asia

Asia (/ˈeɪʒə/ (listen) AY-zhə, UK also /ˈeɪʃə/ AY-shə) is the largest continent[note 1][3][4] in the world by both land area and population.[4] It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres,[note 2] about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the human population,[5] was the site of many of the first civilisations. Its 4.7 billion people constitute roughly 60% of the world's population.

Asia shares the landmass of Eurasia with Europe, and of Afro-Eurasia with both Europe and Africa. In general terms, 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. The border of Asia with Europe is a historical and cultural construct, as there is no clear physical and geographical separation between them. A commonly accepted division places Asia to the east of the Suez Canal separating it from Africa; and to the east of the Turkish straits, the Ural Mountains and Ural River, and to the south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black seas, separating it from Europe.[6]

Since the concept of Asia derives from the term for the eastern region from a European perspective, Asia is the remaining vast area of Eurasia minus Europe. Therefore, Asia is a region where various independent cultures coexist rather than sharing a single culture, and its boundary with Europe is somewhat arbitrary and has moved since its first conception in classical antiquity. The division of Eurasia into two continents reflects East–West cultural differences, some of which vary on a spectrum.

China and India traded places as the largest economies in the world from 1 to 1800 CE. China was a major economic power for much of recorded history, with the highest GDP per capita until 1500.[7][8][9] The Silk Road became the main east–west trading route in the Asian hinterlands while the Straits of Malacca stood as a major sea route. Asia has exhibited economic dynamism as well as robust population growth during the 20th century, but overall population growth has since fallen.[10] Asia was the birthplace of most of the world's mainstream religions including Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and many other religions.

Asia varies greatly across and within its regions with regard to ethnic groups, cultures, environments, economics, historical ties, and government systems. It also has a mix of many different climates ranging from the equatorial south via the hot deserts in parts of West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, and East Asia and tropical jungles in Southeast Asia, temperate areas in the east and the continental centre to vast subarctic and polar areas in North Asia.

## Contents

* 1 Etymology
* 2 Definition
* 2.1 Asia–Europe boundary
* 2.2 Asia–Africa boundary
* 2.3 Asia–Oceania boundary
* 2.4 Asia–North America boundary
* 2.5 Ongoing definition
* 3 History
* 3.1 Prehistory
* 3.2 Ancient era
* 3.3 Medieval era
* 3.4 Modern era
* 3.5 Contemporary era
* 4 Geography
* 4.1 Main regions
* 4.2 Climate
* 4.2.1 Climate change
* 5 Politics
* 6 List of states and territories
* 7 Economy
* 7.1 Energy
* 7.2 Tourism
* 8 Demographics
* 8.1 Languages
* 8.2 Religions
* 8.2.1 Abrahamic
* 8.2.2 Indian and East Asian religions
* 9 Culture
* 9.1 Nobel laureates
* 10 See also
* 11 Notes
* 12 Sources
* 13 References
* 14 Bibliography
* 15 Further reading
* 16 External links

## Etymology

Ptolemy's Asia

The term "Asia" is believed to originate in the Bronze Age toponym Assuwa (Hittite: 𒀸𒋗𒉿, romanized: aš-šu-wa) which originally referred only to a portion of northwestern Anatolia. The term appears in Hittite records recounting how a confederation of Assuwan states including Troy unsuccessfully rebelled against the Hittite king Tudhaliya I around 1400 BCE.[11][12][13] Roughly contemporary Linear B documents contain the term aswia (Mycenaean Greek: 𐀀𐀯𐀹𐀊, romanized: a-si-wi-ja), seemingly in reference to captives from the same area.[14][15]

The province of Asia within the Roman Empire

Herodotus used the term in reference to Anatolia and the territory of the Achaemenid Empire, in contrast to Greece and Egypt. He reports that Greeks assumed that Asia was named after the wife of Prometheus, but that Lydians say it was named after Asies, son of Cotys, who passed the name on to a tribe at Sardis.[16] In Greek mythology, "Asia" (Ἀσία or Ἀσίη) was the name of a "Nymph or Titan goddess of Lydia".[17] The Iliad (attributed by the ancient Greeks to Homer) mentions two Phrygians in the Trojan War named Asios (literally 'Asian');[18] and also a marsh or lowland containing a marsh in Lydia as ασιος.[19]

The term was later adopted by the Romans, who used it in reference to the province of Asia, located in western Anatolia.[20] One of the first writers to use Asia as a name of the whole continent was Pliny.[21]

## Definition

### Asia–Europe boundary

Definitions used for the boundary between Asia and Europe:
A Ural Mountains - Emba river - Kuma–Manych Depression
B Ural Mountains - Ural river - Kuma–Manych Depression
C Ural Mountains - Ural river - Caucasus Mountains.

The threefold division of the Old World into Africa, Asia, and Europe has been in use since the 6th century BCE, due to Greek geographers such as Anaximander and Hecataeus.[22] Anaximander placed the boundary between Asia and Europe along the Phasis River (now the Rioni) in Georgia of Caucasus (from its mouth by Poti on the Black Sea coast, through the Surami Pass and along the Kura River to the Caspian Sea), a convention still followed by Herodotus in the 5th century BCE.[23] During the Hellenistic period,[24] this convention was revised, and the boundary between Europe and Asia was now considered to be the Tanais (the modern Don River). This is the convention used by Roman era authors such as Posidonius,[25] Strabo[26] and Ptolemy.[27]

The border between Asia and Europe was historically defined by European academics.[28]

In Sweden, five years after Peter's death, in 1730 Philip Johan von Strahlenberg published a new atlas proposing the Ural Mountains as the border of Asia. Tatishchev announced that he had proposed the idea to von Strahlenberg. The latter had suggested the Emba River as the lower boundary. Over the next century various proposals were made until the Ural River prevailed in the mid-19th century. The border had been moved perforce from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea into which the Ural River projects.[29] The border between the Black Sea and the Caspian is often placed along the crest of the Caucasus Mountains, although it is sometimes placed further north,[28] on the Kuma–Manych Depression.

### Asia–Africa boundary

The boundary between Asia and Africa is the Suez Canal, the Gulf of Suez, the Red Sea, and the Bab-el-Mandeb.[30] This makes Egypt a transcontinental country, with the Sinai Peninsula in Asia and the remainder of the country in Africa.

