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Countries Closest to Europe

What are the 20 non-European countries whose territory lies closest to the continent of Europe?
Excludes Russia; treated as European because most of its population lives there
Quiz by Jerry928
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Last updated: February 21, 2020
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First submittedSeptember 12, 2014
Times taken87,195
Average score85.0%
Rating4.62
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Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
km
country
miles
0
Azerbaijan
0
0
Georgia
0
0
Kazakhstan
0
0
Turkey
0
14
Morocco
9
70
Tunisia
44
110
Armenia
69
153
Algeria
95
165
Iran
103
259
Libya
161
km
country
miles
321
Turkmenistan
199
363
Egypt
225
392
Cyprus
243
511
Iraq
318
535
Uzbekistan
332
625
Syria
388
713
Lebanon
443
725
Israel
451
789
Jordan
490
970
Saudi Arabia
602
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101 Recent Comments
djeedubbeljoe
+5
Level 66
Sep 22, 2016
I tried Russia and it didn't work, so I concluded that transcontinental countries apparently wouln't count. But then I missed Turkey :(

Maybe you can say something about the transcontinental countries in the notes?

Jerry928
+6
Level 76
Sep 22, 2016
Fair point; we'll add a note to the instructions.
eurocrem
+1
Level 41
Nov 17, 2016
Yeah but Russia borders Europe, Asian part of Russia borders European part of Russia
eurocrem
+1
Level 41
Nov 17, 2016
And if you consider whole Russia to be European, than North Korea borders Europe and you should add it to this quiz
HectorVortac
+3
Level 48
Nov 17, 2016
Yes, North Korea borders Russia, but it is thousands of miles from the European part of Russia.
wiifly
+1
Level 59
Mar 19, 2022
European Country =/= All territory is European.

European Russia dominates the country politically, so the Asian portion is part of a European country while not being in Europe.

CreATive
+1
Level 49
Sep 23, 2016
What about Mali and Mauritania? They are close to the Canary Islands (See Countries Closest to Spain). Technically, aren't they close to Europe?
Arquette
+1
Level 37
Nov 2, 2016
Thats what I thought.... much closer than Saudi Arabia etc.
Jerry928
+3
Level 76
Nov 2, 2016
Spain straddles two continents geographically - the obvious European part, but Ceuta, Melilla and the Canaries are part of Africa. Culturally, you could make a case for all of it being European.
GrandMo
+6
Level 70
Oct 10, 2016
Some of the Middle Eastern countries here are measured to Rhodes, which I think is dubiously considered Europe. Yes, it's Greek, but it's much closer to mainland Turkey (which is here considered Asian) and should probably be treated in the same way as Cyprus (i.e. not part of Europe). Otherwise, you'd have to take the Canary Islands into account as mentioned above- they're owned by Spain despite being closer to Africa.
stevediverse
+4
Level 89
Nov 17, 2016
Still need to clarify the comments... If Russia is "treated as European", then lots of countries (China, for instance) should be on with distance of 0km. Also, Morocco is 0km from Spain (Ceuta).
QRU
+3
Level 74
Nov 17, 2016
Ceuta is in Africa, not in Europe, and that Russia is treated as European doesn't mean, it's wholy in Europe.
Corrode
+4
Level 60
Nov 17, 2016
Basically what it's saying is that Kazakhstan is Asian, but it borders European Russia so it counts as 0km. Same for Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan. Russia is ignored as a quiz answer, and for geographical calculation, because its size and borders mean that it falls into a grey area in terms of whether it's in Europe or Asia, and answering "China" may be technically true but isn't the point of the quiz.
kiwiquizzer
+1
Level 68
Nov 18, 2016
Nice answer, Corrode!
Thanos21
+2
Level 37
Nov 17, 2016
Cyrpus is European and part of the E.U. How do you count it as not??
plattitude
+4
Level 93
Nov 17, 2016
This map might help you out.

