The Seven Continents of the World The Seven Continents of the World There are seven continents, or large land masses, on the planet Earth. While they are separated by ocean today, 200 million years ago there was one supercontinent called Pangae in which all seven land masses were connected. Pangaea started to break up into two smaller supercontinents, called Laurasia and Gondwanaland, during the Jurassic period. By the end of the Cretaceous period, the continents were separating into land masses that look like our modern-day continents. The seven continents are: Africa, Asia, Antarctica, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. Africa Africaï¿½s land mass crosses the equator and is bordered by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Its highest point is Mt. Kilimanjaro at 19,340 feet and its lowest point is Lake Assal at 512 feet below sea level. It is home to about 778,000,000 people and consists of 53 countries, the most of any continent. This picture shows an African Elephant, the largest mammal on earth On which continent is Egypt?

Egypt is mostly part of Africa although the Sinai Peninsula in northeastern Egypt is part of Asia. Egypt ( Egyptian : Kemet; Coptic : Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ Kīmi; Arabic : مصر Miṣr ; Egyptian Arabic : Mï¿½ṣr), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country in North Africa that includes the Sinai Peninsula , a land bridge to Asia . Covering an area of about 1,001,450 square kilometers (386,660 sq mi ), Egypt borders Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, and the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east. The northern coast borders the Mediterranean Sea and the island of Cyprus ; the eastern coast borders the Red Sea . Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa . The great majority of its estimated 78 million people (2007) live near the banks of the Nile River in an area of about 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq mi) where the only arable agricultural land is found. The large areas of the Sahara Desert are sparsely inhabited.

About half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with the majority spread across the densely populated centers of greater Cairo , Alexandria and other major cities in the Nile Delta . Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world's most famous monuments, including the Giza pyramid complex and the Great Sphinx . The southern city of Luxor contains numerous ancient artifacts, such as the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings . Egypt is widely regarded as an important political and cultural nation of the Middle East . AFRICA: "The name Africa came into Western use through the Romans, who used the name Africa terra � "land of the Afri" (plural, or "Afer" singular) � for the northern part of the continent, as the province of Africa with its capital Carthage, corresponding to modern-day Tunisia. The origin of Afer may either come from: the Phoenician `afar, dust; the Afri, a tribe�possibly Berber�who dwelt in North Africa in the Carthage area; the Greek word aphrike, meaning without cold (see also List of traditional Greek place names); or the Latin word aprica, meaning sunny.

The historian Leo Africanus (1495-1554) attributed the origin to the Greek word phrike (meaning "cold and horror"), combined with the negating prefix a-, so meaning a land free of cold and horror. But the change of sound from ph to f in Greek is datable to about the first century, so this cannot really be the origin of the name. Egypt was considered part of Asia by the ancients, and first assigned to Africa by the geographer Ptolemy (85 - 165 AD), who accepted Alexandria as Prime Meridian and made the isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea the boundary between Asia and Africa. As Europeans came to understand the real extent of the continent, the idea of Africa expanded with their knowledge." ASIA: "The word Asia entered English via Latin from Ancient Greek , first attested in Herodotus, where it refers to Asia Minor, or for the purposes of the Persian Wars, to the Persian Empire as opposed to Greece and Egypt. Homer knows a Trojan ally named Asios, son of Hyrtacus, a ruler over several towns, and also describes a marsh as 461).

The Greek term was likely from Assuwa, a 14th century BC confederation of states in ancient Anatolia. Hittite assu- "good" is a likely element in that name. Elamites numeous in the east called themselves As, and at least one Aryan people on the central Eurasian steppes called themselves Asi. Alternatively, the ultimate etymology of the term may be from the Akkadian word asu, which means "to go out" or "to rise", referring to the direction of the sun at sunrise in the Middle East. Compare to this the suggestion for the etymology of Europe from Semitic erebu "to set". The motives for the names of Asia and Europe would thus mirror each other, much like the terms orient and occident (the names Anatolia and Levant likewise signify "sunrise"). This suggestion is widely quoted, but it suffers from the fact that Anatolia from an Akkadian or generally Semitic perspective does not lie in the east." A Bridge | n2myhead A Bridge Pentecost 62 Egypt is the only trans-Asian country which means is spans two continents – Africa and Asia.

The Sinai Peninsula forms a land bridge of sorts connecting the northeastern corner of Africa with the southwestern corner of Asia. Technically, Egypt is the world’s only Eur-afra-sian country since it is bordered by the Mediterranean on the north as it shares a northern border with the Gaza strip and Israel, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the south as well as Sudan, and Libya on the west. Egypt is located in what historians and anthropologists call the cradle of civilization. Its history is as long as any nation and it became one of the world’s first cultural and ethnic entities while at the same time becoming one of the first actual political and geographical countries. At one time or another, Egypt has been ruled and influenced by Greek, Persian, Roman, Arab, Ottoman, and European cultures. Its eighty-nine million residents were some of the first Christians but Islamic conquests during the seventh century made it an Islamic nation. Most Egyptian territory lies within the Sahara Desert which is largely uninhabitable. The majority of Egyptians live near the banks of the Nile River. The world’s longest river, the Nile is thought to be the result of climate change in the earth’s early history.