### Asia–Oceania boundary

Definitions of the boundary between Asia and Oceania

The border between Asia and Oceania is usually placed somewhere in the Indonesian Archipelago, specifically in Eastern Indonesia. The Wallace Line separates the Asian and Wallacea biogeographical realms, a transition zone of deep water straits between the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Weber's Line split the region in two with regard to the balance of fauna between Asian origin or Australo-Papuan origin.[31] Wallacea's eastern boundary with Sahul is represented by the Lydekker's Line.[32][33] The Maluku Islands (except the Aru Islands) are often considered to lie on the border of southeast Asia, with the Aru Islands and Western New Guinea, to the east of the Lydekker's Line, being wholly part of Oceania, as both lie on the Australian continental plate.[31] Culturally, the Wallacea region denoted the transition between Austronesian and Melanesian people, with varying degrees of intermixing between the two. In general, the further west and coastal a region is, the stronger the Austronesian influences, and the further east and inland a region is, the stronger the Melanesian influences.[34] The terms Southeast Asia and Oceania, devised in the 19th century, have had several vastly different geographic meanings since their inception. The chief factor in determining which islands of the Indonesian Archipelago are Asian has been the location of the colonial possessions of the various empires there (not all European). Lewis and Wigen assert, "The narrowing of 'Southeast Asia' to its present boundaries was thus a gradual process."[35]

### Asia–North America boundary

See also: Place:Northeast Asia

The United States–Russia border according to the USSR–USA Maritime Boundary Agreement

The Bering Strait and Bering Sea separate the landmasses of Asia and North America, as well as forming the international boundary between Russia and the United States. This national and continental boundary separates the Diomede Islands in the Bering Strait, with Big Diomede in Russia and Little Diomede in the United States. The Aleutian Islands are an island chain extending westward from the Alaskan Peninsula toward Russia's Komandorski Islands and Kamchatka Peninsula. Most of them are always associated with North America, except for the westernmost Near Islands group, which is on Asia's continental shelf beyond the North Aleutians Basin and on rare occasions could be associated with Asia, which could then allow the United States to be considered a transcontinental state. The Aleutian Islands are sometimes associated with Oceania, owing to their status as remote Pacific islands, and their proximity to the Pacific Plate.[36][37][38] This is extremely rare however, due to their non-tropical biogeography, as well as their inhabitants, who have historically been related to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas.[39][40]

St. Lawrence Island in the northern Bering Sea belongs to the US state of Alaska and may be associated with either continent but is almost always considered part of North America, as with the Rat Islands in the Aleutian chain. At their nearest points, Alaska and Russia are separated by only 4 kilometres (2.5 miles).

### Ongoing definition

Afro-Eurasia

Geographical Asia is a cultural artifact of European conceptions of the world, beginning with the Ancient Greeks, being imposed onto other cultures, an imprecise concept causing endemic contention about what it means. Asia does not exactly correspond to the cultural borders of its various types of constituents.[41]

From the time of Herodotus, a minority of geographers have rejected the three-continent system (Europe, Africa, Asia) on the grounds that there is no substantial physical separation between them.[42] For example, Sir Barry Cunliffe, the emeritus professor of European archeology at Oxford, argues that Europe has been geographically and culturally merely "the western excrescence of the continent of Asia".[43]

Geographically, Asia is the major eastern constituent of the continent of Eurasia with Europe being a northwestern peninsula of the landmass. Asia, Europe and Africa make up a single continuous landmass—Afro-Eurasia—and share a common continental shelf. Almost all of Europe and a major part of Asia sit atop the Eurasian Plate, adjoined on the south by the Arabian and Indian Plate and with the easternmost part of Siberia (east of the Chersky Range) on the North American Plate.

## History

### Prehistory

See also: History:Prehistoric Asia

Map of early human migrations based on the Out of Africa theory. Early Indo-European migrations from the Pontic steppes and across Central Asia, and encounter with Ancient Northeast Asian populations.

About 1.8 million years ago, Homo erectus left the African continent.[44] This species is believed to have lived in East and Southeast Asia from 1.8 million to 110,000 years ago.[45]

Researchers believe that the modern human, or Homo sapiens, migrated about 60,000 years ago to South Asia along the Indian Ocean.[46] Modern humans interbred with an archaic human species called Denisovans in Southeast Asia.[47] Before the arrival of modern humans, Flores was occupied by Homo floresiensis, a small archaic human.[48]

Ancestors of East Eurasians split from Ancient West Eurasians about 46,000 years ago, migrating out of the hub in the Iranian Plateau.[49] Evidence from full genomic studies suggests that the first people in the Americas diverged from Ancient East Asians about 36,000 years ago and expanded northwards into Siberia, where they encountered and interacted with a different Paleolithic Siberian population (known as Ancient North Eurasians), giving rise to both Paleosiberian peoples and Ancient Native Americans.[50]

Modern South Asians are descendants of a combination of Western Eurasian ancestries (notably Neolithic Iranian and Western Steppe Herder components) with a proposed indigenous East Eurasian component (termed Ancient Ancestral South Indians) closest to the non–West Eurasian part extracted from South Asian samples; distantly related to the Andamanese peoples, East Asians and Aboriginal Australians.[51]

### Ancient era

See also: Sinosphere, Greater India, and Greater Iran

The Silk Road connected civilisations across Asia.[52]

The history of Asia can be seen as the distinct histories of several peripheral coastal regions: East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and West Asia. The coastal periphery was home to some of the world's earliest known civilisations, each of them developing around fertile river valleys. The civilisations in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley and the Yellow River shared many similarities. These civilisations may well have exchanged technologies and ideas such as mathematics and the wheel. Other innovations, such as writing, seem to have been developed individually in each area. Cities, states and empires developed in these lowlands.

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 West Asia, South Asia, and the borders of China,[51] where the Tocharians 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.

The center and the peripheries were mostly kept separated by mountains and deserts. The Caucasus and Himalaya mountains and the Karakum and Gobi deserts formed barriers that the steppe horsemen could cross only with difficulty. While the urban city dwellers were more advanced technologically and socially, in many cases they could do little in a military aspect to defend against the mounted hordes of the steppe. However, the lowlands did not have enough open grasslands to support a large equestrian force; for this and other reasons, the nomads who conquered states in China, India, and the Middle East often found themselves adapting to the local, more affluent societies.

### Medieval era

The Mongol Empire at its greatest extent. The gray area is the later Timurid Empire.

The Islamic Caliphate's defeats of the Byzantine and Persian empires led to West Asia and southern parts of Central Asia and western parts of South Asia under its control during its conquests of the 7th century; Islam also spread over centuries to the southern regions of India and Southeast Asia through trade along the Maritime Silk Road.[53][54] The Mongol Empire conquered a large part of Asia in the 13th century, an area extending from China to Europe. Before the Mongol invasion, Song dynasty reportedly had approximately 120 million citizens; the 1300 census which followed the invasion reported roughly 60 million people.[55]

The Black Death, one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, is thought to have originated in the arid plains of central Asia, where it then travelled along the Silk Road.[56]

### Modern era

European involvement in Asia became more significant from the Age of Discovery onward, with Iberian-sponsored sailors such as Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama paving the way for new routes from Atlantic Europe to Pacific Asia and the Indian Ocean respectively in the late 15th century.[57] The Russian Empire also began to expand into northwestern Asia from the 17th century, and would eventually take control of all of Siberia and most of Central Asia by the end of the 19th century.