This is an unambiguous definition of the European continent that is independent of political geography. The countries of Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan contain territory inside this definition, and therefore are 0 miles away from the continent of Europe. Cyprus and Armenia are completely outside the continental borders.

divantilya
+4
Level 36
Apr 6, 2019
Cyprus is 243 miles from Mainland Europe. Georgia, Kazakhstan and Turkey all 0 miles away from Europe are in Asia. Morocco (9 miles away), Tunisia (44 miles away), and Libya (212 miles away), are all in Africa and are all closer to Europe than Cyprus.
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Nov 1, 2019
Adding to the above... there are 12 non-European countries closer to Europe than Cyprus. There are 2 continents (Asia, Africa) closer to Cyprus than Europe.
AlexThirkell
+2
Level 75
Sep 6, 2023
In that case Trinidad & Tobago should be a South American country - it's far closer to Venezuela than any "North American" country (calling Grenada North American feels incredibly weird, but understandable for the needs of a quiz site).
Jerry928
+1
Level 76
Nov 1, 2019
Can I offer another suggestion to stir into this well-stirred pot? After having visited (both halves of) Cyprus, I think it's truer to consider the southern Republic of Cyprus, which is aligned with Greece as well as being an EU member, as European, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is aligned with, er, Turkey, as Asian. The cultural difference between the two halves is massive, even though you can freely pass back-and-forth between them as a tourist. (By the way, if you want to count all of Greece as in Europe, that leaves Europe, by dint of Καστελλόριζο / Kastellorizo, as closer to Cyprus than Africa).
richiesyxx
+1
Level 73
Mar 19, 2022
Might as well stick my teaspoon in as well... if we’re going to allow for the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,’ then you’re going to have problems with the Luhansk People’s Republic, the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Republic of Abkhazia, the Republic of South Ossetia and, potentially, the Republic of Kosovo, the Republic of Artsakh and the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic.

There’s another quiz right there, surely? Having said that, I’m betting there already is one... ‘scuse me while I have a butchers...

Sifhraven
+2
Level 72
Feb 17, 2020
And to add an apparent point that has be left out so far. The E.U is not the same as the continent of Europe . The EU is an organisation, just like NATO and the UN are organisations. The basis for the EU is economic while NATO is more about defense.

Originally the EU consisted of only 6 countries, currently it has 27 members (still much less than there are countries in Europe). Norway for instance, is definitely in Europe but not part of the EU. French Guiana for instance is not in the European continent, but as an integral part of France, it is in the EU

Moosefight
+6
Level 60
Nov 17, 2016
Man, a lot of people here seem to not know where the continent of Europe is. It's nowhere near China.
HectorVortac
+1
Level 48
Nov 17, 2016
+1
milehigh12
+1
Level 21
Nov 17, 2016
when googled. It says cyprus is part of the EU
eurocrem
+3
Level 41
Nov 17, 2016
So what? Greece is part of NATO, does that mean Greece is a Northern Atlantic country?
coro
+4
Level 58
Nov 17, 2016
And Australia gets a gig at the Eurovision Song Contest.
NauruPalau
+1
Level 49
Feb 17, 2020
Yes it touches the northern half of the Atlantic ocean...
lorrs
+1
Level 38
Mar 20, 2022
No it doesn't. Greece only touches the Mediterranean Sea.

