The answer’s not so simple.
Where is Europe? Via Registan comes this post at A Fistful of Euros, which quotes this article at wikipedia:
The south-east boundary with Asia is not universally defined. Most commonly the Ural or, alternatively, the Emba River serve as possible boundaries. The boundary continues to the Caspian Sea, the crest of the Caucasus Mountains or, alternatively, the Kura River in the Caucasus, and on to the Black Sea”¦ However, numerous geographers consider Azerbaijan’s and Armenia’s southern border with Iran”¦ as the boundary between Asia and Europe because of political and cultural reasons”¦Due to sociopolitical and cultural differences, there are various descriptions of Europe’s boundary; in some sources, some territories are not included in Europe, while other sources include them. For instance, geographers from Russia and other post-Soviet states generally include the Urals in Europe while including Caucasia in Asia.
The comments are well worth reading, and thought-provoking. As Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU this month, we must wonder how far the EU can expand. Morocco applied to join the European Community in 1987 but was rejected on the grounds that it was not in Europe. Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and even Kazakhstan have expressed varying levels of interest in membership, although none have submitted formal applications and none are expected to in the near future. And we’ve all heard the cartographic arguments against Turkey’s membership.
UPDATE: See also the Copenhagen Criteria definition of Europe, map below:
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COMMENTS / 10 COMMENTS
Catholicgauze added these pithy words on 07 Jan 07 at 4:52 pmI found that defining Europe’s Eastern borders is much like trying to determine what the “Midwest” is.
Joe added these pithy words on 07 Jan 07 at 6:01 pmI really don’t see what the big deal is. The United States of America accepted Hawaii even though it isn’t part of the Americas, and that turned out to be a pretty smart move.
When it comes down to it, these continental divisions are all just in our minds anyway. Greece is as far removed from Britain as Turkey or Russia.
So instead of getting embroiled in what “Europe” means, the EU really ought to be focusing on what the EU means. I don’t think they’ve quite worked that out yet…
James Bowery added these pithy words on 07 Jan 07 at 7:08 pmThe central question isn’t the definition of some word but self-definition of peoples with their territories.
The EU is not consistent with self-definition since it imposes a union on people who never intended to be part of said union.
The solution is to found all human rights on a simple definition of personal domain that grants each individual what he would have in the absence of government: subsistence territory. The question of WHERE that subsistence territory should be and how much of what kind of territory is considered “subsistence” is the real question getting to the Malthusian heart of political economy and social identity.
Lexington Green added these pithy words on 08 Jan 07 at 4:41 amThe Midwest is not really that hard. It is the old Northwest territory (OH, IN, MI, IL, WI) and westward into the states and parts of states which are primarily farming rather than ranching and mining areas. That is generally a matter of aridity, and the western boundary is roughly the hundredth meridien.
Curzon added these pithy words on 08 Jan 07 at 6:28 amJoe said it best—the technicality of the geography question is nonsense, and the EU’s identity, rules, and future are more important than technical definitions of actual geographic inclusion.
Galymzhan M. added these pithy words on 08 Jan 07 at 6:43 amIn my opinion Europe is not a geographic category but political and racial.
Brotherhood added these pithy words on 08 Jan 07 at 7:35 pmI’d agree with Galymzhan re. Europe being a political category but racial? Even disregarding the immigrant population there are already huge racial differences across the Union, with the nordic peoples of being markedly racially disimilar to the the peoples of Poland, Italy and Greece. (For example.)
Dan tdaxp added these pithy words on 08 Jan 07 at 8:32 pmProps to Galymzhan and Brotherhood for pointing the elephant in the living roam, intergroup genetic diversity.
Nick added these pithy words on 08 Jan 07 at 9:28 pmIt is often said (by Kalmyks, anyways) that the Russian republic of Kalmykia is the only Buddhist nation in Europe. I often wonder about the ramifications of Kalmykia achieving full independence and joining the EU; imagine Kirsam Ilyumzhinov assuming the revolving presidency of the EU!
Nathan added these pithy words on 09 Jan 07 at 1:01 amI think Europe is now a political category, has long been a (broad) cultural category, and until recently, certainly was a racial category.
At least as regards my post on the matter, I think that the geographic distinction between the two is an attempt to scientifically draw a clear line of distinction that does not actually exist.