Among non-European empires, the Ottoman Empire controlled Anatolia, most of the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans from the mid 16th century onward, while in the 17th century, the Manchu conquered China and established the Qing dynasty. The Islamic Mughal Empire (preceded by the Delhi Sultanate of the 13th to early 16th century)[58] and the Hindu Maratha Empire controlled much of India in the 16th and 18th centuries respectively.[59]

The aftermath of the 1757 Battle of Plassey, which eventually led to British India

An 1898 depiction of Western powers carving up China

A depiction of America building connections to the Pacific and its Filipino colony (left) after the 1898 Spanish–American War

Western imperialism in Asia from the 18th to 20th centuries coincided with the Industrial Revolution in the West and the dethroning of India and China as the world's foremost economies.[60] The British Empire first became dominant in South Asia, with most of the region being conquered by British traders in the late 18th and early 19th centuries before falling under direct British rule after a failed 1857 revolt; the 1869 completion of the Suez Canal, which increased British access to India, went on to further European influence over Africa and Asia.[61] Around this time, Western powers started to dominate China in what later became known as the century of humiliation, with the British-supported opium trade and later Opium Wars resulting in China being forced into an unprecedented situation of importing more than it exported.[62][63]

Foreign domination of China was furthered by the Japanese colonial empire, which controlled some of East Asia and briefly much of Southeast Asia (which had earlier been taken over by the British, Dutch and French in the late 19th century),[64] New Guinea and the Pacific islands; Japan's domination was enabled by its rapid rise that had taken place during the Meiji era of the late 19th century, in which it applied industrial knowledge learned from the West and thus overtook the rest of Asia.[65][66] One significant influence on Japan had been the United States, which had begun projecting influence across the Pacific after its early-to-mid-19th century westward expansion.[67] The breakup of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century led to the Middle East also being contested and partitioned by the British and French.[68]

### Contemporary era

The Soviet Union (in red) and China (yellow) controlled most of Asia in the late 20th century.

With the end of World War II in 1945 and the wartime ruination of Europe and imperial Japan, many countries in Asia were able to rapidly free themselves of colonial rule.[69] The independence of India came along with the carving out of a separate nation for the majority of South Asian Muslims, which in 1971 further split into Pakistan and Bangladesh;[70] The Cold War in Asia strained relations between India and Pakistan and affected Asia more generally.[71] The end of the Cold War and the Soviet Union by 1991 saw the independence of the five modern Central Asian countries.[72]

Some Arab countries took economic advantage of massive oil deposits that were discovered in their territory, becoming globally influential,[73] though stability in the Middle East has been affected since 1948 by the Arab–Israeli conflict and American-led interventions.[74][75] East Asian nations (along with Singapore in Southeast Asia) became economically prosperous with high-growth "tiger economies";[76] China, having undergone the reform and opening up under Deng Xiaoping,[77] regained its place among the top two economies of the world by the 21st century.[78] India has also grown significantly because of economic liberalisation that started in the 1990s,[79] with extreme poverty now below 20%;[80] India and China's rise has coincided with growing tensions between the two, with the Indo-Pacific now an actively contested area between China and counterbalancing forces.[81][82]

* The threefold division of the Old World into Europe, Asia and Africa has been in use since the 6th century BCE, due to Greek geographers such as Anaximander and Hecataeus.

* 1825 map of Asia by Sidney Edwards Morse

* Map of western, southern, and central Asia in 1885[83]

* The map of Asia in 1796, which also included the continent of Australia (then known as New Holland)

* 1890 map of Asia

## Geography

The Himalayan range is home to some of the planet's highest peaks.

Asia is the largest continent on Earth. It covers 9% of the Earth's total surface area (or 30% of its land area), and has the longest coastline, at 62,800 kilometres (39,022 mi). Asia is generally defined as comprising the eastern four-fifths of Eurasia. It is located to the east of the Suez Canal and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains (or the Kuma–Manych Depression) and the Caspian and Black Seas.[6][84] 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. Asia is subdivided into 49 countries, five of them (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey) are transcontinental countries lying partly in Europe. Geographically, Russia is partly and mostly in Asia, but is considered a European nation, both culturally and politically.

The Gobi Desert is in Mongolia and the Arabian Desert stretches across much of the Middle East. The Yangtze in China is the longest river in the continent. The Himalayas between Nepal and China is the tallest mountain range in the world. Tropical rainforests stretch across much of southern Asia and coniferous and deciduous forests lie farther north. Between 1990–2000 the area of primary forest in Asia decreased by 1.06 million hectares per year, between 2000–2015 it decreased by 280 000 ha per year.[85]

* Siberian tundra

* Rainforest in Borneo

* Kerala backwaters

* Mongolian steppe

* South China Karst

* Taman Negara, Peninsular Malaysia

* Altai Mountains

* Hunza Valley

* Atolls of the Maldives

* Wadi Rum in Jordan

### Main regions

Detailed map of Asian regions

There are various approaches to the regional division of Asia. The following subdivision into regions is used, among others, by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). This division of Asia into regions by the United Nations is done solely for statistical reasons and does not imply any assumption about political or other affiliations of countries and territories.[86]

* North Asia (Siberia)[note 3]
* Central Asia
* West Asia (the Middle East or Near East and part of the Caucasus)
* South Asia (Indian subcontinent)
* East Asia (Far East)
* Southeast Asia (East Indies and Indochina)

### Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification map for Asia[87]

Asia has extremely diverse climate features. Climates range from Arctic and subarctic in Siberia to tropical in southern India and Southeast Asia. It is moist across southeast sections, and dry across much of the interior. Some of the largest daily temperature ranges on Earth occur in western sections of Asia. The monsoon circulation dominates across southern and eastern sections, due to the presence of the Himalayas forcing the formation of a thermal low which draws in moisture during the summer. Southwestern sections of the continent are hot. Siberia is one of the coldest places in the Northern Hemisphere, and can act as a source of arctic air masses for North America. The most active place on Earth for tropical cyclone activity lies northeast of the Philippines and south of Japan.

#### Climate change

This section is an excerpt from Climate change in Asia[ edit ]

## Politics

Map of 2026 V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index for Asia, higher values more democratic[88]

0.90–1.00

0.80–0.89

0.70–0.79

0.60–0.69

0.50–0.59

0.40–0.49

0.30–0.39

0.20–0.29

0.10–0.19

0.00–0.09

No data

The most democratic countries in Asia are Japan, Taiwan and South Korea according to the V-Dem Democracy indices.[88]

