Afro-Eurasia

Afro-Eurasia (also known as Afroeurasia, and Eurafrasia) is a very large landmass made up of the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe. People sometimes call it a supercontinent because it is one big connected land area. It is also called the "Old World," which helps to tell it apart from the "New World" — a name used for the Americas plus sometimes Oceania and Antarctica.

Afro-Eurasia covers an area of 85,135,000 km², which is about 57% of all the land on Earth. Many people live there, and together with mainland Australia, Afro-Eurasia and Australia make up most of the land in the world's Eastern Hemisphere. The Afro-Eurasian mainland is the largest and most crowded continuous land area on Earth.

Related terms

Here are some terms that describe similar ideas:

• Ecumene: an old word from ancient Greek scholars for the world they knew, which included parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia.
• Old World: a term used when Europeans discovered new lands. It described the world they already knew, compared to the New World of the Americas. This term is still used in biology.
• World Island: a term made up by H.J. Mackinder in 1904. It refers to a big connected land area, though it usually does not include islands like the British Isles, the Japanese Archipelago, Madagascar, and the Malay Archipelago. "Afro-Eurasia" typically includes these islands as part of Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Geology

Further information: African plate, Arabian plate, Eurasian plate, Indo-Australian plate, and Somali plate

Afro-Eurasia is made up of the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe. It is very big but not a true supercontinent. The oldest part of Afro-Eurasia is the Kaapvaal craton.

Over time, different parts of Afro-Eurasia have moved and joined together. For example, the Indian plate moved into the Eurasian plate, forming southern Asia and the Himalayas. The Arabian plate also moved from Africa and joined with other plates.

Today, the Eurasian and African plates shape these continents. The Somali plate covers much of eastern Africa. Afro-Eurasia is connected to Africa by a narrow land bridge, which has been split by the Suez Canal.

Extreme points

This section lists the farthest points north, south, east, and west, as well as the highest and lowest places on Afro-Eurasia.

Mainland

• The farthest east you can go is the 180th meridian in Russia.
• The farthest east on a path that keeps moving east is Cape Dezhnev in Russia.
• The farthest north is Cape Chelyuskin in Russia.
• The farthest south is Cape Agulhas in South Africa.
• The farthest west is Pointe des Almadies in Senegal.

Including islands

• The farthest east is Big Diomede^† in Russia.
• The farthest north is Cape Fligeli on Rudolf Island in Franz Josef Land, Russia.
• The farthest south is Cape Agulhas in South Africa. If you count the Prince Edward Islands as part of Africa, then Marion Island is the farthest south at 46°54'S.
• The farthest west is Santo Antão in Cape Verde.

^† The 180th meridian runs through Asia, so this point is in the Western Hemisphere and is Asia’s farthest east on a path that keeps moving east.

Elevation

• The highest place is Mount Everest on the China–Nepal border.
• The lowest place on land is the shore of the Dead Sea between Israel, the West Bank and Jordan.