Geography of Asia though the Middle East is a division of Asia. The demarcation between Asia and Africa is the isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea. The border with Europe starts with the coast of the eastern Mediterranean, even though Turkey in the Near East extends partly into the Aegean Islands and includes Istanbul on the European side of the Bosphorus. On the north the boundary between the continents of Asia and Europe is commonly regarded as running through the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the Ural River to its source,
Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe in a Global Context" interactions between and within Asia and Europe. During the first funding period from 2008 to 2012, the Cluster's focus was on "Shifting Asymmetries in Cultural Flows". During the second funding period until October 2017, the Cluster is focused on "The Dynamics of Transculturality". The Cluster is located at the Karl Jaspers Center for Advanced Transcultural Studies (KJC) at Heidelberg University, Germany. The KJC provides facilities and infrastructure for collaboration, research and teaching. A branch office of the Cluster is located at the “Heidelberg Center South Asia” in New Delhi, India. The Cluster is headed by three directors, who are Joseph