Also, Hungary is in NATO and it touches no sea.

divantilya
+1
Level 36
Nov 17, 2016
What's this with 50% scores for countries that I picked right off and should have 100% on?
Djilas
+1
Level 83
Nov 18, 2016
That's the precentage of all your tries when you took the quiz. If you missed the country on your first try and guessed it the second time, it shows 50%.
Wyattiswhiz
+1
Level 46
Mar 19, 2022
Bruh you're at level 37 now so hopefully you figured it out :D
HectorVortac
+2
Level 48
Nov 17, 2016
*CONTINENT* OF *EUROPE*. What is so hard about that? I really thought Jetpunk users were smarter than that.
LukeMontgomery
+3
Level 65
Nov 18, 2016
Surely if Russia counts as Europe then all the countries bordering it count as nearest to Europe, including like USA lol.
Lemondance
+4
Level 67
Dec 30, 2016
Basically to clarify for anyone wondering why China, Mongolia, Morocco, etc. aren't 0 km/mi even though they border Russia and Spain respectively:

I don't think it's a stretch to say Spain is "based" in Europe. On Jetpunk, Russia is also considered to be "based" in Europe because of big cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg. However, when you're a transcontinental country, just because you're based in one continent doesn't mean the rest of your country is also in that continent. This is obvious with Russia; most of it is clearly in Asia. It's also why many islands in the Caribbean aren't European (geographically) but, well, Caribbean. All of the transcontinental answers on this quiz (Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey) are not counted as part of Europe (despite having land in Europe) because they are considered to be "based" in Asia. And Cyprus, well... that's just Cyprus for you.

Hope this helps!

kolovozzz
+1
Level 32
Mar 22, 2017
Ye, it helps.
kolovozzz
+2
Level 32
Mar 4, 2017
Cyprus? What?
Jarl5
+1
Level 68
May 29, 2017
Doesn't Spain have territory on Africa? Shouldn't Morocco be 0?
Jerry928
+2
Level 76
May 29, 2017
It does, but as you say, it's in Africa!
Majic
+1
Level 43
Jan 31, 2018
Got 100% on first try with 2:12 left, could cut out some time
orangeajgreen
+1
Level 56
Feb 2, 2018
If Russia is split by the Volga River, then Kazakhstan is further than 0km away from Europe
Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Feb 17, 2020
The Volga river is not the border it is the river Ural (and the Ural mountains). After a bit of searching I finally found a good picture which shows the rivers clearly as well as the border. (Without too much clutter) Click here to show map
SkuxxKiwi
+1
Level 39
May 21, 2018
Got them all with 2:02 left :)
GeoDude
+1
Level 47
May 9, 2019
Why isn't Australia on here?
QuizTaDa
+1
Level 49
Feb 17, 2020
Australia is in Oceania, over hundreds of miles away lol
azzyclark
+1
Level 67
Feb 17, 2020
Suriname, Guyana and Brazil as per French Guiana.
Sifhraven
+2
Level 72
Feb 17, 2020
Since when is the continent of Europe in the continent of SouthAmerica?
JackintheBox
+1
Level 80
Feb 17, 2020
And Madagascar, Mozambique, Mauritius etc. as per Mayotte and Réunion.
FatDad
+1
Level 82
Feb 17, 2020
If Russia is excluded, how can Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Geirgia be said to be 0Km away?
JackintheBox
+1
Level 80
Feb 17, 2020
Kazakhstan and Georgia* border the European portion of Russia (west of the Ural Mountains). (However, Kazakhstan also borders the Asian portion of Russia—east of the Urals, but that is irrelevant.) Uzbekistan is not 0 km away from Europe.
ooftownroad
+1
Level 62
Feb 17, 2020
spain borders morocco
JackintheBox
+1
Level 80
Feb 17, 2020
But Ceuta and Melilla (exclaves of Spain) are located in Africa, not Europe.
bostjan
+1
Level 72
Feb 17, 2020
This quiz is a hot mess where the taker is trying to determine what the author intends rather than any factual information.
ing
+1
Level 72
Feb 17, 2020
Yeah, but the resulting discussions are fun, right?
JackintheBox
+1
Level 80
Feb 19, 2020
You're suggesting this quiz is not factual?
Wilhelmscream
+1
Level 60
Feb 17, 2020
“This quiz will treat Russia as Europe since most of its population lives there”

You admit Central Asian countries because of that. Why is N Korea left out? Japan?