## List of states and territories

Template:Asia Labelled Map

Emblem  | Flag  | Name  | Population[89][90]
(2018)  | Area
(km2)  | Capital

|
|
|
|
|

| Template:Linkflag | Afghanistan  | 37,171,921  | 652,864  | Kabul
| Template:Linkflag | Armenia | 2,951,745  | 29,743  | Yerevan
| Template:Linkflag | Azerbaijan[note 4] | 9,949,537  | 86,600  | Baku
| Template:Linkflag | Bahrain  | 1,569,446  | 760  | Manama
| Template:Linkflag | Bangladesh  | 161,376,708  | 147,570  | Dhaka
| Template:Linkflag | Bhutan  | 754,388  | 38,394  | Thimphu
| Template:Linkflag | Brunei  | 428,963  | 5,765  | Bandar Seri Begawan
| Template:Linkflag | Cambodia  | 16,249,792  | 181,035  | Phnom Penh
| Template:Linkflag | China (PRC)  | 1,427,647,786  | 9,596,961  | Beijing
| Template:Linkflag | Cyprus | 1,189,265  | 9,251  | Nicosia
| Template:Linkflag | Egypt[note 5] | 98,423,598  | 1,001,449  | Cairo[note 6]
| Template:Linkflag | Georgia[note 7] | 4,002,942  | 69,700  | Tbilisi
| Template:Linkflag | India | 1,352,642,280  | 3,287,263  | New Delhi
| Template:Linkflag | Indonesia[note 8] | 267,670,543  | 1,904,569  | Jakarta
| Template:Linkflag | Iran | 81,800,188  | 1,648,195  | Tehran
| Template:Linkflag | Iraq  | 38,433,600  | 438,317  | Baghdad
| Template:Linkflag | Israel | 8,381,516  | 20,770  | Jerusalem (limited recognition)
| Template:Linkflag | Japan | 127,202,192  | 377,915  | Tokyo
| Template:Linkflag | Jordan  | 9,965,318  | 89,342  | Amman
| Template:Linkflag | Kazakhstan[note 9] | 18,319,618  | 2,724,900  | Astana
| Template:Linkflag | Kuwait  | 4,137,312  | 17,818  | Kuwait City
| Template:Linkflag | Kyrgyzstan  | 6,304,030  | 199,951  | Bishkek
| Template:Linkflag | Laos  | 7,061,507  | 236,800  | Vientiane
| Template:Linkflag | Lebanon | 6,859,408  | 10,400  | Beirut
| Template:Linkflag | Malaysia  | 31,528,033  | 329,847  | Kuala Lumpur
| Template:Linkflag | Maldives | 515,696  | 298  | Malé
| Template:Linkflag | Mongolia  | 3,170,216  | 1,564,116  | Ulaanbaatar
| Template:Linkflag | Myanmar  | 53,708,320  | 676,578  | Naypyidaw
| Template:Linkflag | Nepal  | 28,095,714  | 147,181  | Kathmandu
| Template:Linkflag | North Korea  | 25,549,604  | 120,538  | Pyongyang
| Template:Linkflag | Oman | 4,829,473  | 309,500  | Muscat
| Template:Linkflag | Pakistan  | 211,103,000  | 881,913  | Islamabad
| Template:Linkflag | Philippines  | 106,651,394  | 343,448  | Manila
| Template:Linkflag | Qatar  | 2,781,682  | 11,586  | Doha
| Template:Linkflag | Russia[note 10] | 145,734,038  | 17,098,242  | Moscow[note 11]
| Template:Linkflag | Saudi Arabia  | 33,702,756  | 2,149,690  | Riyadh
| Template:Linkflag | Singapore | 5,757,499  | 697  | Singapore
| Template:Linkflag | South Korea | 51,171,706  | 100,210  | Seoul
| Template:Linkflag | Sri Lanka  | 21,228,763  | 65,610  | Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
| Template:Linkflag | Syria | 16,945,057  | 185,180  | Damascus
| Template:Linkflag | Tajikistan  | 9,100,835  | 143,100  | Dushanbe
| Template:Linkflag | Thailand  | 69,428,453  | 513,120  | Bangkok
| Template:Linkflag | Timor-Leste  | 1,267,974  | 14,874  | Dili
| Template:Linkflag | Turkey[note 12] | 82,340,088  | 783,562  | Ankara
| Template:Linkflag | Turkmenistan  | 5,850,901  | 488,100  | Ashgabat
| Template:Linkflag | United Arab Emirates | 9,630,959  | 83,600  | Abu Dhabi
| Template:Linkflag | Uzbekistan  | 32,476,244  | 447,400  | Tashkent
| Template:Linkflag | Vietnam  | 95,545,962  | 331,212  | Hanoi
| Template:Linkflag | Yemen[note 13] | 28,498,683  | 527,968  |

* Sanaa (const.; SPC control)
* Aden (prv. capital of PLC)

Within the states mentioned above are several partially recognized countries with limited to no international recognition. None of them are members of the UN, however Palestine has observer state status:

Symbol  | Flag | Name  | Population
| Area
(km2)  | Capital

|
|
|
|
|

| Template:Linkflag | Abkhazia | 242,862  | 8,660  | Sokhumi
| Template:Linkflag | Northern Cyprus | 326,000  | 3,355  | North Nicosia
| Template:Linkflag | Palestine |  | 6,025  | Jerusalem (limited recognition)
| Template:Linkflag | South Ossetia | 51,547  | 3,900  | Tskhinvali
| Template:Linkflag | Taiwan (ROC)  |  | 36,193  | Taipei

## Economy

Singapore has one of the busiest container ports in the world and is the world's fourth-largest foreign exchange trading hub.

Asia is both the largest continental economy in the world by both GDP nominal and PPP values and the world's fastest growing economic region.[91] As of 2026[update], China is by far the largest economy on the continent. It is followed by India, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and Taiwan, which are all ranked among the top 20 largest economies by both nominal GDP and PPP values.[92] Based on Global Office Locations 2011, Asia dominated global office locations with 4 of the top 5 being in Asia: Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul. Around 68% of international firms have an office in Hong Kong.[93]

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the economy of China[94] had an average annual growth rate of more than 8%. According to economic historian Angus Maddison, India had the world's largest economy for much of the past three millennia prior to the 19th century, accounting for 25% of the world's industrial output.[95][96][97][98] China was the largest and most advanced economy on Earth for much of recorded history and shared the mantle with India.[99][8][100] For several decades in the late twentieth century, Japan was the largest economy in Asia and second-largest in the world, after surpassing the Soviet Union (measured in net material product) in 1990 and Germany in 1968. This ended in 2010, when China overtook Japan to become the world's second largest economy. In 2025, India overtook Japan in terms of nominal GDP to become the world's 4th largest and Asia's 2nd largest economy.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Japan's GDP by currency exchange rates was almost as large as that of the rest of Asia combined.[91] In 1995, Japan's economy nearly equaled that of the US as the largest economy in the world for a day, after the Japanese currency reached a record high of 79 yen/US$. Economic growth in Asia since World War II to the 1990s had been concentrated in Japan as well as South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, known as the Four Asian Tigers, which are now all considered developed economies, having among the highest GDP per capita in Asia.[101][91]

Mumbai is one of the most populous cities in Asia, as well as an economic and tourism hub.

Asia is the largest continent in the world by a considerable margin, and it is rich in natural resources, such as petroleum, forests, fish, water, rice, copper and silver. Manufacturing in Asia has traditionally been strongest in East and Southeast Asia, particularly in China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, India, the Philippines, and Singapore. Japan and South Korea continue to dominate in the area of multinational corporations, though increasingly China and India are making significant inroads. Many companies from Europe, North America, South Korea, and Japan have operations in Asia's developing countries to take advantage of its abundant supply of cheap labour and relatively developed infrastructure.[102][103]

According to Citigroup in 2011, 9 of 11 Global Growth Generator countries came from Asia driven by population and income growth. They are Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Mongolia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.[104] Asia has three main financial centers: Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Singapore. Call centers and business process outsourcing firms (BPOs) are becoming major employers in India and the Philippines due to the availability of a large pool of highly skilled, English-speaking workers. The increased use of outsourcing has assisted the rise of India and the China as financial centers. Due to its large and extremely competitive information technology industry, India has become a major hub for outsourcing.[105]