The historian Herodotus called Egypt is the “gift of the Nile” and for many, it is considered the gift of the world. Hate mathematics? Blame an early Egyptian whose artifacts left writings resembling early multiplication and a series of numbers looking like multiples of ten. In fact, it is hard to find something that does not have an Egyptian connection. Egypt was a major trade country with its borders on seas and the Nile. Early Egyptians cultivated wheat and made paper from papyrus. Water buffalo from Africa and camels from Asia only served to intensify the multicultural aspect of life in early Egypt. European expeditions waited until Napoleon to discover Egypt although certainly trading with Asia and India introduced some aspects of Egyptian life prior to this. Many of us only know Egypt from the big and small screen. Movies about the early Christians with the actor Charleston Heston and later music videos by Michael Jackson starring comedian Eddie Murphy and supermodel Iman do little to tell the true story of Egypt. The ancient name for the country is from a word meaning black soil, and is best written as “km.t”. This was to distinguish the land of Egypt from the desert area or red soil.

The English version of the country’s name comes from an ancient Greek word “Aigyptos” which dates back to the French “Egypte” and Latin “Aegyptus”. Early Greek tablets show it written as “a-ku-pi-ti-yo” which became the Coptic “gyptios” and the Arabic “qubti”. The official name of Egypt is “Misr” which translates as metropolis, civilization, or country. Bridging the two continents and the various cultures involved has resulted in a history full of conflict. It has not gotten easier as time has progressed. We must learn to build figurative bridges and join all the cultures of the world if we are to move forward and have a future. Egyptian-American writer Suzy Kassem explains: “It is up to us to keep building bridges to bring the world closer together, and not destroy them to divide us further apart. We can pave new roads towards peace simply by understanding other cultures. This can be achieved through traveling, learning other languages, and interacting with others from outside our borders. Only then will one truly discover how we are more alike than different. Never allow language or cultural traditions to come between brothers and sisters.

The same way one brother may not like his sister’s choice of fashion or hairstyle, he will never hate her for her personal style or music preference. If you judge a man, judge only his heart. And if you should do so, make sure you use the truth in your conscience when weighing one’s character. Do not measure anybody strictly based on the bad you see in them and ignore all the good.” A shaman was quoted as saying, “A story is like the wind: it comes from a distant place and we feel it.” Today you will write the story of you. You may not have control over the setting, the characters, or even the action to a large part, but you do have control over yourself. We make a choice each and every hour whether to act or simply react. Steve Jobs said it best: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.

Everything else is secondary.” Today you will add a chapter to the mythology of that which is you. More importantly, today will offer you opportunities to build bridges. As you write the story that is you, as you develop the lot lines of your life, you will bridge the past with the present and pave a road by which we will enter the future. The bridges you build today will connect all of mankind and turn the ordinary into something esxtraordinary. The Terrorist Threat in Africa - Council on Foreign Relations Council on Foreign Relations The Terrorist Threat in Africa Connect With Us: The Terrorist Threat in Africa Author: Princeton N. Lyman Testimony before the House Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Africa Hearing on Fighting Terrorism in Africa By Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow and Director of Africa Policy Studies Council on Foreign Relations April 1, 2004 Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, I am pleased to be asked to testify concerning the terrorist situation in Africa. It will not be possible for the United States to have an effective worldwide campaign against terrorism unless the threat is addressed in Africa. But it is important to distinguish among the threats. There are some immediate threats from existing terrorist networks.

This is particularly true in the Horn and east Africa. Some arise from failed or failing states that allow financial exploitation by terrorist groups or exploitation of internal conflicts to recruit members to terrorist networks. This has been the case in central and West Africa. Another threat is in the sparsely populated regions such as the Sahel where terrorist groups, like the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) from Algeria, can find sanctuary and even set up training sites. Finally, and perhaps most challenging of all, there is the threats that arise from deepening economic and political crises in key states like Nigeria. The brew of religious tension, economic deprivation, declining law and order and political instability could open that country of 130 million people to some of the most serious forms of terrorist activity. In fact in all parts of sub-Saharan Africa, our response to the terrorist threat must be a broadly based one, bringing political, economic, and sensitive public diplomacy assets to bear. Existing networks Terrorist networks have already been established in the Horn and along the eastern coast of Africa.

The bombings of the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and the attacks on an Israel-owned hotel and airliner in Kenya in 2001 attest to the immediacy of the situation there. While the African governments in the area have responded with determination to stem the growth of these networks, their abilities are limited. For one thing, coastal control of shipments is almost non-existent, allowing arms to be smuggled from Somalia or elsewhere into Kenya, Tanzania and other places. This is despite efforts by the U.S. Combined Joint Task Force, headquartered in Djibouti and by allied naval forces to police the area. Most arms shipments come by small dhows that escape such surveillance. Intelligence capabilities are similarly limited and cross-country cooperation is complicated by political rivalries. For example, efforts led by Kenya to bring about a solution to the failed sate of Somalia founder in part by differing interests of Ethiopia and other countries in the region as well as by continuing differences among the Somali parties. That leaves Somalia a place where at the least terrorists can transit fairly easily into and out of East Africa and perhaps conduct other business.

