The question of where the border between Asia and Europe runs has been of interest to scientists for more than one century. The reason for this is not only the constant updating of information about the flora, fauna and geological structure of our mainland, but also a certain political and socio-economic aspect.
The Ural Mountains, as well as the works of scientists of the 17th-18th centuries, play a key role in the concept of "the border of Asia and Europe". As you know, until the active development of the eastern lands, the Urals was considered the main border between Russia and the Siberian Khanate. Even then, both local residents and colonialists noted a significant difference in the flora and fauna, which was observed on different slopes of this mountain range.
The border of Europe and Asia on the map of the mid-18th century, compiled in France, already separates these two parts of the world, although the watershed between them is rather arbitrary and is not so much geographical as political and cultural in nature. Really,The first scientific treatise on this issue can be considered the work of the Swedish researcher Philip Stralenberg, published in 1730. In this treatise, more than twenty pages were devoted to the fact that it is the Ural Mountains that are the place where the border between Asia and Europe passes.
Almost simultaneously with the work of the Swede in Russia, a study by V. N. Tatishchev, who, having been engaged in the creation of mining plants for a long time, showed great interest in the geographical description of the Ural region. According to him, he managed to prove to Stralenberg that it is in the region of the Ural Mountains that the watershed between Europe and Asia is located. Since then, this provision has practically become an axiom.
The border between Europe and Asia on the map is a very curious curve. So, in its northern part, this watershed is completely superimposed on the border of the Komi Republic, the Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansiysk districts. This is evidenced by the fact that all rivers to the west of this line flow into the Volga, and to the east into the Ob.
Then, the border between Asia and Europe runs between the Perm and Sverdlovsk regions, penetrating into the latter after the Asiatskaya railway station. Subsequently, the watershed reaches Mount Berezovaya, after which it turns towards Yekaterinburg. Two memorial signs are currently installed along this path - on the old and new Moscow highways, which symbolize this watershed, but none of them is located exactly on the border.
So, the old polelocated somewhat to the south. The thing is that the convicts who were driven to work in Siberia, it was here that they said goodbye to Russia and sought to take a pinch of their native land with them. The same place was considered a watershed by the future Emperor Alexander II, who visited it in 1737. The new sign, installed in 2004 by the Capital of the Urals company, also does not coincide with the geographical border. But here the reason is more prosaic: this place is more convenient in terms of attracting tourists and developing all the necessary infrastructure here.
