Geographical Peculiarities of the Eurasian Region and their Geopolitical Significance
Assoc. Prof. Deniz Ekinci
Istanbul University, Geography Department,
ekincide@istanbul.edu.tr
Abstract
Location and physical geographic features of Eurasia’s is indicated in this study.
Geographers often define Eurasia is the landmass made of the continents of Europe and Asia.
Eurasia has a diverse internal geography divided by topographical features including
mountains, rivers, and forests. The combination of proximity and fragmentation defined
Eurasia’s development.
Geopolitics provides helpful insights on Eurasian’s history and its current politics.
Topography, climate, hydrographic, vegetation, energy and minarel resources all affect
relationships among states, and doing the map can help clarify the motives of statesmen and
governments. In broader terms, physical geographic factors also shape social and cultural
developments, which have political consequences of their own. Geopolitics rightly understood
serves as a useful corrective to the view promoted by globalization advocates, who say that
technology has surmounted the constraints imposed by geography, whether understood in
physical or political terms. The challenge of applying geopolitics, however, lies in finding the
correct perspective.
Physical geographical features define Eurasia’s geopolitics as much as specific events and
historical periods. History presents key developments in a context that balances change with
continuity, along with cultural and technological factors that shaped perceptions of geography
and its political impact. Great strides in physical geographical features are bringing the
peoples of Eurasia and world closer together.
Evolution of the Eurasian geopolitical system follows organism developmental principles.
The system is complex. It is characterized by a flexibly hierarchical, specialized and
integrated geographical and spatial structure. Global imbalance is a function of changes
among geo-strategic realms and their location and geopolitical regions. The system becomes
more integrated as these parts become more specialized.
World foreign policy needs to adapt to current geopolitical realities. The global system
is increasingly becoming a seamless web whose salient characteristic is dynamic equilibrium,
not rigidly imposed order. It can, however, further its development through a carefully
constructed series of policy moves that will strengthen global interdependence through
geographical partnerships of interest.
1
Geographical Peculiarities of the Eurasian Region
Eurasia is consisting of two traditional main lands. One of them is Asia, the other is
Europe. Between Europe and Asia borders are distinguished as a geologically arbitrary.
However a continent can be larger landmass and surrounding ocean and water. So modern
geographers consider it is a single part as a continent called Eurasia. Hence Eurasia is the
largest continent of the world. Eurasia is located commonly in the eastern and northern
hemispheres and it is placed north of Africa and Australia (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Location of Eurasia
Eurasia formed 325 to 375 million years ago as a supercontinent and it is covering
nearly 52,990,000 km2 that this area is 36.2% of the land region of the Earth. Other say it is
about 10.6% of the Earth’s surface. On the north of Eurasia lies the Arctic Ocean, on the west
it is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east and south it is surrounded by the Pacific and
the Indian Ocean respectively.
Furthermore the term “Eurasia” was sometimes used instead of Caucasus and Central
Asia countries. However nowadays it means both Europe and Asia countries. It is state that
the Eurasian continent consists of two parts of the world—Europe and Asia; for obvious
reasons its geographic dimension can be used in geopolitical contexts as well.
Eurasia has superior natural conditions, as it is evident in its topography, climate,
geology, and vegetation. Eurasia has got diverse physical features (Figure 2). Eurasian's
landform is varied, encompassing mountains, plateaus, basins, plains and hilly areas. Each
type of landform presents a particular natural landscape. Eurasia is a mountainous and
plateaus continent: mountains, plateaus and hilly areas make up about 60% of its total land
area. Many tall and long mountain ranges constitute the framework of the continent's
landform. They crisscross one another to form geographical "networks" which, encompassing
plateaus, plains and basins of different shapes and sizes, present different landforms.
2
Figure 2. Relief Map of Eurasia
It has more land under plains and any other geographic feature. These plains can be
broadly divided into the river valleys and the coastal plains. It has some of the greatest river
valleys that have been the cradle of civilizations. The major ones are the Yangtze, Huang Ho,
Mekong, Irrawaddy, Gang, Brahmaputra, Indus, Danube, Kızılırmak, Tigris and Euphrates,
Ob, Yenisey, Lena, etc. to name a few. Taking advantage of its topography and Rivers,
Eurasia has built numerous hydroelectric stations on the gorges of Rivers, in a "stair- by-stair"
way of development.
