ASIA CONTINENT

Asia is the largest continent in the world in both, area and population, constituting nearly one-third of the landmass, lying entirely north of the equator except for some Southeast Asian islands. Asia contains around 30% of the world’s land area and 60% of the world’s population.

The concept of Asia may actually have more to do with human geography than physical geography. Asia varies greatly across and within its regions with regard to ethnic groups, cultures, environments, economics, historical ties and government systems.

The boundaries of Asia are culturally determined, as there is no clear geographical separation between it and Europe, which together form one continuous landmass called Eurasia. The most commonly accepted boundaries place Asia to the east of the Suez Canal, the Ural River, and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Seas. It is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean and on the north by the Arctic Ocean.

East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, linked by the interior mass of the Central Asian steppes.

The central steppe region had long been inhabited by horse-mounted nomads who could reach all areas of Asia from the steppes. The earliest postulated expansion out of the steppe is that of the Indo-Europeans, who spread their languages into the Middle East, South Asia, and the borders of China, where the Tocharian’s resided. The northernmost part of Asia, including much of Siberia, was largely inaccessible to the steppe nomads, owing to the dense forests, climate and tundra. These areas remained very sparsely populated.

Asia has the second largest nominal GDP of all continents, after Europe. The largest economies in Asia are China, Japan, India, South Korea and Indonesia. Speaking of currency, there are different kinds of currencies used across Asia.

Asia is rich in diverse races, cultures, and languages. Many of the world’s major religions came out of Asia including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

The highest point on earth, Mt. Everest, is in Asia. The lowest point on land, the Dead Sea, is also in Asia.

Asia is the only continent that shares borders with two other continents; Africa and Europe. It sometimes joins with a third continent, North America, in the winter by ice forming in the Bering Sea. The Indian Ocean fronts most of Asia’s southern borders, along with a series of bays, gulfs and seas, as well as extensive chains of both inhabited and uninhabited islands.

Asia has a major influence on world culture and the world’s economy. Countries such as Russia, China, Japan and India produce products and services that are used by every nation in the world. Asia is also abundant in natural resources. Oil in the Middle East is a major supplier of much of the world’s energy.