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23-641: From around 3000 BCE to 1000 CE, connectivity within Afro-Eurasia was centered upon the Indo-Mediterranean region; William Dalrymple has argued that connectivity in Eurasia centered on this region, which he refers to as part of a " Golden Road ", until 1200 CE and the rise of the Silk Road . However, Southeast Asia was only loosely connected to the Indo-Mediterranean trade, primarily receiving

46-655: A few Mediterranean objects through the filter of South Asia. In the second half of the first century BCE, the Roman Empire emerged with a unified realm and control over the Mediterranean, allowing for more investment and wealth generation; this Pax Romana allowed Rome to become involved in the Indian Ocean trade . Their 32 CE conquest of Egypt better positioned them to be involved in the region, with Indian ambassadors coming to Rome in increasing numbers as

69-501: Is a landmass comprising the continents of Africa , Europe , and Asia . The terms are compound words of the names of its constituent parts. Afro-Eurasia has also been called the " Old World ", in contrast to the " New World " referring to the Americas . Afro-Eurasia encompasses 84,980,532 km (32,811,167 sq mi), 57% of the world's land area, and has a population of approximately 6.7 billion people, roughly 86% of

92-435: Is a large region or area of land that is in one piece and not noticeably broken up by oceans . The term is often used to refer to lands surrounded by an ocean or sea , such as a continent or a large island . In the field of geology , a landmass is a defined section of continental crust extending above sea level . Continents are often thought of as distinct landmasses and may include any islands that are part of

115-536: Is expected to continue drifting northward. It will close the Strait of Gibraltar , quickly evaporating the Mediterranean Sea . No supercontinent will form within the settled time frame, however, and the geologic record is full of unexpected shifts in tectonic activity that make further projections "very, very speculative". Three possibilities are known as Novopangaea , Amasia , and Pangaea Proxima . In

138-773: Is in the Western Hemisphere and is Asia’s easternmost point on a continuous path. • Highest point – Mount Everest or Qomolangma , China and Nepal • Lowest point (on land) – shores of the Dead Sea , between Israel and Jordan [REDACTED] Africa [REDACTED] Antarctica [REDACTED] Asia [REDACTED] Australia [REDACTED] Europe [REDACTED] North America [REDACTED] South America [REDACTED] Afro-Eurasia [REDACTED] Americas [REDACTED] Eurasia [REDACTED] Oceania Landmass A landmass , or land mass ,

161-474: Is present to suggest that Indo-Mediterranean trade may have also involved a "northern route" through the Caspian Sea and Pontic–Caspian steppe . The expansion of the first Arab Muslim empires from the 7th century onward, which conquered much of the Mediterranean, played a role in bridging the Indo-Mediterranean together. By the 14th century, buoyed by the emergence of overlapping trading networks from

184-552: Is the largest present part of the supercontinent cycle . The oldest part of Afro-Eurasia is probably the Kaapvaal Craton , which together with Madagascar and parts of the Indian subcontinent and western Australian continent formed part of the first supercontinent Vaalbara or Ur around 3 billion years ago . It has made up parts of every supercontinent since. At the breakup of Pangaea around 200 million years ago ,

207-501: The Americas are sometimes defined as two separate continents while mainland Australia is sometimes defined as an island as well as a continent. Nevertheless, for the purposes of this list, mainland Australia along with the other major landmasses have been listed as continental landmasses for comparison. The figures are approximations and are for the four major continental landmasses only. The artificial Panama and Suez canals are disregarded, as they are not natural waters that separate

230-711: The Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in the Russian Far East . Conventionally, Africa is joined to Eurasia only by a relatively narrow land bridge (which has been split by the Suez Canal at the Isthmus of Suez ) and remains separated from Europe by the straits of Gibraltar and Sicily . Paleogeologist Ronald Blakey has described the next 15 to 100 million years of tectonic development as fairly settled and predictable. In that time, Africa

253-602: The Indo-Roman trade began to greatly expand in volume; Greek merchants settled on the west coast of India to facilitate the trade, with Romans celebrating the luxury products and wealth thusly acquired. The Indo-Mediterranean also facilitated interactions between India and the Mesopotamians, Anatolians and Greeks in different time periods; many actors were involved in facilitating trade throughout this region, including Egyptians, Nabateans and Palmyrenes. Some evidence