Continuing differences between Eritrea and Sudan, Uganda and Sudan as well as Eritrea and Ethiopia limit efforts to control border regions and eliminate such horrific groups like the Lords Resistance Army that plagues northern Uganda. The U.S. has responded fairly aggressively in this part of Africa. Not only the Combined Joint Task Force, but a $100 million pledge of counter-terrorism assistance from President Bush has provided a strong impetus to counter-terrorism activities. The head of the CJTF recently reported arrests of members of terrorist organizations in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Kenya, and Djibouti. The U.S. will have to provide much more support, however, to maintain this momentum. The $100 million was less new money than programs cobbled together from existing funds. Future funding has not been identified on the same scale. There has to be a sustained focus on east Africa in our anti-terrorism budgets. The U.S. has also been playing an active role in bringing about an end to the decades long civil war in Sudan. Sudan once was home to Osama Bin Laden and hosted other terrorist groups and individuals. Now the government is interested in improving its relations with the U.S.

Only a peace settlement with the south, and an end to the governments punitive military action against the people of Darfur in the west, will open that door. Once achieved it will close off what was once a principal entrée for terrorist networking in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. Experience in this region however also demonstrates the need for greater political sensitivity. The U.S. strongly backed anti-terrorism legislation being proposed by the government of Kenya. But democracy advocates and civil society groups in Kenya, fresh from having rid the country of one-party, one-man rule, resisted, seeing in the legislation the seeds of new political oppression. In addition, Kenyan Muslims argued that the legislation was anti-Muslim, aggravating the alienation in that community that opened the door to terrorist infiltration in the first place. The Kenyan Government finally agreed to redraft the legislation. Here as elsewhere, the U.S. has to be sensitive to fledging democracies in Africa, and not fall into the trap of promoting actions and leadership that would undermine the democratic trend. Kenya also has suffered from the loss of tourism, its principal source of foreign exchange, as a result of U.S. travel advisories related to the terrorist threat.

There may be no easy answer to this problem, but we must be wary of creating a political backlash in as strong an ally in the war on terrorism as Kenya. Failed and failing states Failed or failing states in central and west Africa have already provided opportunity for al Qaeda and criminal networks possibly affiliated with it to profit from the marketing of diamonds and other precious gems. Wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Sierra Leone and Liberia opened this door and local warlords like Charles Taylor readily collaborated. These states remain at best in a fragile peace. The U.S. response however has been constrained by what are in the end, or should be, extraneous issues. For example, the U.S. has been slow to support aggressive and adequate UN peacekeeping missions in these countries because of budgeting processes that do not allow for rapid response to new situations. So, to finance the UN peacekeeping force in Liberia, the US has urged a rapid drawdown of the UN force in Sierra Leone, a risky step when the two civil wars are related and when the peace processes in Sierra Leone remain incomplete.

The US has urged a reduction in the proposed UN peacekeeping operation in Cote dIvoire, again largely for budgetary reasons, when it is apparent that the peace process there is on the verge of breakdown. Earlier, provision of too small and inadequately provisioned a UN force led to the UNs inability to prevent massacres in eastern DRC and the need for an emergency European and South African military response while the UN beefed up its presence. Congress has an important role here. Congress has consistently resisted Administration requests for a peacekeeping contingency fund. That is no longer tenable if the U.S. is to respond rapidly and responsibly to the volatile situations across Africa. Delays in providing peacekeepers, and constant efforts to cut back on their size and capability, prolong crises and weaken conflict resolution efforts. If failed or failing states are as much a threat to terrorist exploitation as has been demonstrated in Afghanistan, Somalia, Liberia and Sierra Leone, then we must reconcile ourselves to a larger and more consistent commitment of resources to overcome those situations. Islam in Africa Beyond the obvious immediate threats, the more difficult conditions for the U.S. to address lie in the economic and political instability that grips many of the West African States where the majority of African Muslim live.

If terrorism will arise through the doors of religious strife and political exploitation of religion, then Africa is indeed a major area for attention. We need to remember that Africa has more Muslims than the Middle East or Southeast Asia. In sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria alone, with some 66 million Muslims, has as many if not more Muslims than Egypt. Let me emphasize first the positive potential for American policy in this region. The Islamic tradition in West Africa is a rich one, with many facets that lend themselves to close understanding and cooperation with the West. We hear debates these days whether Islam is compatible with democracy. In Senegal, Mali, and Niger, we have examples of Muslim majority states that have fashioned working democracies. Two Muslim countries in the region  Senegal and Mauritania  and Nigeria with its large Muslim population enjoy diplomatic relations with Israel. Islamic traditions in West Africa are moderate and are absent the often emotional antagonism toward U.S. policy in the Middle East that one finds elsewhere. We can learn much from close relations with these countries and their political and religious leaders.

