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Countries Closest to Africa

Name the countries that lie closest to the continent of Africa, but that aren't considered to be part of Africa.
Using the Suez Canal as the border between Africa and Asia
Numbers in red indicate an external territory
Quiz by TenThousand
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Last updated: March 20, 2022
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First submittedSeptember 6, 2014
Times taken114,995
Average score85.0%
Rating4.96
3:00
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km
country
miles
0
Spain
0
20
Yemen
13
21
UK (Gibraltar)
13
71
Italy
44
101
Saudi Arabia
63
183
Israel
114
202
Portugal
126
212
Jordan
132
258
Greece
160
288
Malta
179
km
country
miles
332
Lebanon
207
352
Cyprus
219
365
Syria
227
450
France
280
507
Turkey
315
549
Vatican City
341
570
Oman
354
637
Andorra
396
645
Iraq
401
735
Monaco
457
+4
Level 50
Sep 21, 2016
19/20... I missed Gibraltar. The whole territory thing screwed me up; I was guessing things like Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Crete, Northern Cyprus (hey, I was desperate), etc. trying to figure out what it could be, only to miss what should have been totally obvious. Oh well...
+1
Level 45
Jul 6, 2020
at one time it was possible to walk from gibraltar to mainland morocco with the strait of gibraltar but the pathway has been eroded away now
+10
Level 71
Sep 21, 2016
Shouldn't Palestine be on the list?
+15
Level 76
Sep 21, 2016
The original version included it. The editorial policy at Jetpunk is that, when a quiz is featured, that countries that don't appear in the Countries of the World quiz also do not generally appear in other country quizzes. This is to achieve consistency across featured quizzes.
+11
Level 71
Sep 21, 2016
Fair enough if that is the policy. However 70.5 %(136) of member states on the UN have recognised Palestine as a independent state so in my opinion they should be featured as such in all quizzes.
+4
Level 53
Sep 22, 2016
It is not a question of PR (being recognised by a list of countries) but of control over the territory. Kosovo achieves many more characteristics of a sovereign country than Palestine does. Hence, Kosovo is included in the Countries of the World quiz and Palestine or Tibet are not.
+6
Level 76
Sep 22, 2016
A country's existence should be determined by (1) a country declaring itself to be one (as Palestine did back in 1988) followed by (2) a sufficient number of countries (in this case, 136 nations) agreeing that it does indeed exist. This isn't a matter of "PR", but of the reality of those two things. (If "control of borders" was a factor, then not only would Georgia and Cyprus no longer be countries, but any nation under occupation would cease to be a country!). The main difference between Palestine and Tibet is that China claims Tibet to be Chinese territory, but Israel does not claim Gaza or the West Bank to be Israeli territory.
+4
Level 82
Sep 28, 2016
Georgia and Cyprus are independent countries with independent sovereign or semi-sovereign regions within them. Even if you took away those regions, they would still be countries, just smaller countries. "Palestine" is not anywhere near analogous to Cyprus or Georgia. It's not even clear what "Palestine" is. Most countries that recognize Palestine as a country recognize the PNA as the government of that country, but this is in dispute (primarily because Hamas, the elected government of Gaza, is not part of the PNA). The PNA claims Jerusalem as their capital, but they have no presence there. They have nominal control over a smattering of cities and settlements around the West Bank, but the IDF controls 100% what goes in and out of there and they control a large portion of the territory, as well, entirely encircling cities under PNA control. Israel DOES claim the West Bank. It has annexed large portions into Israel proper and the rest is under Israeli administration.
+4
Level 82
Sep 28, 2016
Gaza is free and self-determined, though under blockade from Israel and Egypt so they don't control their own borders even if there is no Israeli occupation within the borders of Gaza. Gaza has it's own government (Hamas) which is not the PNA and is not Fatah. But nobody thinks of "Palestine" as solely Gaza.

The existence of a Palestinian state is pure fantasy. I've lived there. It does not exist. I've also been to Cyprus, Northern Cyprus, Georgia, and Adjara incidentally.

