Afro-Eurasia[1] or less commonly
Afrasia[2] or
Eurafrasia[2] are terms used to describe
Eurasia and
Africa as one
continent. The constituent
landmasses contain around 85% of the
world population (around 5.7 billion people).
[3]Normally, it is divided at the Suez Canal into Eurasia and Africa, the former of which can be subdivided into Europe and Asia. It can be divided alternatively into Eurasia-North Africa and Subsahara for cultural and historical reasons.[4]
The mainland of Afro-Eurasia (excluding islands such as the British Isles, Japan,Madagascar and the Malay Archipelago ) has been referred to as the World Island. (The term may have been coined by Sir Halford John Mackinder in The Geographical Pivot of History.[5])
The Old World refers to Africa, Asia, Europe, and their surrounding islands as separate landmasses.