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276-742: The Iranian plate between 19 and 12 million years ago during the Miocene , ultimately forming the Alborz and Zagros chains of Iranian plate . After this initial connection of Afro-Eurasia, the Betic corridor along the Gibraltar Arc closed a little less than 6 million years ago in the Messinian , fusing northwest Africa and Iberia together. This led to the nearly complete desiccation of

299-725: The Mediterranean Basin , the Messinian salinity crisis . Eurasia and Africa were then again separated with the Zanclean Flood around 5.33 million years ago refilling the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar . Today, the Eurasian plate and African plate dominate their respective continents. However, the Somali plate covers much of eastern Africa, creating the East African Rift . In

322-879: The North American and Eurasian plates together formed Laurasia while the African plate remained in Gondwana , from which the Indian plate split off. Upon impact with the Eurasian plate, the Indian plate created southern Asia around 50 million years ago and began the formation of the Himalayas . Around the same time, the Indian plate also fused with the Australian plate . The Arabian plate broke off of Africa around 30 million years ago and impacted

345-431: The world population . Together with mainland Australia , they comprise the vast majority of the land in the world's Eastern Hemisphere . The Afro-Eurasian mainland is the largest and most populous contiguous landmass on Earth . The following terms are used for similar concepts: Although Afro-Eurasia is typically considered to comprise two or three separate continents , it is not a proper supercontinent . Instead, it

368-593: The British, starting with the 1956 Suez Crisis . In recent years, the U.S. has had to compete with China in the region, and so it has furthered its ties with India. Italian foreign policy planners have recently been examining Italy's modern role in the "Enlarged Mediterranean", including its ties to the Indo-Mediterranean and the Indo-Pacific . They see the Red Sea as particularly important due its bridging role in

391-506: The Indo-Mediterranean. A currently proposed initiative to handle trade in the Indo-Mediterranean is the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar affirmed the initiative in 2024, citing the historical importance and rising trade taking place in the region. The Indo-Mediterranean Initiative (IMI) was launched on the 16th of June 2024 at Ara Pacis under

414-549: The Suez Canal furthered European colonialism in Asia and Africa, as it enabled direct passage through the Indo-Mediterranean rather than by travelling around Africa . Around that time, British planners contemplated building an Indo-Mediterranean railway to shore up lines of communication with British India in case the Suez Canal was blocked. The United States became the dominant power in the Indo-Mediterranean, taking over from

437-407: The associated continental shelf . When multiple continents form a single contiguous land connection, the connected continents may be viewed as a single landmass. Earth 's largest landmasses are (starting with largest): Continental landmasses are not usually classified as islands despite being completely surrounded by water. However, because the definition of continent varies between geographers,

460-592: The eastern Mediterranean, the Aegean Sea plate , Anatolian plate and Arabian plate also form a boundary with the African plate, which incorporates the Sinai Peninsula , Gulf of Aqaba and the coastal Levant via the Dead Sea transform . Eurasia also includes the Indian plate , Burma plate , Sunda plate , Yangtze plate , Amur plate and Okhotsk plate , with the North American plate incorporating

483-586: The first two, the Pacific closes and Africa remains fused to Eurasia, but Eurasia itself splits as Africa and Europe spin towards the west; in the last, the trio spin eastward together as the Atlantic closes, creating land borders with the Americas . This is a list of the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location as well as the highest and lowest elevations on Afro-Eurasia. The 180th meridian passes through Asia, so this point

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506-558: The leadership of Senator Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata , former foreign Minister of Italy hosted by the Indian Chamber of Commerce 's Chief Representative for Italy, Vas Shenoy. The initiative aims to track IMEC, bring together decision makers, thinkers, policy experts in the IMEC countries to discuss the security, future and strategy of the Indo-Mediterranean. Afro-Eurasia Afro-Eurasia (also Afroeurasia and Eurafrasia )

529-417: The western regions of Africa to the east coast, central sub-Saharan Africa became more involved in Indo-Mediterranean trade, with the Indo-Mediterranean generally going on to become more economically unified by the spread of Islam . Rising Western dominance and changes in communication technologies in the Indo-Mediterranean began to reshape dynamics in the region by the 19th century. The 1869 completion of

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