+7
Level 82
Sep 28, 2016
And finally the 136 countries that recognize Palestine do so because they are more concerned with playing politics than observing reality. Many of these countries are Muslim countries and they recognize Palestine for purely and obviously partisan reasons- they hate Jews and will support Muslims in their efforts to destroy a Jewish state. Many of these countries are in Africa, South America, or SE Asia, are still resentful of European colonialism, and have been duped by the false narrative that Israel is a European colony and not a nation-state of people with ties to the land same as any other. Many of these countries are from within the sphere of influence of the former Soviet Union and are still stuck in the Cold War where the US backed Israel and Russia backed Israel's enemies. A handful are despotic rogue nations who hate the USA and have confusedly conflated the United States with Israel. And a smattering are liberal countries that see Arabs as oppressed minorities.
+1
Level 70
Jul 3, 2018
@Jerry928 I don't really agree with your argument about Palestine. The main problem is that existence of one country tries in other "countries". How do you know these are countries? If 500 people around the world each declared their houses independent countries and all recognised each others' as countries, then by your argument all of them would be sovereign countries, at least to the extent that any UN member states is. If countries are wholly occupied they are no longer sovereign states, which is what is usually meant by a country, but not all of Georgia or Cyprus are occupied. Nobody really controls the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, so the area is not any country's sovereign territory.
+3
Level 76
Nov 25, 2018
We gotta correct a massive blooper by Mr Kal above: Israel does not claim any of Palestine, in either the West Bank or Gaza, apart from East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. No-one other than the Palestinians claim Palestine, which makes the term "Palestinian Territories" plain wrong, because to be a territory, there has to be a country that has ultimate control over it.
+4
Level 82
Aug 25, 2019
I didn't say anything that was incorrect, Jerry. As I pointed out above, what exactly one means by "Palestine" is confusing and contentious. If you identify the "West Bank" as all the territory east of the 1949 armistice line previously annexed by Jordan, as most do, then absolutely there are portions of the West Bank claimed by Israel. 12% of this territory is on the Israeli side of the wall that Israel has built. The other 78%, though not claimed by the Israeli government officially as part of the state of Israel proper, has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967. Territory in the colloquial sense just means land. There is land in the area known as the West Bank. Some of it disputed, some claimed only by the PNA, but all of it under Israeli control and the state has repeatedly defended its presence and control there using various definitions and rationale.
+3
Level 76
Aug 25, 2019
Please see my comments above. Your comment just above admits you are wrong as well. Pretending that a country most other countries agree does exist - including, most importantly. themselves! - does not exist, is just being in lala land.
+4
Level 82
Oct 15, 2019
No it's not. If I said that I was the dictator of LaLa Land, a country with vaguely defined territorial range that overlaps other extant countries, in spite of the fact that I did not have sovereign control of any of that territory, and there were other people making similar competing claims of being the governor of LaLa Land, and then I went out and got a majority of the members of the UN to recognize my dictatorship.... that would not make LaLa Land a real country. It would make me a fruitcake, and it would make those UN members out of touch with reality. Where do you see my admission of wrongness? The United Nations could vote unanimously tomorrow to recognize that Justin Bieber is the greatest musician in human history. That wouldn't make it so.
+1
Level 82
Oct 15, 2019
Are you referring to the comment I left Aug 25 that begins "I didn't say anything that was incorrect?"
+4
Level 76
Oct 15, 2019
I saw La La Land yesterday, a brilliant movie, however I digress... If you said you were the leader of your said La La Land then you wouldn't get any, let alone a majority of, other nations in the UN to recognise you. Using bizarre and extreme examples like this isn't a way to make sense to anyone, let alone convince them.
+2
Level 82
Oct 15, 2019
Not if they're inconvincible. I'm sorry that you can't wrap your head around this. It's not really that complicated. A questionably supported declaration of sovereignty and winning a popularity contest at the UN doesn't bring a country into existence, whether that country is China, Palestine, or the Mushroom Kingdom it doesn't matter. It simply doesn't work that way.
+3
Level 76
Oct 15, 2019
Ryan, feel free to question 139 out of 196 countries recognising Palestine all you want, and feel free to question the UN vote by 138-9 to agree to observer status for Palestine all you want, no matter how disconnected from reality that may be. Your obsession with Palestine in the face of these facts, while ignoring the more questionable nation statuses of Taiwan, Kosovo, Marshall Islands, Cyprus, Georgia etc is weird. Still, its fun chatting to you.
+2
Level 82
Oct 16, 2019
My position is neither weird nor inconsistent. You didn't bring up these other nations before, though calling them "more questionable" as nations I think reveals a pretty strong bias against reality on your part. Cyprus, Georgia, Kosovo, and Taiwan all have a single, central, undisputed government. Those governments exert full sovereign control over at least some of the territory that they claim including the parts of the nation identified as their capital cities. They control their own borders and do not have a foreign power occupying the entire extent of their country. They have territorial disputes with neighboring countries, but that's not really the same thing. The don't use the currency of a foreign occupying power and most of their citizens are not nationals of other countries. They each have a functioning military or national guard that maintains control of their borders. Their borders are clearly demarcated, largely contiguous and unambiguous.
+3
Level 82
Oct 16, 2019
None of that can be said for Palestine.