Eurasia also has some of the world's greatest deserts. It includes both hot and cold
deserts. Some of these deserts are the Syrian, Garagum, Oyzlkum, Gobi, Thar, etc.
The highest (Mount. Everest) and the lowest point (Dead Sea) on the surface of the
earth lie in Eurasia. Along the ranges with elevations of 0 meter and 8848 meters above sea
level respectively. Mount Qomolangma of the Himalayas along the Chinese-Nepalese border
has a height of 8,848.13 meters above sea level, the tallest peak in the world. That is why the
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is also known as "the roof of the world."
It is also home for the mightiest mountain ranges that radiate from the Pamir knot and
spreads across Eurasia. The ranges are Kunlun, Tian Shan, Hindukush, Elbruz Mountains,
Caucasus, Alps, Balkans, Ararat, Suleiman, Greater Hinggan Mountains, Taihang-WushanXuefeng ranges, and the Highest of them all, the Himalayas.
The highest plateau of the world, the Tibetan Plateau lies in Asia. Other prominent
plateaus are Anatolian Plateau, Arabian Plateau, Deccan Plateau, Iranian Plateau, Inner
Mongolia Plateau, Loess Plateau, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and
middle European Plateaus.
3
It is one of the continents that straddle the greatest number of climatic and vegetation
zones. That is to say, Eurasia has all the earth's climatic zones. From north to south, the
continent covers polar, cold, temperate, dry, tropical zone (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Climatic Zones Map of Eurasia
From north to south, the continent covers tundra, taiga, rain forest, temperate forest,
grassland, chaparral and desert (Figure 4). Each biome consists of many ecosystems whose
communities have adapted to the small differences in climate and the environment inside the
biome.
Figure 4. Vegetation Zones Map of Eurasia
4
Eurasia is inhabited by almost 4 billion people, more than 71% of the world's
population. Eurasia is the most populated continent and the birthplace of many ancient
civilizations (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Population Density of Eurasia (http://www.larouchepub.com).
It has also the most countries in the world. Russia is the largest country in the Eurasia,
comprising roughly 1/6th of the world's land mass (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Countries of Eurasia
5
Geopolitical Significance of Geographical Peculiarities
Eurasian geopolitics represents a complex blending of power and paradox, both stable
and instable, with change occurring against an unresolved tension between the direction of
economic growth and that of strategic development. Nevertheless Eurasia’s vast geography
and its potential are to promote geopolitics significance. It is home to most of the world's
politically assertive states and all the historical pretenders to global power. Accounting for 75
percent of the world's population, 60 percent of its output, and 75 percent of its energy
resources are in here (Brzezinski,1997). So Eurasia is the axial supercontinent and has a very
important geostrategic location. For example;
Eurasia was the host of many modern civilizations, based in Mesopotamia, the Indus
Valley, and ancient Memphis. Guns, germs and steel are credit Eurasia's dominance in world
history. The Silk and Silic Road symbolizes trade and cultural exchange linking Eurasian
cultures through history and has been an increasingly popular topic. Over recent decades the
idea of a greater Eurasian history has developed with the aim of investigating the genetic,
cultural and linguistic relationships between European and Asian cultures of antiquity.
Eurasia is home to most of the world's politically assertive and dynamic states. All the
historical pretenders to global power originated in Eurasia. The world's most populous
aspirants to regional hegemony, China and India, are in Eurasia. After the United States, the
next six largest economies and military spenders are there, as are all but one of the world's
overt nuclear powers, and all but one of the covert ones.
A power that dominated Eurasia would exercise decisive influence over two of the
world's three most economically productive regions, Western Europe and East Asia
(www.foreignaffairs.com).
Eurasia is a continent very much endowed with rich natural resources, such as coal,
iron, oil, natural gas, gold, minerals. All of that helped to make both the countries of region
and whole world an industrial power.