Trade between Asian countries and countries on other continents is largely carried out via sea routes. The main route leads from the Chinese coast south via Hanoi to Jakarta, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur, through the Strait of Malacca via Colombo to the southern tip of India, then via Malé to Mombasa in East Africa (see also Indo-Pacific), from there to Djibouti, then through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean (see also: Indo-Mediterranean), then via Haifa, Istanbul, and Athens to the northern Italian hub of Trieste, with its rail connections to Central and Eastern Europe, or further to Barcelona and around Spain and France to northern European ports. A far smaller part of the goods traffic runs via South Africa to Europe. A particularly significant part of Asian goods traffic is carried out on the Pacific Rim, toward Los Angeles and Long Beach. The melting of the Arctic is also paving the way for new shipping routes from Northeast Asia to Europe and North America.[106] The land route to Europe is also the subject of construction projects, comparatively smaller in scope. Intra-Asian trade, including sea trade, is growing rapidly.[107][108][109][110][111][112]

In 2010, Asia had 3.3 million millionaires (people with net worth over US$1 million excluding their homes), slightly below North America's 3.4 million. In 2011, Asia topped Europe in the number of millionaires.[113] Citigroup in The Wealth Report 2012 stated that the total wealth of people in Asia with over $100 million in assets exceeded that of their North American counterparts for the first time, as the world's "economic center of gravity" continued moving east. At the end of 2011, there were 18,000 people in Asia, mainly in Southeast Asia, China, and Japan, with at least $100 million in disposable assets, compared to North America with 17,000 and Western Europe with 14,000.[114]

Rank  | Country  | GDP (nominal, Peak Year)
millions of USD

|
|

1 |  China | 20,851,593
2 |  Japan (2012) | 6,333,803
3 |  India | 4,153,191
4 |  Russia | 2,656,452
5 |  South Korea (2021) | 1,942,314
6 |  Turkey | 1,640,223
7 |  Indonesia | 1,539,872
8 |  Saudi Arabia | 1,388,676
9 |  Taiwan | 976,719
10 |  Iran (2011) | 722,130
Rank  | Country  | GDP (PPP, Peak Year)
millions of USD

|
|

1 |  China | 44,295,453
2 |  India | 18,902,320
3 |  Russia | 7,525,159
4 |  Japan | 7,262,163
5 |  Indonesia | 5,449,145
6 |  Turkey | 4,025,249
7 |  South Korea | 3,542,014
8 |  Saudi Arabia | 2,894,592
9 |  Egypt | 2,566,688
10 |  Taiwan | 2,274,626

### Energy

Asia’s electricity demand has quadrupled since 2000 (rising from 4,199 TWh to over 16,000 TWh in 2024). This growth, driven largely by China and increasingly by India, Indonesia, and Viet Nam,[115] makes Asia the fastest-growing region for electricity demand globally, at about 5% per year.[116] The region now accounts for about 36% of global primary energy consumption, a share projected to approach 50% by 2050.[117]: 1468 Fossil fuels remain central in Asia: 66% of its energy is generated from fossil fuels, and Asia makes up 83% of the world's coal generation.[118] However, coal is slowly being phased out and natural gas is displacing oil and oil products in various sectors, supported by policies and regulations. Natural gas demand in emerging market and developing economies in Asia expanded by around 6% in 2024, accounting for nearly 40% of incremental global gas demand.[119] By 2040, Asia is expected to account for the majority of global coal use and over a quarter of natural gas consumption.[117]: 1468

At the same time, Asia is the global leader in renewable energy expansion. It is currently the only region on track to meet the goal of tripling renewable capacity by 2030, largely due to China, the leading nation in renewable energy generation.[120][121][122] China’s wind and solar capacity has surged in recent years, together overtaking that of coal,[123] while in 2024 India become the world’s third largest generator of electricity from wind and solar.[124] Nearly half of the world's new renewable energy capacity is built in Asia.[117]: 1470

### Tourism

Wat Phra Kaew in the Grand Palace is among Bangkok's major tourist attractions.

See also the categories Tourism in Asia and Transport in Asia

In 2013, with regional tourism growing and dominated by Chinese visitors, MasterCard released the Global Destination Cities Index report, in which 10 of 20 cities are Asian and Pacific cities. This was also the first time an Asian city (Bangkok) was in the number one spot, with 15.98 million international visitors.[125]

## Demographics

Historical populations

Year| Pop.| ±% p.a.
1500| 243,000,000| —
1700| 436,000,000| +0.29%
1900| 947,000,000| +0.39%
1950| 1,402,000,000| +0.79%
1999| 3,634,000,000| +1.96%
2016| 4,462,676,731| +1.22%
Source: "UN report 2004 data" (PDF).
The figure for 2018 is provided by the 2019 revision of the World Population Prospects[89][90]
World population

East Asia had by far the strongest overall Human Development Index (HDI) improvement of any region in the world, nearly doubling average HDI attainment over the past 40 years, according to the report's analysis of health, education and income data. China, the second highest achiever in the world in terms of HDI improvement since 1970, is the only country on the "Top 10 Movers" list due to income rather than health or education achievements. Its per capita income increased a stunning 21-fold over the last four decades, also lifting hundreds of millions out of income poverty. Yet it was not among the region's top performers in improving school enrollment and life expectancy.[126]
Nepal, a South Asian country, emerges as one of the world's fastest movers since 1970 mainly due to health and education achievements. Its present life expectancy is 25 years longer than in the 1970s. More than four of every five children of school age in Nepal now attend primary school, compared to just one in five 40 years ago.[126]
Hong Kong ranked highest among the countries grouped on the HDI (number 7 in the world, which is in the "very high human development" category), followed by Singapore (9), Japan (19) and South Korea (22). Afghanistan (155) ranked lowest amongst Asian countries out of the 169 countries assessed.[126]

### Languages

Asia is home to several language families and many language isolates. Most Asian countries have more than one language that is natively spoken. For instance, according to Ethnologue, more than 700 languages are spoken in Indonesia, more than 400 languages spoken in India, and more than 100 are spoken in the Philippines. China has many languages and dialects in different provinces.

### Religions

See also: Philosophy:Eastern philosophy, Religion in Asia, and List of Asian mythologies

Many of the world's major religions have their origins in Asia, including the five most practiced in the world (excluding irreligion), which are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Chinese folk religion (classified as Confucianism and Taoism), and Buddhism. Asian mythology is complex and diverse. The story of the Great Flood for example, as presented to Jews in the Hebrew Bible in the narrative of Noah—and later to Christians in the Old Testament, and to Muslims in the Quran—is earliest found in Mesopotamian mythology, in the Enûma Eliš and Epic of Gilgamesh. Hindu mythology similarly tells about an avatar of Vishnu in the form of a fish who warned Manu of a terrible flood. Ancient Chinese mythology also tells of a Great Flood spanning generations, one that required the combined efforts of emperors and divinities to control.

#### Abrahamic

The Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem Pilgrims in the annual Hajj at the Kaabah in Mecca

The Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Druze faith,[127] and Baháʼí Faith originated in West Asia.[128][129]

Judaism, the oldest of the Abrahamic faiths, is practiced primarily in Israel, the indigenous homeland and historical birthplace of the Hebrew nation: which today consists both of those Jews who remained in the Middle East and those who returned from diaspora in Europe, North America, and other regions;[130] though various diaspora communities persist worldwide. Jews are the predominant ethnic group in Israel (75.6%) numbering at about 6.1 million,[131] although the levels of adherence to Jewish religion vary. Outside of Israel there are small ancient Jewish communities in Turkey (17,400),[132] Azerbaijan (9,100),[133] Iran (8,756),[134] India (5,000) and Uzbekistan (4,000),[135] among many other places. As of 2016, there are am estimated 14.4–17.5 million (2016, est.)[136] Jews alive in the world today, making them one of the smallest Asian minorities, at roughly 0.3–0.4& of the total population of the continent.