N Korea has a land border. Japan is near to Sakhalin Island. I’d bet S Korea is close then other picks too. And maybe China though I’m not sure about that corner at the Korean Pennisula.

ing
+1
Level 72
Feb 17, 2020
I'd add Russia as an answer, and change the comment to: "A country is only correct if it is near the continent of Europe, or near the European part of a multi-continent country such as Russia or France." That would eliminate China, Suriname, etc. while leaving Turkey.
NauruPalau
+2
Level 49
Feb 17, 2020
Missed Cyprus, it’s in Europe tho so idk what this quiz is
TjizzleDizzle
+1
Level 67
Feb 17, 2020
Quite confusing in some cases, strongly depends on ideas about geographical Europe. Had 'm all quite quick, except Kazakhstan. Although by the rules set Kazakhstan/Georgia/Armenia/Azerbaijan and such make sense, still feels misplaced.

Other point, if it is something that borders Europe, Morocco should also list at 0, given th 2 autonomous regions Spain has in Morocco. I assume these are excluded like Greenland is.

But....if all of Russia is counted (therefore including Kazakhstan and likewise) then why is the gap of the Bering Strait not also used, putting America close to?

themango
+1
Level 57
Feb 17, 2020
Isn't Canada technically closer over the North Pole? it's also very close to Denmark
Jerry928
+1
Level 76
Feb 17, 2020
1196 km from Canada to Svalbard.
KingTom2
+2
Level 74
Feb 17, 2020
Cyprus has definitely always been considered part of Europe, not Asia.

Turkey has a piece of Europe as part if it!

So these countries cannot be considered outside Europe.

