Continents Surrounding Europe: Three Neighbors

Europe is bordered by three other continents:

• South: Africa — separated by the Mediterranean Sea (Strait of Gibraltar: 14 km).
• East: Asia — boundary runs along the Ural Mountains, Ural River, Caspian Sea, Caucasus Mountains, and Turkish Straits.
• West: North America — across the North Atlantic Ocean (closest: Greenland to Iceland ~300 km; Newfoundland to Ireland ~2,100 km).

Not Directly Adjacent

• South America — far across Atlantic.
• Antarctica — far south.
• Australia — far southeast.

Europe is a peninsula of Eurasia, with Africa and North America as its closest trans-oceanic neighbors.