Christianity is a widespread religion in Asia, with more than 286 million adherents in 2010 according to Pew Research Center,[137] and nearly 364 million according to Britannica Book of the Year 2014.[138] Christians constitute around 12.6% of the total population of Asia. In the Philippines and Timor-Leste, Catholicism is the predominant religion;[139] it was introduced by the Spaniards and the Portuguese, respectively. In Armenia and Georgia, Eastern Orthodoxy is the predominant religion.[139] In the Middle East, such as in the Levant, Anatolia and Fars, Syriac Christianity (Church of the East) and Oriental Orthodoxy are prevalent minority denominations,[140] which are both Eastern Christian sects mainly adhered to Assyrian people or Syriac Christians. Vibrant indigenous minorities in West Asia are adhering to the Eastern Catholic Churches and Eastern Orthodoxy.[139] Saint Thomas Christians in India trace their origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century.[141] Significant Christian communities also found in Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia.[139]

Islam, which originated in the Hejaz located in modern-day Saudi Arabia, is the second largest and most widely-spread religion in Asia with at least 1 billion Muslims constituting around 23.8% of the total population of Asia.[142] With 12.7% of the world Muslim population, the country currently with the largest Muslim population in the world is Indonesia, followed by Pakistan (11.5%), India (10%), Bangladesh, Iran and Turkey. Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem are the three holiest cities for Islam in all the world. The Hajj and Umrah attract large numbers of Muslim devotees from all over the world to Mecca and Medina. Iran is the largest Shia country.

The Druze originated in West Asia, is a monotheistic religion based on the teachings of figures like Hamza ibn Ali and al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, and Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. The number of Druze people worldwide is around one million. Around 45–50% live in Syria, 35% to 40% live in Lebanon, and less than 10% live in Israel. Recently there has been a growing Druze diaspora.[143]

The Baháʼí Faith originated in Asia, in Iran (Persia), and spread from there to the Ottoman Empire, Central Asia, India, and Burma during the lifetime of Bahá'u'lláh. Since the middle of the 20th century, growth has particularly occurred in other Asian countries, because Baháʼí activities in many Muslim countries has been severely suppressed by authorities. Lotus Temple is a big Baháʼí temple in India.

#### Indian and East Asian religions

See also: Eastern religions

The Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple in Delhi, according to the Guinness World Records, is the World's Largest Comprehensive Hindu Temple.[144]

Almost all Asian religions have philosophical character and Asian philosophical traditions cover a large spectrum of philosophical thoughts and writings. Indian philosophy includes Hindu philosophy and Buddhist philosophy. They include elements of nonmaterial pursuits, whereas another school of thought from India, Cārvāka, preached the enjoyment of the material world. The religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated in India, South Asia. In East Asia, particularly in China and Japan, Confucianism, Taoism and Zen Buddhism took shape.

As of 2012[update], Hinduism has around 1.1 billion adherents. The faith represents around 25% of Asia's population and is the largest religion in Asia. However, it is mostly concentrated in South Asia. Over 80% of the populations of both India and Nepal adhere to Hinduism, alongside significant communities in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Bali, Indonesia. Many overseas Indians in countries such as Burma, Singapore and Malaysia also adhere to Hinduism.

The Angkor Wat in Cambodia, a Hindu-Buddhist temple and the largest religious monument in the world

Buddhism has a great following in Mainland Southeast Asia and East Asia. Buddhism is the religion of the majority of the populations of Cambodia (96%),[145] Thailand (95%),[146] Burma (80–89%),[147] Japan (36–96%),[148] Bhutan (75–84%),[149] Sri Lanka (70%),[150] Laos (60–67%)[151] and Mongolia (53–93%).[152] Taiwan (35–93%),[153][154][155][156] South Korea (23–50%),[157] Malaysia (19–21%),[158] Nepal (9–11%),[159] Vietnam (10–75%),[160] China (20–50%),[161] Singapore (31%),[162] North Korea (2–14%),[163][164][165] and small communities in India and Bangladesh. The Communist-governed countries of China, Vietnam and North Korea are officially atheist, thus the number of Buddhists and other religious adherents may be under-reported.

Jainism is found mainly in India and in overseas Indian communities such as the United States and Malaysia. Sikhism is found in Northern India and amongst overseas Indian communities in other parts of Asia, especially Southeast Asia. Confucianism is found predominantly in mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan and in overseas Chinese populations. Taoism is found mainly in mainland China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. In many Chinese communities, Taoism is easily syncretised with Mahayana Buddhism, thus exact religious statistics are difficult to obtain and may be understated or overstated.

* Japanese wedding at the Meiji Shrine

* Hindu festival celebrated by Singapore's Tamil community

* Bar mitzvah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem

* Catholic procession of the Black Nazarene in Manila

* Druze dignitaries celebrating the Ziyarat al-Nabi Shu'ayb festival at the tomb of the prophet in Hittin

* Christian Armenians praying at the Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Vagharshapat

* Muslim men praying at the Ortaköy Mosque in Istanbul

* Buddhist monks in Laos collecting alms

## Culture

The culture of Asia is a diverse blend of customs and traditions that have been practiced by the various ethnic groups of the continent for centuries. The continent is divided into six geographic sub-regions: Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and West Asia.[166] These regions are defined by their cultural similarities, including common religions, languages, and ethnicities. West Asia, also known as Southwest Asia or the Middle East, has cultural roots in the ancient civilisations of the Fertile Crescent and Mesopotamia, which gave rise to the Persian, Arab, Ottoman empires, as well as the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.[167] These civilisations, which are located in the Hilly flanks, are among the oldest in the world, with evidence of farming dating back to around 9000 BCE.[168] Despite the challenges posed by the vast size of the continent and the presence of natural barriers such as deserts and mountain ranges, trade and commerce have helped to create a Pan-Asian culture that is shared across the region.[169]

### Nobel laureates

Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, and Asia's first Nobel laureate

Rabindranath Tagore, a Bengali dramatist and author from Santiniketan (now in West Bengal, India), won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, becoming the first Asian Nobel laureate. The prize was awarded for Tagore's prose works and poetry, which had a significant additional impact on national literatures throughout the Western world. Tagore also authored both the Indian and Bangladeshi national anthems.

Other Asian writers who won Nobel Prize for literature include Yasunari Kawabata (Japan, 1968), Kenzaburō Ōe (Japan, 1994), Gao Xingjian (China, 2000), Orhan Pamuk (Turkey, 2006), Mo Yan (China, 2012), and Han Kang (South Korea, 2024). Some may consider the American writer, Pearl S. Buck, an honorary Asian Nobel laureate, having spent considerable time in China as the daughter of missionaries, and based many of her novels, namely The Good Earth (1931) and The Mother (1933), as well as the biographies of her parents for their time in China, The Exile and Fighting Angel, all of which earned her the Literature prize in 1938.

