North America and South America • : Most of the Colombian mainland is located in northern South America (see
North America and South America above) and the
Malpelo Island in the Pacific Ocean is also associated with South America (or on rare occasion Oceania, due to its status as an
oceanic island).
Caribbean Island locations North American Caribbean islands administered by South American states: File:VE-Dependencias Federales ubicacion.png|
Aves Island,
Venezuela File:Sanandrescolombia.png|
San Andrés and Providencia,
Colombia Caribbean islands considered North American or South American: File:LocationTrinidadAndTobago.png|
Trinidad and Tobago File:LocationAruba.png|
Aruba,
Netherlands File:Bonaire in its region.svg|
Bonaire, Netherlands File:Curacao in its region.svg|
Curaçao,
Netherlands File:Federal Dependencies in Venezuela (special marker).svg|
Federal Dependencies,
Venezuela File:Nueva Esparta in Venezuela.svg|
Nueva Esparta,
Venezuela South America and Oceania • : Chile is mostly on the South American mainland and includes the islands of
Easter Island and
Isla Salas y Gómez, which are within the Oceania subregion of Polynesia. Those and the oceanic
Juan Fernández Islands and
Desventuradas Islands are part of
Insular Chile. The islands have no proper
indigenous population, as they were only discovered in the 17th century, by Europeans. Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands are classified as being the westernmost areas of Oceania by the
World Factbook, and are also considered part of Oceania by the United Nations. They are within the
Australian Plate, and could potentially be geographically part of Oceania under definitions that include the nearby
Malay Archipelago, or under definitions which are based on tectonic plates. • : The
Bonin Islands (including the
Volcano Islands and three remote islands:
Minamitorishima,
Nishinoshima, and
Okinotorishima) and the
Izu Islands are sometimes considered parts of Oceania, owing to their
oceanic nature. The Bonin Islands belong to the
Oceanian biogeographic realm, and are believed to have once been inhabited by
Indigenous peoples of Oceania around 2,000 years ago, with their official discovery coming much later in the 16th century, through Europeans. The most isolated island, Minami-Tori-shima (also known as Marcus Island) is 2,000 kilometers removed from Tokyo, lying closer to the northernmost islands of
Micronesia. • and : Indonesia and Timor-Leste are occasionally associated with Oceania, as they are the closest to Australia and
Melanesia out of all countries in the Malay Archipelago. Likewise, the islands of
Wallacea (east of the
Wallace Line), including
Timor,
Flores,
Sumba, the
Moluccan archipelago, and many others, have strong biogeographic and cultural links with Oceania.
Asia and Africa • : Although mainland Yemen is in the southern
Arabian Peninsula and thus part of Asia, and its
Hanish Islands,
Zubair Group, and
Perim in the
Red Sea are associated with Asia, Yemen's national territory extends to the
archipelago of
Socotra, which lies east of the horn of
Somalia and is much closer to Africa than to Asia.
Asia and Europe • : The territory of Greece includes a number of islands just off the coast of
Asia Minor, such as
Rhodes,
Kos,
Samos,
Chios,
Lesbos,
Kastellorizo,
Strongyli Megistis, and
Ro.
Africa and Europe • : Italy has a number of small islands south of Sicily that can be considered part of the African continent, due to their proximity to Tunisia. The closest land to
Pantelleria and the
Pelagian Islands (
Lampedusa,
Linosa and
Lampione) is
Tunisia on the African mainland. Nevertheless, Pantelleria and Linosa are considered part of Europe, Lampedusa and Lampione part of Africa. • : Although its mainland is in Europe, Spain has territory, including two provinces and two autonomous cities, in Africa. Close to 5% of Spain's population live on the African continent. Spanish territory in Africa includes the
Canary Islands in the Atlantic, the cities of
Ceuta and
Melilla on mainland North Africa, and Spain's
plazas de soberanía, which are close to those cities that are geographically part of Africa. The Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla are three of the 19
autonomous communities and cities that form Spain, while the
plazas de soberanía are under a different status, akin to
unincorporated territories. The African Mediterranean island of
Alboran belongs to the transcontinental city of
Almería and the transcontinental
province of Almería.
Europe and North America . • : As a constituent part of the
Danish Realm,
Greenland is a
non-sovereign country within the
Kingdom of Denmark. Fully located on the North American tectonic plate, and close to the mainland, Greenland is considered to be geographically a part of North America, with the United Nations categorizing them as such.
Europe, North America, and South America • : Though most of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands' landmass is in Europe, it also includes six island territories in the
Lesser Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean: the
Dutch Caribbean. Within the Lesser Antilles archipelago, three territories are in the
Leeward Islands group (considered part of the continent of North America) and three in the
Leeward Antilles group (on the South American continental shelf). Since the
dissolution of the
Dutch Antilles in 2010, the
sovereign Kingdom of the Netherlands has been administratively divided into four non-sovereign constituent "countries":
Aruba,
Curaçao,
Sint Maarten and the Netherlands — the last of which includes the islands of Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba (collectively known as the BES islands or the
Caribbean Netherlands) as "special municipalities", making it a non-sovereign transcontinental constituent country
within the Kingdom.
