While we discussed Istanbul spanning two continents, no *single contiguous* country spans three. However, if you include overseas territories, the answer is often Portugal or France. Portugal includes the Azores (Europe), its mainland (Europe), and Madeira (which sits on the African plate). However, the most technical answer for a 'transcontinental' country that spans the most is often Greece (due to its proximity to Asia) or Egypt (spanning Africa and Asia via the Sinai). The trickiest answer is the United Kingdom, which has territories on every continent except perhaps Asia. However, for a single sovereign entity, France is the only one with integral parts (departments) on three or more continents (Europe, South America, Africa).