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Subcontinent |
A subcontinent is a large, relatively self-contained landmass forming a subdivision of a continent.
The phrase the Subcontinent, used on its own in English, commonly means the Indian subcontinent, i.e. South Asia. The term Indian subcontinent includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. The region is largely a peninsula of Eurasia and Asia south of the Himalayas and constitutes a geoculturally distinct region within Asia. The region however contains desert, plateau, rainforest, mountains, and a myriad of languages, races, and religions.
The Middle East is a subcontinent in southwestern Eurasia and Asia and a geocultural region within Asia. The Middle East is geographically contained from Europe, Asia and Africa, clockwise, by the Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the Iranian plateau, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the Sinai Peninsula, the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the Black Sea, and lies largely on the Arabian tectonic plate. The common definition of the term also includes Egypt, which lies mainly in northeastern Africa.
Europe is a large peninsula of western Eurasia1 and fits the profile of subcontinent, but is afforded the political status of a continent. The European peninsula is relatively contained from the rest of Asia by the Ural Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, and the Black Sea.
The term subcontinent can also refer to Greenland, being a large island landmass that is smaller than the recognized continents.2
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