But there is a struggle going on for the minds of the Muslim population in countries like Nigeria, one that is tied up in the economic conditions and political turmoil in that country over the past several years. Introduction of sharia for criminal acts has taken hold in twelve of Nigerias thirty-six states, across the largely Muslim north. That has led to religious tension with Christians who live in those states and heightened traditional tension between Christians and Muslims in the country. Growing Christian evangelical activities have also contributed to growing tension between the two religions. In several states of Nigeria local militias have grown up, sometimes with the political support of state governors, producing extra legal enforcement of religious laws or just political power of one group over another. Within Nigerian Islam, religious debate has spilled over to national political debate, even health issues. The degree of tension and suspicion within Nigerian Islam toward the Nigerian government itself, and beyond to the international community, is demonstrated by the resistance today in Kano state to the vaccinations against polio. Some Nigerian religious figures have preached that the vaccines are a Western plot to sterilize Muslims. The dispute has stopped in its tracks the final stages of the World Health Organizations program to eradicate polio worldwide.

This tension and debate, which I can only touch on here, has to be seen in the context of the economic and political situation within Nigeria. In the past fifteen years, per capita GNP in Nigeria declined by two-thirds. Nigerians are experiencing an almost unprecedented level of poverty. Migration and land pressures have added to the mix. Finally, after nine years of one of the most repressive military leaders in Nigerias history, Nigerians are experiencing a new democracy, with less repression of political activity but without strong governing or law enforcement institutions. All together these factors have led to ethnic, religious, political and other sources of violence that took 10,000 lives from 1999-2003. In this atmosphere, the openings for terrorist infiltration cannot be overlooked. Osama Bin Laden himself listed Nigeria as a priority target. So far, there is no indication that terrorist networks have taken hold in Nigeria nor that even many radical Islamic figures have contemplated a policy of violence. But Nigerians have already been found within the ranks of the GSPC and the potential for linkages between terrorist groups and Nigerias already well developed criminal and drug trafficking groups is a worrisome prospect.

We must also be careful to recognize that not all terrorism or political violence is religiously based. Just as serious in Nigeria is the armed insurgency in the delta region of Nigeria, where the bulk of the oil industry  and American investment  is concentrated. Violent acts against the oil industry pose a serious threat to American interests and to the still fledgling democratic government of Nigeria. Nigeria is a classic case, however, where our diplomatic and economic resources are poorly deployed. The U.S. does not even have a presence in the Muslim-dominated north of the country  no eyes and ears, no daily program of public diplomacy, no capacity for measuring the trends of Islamic debate and their implications for the U.S. The U.S. similarly has no presence in the oil rich, but deeply troubled delta region. There are few senior officers in the political and economic sections of the Embassy. It is hard to understand, therefore, how we can anticipate and respond to the potential threats there. Moreover, our response in Nigeria has to be more robust than it has been to date. President Obasanjo, now in his second term, is pushing forward a more aggressive reform program than in his first term.

He is seeking to make the oil sector more transparent, to privatize the refineries, and to attack corruption. There are efforts, long overdue, to revitalize the agricultural sector. The United States must be prepared to respond with further support and incentives. There is understandable resistance to providing debt relief to Nigeria until some of these reforms are more firmly in place. But now is the time to begin to lay out the parameters of what debt relief would look like and to make clear that the prospects are real as the reforms move forward. Nigeria also needs much more technical assistance to take advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. Except for oil Nigeria has hardly begun to exploit this potential. Congress must moreover resolve the impasse over providing security assistance to Nigeria. There are serious human rights issues with Nigerias military. But poor police capacity and a military without further training do not serve Nigerias or our interests. The current spate of political killings, in the context of local elections, only underlines the seriousness of the security situation. If the Government does not soon get a handle on law and order, the country could descend into a generalized violence that could destabilize the entire nation.

The lack of law and order was one of the reasons people in the north took so enthusiastically to the imposition of sharia. The New Frontier: the Sahel Nowhere has interest and action on terrorism moves so rapidly in Africa recently than in the areas bordering the Sahara desert. A once small and almost unremarkable program, the Pan Sahel Initiative, has been energized by the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) in conjunction with the states on both sides of the desert: Mauritania, Mali, Niger, and Chad in the south; Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia in the north. With improved communication and logistical equipment, and assisted by U.S. satellites and advisory troops, these countries have been engaging in military action against the GSPC, chasing it across borders and inflicting significant losses on its cadres. In an area where U.S. security presence has traditionally been limited, and influence marginal, the U.S. has now become a significant player. In the process, EUCOM spanned the bureaucratic divide that exists in the State Department between North and sub-Saharan Africa to develop a cohesive and truly regional approach. This is a welcome initiative.