Mother Teresa of India and Shirin Ebadi of Iran were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially for the rights of women and children. Ebadi is the first Iranian and the first Muslim woman to receive the prize. Another Nobel Peace Prize winner is Aung San Suu Kyi from Burma for her peaceful and non-violent struggle under a military dictatorship in Burma. She is a nonviolent pro-democracy activist and leader of the National League for Democracy in Burma (Myanmar) and a noted prisoner of conscience. She is a Buddhist and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China" on 8 October 2010. He is the first Chinese citizen to be awarded a Nobel Prize of any kind while residing in China. In 2014, Kailash Satyarthi from India and Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education".

C.V. Raman is the first Asian to get a Nobel prize in Sciences. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the effect named after him".

Japan has won the most Nobel Prizes of any Asian nation with 24 followed by India which has won 13.[needs update]

Amartya Sen (Template:B.) is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in the problems of society's poorest members.

Other Asian Nobel Prize winners include Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Abdus Salam, Robert Aumann, Menachem Begin, Aaron Ciechanover, Avram Hershko, Daniel Kahneman, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin, Ada Yonath, Yasser Arafat, José Ramos-Horta and Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo of Timor-Leste, Kim Dae-jung, and 13 Japanese scientists. Most of the said awardees are from Japan and Israel except for Chandrasekhar and Raman (India), Abdus Salam (Pakistan), Arafat (Palestinian Territories), Kim (South Korea), and Horta and Belo (Timor-Leste).[needs update]

In 2006, the Bangladeshi Muhammad Yunus of was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the establishment of Grameen Bank, a community development bank that lends money to poor people, especially women. He is known for the concept of micro credit which, allows poor and destitute people to borrow money. The borrowers pay back money within the specified period and defaulting is very low. Yunus also became the leader of an interim government after the 2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement.[170] The Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize, in Oslo, Norway in 1989.[171]

## See also

Main articles: Biology:Outline of Asia and Index of Asia-related articles

* Asian Monetary Unit
* Place:Eastern Mediterranean - Countries that are geographically located to the east of the Mediterranean Sea
* Place:Eastern world - Countries predominantly situated in Asia
* Flags of Asia
* List of cities in Asia
* List of metropolitan areas in Asia by population

## Notes

1. ↑ Asia is normally considered its own continent in the English speaking world, which uses the seven continent model.[1][2] Other models consider Asia as part of a Eurasian or Afro-Eurasian continent (see Continent § Number).
2. ↑ 44,579,000 square kilometres (17,212,000 square miles)
3. ↑ Siberia lies in Asia geographically, but is considered part of Europe culturally and politically.
4. ↑ Azerbaijan is a transcontinental country, straddling the border between Europe and Asia. It's culture is influenced by both European and Asian customs.
5. ↑ Egypt is a transcontinental country located primarily in Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula being located in Asia.
6. ↑ Cairo is located in Africa.
7. ↑ Georgia is a transcontinental country, with a small northern portion lying in Europe. Despite being primarily located in Asia, Georgia leans strongly towards European culture and has closer ties with the UN and NATO.
8. ↑ Indonesia is a transcontinental country, with the island of New Guinea being located in Melanesia \- a region of Oceania. New Guinea's eastern portion is shared with Papua New Guinea.
9. ↑ Kazakhstan is a transcontinental country, with about 15% of its land located in Europe.
10. ↑ Russia is a transcontinental country located in Eastern Europe and North Asia, but is considered European historically, culturally, ethnically, and politically, and the vast majority of its population (78%) lives within its European part.
11. ↑ Moscow is located in Europe.
12. ↑ Turkey is a transcontinental country located mainly in West Asia with a smaller portion in Southeastern Europe.
13. ↑ Yemen is a transcontinental country. While its mainland is geographically part of Asia, the Socotra Archipelago islands are geographically located in Africa.

## Sources

This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 License statement: Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). To learn how to add open license text to HandWiki articles, please see this how-to page. For information on reusing text from HandWiki, please see the terms of use.

