Originally Posted by
Phil75231
I'm not trying to stop further discussion about what I'm about to say, but...
...if this turns into a "Who/What is Europe and what is not?", just be warned I've seen this discussion on other antrhoboards over the years. The basic idea is that the definition of Europe is at least partially arbitrary. We can't use human geography definitions (the reasons should be obvious to members of this board). Nor can we use ecological reasons, as I found out*. The closest thing we have to an objective definition of Europe - independent of our perceptions is the geologic one - the western peninsula of the continent of Eurasia. Even in this case, the eastern and SE boundaries are at least partially ambiguous.
*I tried an ecological definition: Areas of exclusively either (a) Mediterranean climate (b) Midlatitude Marine, and (c) humid continental. This ended up including almost all the NW African coast[1], ALL the Mediterranean Middle East from the Turkish Straits south all the way to (and including) Gaza (!!!).
As if that weren't sketchy enough, it excludes the northern 40% of Sweden and almost all of Finland (barring the immediate south coastal areas). It also excludes northmost Norway (which has a Polar Tundra climate). Additional exclusions might even indluce part of Romania (esp the Eastern Part).
[1] (from about Tunis to Casablanca),