As the President of Mali said in a speech in Washington last year, it would otherwise be impossible to know what was transpiring in this vast, sparsely populated area. Not only could it be a place of refuge but potentially the site of new training sites for terrorists forced out of Afghanistan and elsewhere. But we also must be concerned with the fragility of democracy in states like Mali and the limitations on democracy in countries like Mauritania. Malis democracy is dependent upon the reconciliation that was achieved in the 1980s between the majority people of the south and the Tauregs of the north, ending decades of friction and occasional insurgency. Mali is understandably concerned that nothing in the new counter terrorism efforts undermine that unity. Mauritania is a country where the line between the governments legitimate opponents on the one hand and terrorists and coup plotters on the other is a thin one. The U.S. has to be especially careful that we do not become partners in a political process that drives people into the arms of Islamic extremists. Chad is not very different, with historic friction between north and south and between various tribal groupings. Let us tread here with care and discretion. The Need for Balance The one U.S.

government agency that has taken the terrorist threat in Africa to heart has been the Defense Department, in particular the U.S. commanders in NATO, EUCOM, and the CJTF. NATO Commander General James Jones has described West Africa as where the action is. EUCOM Deputy Commander Charles Wald has traveled across the continent several times and was instrumental in fashioning the Pan Sahel Initiative into an active action program. DOD has undertaken HIV/AIDS awareness and control programs with militaries throughout the continent. With additional resources DOD is prepared to assist the oil producing countries of the West Coast in establishing offshore security capability, guarding against attacks on the drilling installations springing up all along the coast. Welcome as this interest is, it is dangerous if not matched by an equivalent level of interest and capability in State and USAID in addressing the political and economic factors that make Africa worrisome. A response overly balanced to the military side will push us too close to the line of oppressive regimes, too insensitive to the political dynamics of an anti-terrorism strategy, too limited in our response to the problems of poverty that underlie every African security problem. Our military colleagues would in fact agree. I have already noted the shortfalls in this regard in Nigeria.

The same is true, however all across Africa, whether in senior personnel, language proficiency, presence in strategic locations, or dynamic public diplomacy. The problem is scheduled to get worse rather than better. As the U.S. prepares to staff a new Embassy in Baghdad, personnel slots are being taken from all over the world, including Africa  including Nigeria! We are in danger of robbing Peter to pay Paul. The level of interest in Africa must in fact go higher than State and USAID. It must go to the White House and the National Security Council, where there must be recognition that Africa is of strategic interest to the United States, not just humanitarian as has so often been the case up to now. There was a telling moment in this regard during last years crisis over Liberia. As rebel forces approached the capital, African and European nations alike urged the U.S. to provide troops on the ground to stabilize the situation. The UK had done so in neighboring Sierra Leone, France in Cote dIvoire. The President sent 3,000 Marines offshore of Liberia, but after a few days and after only a few troops had gone on shore for a short while, the troop ship sailed away.

The President said that our primary interest had been that food and medicine could be provided, and once that was done our job was largely done. However one judges the desirability of providing American troops in that situation, the conclusion that our primary interest in a failing state, where once al Qaeda had reaped fortunes in diamond trading, was humanitarian was unfortunate. Our interest in Africa must be seen as strategic. Once that fundamental recognition takes place, the resources that will be needed can be judged accordingly. And only then will we meet the totality of the terrorist threat on the continent. Highlights From 2015–2016 Learn more about CFR’s mission and its work over the past year in the 2016 Annual Report . The Annual Report spotlights new initiatives, high-profile events, and authoritative scholarship from CFR experts, and includes a message from CFR President Richard N. Haass. Read and download » The Chronicle The Fall 2016 issue of CFR's member newsletter, the Chronicle, is a guide to CFR's most important news since August 2016, and includes announcements about new programs, partnerships, fellows, meetings, publications, and members. Read it now.

Now Available: Foreign Policy Begins at Home The biggest threat to America's security and prosperity comes not from abroad but from within, writes CFR President Richard N. Haass in his provocative new book. More New Foreign Affairs eBook: Tiananmen and After Historical Country Names - Nations Online Project Historical Country Names keywords: geography, historical country names, former country names, history, place name changes, historical maps List of formerly used country names and names of countries which have ceased to exist. Name changes of countries, dependencies, geographical and other regions of particular geopolitical interest. Today Abyssinia The Ethiopian Empire spans a geographical area of today Ethiopia, Eritrea , and Djibouti ,and included parts of Northern Somalia , Southern Egypt , Eastern Sudan , Yemen and Western Saudi Arabia . Abyssinia was an empire that existed for more than 800 years, from circa 1137 (beginning of Zagwe Dynasty) until 1974 when the Ethiopian monarchy was overthrown in a coup d'etat.