Like "Palestine," they each have been recognized by multiple members of the United Nations and carry on foreign diplomatic relations with multiple other countries. They issue their own passports. They hold their own elections. They have their own flag.

JetPunk takes a holistic view when it comes to country recognition. UN recognition and foreign diplomatic relations is *part* of the equation. But it's not the whole equation. If other UN member states recognize a country, this is a clue that the country being recognized might exist. It's evidence for that. But it's not the whole story. Because there are other reasons that UN members might choose to recognize or not recognize another country. Mostly politics, economics, and popularity. It doesn't always have to do with reality. So... Taiwan is less recognized in the UN because the members don't want to piss off China. But to say that makes Taiwan less of a real country is nuts.

+4
Level 76
Oct 16, 2019
I think everyone's fallen asleep Ryan. Happy to continue this conversation off-site. Cheers Jeremy, jhall@legalsearch.nz
+1
Level 53
May 9, 2020
so much text o.o
+2
Level 72
Jul 9, 2021
What I got from that long exchange: Kal's real name is Ryan? That somehow makes him more human to me. ;)
+1
Level 76
Jul 9, 2021
For exactly that reason,I wish everyone on Jetpunk would use their real names. Cheers, Jeremy.
+1
Level 67
Mar 6, 2022
How do you know all of our names?
+1
Level 82
Apr 7, 2022
Jerry's even got my real e-mail address but I think he only ever used it once.
+1
Level 51
Apr 5, 2020
It should be pointed out that countries that recognise Palestine and undemocratic countries overlap quite a bit. A quick glance at the world map reveals that the U.S., Canada, most of Western Europe, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand don't consider Palestine a country.

Meanwhile, Palestine's claim is affirmed by most of Eastern Europe (generally undemocratic), Russia, China and friends (undemocratic), most of the Middle East (who have good reason to encourage an antisemitic country), most of Africa (generally undemocratic), most of South America (fairly undemocratic), and southeast Asia (generally undemocratic). It's safe to assume that the will of the people doesn't necessarily line up with these nations' UN representatives, no? For starters, compare these images:

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Palestine_recognition_only.svg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Democracy_Index_2019.png/433px-Democracy_Index_2019.png