Jerry928
+1
Level 76
Feb 17, 2020
Not so. It can be debated either way. When I visited Cyprus last year (nice country, by the way), I was struck by how different culturally politically the (southern) Republic of Cyprus and Northern Cyprus are. Give the former leans towards Greece and the latter to Turkey, you could make a case for putting the continental divide along the north-south partition ine.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 81
Feb 19, 2020
not really leaning so much as the south was occupied by Greece and the north occupied by Turkey.
Jerry928
+1
Level 76
Feb 19, 2020
Not quite. The southern Republic of Cyprus has had, over the years, many pining for "Enosis", or merger with, Greece. Northern Cyprus in turn would like to merge with Turkey, but neither Greece nor Turkey wants to take that step. But each half of Cyprus makes its wishes known in a subtle way: in the south, national flags are always flown in pairs on adjacent flagpoles - the Cypriot one next to the Greek one, and in the north, the flag of Northern Cyprus is always next to Turkey's, like this.
buckworm
+1
Level 21
Feb 18, 2020
goddamn cyprus
Carlos
+1
Level 43
Feb 18, 2020
If you are not counting Cyprus as Europe, why count Malta - it’s closer to Africa?
BotswanaEmperor
+1
Level 70
Mar 26, 2020
Malta is 513 km away from Tunisia (what I think is the closest African country to it) while the distance between Malta and Sicily is 219 km. So Malta geographically is closer to Europe, unlike Cyprus.
JackintheBox
+1
Level 80
Feb 19, 2020
Kazakhstan, Armenia and Georgia are also partly located in Europe, but a majority of their populations are located in Asia.
frostbird
+1
Level 45
Feb 20, 2020
Libya is ~260 km from Gavdos and ~295 km from Crete.
Jerry928
+1
Level 76
Feb 20, 2020
Thanks - quiz is being updated.
frostbird
+2
Level 45
Feb 21, 2020
Also, not sure how you're measuring Uzbekistan - it looks like it's about 395 km from the Ural River near Atyrau and a bit less than 600 across the Caspian.
Jerry928
+1
Level 76
Feb 21, 2020
We're using the Russia/Kazakh border as the boundary, but yes, if you take the continental border as running through Kazakhstan, then distance reduces to 393 km / 244 miles, at, as you say, the Ural River near Atyrau. Either way, Uzbekistan is on the list.
Roger77024
+1
Level 57
Feb 21, 2020
Why is Palestine not listed? (Here comes another torrent of arguments!)
Jerry928
+3
Level 76
Feb 21, 2020
When Dan relents, and aligns this website with Sporcle, and with recognition by most of the world's countries, and UN observer status (it would have been full status except for a veto threat by the US), Palestine will appear in 18th place at 762 km /473 miles.
Prakash14
+1
Level 57
May 8, 2020
Isn't part of Turkey in Europe so therefore it shouldn't count?
FNWY4life
+1
Level 69
Dec 6, 2020
Spain and Morocco share a border and the two territories in Morocco are part of mainland Spain, so Morocco shares a border with Europe.
Jerry928
+1
Level 76
Dec 6, 2020
Spain is European as to most of its territory, but African in terms of Ceuta and Melilla.
Mari0oo
+1
Level 46
Mar 19, 2022
so spain should be included on the list as well?
DaCheese
+1
Level 29
Dec 9, 2020
Missed Lebanon
NaethanC
+2
Level 27
Jan 2, 2021
If we're including Russia in Europe, then surely Mongolia would be on this list? And Cyprus is a part of Europe, it's in the European Union.
StabakMallick
+1
Level 21
May 7, 2021
Russia is in Europe and Asia
pulcase
+1
Level 28
Sep 13, 2021
20/20 easy
driehoek25
+1
Level 67
Mar 19, 2022
The most western part of Kazakstan is part of Europe. This is why UEFA and all lot of other sport governing bodies allow them into their competitions.
riverdale
+1
Level 43
Mar 19, 2022
Future world wars will be waged over the debate whether Cyprus is in Europe or in Asia
Mari0oo
+1
Level 46
Mar 19, 2022
define europe
Dimby
+2
Level 79
Mar 19, 2022
This comment section is painful. No, the Asian part of Russia is not Europe. No, the African part of Spain is not Europe. No, the North American French island is not part of Europe. No, the South American French Guiana is not Europe. To be part of the continental landmass of Europe, you have to, surprisingly, be on the bloody continental landmass of Europe!!!!
EconomicSnake
+1
Level 70
Apr 14, 2023
To be fair, the divide between Asia and Europe in Russia is mostly arbitrary, so I don't blame people for being confused by that.
Woozie121
+1
Level 53
Mar 20, 2022
Georgia, Cyprus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkey are transcontinental. They are on both Asia and Europe
Otterpotter63
+1
Level 57
Mar 31, 2023
Morocco borders Europe it touches Gibraltar UK territory
Jerry928
+1
Level 76
Apr 1, 2023
Morocco and Gibraltar are separated by the Strait of Gibraltar.
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 70
Jun 5, 2023
2:53, Uzbekistan took me a while
MCdoesgeography
+1
Level 69
Sep 6, 2023
Turkmenistan being closer than Cyprus surprised me.
PoetsCorner
+1
Level 86
Sep 6, 2023
Now that Denmark and Canada have been officially declared as touching, perhaps an update?
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Sep 6, 2023
By this logic, Brazil would also border Europe.
bloodyblanket
+1
Level 26
Sep 6, 2023
how did i get uzbekistan, but forgot saudi arabia until the very end lol
CatG712
+1
Level 24
Jan 29, 2024
Got them all in 1:49! Holy crap.
DenizYaman
+1
Level 51
Feb 2, 2024
Turkey has territory in Europe
Davinho215
+1
Level 37
Jun 8, 2024
Should Mauritania count? It’s close to Canarias (Spain)
Jerry928
+1
Level 76
Jun 9, 2024
If you look at a map you'll see that the Canary Islands are geographically in Africa. The maps of Europe and Africa on Wikipedia also show this. One could argue that continents should be grouped by cultural factors, rather than physical ones, so you can probably argue this one either way.
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