Europe, Africa, and North America • :
Continental Portugal is in Europe, while the archipelago of
Madeira, an
Autonomous Region (including
Porto Santo Island, the
Desertas Islands and the
Savage Islands), is associated with Africa. The
Azores Autonomous Region can be split as two island groups (the westernmost
Flores Island and
Corvo Island on the North American tectonic plate being a distinct group from the rest), so Portugal could be a transcontinental state geologically (see
Europe and North America above). However, geologic tectonic plate separation does not necessarily define geographical continental distinction.
North America, Oceania, and Asia • : While the territory of the United States (
49 of the 50 states, the
District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, and the
United States Virgin Islands) lies overwhelmingly in North America, it includes the state of
Hawaii in Oceania, as well as several other Oceanian island possessions. These islands include
American Samoa (in
Polynesia),
Guam and the
Northern Mariana Islands (in
Micronesia) and most of the
United States Minor Outlying Islands (
Baker Island,
Howland Island,
Jarvis Island,
Midway Atoll,
Palmyra Atoll and
Wake Island). The islands, however, have
Indigenous American inhabitants and non-tropical biogeography, and as such they are excluded from most standard definitions of Oceania.
Europe, North America, South America, Oceania, Africa, and Antarctica • :
Metropolitan France is located in Europe, while the five
overseas departments and regions, five
overseas collectivities, and one
Sui generis collectivity are located in other continental regions.
Guadeloupe,
Martinique,
Saint Barthélemy,
Saint Martin, and
Saint Pierre and Miquelon are located in North America,
French Guiana is located in South America,
Mayotte and
Réunion are located in Africa, and
French Polynesia,
Wallis and Futuna, and
New Caledonia are located in
Oceania. These 11 populated territories of
overseas France are integral parts of France, as are the uninhabited
Clipperton Island (considered either North American or Oceanian) and the uninhabited
French Southern and Antarctic Lands, which include the claimed
Adélie Land on the
Antarctic mainland, the
Crozet Islands and the
Kerguelen Islands in the
Antarctic region,
Saint Paul and
Amsterdam Islands on the
Australian Plate, and the
Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean. French sovereignty claim on
Adélie Land is in
abeyance under the
Antarctic Treaty System. France has territory in each continental region except Asia.
Europe, North America, South America, Oceania, Africa, Asia, and Antarctica • : The territory of the United Kingdom itself is located entirely within Europe. However, the UK is the sovereign state of 'one, undivided Realm' consisting of all territory under the sovereignty of the
British Crown, i.e. itself, the
British Overseas Territories and the
Crown Dependencies. All are on islands, apart from
Gibraltar, which is on
Eurasia. This Realm is spread across all seven continental regions: the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and the Crown Dependencies are located in Europe; six Overseas Territories are in North America; the
Falkland Islands are in South America; the
Pitcairn Islands are in Oceania;
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha are in Africa;
Akrotiri and Dhekelia are in Asia; and the
British Antarctic Territory is in
Antarctica. The
British Indian Ocean Territory are geologically part of South Asia, but geopolitically in East Africa.
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are associated with South America but straddle the plate boundary with and are closer to Antarctica.
Antarctica and other continents Sub-Antarctic region •
Argentina, Australia,
Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway,
South Africa, and the United Kingdom: These eight states have
overseas island possessions in the
Subantarctic region between 46°S and 60°S latitude. Subantarctic islands that are north of 60°S latitude but south of the
Antarctic Convergence and that are by
international law as being full sovereign possessions of an administering state are:
Bouvet Island (Norway),
Heard Island and McDonald Islands (Australia), the
Kerguelen Islands (France), and
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (United Kingdom). The United Nations categorize Bouvet Island and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands as part of South America, and Heard Island and McDonald Islands as part of Oceania. South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is sometimes considered to be geographically within the bounds of South America; however, the other islands are among the most isolated locations in the world. Human activity is very limited on Bouvet Island and Heard Island and McDonald Islands; for example, the
McDonald Islands have only ever been visited twice throughout their entire recorded history, with the last visit being in 1980. The World Factbook categorize Bouvet Island and Heard Island and McDonald Islands as part of Antarctica rather than South America/Oceania.
Antarctic region • Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom: These seven states claim portions of the
Antarctic mainland (some of them overlapping), as well as its associated islands south of 60°S latitude. Some, including
Argentina and
Chile, consider the Antarctic land they claim to be integral parts of their national territory. However, none of these claims are recognized by the
United Nations and the
international community. Since 1961, the
Antarctic Treaty System has held in
abeyance all land claims south of 60°S latitude, including Antarctica's ice shelves and Antarctic islands. == Countries formerly and/or never widely or officially considered as transcontinental countries ==