The question of where the border of Asia and Europe passes is of interest to scientists for more than a century. The reason for this is not only the constant updating of information about the flora, fauna and geological structure of our continent, 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, up to the active development of the eastern lands, the Urals was considered the main border between Russia and the Siberian Khanate. Even then, local residents and colonialists noted a significant difference in the plant and animal world, which was observed on different slopes of this mountain range.
The border of Europe and Asia on the map of the middle of the 18th century, drawn up in France, already separates these two parts of the world, although the watershed itself between them is quite arbitrary and is not so much geographical as political and cultural. Indeed, the first scientific treatise on this subject 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 of Asia and Europe passes.
Almost simultaneously with the work of the Swede in Russia, the research of V.N. Tatishchev, who, for a long time engaged in the creation of mining plants, showed great interest in the geographical description of the Ural region. According to him, he managed to prove to Stralenberg that it was in the Ural Mountains that the watershed between Europe and Asia is located. From this moment on, this situation has practically turned into an axiom.
The border between Europe and Asia on the map is a very interesting 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 west of this line flow into the Volga, and to the east - into the Ob.
Then the border of Asia and Europe passes between the Perm and Sverdlovsk regions, penetrating into the latter after the Asian station. Subsequently, the watershed reaches Mount Berezova, turning after that to Yekaterinburg. On this way, two commemorative signs are currently installed - on the old and new Moscow tracts, which symbolize this watershed, but none of them are located exactly on the border.
So, the old pillar is located somewhat south. The thing is that the convicts who were driven to work in Siberia were here saying goodbye to Russia and trying to take a pinch of their native land with them. The future Emperor Alexander II considered it the same watershed and visited it in 1737. The new sign, established in 2004 by the Capital of the Urals, 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.