Is Russia in Asia or Europe?

Question

I understand all the geographic placement and politics being mainly European but could I call a Russian an Asian and be correct?

I would really like to know if it is considered an Asian country or a European one.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Ofcourse Russia is in Europe....

Source:

http://surfindya.com/

Answer 2

Both.  The Ural Mountains are usually considered the dividing line between European Russia and Asian Russia.

Answer 3

Neither. It depends on the continent. Russia, as you may know from an elementary school social studies class is it's own continent. Therefore it's not in europe or asia, it's just russia! Therefore, its on its own.

Answer 4

Both- some of it is in Europe, some is in Asia.

Answer 5

The answer is geographically "both".

The border between Europe and Asia is Ural mountains, Caspian sea, Caucasus Mountains, Black Sea, Bosporus, Myra sea, Aegean Sea.

Therefore geographically Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey is in Europe and in Asia.

Answer 6

Hello Kaitlyn,

This is an interesting question. I have answered many on whether Russia should be considered a European or Asian country. You can look through my profile to dig some of those up. The quick answer on that is that Russia is considered a European country by most international organizations, such as the UN, despite its geographic placement. The reason for that is culture and history. Again, look through my other answers for more on this issue.

What I want to answer is your question regarding calling Russians "Asians". It should be noted that Russia is a multi-ethnic country. Russians, at 80% of the population, are the dominant group, so I will focus on them.

It can get confusing in English because the word "Russian" can either refer to the ethnicity or nationality. When I say Russian from now on, I mean the ethnic group.

Ethnically, Russians are not Asians but are an Indo-European people. Russians are Slavic, which also includes Ukrainians, Belorussians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Croats, Serbs, and many others.

Russia used to be a small medieval state located entirely in Europe, but under the tsars, starting with Ivan the Terrible, Russia began to expand eastward and conquered many of the ingenious people. That is why the Russian Far East has many Asian-looking people; they are "Russian" by nationality, not ethnicity.

I am ethnically Russian and have bluish-green eyes and dark blond or light brown hair. However, I was not born in Europe, but in the Asian part of Russia. Whenever I am asked on those government forms what I consider myself to be, I say "white."

Since I was not born in Europe and don't live there, can I still call myself European? I have European ancestry but was born in Asia. Does that make me Asian? Basically, "European" and "Asian" can be used simply as descriptive geographic terms or be used to describe ethnic origins. When you're talking about people, most assume automatically you mean ethnicity. Therefore, Russians are not usually considered Asian.

Most people, however, don't think that far into it. If you want to be on the safe side, just call ethnic Russians "white." ETHNIC Russians do not consider themselves to be Asian, and further yet, since 80% of the Russian population is located within the geographic boundaries of Europe, the vast majority of Russians are "European," despite what their ethnicity may be.

I've tried my best to answer your question but I may have just left you more confused lol. Anyway, take care.

Answer 7

If you would really like to know, try reading on it a bit more, and you'll have your answer. Russia is not considered, it is a European country. And in the geographical sense, the fact that part of it is in Asia, does not cover the general prejudice about Asian continent, again meant to undermine it and its people. There isn't and shouldn't be anything wrong with any country being in Asia, but Russia culturally simply does not belong to it. That's all.