a zoogeographic region considered by many zoogeographers to be, like the Nearctic region, only a part of the Holarctic region. The Palaearctic region covers all of Europe, the nontropical part of Asia (and adjacent islands), and northern Africa. The region is divided into five subregions: arctic, circumboreal, Mediterranean, central Asiatic, and Chinese-Himalayan. The first two subregions are also included in the Nearctic region.