Afars and Issas Territory formerly known as French Somaliland, the French colony was renamed to the French Territory of Afars and Issas (1967 - 1977),the territory became independent in 1977, known today as Djibouti. formerly a British protectorate became independent in 1966 as the Kingdom of Lesotho. formerly a British protectorate became independent in 1966 as Republic of Botswana. Democratic Republic of the Congo Benadir a coastal region of Somalia; covering most of the Indian Ocean coast of the country, from the Gulf of Aden to the Juba River, formerly part of Italian Somaliland.

Biafra, Republic of (named after the Bight of Biafra) today part of Bophuthatswana - nominal republic and homeland for Tswana-speaking people, 1949 reincorporated into British Bechuanaland (region) incorporated into the Cape Colony (1895) British East Africa or East Africa Protectorate British protectorate from 1890 until 1920 Kenya , Tanzania , Uganda , and parts of Somalia (Jubaland) Cape Colony, 1795-1797 British colony, 1803-1806 colony of the Batavian Republic (Netherlands), since 1910 part of Central African Republic Kenya Colony The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya was part of the British Empire in Africa. It was established when the former East Africa Protectorate was transformed into a British crown colony in 1920.

Ciskei (Republic of Ciskei)- homeland for Xhosa-speaking people, 1994 reincorporated into Dahomey ; (the Republic of Dahomey; in French: République du Dahomey), was a former French colony andpart of French West Africa until independence in 1960, in 1975 the Republic of Dahomeychanged its name in Benin. Dan Ho Me was an ancient Kingdom located in the south of today Benin. French Guinea was a French protectorate in West Africa, after independence from France in 1958 it became today Mali French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegambia and Niger, French Sudan , French Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire, Upper Volta and Dahomey . Mauritania , The Gambia , Senegal , Niger , Mali , Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , Burkina Faso and Benin.

German East Africa (German: Deutsch-Ostafrika) a German colony from 1885 until 1919 which included Burundi, Rwanda and Tanganyika (the mainland part of present Tanzania), an area almost three times the size of Germany today. German East Africa colony ended with the defeat of Imperial Germany in World War I. With the Treaty of Versailles the territory was divided between Britain (Tanganyika.), Belgium (Ruanda-Urundi), and Portugal (to become part of Mozambique). Hausaland, consisted of seven independent city-states: Biram, Daura, Gobir, Kano, Katsina, Rano, and Zaria.

Italian East Africa (former name for Italian possessions in eastern Africa) Kaffraria, former name for Transkei Katanga - 1960, Belgium granted independence to the Congolese province of the Mali Federation, was a country in West Africa 1959-1960, formed by a union between Malawi Portuguese East Africa (Província Ultramarina de Moçambique) Mozambique or Portuguese East Africa (officially the State of East Africa) for almost 500 years a Portuguese Colony, 1498–1975.

See also: Portugal Sahara Occidental, Spanish name for Senegambia (region; former name of the confederation of Senegal and Gambia) Songhay (Songhai), in the 16th century a major empire of the Western Sudan, in the region of South-West Africa (SWA, German: Deutsch-Südwestafrika), a German colony from 1884-1915 Spanish West Africa (former name for Ifni and Spanish Sahara) Stellaland, Republic of; annexed by the Boers later British Bechuanaland, incorporated into the Cape Colony (1895) Tanganyika Territory, united with the islands Zansibar and Pemba it became Togoland (British Togoland), since 1957 part of Transkei (former Kaffraria and one of ten "black homelands" and nominal republic, in Southeast of ) Transvaal or ZAR - Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek; today the Province Limpopo of Ubangi-Shari (Oubangui-Chari) a former French territory in central Africa, whith independence on 13 August 1960 the country became the

 Central African Republic Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa was formed on 31 May 1910 as a parliamentary union of the four self-governing British colonies: the Cape of Good Hope Province (Cape Province; previously Cape Colony), Natal Province (Natal Colony), the Orange Free State Province (Oranje Vrij Staat/Orange River Colony) and the Transvaal Province (Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek/Transvaal Colony).

The Union came to an end in 1961with a new constitution and became the "Republic of South Africa". Zaire, changed its name in 1997 to Zanzibar (island, east off the coast of Tanzania) a former protectorate of Britain. Zanzibar gained independence in1963 united with Tanganyika, today it is a semi-autonomous part of Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) or Transvaal colony; today the Limpopo province of Abkhazia (Region name is still in use) Bactria (Bakhtria) historical region of Greater Iran, located between the Hindu Kush mountain range and the Amu Darya (Amu river). The region was the birthplace of Zoroastrianism (Mazdaism) and later, also hosted Buddhism before becoming Muslim after the 7th century. The Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley are a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Afghanistan with the remains of two huge standing Buddha statues which were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.

Circassia was located east of the Black Sea and west of the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region, it was the mountainous territory of the Circassians (Adyghe), it was wiped from the map in the late 19th century whenRussia conqueredthe Caucasus region. All Circassians were displacedfrom their homeland. Historians refer to the displacement of the Adyghe people by the Russian Empire to "the inventing of the strategy of modern ethnic cleansing and genocide". Circassia was situated north of today Georgia in the southern half of Russia's Krasnodar Krai, south of Kuban River,as well as in the Beshtau, an isolated mountainous region in Stavropol Krai, and in todays Russian Republics of Adygea, Karachay–Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, and North Ossetia–Alania, in south west Russia . East Turkestan; Eastern Turkestan; Chinese Turkestan Part of western China (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region ) Kashmir (region) is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent.

Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the Vale of Kashmir, the valley between the GreatHimalayas (in northeast) and the Pir Panjal mountain range (in southwest). Today the term Kashmir refers to a larger area that includes the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (including the Kashmir valley and Jammu and Ladakh), the Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan and the Azad Kashmir provinces, and the Chinese-administered regions of Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract. state during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, it is the ancient name of Cyprus Dilmun, mentioned in ancient texts as a trade partner of Mesopotamia, although the exact location of Dilmun is unclear, it is associated with Bahrain , the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia , Qatar , Oman and nearby coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf. Galilee, Galilea is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country.

See: Map of Israel Judea, Judäa,(region) Hebrew: יהודה was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BC (Assyrian rule) to the 2nd century AD, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt. Muscat and Oman, Sultanate of Muscat and Oman until 1970 North Yemen or Yemen Arab Republic was a country from 1962 to 1990 in the western part of what is now Yemen. Ottoman Empire the Turkish empire, established in northern Anatolia by Osman I (Osman Gazi Khan) at the end of the 13th century and expanded by his successors to include all of Asia Minor and much of southeastern Europe. After setbacks caused by the invasion of the Mongol ruler Tamerlane (Timur) in 1402, the Ottomans captured Constantinople (today Istanbul) in 1453, and the empire reached its zenith under Suleiman the Magnificent (ruled 1520 to 1566).

At the height of its power, in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Ottoman Empire controlled territory in southeastern Europe, southwestern Asia, and North Africa. It had greatly declined by the 19th century and collapsed after World War I. also known as the Trucial States, Trucial Oman, and the Trucial Shaykdoms Tylos, was referredby the Greeks to today Bahrain United Arab Republic (UAR) The United Arab Republic or U.A.R., was a union between Egypt and Syria. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961, when Syria seceded from the union. Egypt continued to be known officially as the "United Arab Republic" until 1971. The President was Gamal Abdel Nasser. During most of its existence (1958–1961) it was a member of the United Arab States, a confederation with North Yemen.

Egypt , Syria , Yemen Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) The Yemen Arab Republic, also known as North Yemen, was a country from 1962 to 1990 in the western part of what is now Yemen, its predecessor was the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (1918–1962), also known as the Kingdom of Yemen, its capital was at Taiz (Ta'izz). Yemen __Eastern Asia Cathay, (English) Cathay is the Anglicized version of "Catai" the name used for northern China, and an alternative name for: Choson, Chosen the Korean peninsula today split into Republic of Korea (South Korea) and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) Formosa (island) Dutch Formosa, period of a colonial Dutch government (1624–1662), the Dutch East India Company established its presence on Formosa to trade with China and Japan and to prevent Portuguese and Spanish trade and colonial activities in East Asia. Spanish Formosa, a Spanish colony established in the north of of the island (1626–1642).

Taiwan Great Korean Empire was the name of the Korean empire that existed on theKorean Peninsula, from the Proclamation of the Korean Empire in October 1897 to the Annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910. The Great Korean Empire was an absolute monarchy with a constitution. Republic of Korea (South Korea) and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) Kingdom of Tungning (1662 - 1683) The kingdom was founded by Koxinga (official name: Zheng Chenggong),on the island of Formosa. Koxinga was born in Hirado, Japan to Zheng Zhilong, a Ming dynasty admiral-pirate-merchant, and his Japanese wife. The Kingdom of Tungning was run by the Zheng family, supporting the Ming Dynasty in mainland China which was replaced by the Manchu-ruled Qing Dynasty in 1644. Koxinga wanted to use the island as a base of operations to train its Ming military forces and recapture the mainland from the Manchus. Hedied in 1662 six month after the conquest of Formosa.

His son Zheng Jing ruled the next 20 years from its court at Tainan. Annam, Anam (1883-1954) French protectorate in Central Vietnam Ayutthaya, Kingdom of; (Siam) covered Thailand , half of Cambodia , most of Laos and large areas of present day Myanmar (Burma) Bengal, region in the northeast of South Asia today divided between Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), and the India n federal stateWest Bengal. Balochistan or Baluchistan a region on in the Iranian Plateau in Southwest Asia, named after the local Baloch tribes of Persian origin. part of the region is now the province Balochistan in Pakistan , other areas of the region were part of today's Iran and Afghanistan . Baluchistan States Union existed between1952 and1955 in southwest British North Borneo, former British protectorate and crown colony, occupies the northern tip of the island of Borneo.

