Countries with territory that spans across more than one continent are known as transcontinental or intercontinental states. The term is then split up into contiguous and non-contiguous.
Contiguous transcontinental countries are those whose main land area crosses a continental border, making non-contiguous where a country’s mainland sits in one continent but then has territory in another different one.
There are five countries in the world which count as contiguous transcontinental countries. The most known one is Russia, which spans across Europe and Asia. It is the largest country in the world and part of Europe, as its historical, cultural, ethnic and political ties to the continent.
Turkey is another transcontinental country part that lies in Europe and Asia, but it is also home to a transcontinental city. Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, spans both sides of the Bosphorus, a waterway which forms a continental boundary between Europe and Asia.
Across Africa and Asia, you have Egypt; it is mainly in North Africa. However, the Sinai Penisula is also part of the country and is located in West Asia. Other contiguous transcontinental countries are Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, all having land across Europe and Asia.
The list of non-contiguous transcontinental countries is much longer, with countries on completely different sides of the world. A couple of them include the Netherlands, which is mainly in Europe; however, it has territories in North and South America.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands is divided into four constituent countries. Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten are all part of the Caribbean Sea, following the dissolution of the Dutch Antilles in 2010, a previous constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom consisting of a group of six islands known as the Lesser Antilles.
Another one is of course the United Kingdom, which has territories across all seven continents made up of British Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies located in Europe.
All the countries are on islands except Gibraltar, which is part of Europe and Asia. The territories include Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha in Africa, Acroteria and Dhekelia in Asia, The British Antarctic Territory, The Pitcairn Islands in Oceania, The Falkland Islands in South America.
The British Indian Ocean Territory is geologically part of South Asia but geopolitically East Africa.