With bountiful and diverse minerals, Eurasia, the world's largest continent in land area
had a significant percentage of the world's mineral resources and produced 45 % of the
world's total mineral extraction. Mining was the continent's leading industry, and Eurasia was
the largest producer of coal, palladium, nickel, aluminum, platinum, potash, gold, copper,
bauxite, cobalt, diamond, lead, mica, natural gas, oil, tin, zinc, and many other metals,
industrial minerals, and mineral fuels. Petroleum, petroleum products, and natural gas, metals
and chemicals were Eurasia's leading export commodities in nowadays.
Russia Federation, The Middle East and the Caspian Basin, which have the most
important oil reserves and particularly Russia Federation has huge natural gas in the world.
Seventy percent of the world natural energy sources are in Eurasia. Eurasia’s vast energy
resources could be the world’s answer to overdependence on unreliable Russian or Middle
Eastern sources.
Eurasia has a distribution and export pipeline network. These networks include a
number of pipelines that transport oil to export terminals (Figure 7). Such as Druzhba, Baltic
6
Pipeline System, North-Western Pipeline System, Baku-Tiflis-Ceyhan, Tengiz-Novorossiisk,
Baku-Novorossiisk, and Blue Stream (Figure 8).
Figure 7. Natural Gas Map a Part of the Eurasia (IEA, 2005).
Figure 8. Blue Stream Image (www.offshore-technology.com)
As seen Eurasia has become ground zero in global energy markets as demand has
accelerated to fuel urbanization and transportation, power, petrochemical, and industrial
growth. The shift in the locus of global energy demand from mature industrial countries to
7
developing Eurasia is transforming the landscape of global energy markets and geopolitics.
The trends are stunning. For example, the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that in
the two decades leading up to 2030, China and India combined are likely to account for more
than 50% of total world energy demand growth, 60% of world oil demand growth, 20% of
natural gas demand growth, and 85% of world coal demand growth (Herberg, 2010).
Eurasia’s boom in oil and natural gas demand has increasingly provoked a scramble
among regional powers to secure access to and control over future oil and gas supplies, as
well as intense competition over control of oil and gas transportation links and transit
infrastructure. More transit pipelines will be needed in the future. Oil and gas reserves close to
market are being depleted. Because of economies of scale, road or rail transport of oil and gas
is extremely expensive. This leaves pipelines as the only viable alternative for transporting
significant volumes. There is growing demand for natural gas in the world’s primary energy
mix. Many gas markets have been constrained in the past by regulatory and institutional
factors (Stevens, 2010). Roughly a decade has passed since countries of this region
particularly Russia’s pipeline politics in Eurasia started to receive global attention (Itoh,
2010).
Result
Eurasia has a special place within the world. There are a lot of ways to think about the
Eurasian continent in geopolitical terms. The first one focuses on its European and Asian
geographic dimensions in its geopolitical vision of the continent. The Eurasian continent
consists of two parts of the world—Europe and Asia; for obvious reasons its geographic
dimension can be used in geopolitical contexts as well.
Eurasia, the globe’s largest continent, is geopolitically important. According to
Brzezinski; “For half a millennium, world affairs were dominated by Eurasian powers and
peoples who fought with one another for regional domination and reached out for global
power. A power that dominates Eurasia would control two of the world’s three most advanced
and economically productive regions. About 75 % of the world’s people live in Eurasia and
most of the world’s physical wealth is there as well, both in its enterprises and underneath its
soil. Eurasia accounts for about 60 % of the world’s GNP and about three fourth of the
world’s known energy resources. All but one of the world’s overt nuclear powers and all but
one of the covert ones are located in Eurasia”.
Almost every mineral used in industry is found in Eurasian Republics. The region’s oil
and gas reserves could be a major contribution to socio-economic development and transition
of Eurasia. The Eurasia states have one of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves, which
make them very significant to global markets. Energy is one of the most important strategic
subjects for countries. A lot of countries are mainly depending on imported energy sources.
