, the slopes of the mountains, through the steppes, the sea and forests. Its total length here is about 5,5 thousand kilometers.

The European-Asian border in Russia, according to generally accepted ideas, is conducted on the following geographical objects (from north to south):

• Coast of the Kara Sea;
• The eastern foot of the Ural mountain range;
• The Emba River;
• The Ural River;
• Northwest coast of the Caspian Sea;
• Kumo-Manych depression;
• The Don river delta;
• The Kerch Strait.

Below on the map you can see how this line passes through the country.

"Frontier" Ural Mountains

The mountains that divide Russia into Europe and Asia are the Urals. It perfectly suits the role of the border. The mountain system stretched strictly from north to south for almost 2500 kilometers. This fact was noticed by VN Tatishchev. It was he who first proposed to conduct the European-Asian border precisely over the Urals. In support of his proposal, the scientist pointed to the fact that the mountain system is an important watershed of the continent. In addition, the rivers flowing from it to the west and to the east, differ significantly in their ichthyofauna.

It was not difficult to draw a line between the parts of the world in the Urals. An exception was its southern part, where all the mountain structures are arranged fan-shaped. Until the 1950s, the border passed along the watershed line. But later the International Geographical Union displaced it to the eastern foothills of the mountain range.

Memorable signs on the line of the Euro-Asian border

Within Russia there are at least 50 such signs. And the largest number of them is in the Urals. These are all kinds of obelisks, steles and pillars made of stone, marble, steel or plain wood.

The northernmost sign "Europe - Asia" is located at the Straits of Yugorsky Shar. This is a simple wooden pillar with an anchor attached to it. It was established in 1973 by workers of one of the polar stations. The largest monument - the obelisk of red granite - was opened in 2008 on the outskirts of Pervouralsk.

In this respect, Orenburg is an interesting city. After all, he, like Turkish Istanbul, is simultaneously in two parts of the world. And the river Ural divides it between Europe and Asia by its modest width. In the city there is a pedestrian bridge connecting the center of Orenburg with Zauralnaya Grove. Local residents often joke about it: they say, we work in Europe, and we go to picnics in Asia.

The result

The story of this symbolic bridge in Orenburg is an excellent conclusion of our article. So, is Russia Europe or Asia? Obviously, the country is incorrectly attributed to any of these parts of the world. It would be most correct to call Russia a Euro-Asian state - unique and self-sufficient.