+1
Level 82
Jul 6, 2020
Though I am on the side of the democratic countries on this issue, I don't think that this is a relevant point. It's more of a coincidence. A holdover from the Cold War since most of the Communist countries in the Soviet sphere have become authoritarian states while those in the American sphere are more democratic. Also most Muslim countries are not very democratic. Cold War geopolitics and religious tribalism play a huge role in recognition of "Palestine." Cold War geopolitics and religious tradition also play a large role in what form of government your country has today. The fact that these two things intersect, though, is a coincidence.
+1
Level 52
Feb 12, 2021
is there a quiz you haven't done? i swear your in every comment section i go in
+3
Level 82
Jul 5, 2021
I've never taken this quiz.
+1
Level 77
Apr 7, 2022
That quiz appears to be by a "different" kal. You used your alternate quiz profile to make THAT quiz, hmmm?
+1
Level 28
Nov 25, 2023
Is palestine recognised as a country by jetpunk ?
+1
Level 76
Nov 28, 2023
The role of recognising countries falls to other countries, not websites.
+1
Level 41
Sep 21, 2016
Asian Egypt borders Africa?
+2
Level 76
Sep 21, 2016
The answer to your question is Yes, It Does, and there's a good argument for it to be here. It's another another editorial question that Quizmaster and I batted around when this was featured! In the end we decided to leave it off as an answer, because Egypt appears as an African country on Jetpunk's major quizzes.
+1
Level 75
Sep 21, 2016
That's interesting. I'd never thought about the fact that part of Egypt is in Asia. We often hear about Turkey being on two continents, but no one ever seems to mention Egypt as "bi-continental".
+1
Level 84
Sep 21, 2016
Probably because there is not much in the Sinai, yet the Turkey split happens right in the middle of a huge city.
+4
Level 76
Nov 25, 2018
Interestingly, the piece of Egypt in Asia is larger than the piece of Turkey in Europe (it's interesting to me anyway, because European Turkey is a lot more famous than Asian Egypt. Probably fair enough, since the former has most of Istanbul, but the latter is mostly just desert).
+2
Level 60
Sep 21, 2016
Israel has a direct border with Egypt. How would it be not be 0 miles away?
+4
Level 74
Sep 22, 2016
Egypt lies partly in Asia.
+1
Level 75
Dec 2, 2020
It's 0km from an African country but it's 183km away from Africa. This quiz has thrown up some very interesting topics for debate! (And at least one very uninteresting one...!)
+1
Level 54
Sep 21, 2016
What part of Spain is zero miles away?
+3
Level 41
Sep 21, 2016
Ceuta, Spanish city in Africa.
+4
Level 53
Sep 22, 2016
And Melilla. Same case.
+1
Level 65
Aug 29, 2023
And Peñon de Vélez de la Gomera. Same case.
+2
Level 33
Sep 25, 2016
Er, what about Madagascar? It's not regarded as being part of Africa geologically (having broken off from India) or geographically and its population are linguistically more linked to east asia and oceana than africa. Yet its only 250 miles away from Africa.
+13
Level 82
Sep 28, 2016
I have personally never seen a map that didn't count Madagascar as part of Africa.
+1
Level 53
Sep 30, 2016
I luckily remembered with ten seconds left that there are islands in the Mediterranean. But I still forgot France.
+1
Level 19
Sep 30, 2016
What about SanMarino?
+1
Level 76
Oct 1, 2016
762 km / 474 mi.
+1
Level 37
Feb 7, 2017
Why are people so intent on being obstructive? Egypt is on the AFRICAN CONTINENT!!!! - punto final/ Whatever political spin

you want to put on it is your problem, but geographically it is an

African Nation!

+6
Level 76
Feb 7, 2017
So, when you are wandering around the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, which continent are you on?
+1
Level 37
Feb 10, 2018
WHO CARES? - The Peninsula does not the country make! Any map will show you that 99% of Egypt is in Africa. Just as you all consider

Panama to be in North America, though it is tethered to Colombia.

+6
Level 76
Feb 10, 2018
I think you were trying to say "um, er, Asia, so OK, I get it"
+2
Level 82
Oct 16, 2019
In my opinion it makes as much sense to group the Sinai in with Africa as it does with Asia. Maybe more sense. The Suez was not always there. It's not like the cutoff between North and South America is at the Panama Canal.
+1
Level 46
Feb 8, 2017
Egypt should really be on this list seeing as how it is on both sides of the Suez Canal
+2
Level 40
Dec 3, 2017
I was just writing "Vatican" when I ran out of time, so I got 19/20
+1
Level 33
Dec 29, 2017
what about san marino, isnt it closer than andorra and monaco?
+1
Level 76
Dec 29, 2017
762 km / 473 miles.
+1
Level 65
Aug 29, 2023
Go to MyMaps and measure for yourself
+1
Level 37
Jul 6, 2018
Don't understand the significant distances between Monaco and France and Italy and Vatican City from Africa. Monaco is tethered to France and Vatican City is IN Italy, so why are they not closer to Africa than given in this quiz? (This is not a criticism, but an earnest inquiry).
+1
Level 76
Jul 6, 2018
The distances are the shortest distance between Africa and the relevant countries - hopefully that makes sense now!
+1
Level 66
Feb 12, 2020
Simply said, vatican city is not on the most southern point of italy (but somewhere halfway italy. So it is that much further away).