Eurasia’s geostrategic and geo-economics significance is bound to increase
substantially in the coming decades. All actors involved would rather benefit from converting
Eurasia from a zone for geopolitical competition and confrontation to a zone of cooperation.
8
Eurasia is poised to become the new strategic center of gravity in international politics. This
transformation is momentous in that for most of the modern era the continent subsisted
mainly as an arena for Western exploitation and dominance.
Over the last decade, since national independence, a number of efforts have been made
to simultaneously strengthen the national independence of the Eurasian states while
facilitating greater trans-border cooperation. Regional cooperation and integration is the best
way to solve the problems of economic development they face.
References
Brzezınskı, Z., (1997), The Grand Chessboard, Basic Books, New York.
Brzezinski, Z., (2007), The Geostrategic Triad: Living with China, Europe, and Russia,
Washington, D.C.: The CSIS Press.
Clover, C., (1999), “Dreams of the Eurasian Heartland: The Reemergence of Geopolitics,”
Foreign Affairs, 78, 2:9-13.
Cohen, S. B., (2005), The Eurasian Convergence Zone: Gateway or Shatterbelt?, In Eurasian
Geography and Economics, 46, 1:1-22.
Cohen, S.B., (2003), Geopolitics of the World System, Rowman and Littlefield, Lanham.
Çetin, T , Oğuz, B., (2007), The Reform İn The Turkish Natural Gas Market: A Critical
Evaluation, Energy Policy 35, 3856–3867.
Edgar Hoffmann, E., (2010), Eurasia between Cultural Studies and Marketing, Journal of
Eurasian Studies 1, 119–126.
Gleason, A., (2010), Eurasia: What is it? Is it?, Journal of Eurasian Studies 1, 26–32.
Greg, H., (2008), Dispersal of Gondwanaland, University of Leeds.
Herberg, E.M., ( 2010), Pipeline Politics in Asia: Energy Nationalism and Energy Markets,
Pipeline Politics in Asia The Intersection of Demand, Energy Markets, and Supply
Routes, nbr special report 23.
Herberg, E.M., ( 2010), Pipeline Politics in Asia: Implications for the United States, Pipeline
Politics in Asia The Intersection of Demand, Energy Markets, and Supply Routes,
nbr special report 23.
IEA, 2005. Energy Policies of IEA Countries, Turkey-2005 Review, IEA/OECD Paris, 2005.
IEA, 2005. Natural Gas Information 2005, IEA/OECD Paris, 2005.
Itoh, S., ( 2010), The Geopolitics of Northeast Asia’s Pipeline Development, Pipeline Politics
in Asia The Intersection of Demand, Energy Markets, and Supply Routes, nbr special
report 23.
Kerr, D., (1995), “The New Eurasianism,” Europe-Asia Studies, 47, 6:977-988.
9
Parker, G. (1985). Western Geopolitical Thought in the Twentieth Century. New York: St.
Martin’s Press.
Stevens, P., ( 2010), Oil and Gas Pipelines: Prospects and Problems, Pipeline Politics in Asia
The Intersection of Demand, Energy Markets, and Supply Routes, nbr special report
23.
Vladimer Papava, V., (2010), Eurasıa Versus Central Caucaso-Asıa: On The Geopolıtıcs of
Central Caucaso – Asıa, Cıcero Foundatıon Great Debate Paper No.
09/8,www.cicerofoundation.org.
Vlad, L.B., Josan, A., Vlasceanu, A., (2010), Actıve Geo-Strategıc Players, Geopolıtıcal
Pıvots And The Changıng Balance Of Power In Eurasıa, Revista Româna de
Geografie Politica Year XII, 1, 116-125.
http://www.avizora.com/atajo/colaboradores
http://www.ca-c.org/journal
http://www.cacianalyst.org
http://www.comw.org/pda/fulltext/9709brzezinski.html
http://www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasia
http://europeangeostrategy.ideasoneurope.eu/tag/eurasia
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/53392/zbigniew
http://hir.harvard.edu
http://www.larouchepub.com.
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/Russia
http://www.offshore-technology.com
http://tsarlazar.wordpress.com
http://www.worldsecuritynetwork.com/articleImages
10