Editing Asia (section)

=== Asia–Europe boundary ===
[[File:Possible definitions of the boundary between Europe and Asia.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Definitions used for the boundary between Asia and Europe in different periods of history. [[Asia#Ongoing definition|Modern definition]]s mostly fit with lines ''B'' and ''F'' given.]]

The threefold division of the [[Old World]] into Africa, Asia, and Europe has been in use since the 6th century&nbsp;BCE, due to [[Greek geographers]] such as [[Anaximander]] and [[Hecataeus of Miletus|Hecataeus]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Slomp |first=Hans |title=Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0313391828 |edition=Illustrated, revised |date=2011}}</ref> Anaximander placed the boundary between Asia and Europe along the [[Phasis River]] (now the Rioni) in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] of Caucasus (from its mouth by [[Poti]] on the [[Black Sea]] coast, through the [[Surami Pass]] and along the [[Kura (Caspian Sea)|Kura River]] to the Caspian Sea), a convention still followed by [[Herodotus]] in the 5th century&nbsp;BCE.<ref>''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' 4.38. Cf. James Rennell, ''The Geographical System of Herodotus Examined and Explained'', Volume 1, Rivington 1830, [[iarchive:bub gb enQ-AAAAcAAJ/page/n274|<!-- quote=Herodotus Phasis. -->p. 244]].</ref> During the [[Hellenistic period]],<ref>according to Strabo (''[[Geographica]]'' 11.7.4) even at the time of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]], "it was agreed by all that the Tanais river separated Asia from Europe" ({{lang|grc|ὡμολόγητο ἐκ πάντων ὅτι διείργει τὴν Ἀσίαν ἀπὸ
τῆς Εὐρώπης ὁ Τάναϊς ποταμός}}; cf. Duane W. Roller, ''Eratosthenes' Geography'', Princeton University Press, 2010, {{ISBN|978-0-691-14267-8}}, {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8peKyWK_SWsC&pg=PA57 |title=Geography |page=57 |isbn=978-0-691-14267-8 |author1=Eratosthenes |date=24 January 2010 |publisher=Princeton University Press |access-date=21 January 2020 |archive-date=26 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326125152/https://books.google.com/books?id=8peKyWK_SWsC&pg=PA57 |url-status=live}})</ref> this convention was revised, and the boundary between Europe and Asia was now considered to be the [[Don River (Russia)|Tanais]] (the modern Don River). This is the convention used by Roman era authors such as [[Posidonius]],<ref>W. Theiler, ''Posidonios. Die Fragmente'', vol. 1. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1982, fragm. 47a.</ref> [[Strabo]]<ref>I. G. Kidd (ed.), ''Posidonius: The commentary'', Cambridge University Press, 2004, {{ISBN|978-0-521-60443-7}}, {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_iXs1aCr1ckC&pg=PA738 |title=p. 738 |isbn=978-0-521-60443-7 |author1=Posidonius |year=1989 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |access-date=21 January 2020 |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801115807/https://books.google.com/books?id=_iXs1aCr1ckC&pg=PA738 |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Ptolemy]].<ref>''[[Geographia]]'' 7.5.6 (ed. Nobbe 1845, {{cite book |last1=Ptolomy |first1=Claudio |year=1845 |title=Geographia |volume=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vHMCAAAAQAAJ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200524011208/https://books.google.com/books?id=vHMCAAAAQAAJ |archive-date=24 May 2020 |access-date=21 January 2020}}, p. 178). {{lang|grc|Καὶ τῇ Εὐρώπῃ δὲ συνάπτει διὰ τοῦ μεταξὺ αὐχένος τῆς τε Μαιώτιδος λίμνης καὶ τοῦ Σαρματικοῦ Ὠκεανοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς διαβάσεως τοῦ Τανάϊδος ποταμοῦ.}}
"And [Asia] is connected to Europe by the land-strait between Lake Maiotis and the Sarmatian Ocean where the river Tanais crosses through."</ref>

The border between Asia and Europe was historically defined by European academics.<ref name="Lineback-2013">{{cite magazine |url=http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/09/geography-in-the-news-eurasias-boundaries/ |title=Geography in the News: Eurasia's Boundaries |first=Neal |last=Lineback |magazine=National Geographic |date=9 July 2013 |access-date=9 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508224947/http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/09/geography-in-the-news-eurasias-boundaries/ |archive-date=8 May 2016}}</ref>

In Sweden, five years after Peter's death, in 1730 [[Philip Johan von Strahlenberg]] published a new atlas proposing the Ural Mountains as the border of Asia. Tatishchev announced that he had proposed the idea to von Strahlenberg. The latter had suggested the [[Emba River]] as the lower boundary. Over the next century various proposals were made until the [[Ural River]] prevailed in the mid-19th century. The border had been moved perforce from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea into which the Ural River projects.<ref>{{harvnb|Lewis|Wigen|1997|pp=27–28}}.</ref> The border between the Black Sea and the Caspian is usually placed along the crest of the [[Caucasus Mountains]], although it is sometimes placed further north.<ref name="Lineback-2013" />