The Old World (green) as distinguished from the
New World (grey).
The
Old World consists of those parts of
Earth known to
Europeans,
Asians, and
Africans in the 15th century.
Regions
The
Old World includes
Africa,
Asia, and
Europe (collectively known as
Afro-Eurasia), plus surrounding islands. The term is in distinction from the
New World, meaning
the Americas and
Australasia.
Normally, it is divided at the
Suez Canal into Eurasia and Africa, the former of which can be subdivided into
Europe and
Asia. It can be divided alternatively into Eurasia-
North Africa and
Subsahara for cultural and historical reasons.
The mainland of Afro-Eurasia (excluding
islands such as the
British Isles,
Japan,
Madagascar and the
Malay Archipelago) has been referred to as the
World Island. (The term may have been coined by Sir
Halford John Mackinder in
The Geographical Pivot of History.)
Geographically, Europe is the westernmost
peninsula of the
continent of
Eurasia; its limits are well defined by
sea to the North, South and West. The
Ural mountains are usually taken as the eastern limit of Europe, along with the
Ural River, and the
Caspian Sea. Europe can be considered bounded to the southeast by the
Caucasus Mountains, the
Black Sea and the waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Europe's eastern and southeastern extent are
discussed below.
Medieval
Europeans considered Asia as a continent – a distinct landmass. The European concept of the three continents in the Old World goes back to
Classical Antiquity, but during the Middle Ages was notably due to
Isidore of Sevilla (see
T and O map). The demarcation between Asia and Africa (to the southwest) is the
Isthmus of Suez and the
Red Sea. The boundary between Asia and
Europe is conventionally considered to run through the
Dardanelles, the
Sea of Marmara, the
Bosporus, the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the
Ural River to its source, and the Ural Mountains to the
Kara Sea near Kara,
Russia. While this interpretation of tripartite continents (i.e., of Asia, Europe, and Africa) remains common in modernity, discovery of the extent of Africa and Asia have made this definition somewhat anachronistic. This is especially true in the case of Asia, which would have several
regions that would be considered distinct landmasses if these criteria were used (for example,
Southern Asia and
Eastern Asia).
Africa is the largest of the three great southward projections from the main mass of the Earth's exposed surface. Separated from
Europe by the
Mediterranean Sea, it is joined to Asia at its northeast extremity by the
Isthmus of Suez (transected by the
Suez Canal), 163 km (101 miles) wide. (
Geopolitically,
Egypt's
Sinai Peninsula east of the Suez Canal is often considered part of Africa, as well. ) From the most northerly point,
Ras ben Sakka in
Tunisia (37°21' N), to the most southerly point,
Cape Agulhas in
South Africa (34°51'15" S), is a distance of approximately 8,000 km (5,000 miles); from
Cape Verde, 17°33'22" W, the westernmost point, to
Ras Hafun in
Somalia, 51°27'52" E, the most easterly projection, is a distance of approximately 7,400 km (4,600 miles).
[(1998) Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (Index), Merriam-Webster. pp. 10–11. ISBN 0-87779-546-0.]See also