Same reason why the state of washington is closer to canada than texas is. You wouldnt say the are equally close would you? Eventhough they are both in the USA

+1
Level 71
Jul 6, 2018
Good quiz, made me think on that one ......... still missed Iraq ;o)
+1
Level 58
Jul 6, 2018
Reunion Island is between Mauritius and Madagascar and is part of france so shouldn't france count?
+1
Level 79
Jul 5, 2021
France is already on the list.
+2
Level 26
Jul 7, 2018
i think uk shouldnt really count, as it isn't really that close, just gibraltar is. also, isnt israel 0 km from africa since it borders egypt
+1
Level 50
Nov 2, 2018
Parts of egyot extend into asia
+1
Level 55
Nov 25, 2018
I'm not seeing red numbers
+1
Level 76
Nov 25, 2018
Oops, we're getting that fixed now.
+1
Level 55
Mar 17, 2019
And Reunion and Mayotte for France?
+1
Level 55
May 25, 2020
Yeah, I think.
+3
Level 61
Jan 18, 2020
i thought i had typed france lol
+2
Level 53
Apr 11, 2020
The exact same thing happened to me
+2
Level 62
May 14, 2020
I forgot Italy but remembered Andorra. (face slap)
+2
Level 66
Jun 8, 2020
Got all with 1:16 left
+2
Level 36
Jul 6, 2020
Wtf how did I miss france
+1
Level 65
Jul 20, 2020
Big Robbster nailed it. 20/20. Great quiz y'all.
+2
Level 24
Feb 4, 2021
You should put this on a map quiz it was fun

WolfyIQ

+1
Level 67
Jun 15, 2021
Missed Syria
+3
Level 67
Jul 5, 2021
Mayotte makes France much closer than the 450km the quiz currently indicates. I made a quick check and it should be around 60km. And Mayotte is a region, not an external territory. I know it's far from the actual borders of Africa, but since the quiz considers Ceuta/Melilla to calculate the distances...
+1
Level 73
Sep 10, 2021
The Italian island of Pantelleria is at about 70 Km. from Tunisia
+1
Level 76
Sep 11, 2021
It is, though it's a fraught question whether Pantelleria is geographically more African than European. Politically I can see why the island could be "allocated" to Europe rather than Africa, but, honestly, it's all a bit arbitrary.
+1
Level 65
Aug 29, 2023
I've never heard of Italy being transcontinental a single time in my entire life.
+1
Level 59
Dec 23, 2021
I bet like 7% of quiz takers put the UK because of Gibraltar in southern Spain. Cueta in Morocco belongs to Spain making Spain border Africa.
+1
Level 43
May 30, 2022
Got it with 2 secs left first try :)
+2
Level 43
Dec 28, 2022
I'm probably missing something, but what about the Maldives?
+1
Level 73
Apr 19, 2023
Quick Google measurement puts it about 1600 miles away from the African mainland, which puts it further away than countries like Afghanistan and Norway
+1
Level 24
Mar 28, 2023
missed monaco
+1
Level 46
Apr 19, 2023
I would've thought France's island of Corsica makes it closer to Africa than Monaco...
+1
Level 59
Apr 19, 2023
In Portuguese

https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/1744710/paises-mais-proximos-da-africa

In Dutch

https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/1744710/paises-mais-proximos-da-africa

+1
Level 48
Apr 19, 2023
Dang, I thought the overseas territory was the Canary Islands. Why is it not included?
+1
Level 54
Jul 5, 2023
Spain is already on the list
+1
Level 20
Apr 19, 2023
So basically Vatican City is apart of italy so I'm proud you added that but where's liechtenstien, San Marino and Singapore
+1
Level 61
Dec 18, 2023
singapore isnt near africa lol
+2
Level 33
Apr 20, 2023
i think albania should be on here. Its only 470 miles from africa. I measured it on google maps.
+1
Level 67
Apr 20, 2023
1:11
+1
Level 49
Aug 14, 2023
I forgot Lebanon:(
+1
Level 38
Mar 13, 2024
I forgot Iraq and I legit thought I already had it.