Eurasia

About Eurasia


Eurasia

Eurasia

African-Eurasian aspect of Earth

'Eurasia' is an immense landmass covering about 53,990,000 km² (or about 10.6%) of the Earth's surface. Often reckoned as a single continent, Eurasia comprises the traditional continents of Europe and Asia, concepts which date back to classical antiquity and the borders for which are somewhat arbitrary. Eurasia, in turn, is part of the yet larger landmass of Africa-Eurasia.
Eurasia has in excess of 4.61 billion people—more than 71% of the world's human population.

Contents
History and culture
Geology
Use of term
Use in fiction
See also
External links

History and culture


Jared Diamond, in his book ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'', credits Eurasia's dominance in world history to the east-west extent of Eurasia and its climate zones, and the availability of Eurasian animals and plants suitable for domestication.
The Silk Road symbolizes trade and cultural exchange linking Eurasian cultures through history and has been an increasingly popular topic. Over recent decades the idea of a greater Eurasian history has developed with the aim of investigating the genetic, cultural and linguistic relationships between European and Asian cultures of antiquity. These had long been considered distinct.
Eurasia was first circumnavigated by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld in 1878-79.

Geology


Main articles: Laurasia

Eurasia formed 325 to 375 million years ago. It formed when Siberia (once an independent continent), Kazakhstania, and Baltica (which was joined to Laurentia (now North America) to form Euramerica) joined. Chinese cratons collided with Siberia's southern coast.

Use of term


In modern usage, the term "Eurasian" generally refers to a person of both European and Asian parentage, especially in new world countries such as the United States and Australia.
Located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres, Eurasia is considered a supercontinent, part of the supercontinent of Africa-Eurasia or simply a continent in its own right. In plate tectonics, the Eurasian Plate includes Europe and most of Asia but not the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian Peninsula or the area of the Russian Far East east of the Chersky Range. ''Eurasia'' is also sometimes used in geopolitics as a neutral way to refer to organizations of or affairs concerning the post-Soviet states, in particular Russia, the Central Asian republics, and the Transcaucasian republics.
Europeans traditionally considered Europe and Asia to be separate continents, with the dividing line placed along the Aegean Sea, Dardanelles, Sea of Marmara, Bosporus, Black Sea, Caucasus Mountains, Caspian Sea, Ural River, and Ural Mountains, and this terminology has spread to the rest of the world, even though ''Asia'' contains multiple regions and cultures as large and populous as Europe, and as different and geographically separated from each other as they are from Europe. From a modern perspective in scientific circles people generally prefer to subsume Europe and Asia into Eurasia.

Use in fiction


Eurasia is a fictional country, state or supranational entity appearing in several works of fantasy, literature and science fiction, including books, movies, television series and video games:

★ A Eurasia comprising approximately the same land area as the real-life landmass appears in George Orwell's ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''. This superstate excludes the British Isles (controlled by Oceania) and Eastasia, the latter of which was formed after a 'decade of confused fighting' by an alliance of the states of the real-life East Asia region, the most important two being China and Japan. India was a contested border zone between ''Eurasia'' and ''Oceania'' and was the most famous state involved.

★ Robert A. Heinlein's story Solution Unsatisfactory, written in 1940, describes a future 1945 (now to be considered an alternate history) in which the Soviet Union is transformed into the 'Eurasian Union'.

★ In S. M. Stirling's dystopian Draka alternative history series, the analogue to World War II is known as "The Eurasian War". Somewhat similar in its geography to Orwell's scenario, the war ends with most of Eurasia—excluding the British Isles, India and southeast Asia—being conquered by the extremely oppressive Draka who literally enslave everybody else.

★ In the universe of the ''Earth'' game series (''Earth 2140'', ''Earth 2150'', ''Earth 2160''), one of the major factions is the Eurasian Dynasty.

★ Eurasia is a large and powerful terrestrial state and member of the Earth Alliance in the Cosmic Era series of the epic anime franchise ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED''.

★ Eurasia is also used as the name of the fictional space colony that Mega Man and Zero must stop from colliding with Earth in the video game ''Mega Man X5''.

★ The fictional character of Butler, from the Artemis Fowl series of novels by author Eoin Colfer, is a large Eurasian bodyguard.

See also



★ Palearctic

★ Laurasia, a geological supercontinent joining Eurasia and North America.

★ Euramerica, a geological supercontinent joining Baltica (Western Europe) and North America.

★ Eurasian Economic Community

★ Neo-Eurasianism

★ Eurasian

★ Africa-Eurasia

External links



★ EurasiaNet

★ Eurasia Group

This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
Going to Eurasia?
Below is the list of travel companies in Eurasia we have in our travel directory
Travel Articles
Discover Ethiopia: Top 10 Attractions and SightsDiscover Ethiopia: Top 10 Attractions and Sights
Harley Davidson Sightseeing Tours in Melbourne AustraliaHarley Davidson Sightseeing Tours in Melbourne Australia
The 5 Coolest Places in the World & on EarthThe 5 Coolest Places in the World & on Earth
Austria Offers New Wine in the Old WorldAustria Offers New Wine in the Old World
Canadian Tour Revives Historic Saskatchewan Open at Dakota DunesCanadian Tour Revives Historic Saskatchewan Open at Dakota Dunes
Forget Bora Bora: Have a Real Honeymoon in Tikehau, French PolyForget Bora Bora: Have a Real Honeymoon in Tikehau, French Poly
discover more >
Recent Blogs
discover more >
Did you know?
  • Nauru is the smallest independent island country in the world, is found in the South Pacific Ocean to the east of Papua New Guinea and Australia. 
  • When you're visiting a McDonald's in Chile, you use avocado paste, not ketchup. 
  • When eating out in Japan, never pour your beer or sake for yourself. You pour for your companion and they do the same for you.
Travel News
discover more >
TripAtlas.com Dashboard Widget