Is Russia an Asian or a European country?

Just saw some argument in the GM thread about Russia, so just thought of an idea to make this poll.:p

russia is clearly a european country even though often when i say "europe" i mean europe without russia. i mean, europe is not really a continent, eurasia is, it is defined as a separate entity for cultural and historical reasons, kinda like the middle east, south asia, coutheast asia, far east, central asia. and for cultural and historical reasons russia clearly belongs in europe, even though it can be considered a separate entity of the eurasian landmass in its own right.

Part of it is in Europe. The other part in Asia.

But since most of the major cultural, economic, political and population centers in Russia are located on the European side, it is more considered to be part of Europe.

I would rather think of it as an Europeon country.

Eurasia.

European country, in the land of Asia :spit:

European since Russia is taking part in all European competitions. True, bigger part of Russia is in Asia but Russian part of Europe is actually bigger than the rest of Europe :spit:

Culturally, they have their own way of thinking and they will try to keep their sphere of influence over their old eatern European allies. I dont think they will fall in with western European practices any time soon. They may look European, but politically they seem to have more in common with how a lot of Asian countries have operated, nominally democratic, but with one party dominating.

What about Turkey? :p

What about Turkey? :p

Asia :p

Both Europe and Asia due to geography

Eurasia.

Regardless of where it is, it should be referred to as "Lenaland" and its capital renamed "Bangsgrad."

Regardless of where it is, it should be referred to as "Lenaland" and its capital renamed "Bangsgrad."

:happy:

yes,
well said,
:worship::worship::worship:

There are two countries. Russia with Moscow etc. is in Europe. Siberia is clearly in Asia. The vastness that is the country of Siberia is even more eastern than Japan, which is one of the most eastern Asian countries. Siberia is in Asia and Russia is in Europe. Fairly simple. Therefore, Russia is European.

Entire division between Europe and Asia is artificial and geologically irrelevant, so it doesn't matter.

Europe as is Turkey imho.

Eurasia is one continent. What is so special about the Ural mountains? Nothing.

Depending on a situation:oh:

European since Russia is taking part in all European competitions.
So does Israel though. :p
There are two countries. Russia with Moscow etc. is in Europe. Siberia is clearly in Asia. The vastness that is the country of Siberia is even more eastern than Japan, which is one of the most eastern Asian countries. Siberia is in Asia and Russia is in Europe. Fairly simple. Therefore, Russia is European.
Siberia is a country? :confused:

Catherine the Great once declared that "Russia is a European state". Always was and always will be. From a geographical point of view, it is one of two Eurasian states along with Turkey (formerly Ottoman Empire and coincidentally Russia's great rival in history).

To understand this I think we need to look at Russia's great cities. The old historic city of Moscow considered the most Russian and the (relatively) newer St Petersburg which is considered the most European city of Russia. There's Novgorod as well but I think we'll keep to those two to keep it simple.

Napoleon once said that "If I capture Kiev, I take Russia by its feet, if I capture Petersburg, I take it by its head and if I capture Moscow, I destroy its heart," by that token I'd say Russia is Eurasian at its heart, neither completely European nor completely Asian.

^ Thank you for the great post, Sam L. :worship:

European I'd say.

:help:

:help:

Jealous of my thread getting attention than your useless ones?:)

Catherine the Great once declared that "Russia Lenaland is a European state". Always was and always will be. From a geographical point of view, it is one of two Eurasian states along with Turkey (formerly Ottoman Empire and coincidentally Russia Lenaland's great rival in history).

To understand this I think we need to look at RussiaLenaland's great cities. The old historic city of Moscow Bangsgrad considered the most Russian Lenaish and the (relatively) newer St PetersMommyVerasburg which is considered the most European city of Russia Lenaland. There's Novgorod as well but I think we'll keep to those two to keep it simple.

Napoleon once said that "If I capture Kiev, I take Russia Lenaland by its feet, if I capture PeterMommyVerasburg, I take it by its head and if I capture Moscow Bangsrad, I destroy its heart," by that token I'd say Russia Lenaland is Eurasian at its heart, neither completely European nor completely Asian.

A most astute post, Sam L., even before my corrections. After all, who are we to argue with Catherine the Great, probably the second greatest woman that nation has ever produced?

Politically/socially, it's considered to be a European country (take part in Eurovision, member of UEFA, etc.). Geographically, it's both Asian and European.

Entire division between Europe and Asia is artificial and geologically irrelevant, so it doesn't matter.

Am I wrong in thinking the geographical boundary is the Ural Mountains?

Am I wrong in thinking the geographical boundary is the Ural Mountains?
+ the ural river, the caspian sea and the caucasus mountains. but that's so random compared to borders of other continents. i still think that europe is just a region of the eurasian continent just like other regions i mentioned in my previous post.

in this sense russia, which straddles the "geographical" border between europe and asia should be a separate region of this continent. however, historically, culturally and politically it is a european country. 200 years ago russian aristocrats were speaking french, not chinese, arabic or sanskrit. and i don't think you can use the post-ww2 history of western europe as a measuring stick for the political culture. in fact, i am still convinced that you can more easily establish a dictatorship in western europe than in the us (the one thing that did change is the attitude towards militarism which makes europe a very pacifist part of the world these days).

Rusia is in the Eurasia continent thats obvius, and is an European contry due to its history and relations.

Those generalizations are sort of useless. Russia is a huge country, and is in fact a federal state, with lots of ethnic groups. And even if you're Slavic and happen to have been born and raised in Kamchatka or Vladivostok, it's probably quite a stretch to be called European. The whole concept of dividing people into those cultural barriers is really obsolete at its basis. I don't see even a point in classifying the huge country of Russia as "Asian" or "European".

There are two countries. Russia with Moscow etc. is in Europe. Siberia is clearly in Asia.

:tears:

Definitely the post of this thread.

A most astute post, Sam L., even before my corrections. After all, who are we to argue with <b>Catherine the Great, probably the second greatest woman that nation has ever produced?</b>

Actually she was a Prussian princess before her marriage with Piotr III so Nastya's place as the second greatest Russian woman after Lena is quite safe.

And Russia has always positioned herself as a part of Europe so I guess I'll go with the second option.

The Nazis saw Russia as an Asian country, and from day one of their war with them, said that the normal rules of warfare(ie. The Geneva Convention, etc.) would not be applied to them as they were considered to be a brood of 'Asian subhumans'.. hence the 20 million+ deaths from 41-45.

A poll? Really? As if it's a matter of opinion.

WikiPedia: "The geography of Russia entails the physical and human geography of Russia, a country extending over much of northern Eurasia. Comprising much of eastern Europe and northern Asia, it is the world's largest country in total area."

So what is it that you don't understand about that?

Siberia is a country? :confused:
I like to think it is.

Eurasia is the right answer.

Vladimir Putin himself clarified about it officially many times so it's end of the debate :)

I like to think it is.
:lol: