> [Original Message] > From: Peter Kirk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > On 01/05/2004 14:21, Philippe Verdy wrote: > > >The Council of Europe, which includes 15 countries in Europe (including > >Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, San Marino but excluding the Holy See, and > >the next member Monaco) and Asia (including Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, > >Georgia, but still missing the Belarus). In some sense, the Council of Europe > >is still _a_ European Community, and it shares the same blue flag with 12 > >stars, and the same hymn.
Each time I hear the lovely, lovely music of the EU anthem I think of Kubrick's film version of _A Clockwork Orange_, which I doubt was the intended association. > Correction: Azerbaijan (where I am writing from), Armenia and Georgia > are in Europe, as is part of Turkey, according to most current > definitions. I'm not sure if Cyprus is, or for that matter Malta, but > obviously they are by someone's definition. Defining Europe is vague. By the definition I have most commonly encountered tho, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia are not in Europe by virtue of being south of the Caucasus. Those three countries, Malta, Cyprus, and Turkey usually appear on maps of Europe, but that's mostly because one would usually need to cover that area with insets to not include them on a European map. However, in terms of geography, I would say that in my own opinion, the trans-Caucasian republics and Cyprus and not part of Europe, Malta is part of Europe, while Russia, Greece and Turkey straddle the boundary between Asia and Europe. (The eastern Aegean islands are geographically part of Asia.)