Burma, changed its name in 1989 to Ceylon in 1972 thename of the country was changed to "Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka", in 1978 the name was changed to "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka" Map of Sri Lanka Dutch East Indies (Netherlands East Indies) was the Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalized colonies of the former Dutch East India Company that came under the administration of the Netherlands in 1800. Indonesia East Pakistan, a former province of Pakistan. East Pakistan was created from Bengal Province based on the 'Mountbatten Plan' in what was then British India in 1947. Eastern Bengal was given to the Dominion of Pakistan and became a province of Pakistan by the name East Bengal. East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan in 1956 and later became the country of Bangladesh after the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, which took place after the General Elections of 1970.

British West Indies - the colonies of the British in the Caribbean: today the term refers to the British Caribbean overseas territories which are: Anguilla , Bermuda , British Virgin Islands , Cayman Islands, Montserrat , Turks and Caicos Islands. Danish West Indies or "Danish Antilles", were a colony of Denmark - Norway in the Caribbean. They were sold to the United States in 1916 in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies and became the United States Virgin Islands in 1917. US Virgin Islands French West Indies, the French overseas departments Guadeloupe and Martinique , as well as the French Caribbean Départments d'Outre Mer, include the Guadeloupe dependencies of the French part of the island St. Martin and the islands Saint-Barthélemy, Les Saintes, Marie-Galante and La Désirade.

Haiti, the Arawaks name for the island of Hispaniola New Spain (Nueva España) colonial territories of the Spanish Empire in North and Central America, including Somers Islands is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean better kown as New Spain (Nueva España) colonial territories of the Spanish Empire in North and Central America, including Mexico , Guatemala , Belize , El Salvador , Honduras , Nicaragua , Costa Rica and parts of South-West USA New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The settled areas are now part of the Mid-Atlantic States of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut, with small outposts in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The provincial capital, New Amsterdam, was located at the southern tip of the island of Manhattan on upper New York Bay. Today British Guiana was a British colony on the northern coast of South America, what is now the independent nation of Guyana. Capital was Georgetown . Guyana Dutch Guiana (Netherlands Guyana) Dutch colonization of the Guianas began in the beginning of the 17th century.

The colonies of Essequibo and Demerara (Demerary), Surinam, and Berbice were Dutch settlements, trading posts and plantations in the coastal areas ofthe north eastern part of South America, a region which is known as the Guianas, today divided into the countries of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and the north eastern part of Brazil. Capital city was Fort Zeelandia ( Paramaribo ) Venezuela , Guyana , Suriname , French Guiana , and the Amapá province of Brazil. Gran Colombia (1819-1830), the former republic consisted ofthe territories of present-day Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, northern Peru and northwest Brazil. Inini, an inland territory of French Guiana, its capital was Saint-Élie. New Holland (2), Nieuw Holland, or also known as Dutch Brazil, was a former dutch colony on the northeast coast of Brazil 1630 - 1654. Capital city was Mauritsstad, today part of the city of Recife .

Province of Pernambuco, Brazil Terra de Santa Cruz , in the early 16th century when the Portoguese realized it was not an island but part of a continent they were about to conquer, they renamed it from 'Ilha de Vera Cruz' (Island of the True Cross) to Terra de Santa Cruz (Land of the Holy Cross). Today the region is known as Brazil. Map of Moldova Pridnestrovia (Transnistria) formerly part of the Soviet Union ( Russia ), today a breakaway state of Moldova also known as Transnistria, which claims territory between the Dniester river and the eastern border of Moldova with Ukraine . It declared independence in 1990 but is unrecognised by any United Nations member state. Transnistria is one of four post-Soviet "frozen conflict" zones. (see: Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia) After the dissolution of the USSR, tensions between the newly created Moldova and the de facto sovereign state of Pridnestrovia escalated into a military conflict. Unlike the rest of Moldova Pridnestrovia had not wanted to separate from the Soviet Union.

Because of the Russian military contingent present in Transnistria, the European Court of Human Rights considers Transnistria "under the effective authority or at least decisive influence of Russia". Map of Moldova Prussia, Preussen a former kingdom of the German Empire.Originally a small country on the south eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, under Frederick the Great it became a major European power covering much of modern northeast Germany and Poland. Capital city was Königsberg (today Kaliningrad, Russia), later Berlin . (region; former name for Carpatho-Ukraine) Map of Ukraine Silesia, (in German: Schlesien) historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts in the Czech Republic and Germany, its largest city and capital was Wrocław(Breslau). Poland , the Czech Republic and Germany . Soviet Union (1922 - 1991) short form of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), a former federation of Communist republics occupying the northern half of Asia and part of eastern Europe, capital city was Moscow . 12 constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 as independent post-Soviet states.

Armenia , Azerbaijan , Belarus , Estonia , Georgia , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Latvia , Lithuania , Moldova , Russian Federation (Russia) , Tajikistan , Turkmenistan , Ukraine , Uzbekistan Scotland, the former independent kingdom is today one of four constituent nations which form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, capital city is Edinburgh

Question: What is the only country whose homeland spans Africa and Asia?
Answer: Egypt