How did Africa and Asia get their names? Europe, for example, is said to be named after Europa, a wo

How did Africa and Asia get their names? Europe, for example, is said to be named after Europa, a woman.

Omo Imasuen, Benin City, Nigeria

• Asia and Europe lie east and west of ancient Mesopotamia, respectively. The land to the east was accordingly called Asa (sunrise), the land to the west Erebu (sunset) in the Akkadian language of Mesopotamia. These names are thought to have gained widespread currency when spread by the Phoenician seafarers of Canaan, adjoining Mesopotamia.

  John Bennett, Glasgow, Scotland

• If I remember correctly the name Africa comes from the name of a people who used to inhabit a region of what is now known as Tunisia. The term came to be used by the Romans for the region and presumably ended up referring to an entire continent because they didnt realise how large it was. According to Wikipedia, "The word Asia entered English, via Latin, from Ancient Greek, where it refers to Asia Minor; or, for the purposes of describing the Persian Wars, to the Persian Empire, in contrast to Greece and Egypt. Herodotus comments that he is puzzled as to why three different women's names are used to describe a single land mass (Europa, Asia and Libya, referring to Africa), stating that most Greeks assumed that Asia was named after the wife of Prometheus but that the Lydians say it was named after Asias, son of Cotys who passed the name on to a tribe in Sardis"

  Adam Harrison, Woking, UK