## References

1. ↑ "Asia". Asia. Oxford University PRess. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/asia?q=Asia.
2. ↑ "Asia". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Asia.
3. ↑ "Asia: The largest continent on Earth". BBC Bitesize. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zmh4bdm.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Boudreau, Diane; McDaniel, Melissa; Sprout, Erin; Turgeon, Andrew. "Asia: Physical Geography". https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/asia/.
5. ↑ "The World at Six Billion". UN Population Division. https://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/sixbillion/sixbillion.htm, "Table 2". http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/sixbillion/sixbilpart1.pdf.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 National Geographic Atlas of the World (7th ed.). Washington, D.C.: National Geographic. 1999. ISBN 978-0-7922-7528-2. "Europe" (pp. 68–69); "Asia" (pp. 90–91): "A commonly accepted division between Asia and Europe is formed by the Ural Mountains, Ural River, Caspian Sea, Caucasus Mountains, and the Black Sea with its outlets, the Bosporus and Dardanelles."
7. ↑ Nalapat, M. D.. "Ensuring China's 'Peaceful Rise'". http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/SRR/Volume14/nalapat.html.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Dahlman, Carl J; Aubert, Jean-Eric. China and the Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st century. WBI Development Studies. World Bank Publications. Accessed 30 January 2008. Eric.ed.gov. 2000. ISBN 978-0-8213-5005-8. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED460052&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED460052. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
9. ↑ "The Real Great Leap Forward". The Economist. 30 September 2004. https://www.economist.com/special-report/2004/10/02/the-real-great-leap-forward.
10. ↑ "Like herrings in a barrel". The Economist (Millennium issue: Population). 23 December 1999. http://www.economist.com/diversions/millennium/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=346605.
11. ↑ McMahon, Gregory (2011). "The Land and Peoples of Anatolia through Ancient Eyes". The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia. Oxford University Press. p. 21. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195376142.013.0002.
12. ↑ Bossert, Helmut T., Asia, Istanbul, 1946.
13. ↑ Rose, Charles Brian (2013). The Archaeology of Greek and Roman Troy. Cambridge University Press. pp. 108–109. ISBN 978-0-521-76207-6.
14. ↑ Ventris & Chadwick 1973, pp. 410, 536.
15. ↑ Collins, Billie Jean; Bachvarova, Mary R.; Rutherford, Ian (28 March 2010). Anatolian Interfaces: Hittites, Greeks and their Neighbours. Oxbow. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-78297-475-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=7KemAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT146. Retrieved 7 March 2023. "assuwa pylos "aswia" = Linear B A-si-wi-ja"
16. ↑ Book IV, Article 45.
17. ↑ "Asie". Encyclopedia: Greek Gods, Spirits, Monsters. Theoi Greek Mythology, Exploring Mythology in Classical Literature and Art. 2000–2011. http://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NympheAsie.html.
18. ↑ Μ95, Π717.
19. ↑ Β461.
20. ↑ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart; McKenzie, Roderick (2007). "Ἀσία". Ἀσία. Medford: Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=*)asi/a.
21. ↑ "Asia". Asia. http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=Asia&allowed_in_frame=0. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
22. ↑ Slomp, Hans (2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics (Illustrated, revised ed.). ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0313391828.
23. ↑ Histories 4.38. Cf. James Rennell, The Geographical System of Herodotus Examined and Explained, Volume 1, Rivington 1830, p. 244.
24. ↑ according to Strabo (Geographica 11.7.4) even at the time of Alexander, "it was agreed by all that the Tanais river separated Asia from Europe" (ὡμολόγητο ἐκ πάντων ὅτι διείργει τὴν Ἀσίαν ἀπὸ τῆς Εὐρώπης ὁ Τάναϊς ποταμός; cf. Duane W. Roller, Eratosthenes' Geography, Princeton University Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-14267-8, Eratosthenes (24 January 2010). Geography. Princeton University Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-691-14267-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=8peKyWK_SWsC&pg=PA57. Retrieved 21 January 2020. )
25. ↑ W. Theiler, Posidonios. Die Fragmente, vol. 1. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1982, fragm. 47a.
26. ↑ I. G. Kidd (ed.), Posidonius: The commentary, Cambridge University Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-521-60443-7, Posidonius (1989). p. 738. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-60443-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=_iXs1aCr1ckC&pg=PA738. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
27. ↑ Geographia 7.5.6 (ed. Nobbe 1845, Ptolomy, Claudio (1845). Geographia. 2. https://books.google.com/books?id=vHMCAAAAQAAJ. Retrieved 21 January 2020. , p. 178). Καὶ τῇ Εὐρώπῃ δὲ συνάπτει διὰ τοῦ μεταξὺ αὐχένος τῆς τε Μαιώτιδος λίμνης καὶ τοῦ Σαρματικοῦ Ὠκεανοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς διαβάσεως τοῦ Τανάϊδος ποταμοῦ. "And [Asia] is connected to Europe by the land-strait between Lake Maiotis and the Sarmatian Ocean where the river Tanais crosses through."
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Lineback, Neal (9 July 2013). "Geography in the News: Eurasia's Boundaries". National Geographic. http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/09/geography-in-the-news-eurasias-boundaries/. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
29. ↑ Lewis & Wigen 1997, pp. 27–28.
30. ↑ "Suez Canal: 1250 to 1920: Middle East". Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, & Africa: An Encyclopedia. Sage. 2012. doi:10.4135/9781452218458.n112. ISBN 978-1-4129-8176-7.
31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Simpson, George Gaylord (1977). "Too Many Lines; The Limits of the Oriental and Australian Zoogeographic Regions". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society (American Philosophical Society) 121 (2): 107–120. ISSN 0003-049X.
32. ↑ Kealy, Shimona; Louys, Julien; o'Connor, Sue (2015). "Islands under the sea: a review of early modern human dispersal routes and migration hypotheses through Wallacea". The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 11 (3): 364–384. doi:10.1080/15564894.2015.1119218. ISSN 1556-4894. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287798057.
33. ↑ New, T. R. (2002). "Neuroptera of Wallacea: a transitional fauna between major geographical regions". Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 48 (2): 217–227. http://actazool.nhmus.hu/48Suppl2/newwallace.pdf.
34. ↑ "Jejak Pembauran Melanesia dan Austronesia" (in id). National Geographic. 26 November 2015. https://nationalgeographic.grid.id/read/13302465/jejak-pembauran-melanesia-dan-austronesia. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
35. ↑ Lewis & Wigen 1997, pp. 170–173.
36. ↑ Danver, Steven L. (2015). Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues. Taylor & Francis. p. 185. ISBN 978-1317464006. https://books.google.com/books?id=vf4TBwAAQBAJ&dq="aleutians"+"part+of+oceania"&pg=PA185. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
37. ↑ Wallace, Alfred Russel (1879). Australasia. University of Michigan. p. 2. https://books.google.com/books?id=e2kcAAAAMAAJ&dq="oceania+is+the+word+often"&pg=PA2. Retrieved 12 March 2022. "The more northerly section, lying between Japan and California and between the Aleutian and Hawaiian Archipelagos is relived by nothing but a few solitary reefs and rocks at enormously distant intervals."
38. ↑ Kohlhoff, Dean (2002). Amchitka and the Bomb: Nuclear Testing in Alaska. University of Washington Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0295800509. https://books.google.com/books?id=kSWn8lbI4q4C&dq="aleutian+islands"+"oceania"&pg=PA6. Retrieved 12 March 2022. "The regional name of the Pacific Islands is appropriate: Oceania, a sea of islands, including those of Alaska and Hawaii. The Pacific Basin is not insignificant or remote. It covers one third of the globe's surface. Its northern boundary is the Aleutian Islands chain."
39. ↑ Flick, Alexander Clarence (1926). Modern World History, 1776-1926: A Survey of the Origins and Development of Contemporary Civilization. A. A. Knopf. p. 492. https://books.google.com/books?id=PhGHAAAAMAAJ&q=Modern World History, 1776-1926A Survey of the Origins and Development of Contemporary Civilization. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
40. ↑ Henderson, John William (1971). Area Handbook for Oceania. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 5. https://books.google.com/books?id=NuOIqt-UQowC&dq="oceania"+"aleutian+islands"&pg=PR5. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
41. ↑ Lewis & Wigen 1997, pp. 7–9.
42. ↑ "Asia". AccessScience. McGraw-Hill. http://accessscience.com/abstract.aspx?id=054800&referURL=http://accessscience.com/content.aspx?id=054800.
43. ↑ Schwartz, Benjamin (December 2008). "Geography Is Destiny". The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200812/editors-choice.
44. ↑ Out of Africa. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
45. ↑ Peking Man . The History of Human Evolution. American Museum of Natural History. 23 April 2014.
46. ↑ By Land and Sea. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
47. ↑ "New evidence in search for the mysterious Denisovans". Australian Museum. https://australian.museum/about/organisation/media-centre/new-evidence-denisovans/.
48. ↑ Sutikna, Thomas et al. (30 March 2016). "Revised stratigraphy and chronology for Homo floresiensis at Liang Bua in Indonesia". Nature 532 (7599): 366–369. doi:10.1038/nature17179. PMID 27027286. Bibcode: 2016Natur.532..366S. https://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers/3778.
49. ↑ Vallini, Leonardo; Zampieri, Carlo; Shoaee, Mohamed Javad; Bortolini, Eugenio; Marciani, Giulia; Aneli, Serena; Pievani, Telmo; Benazzi, Stefano et al. (25 March 2024). "The Persian plateau served as hub for Homo sapiens after the main out of Africa dispersal". Nature Communications 15 (1): 1882. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-46161-7. ISSN 2041-1723. PMID 38528002. Bibcode: 2024NatCo..15.1882V. "... and the split between EEC and WEC, with the former leaving the Hub18, 46 kya (allowing the time for them to reach Ust’Ishim and Bacho Kiro by ~45 kya).".
50. ↑ Sapiens (8 February 2022). "A Genetic Chronicle of the First Peoples in the Americas" (in en-US). https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/ancient-dna-native-americans/.
51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 Narasimhan, Vagheesh M.; Patterson, Nick; Moorjani, Priya; Rohland, Nadin; Bernardos, Rebecca (6 September 2019). "The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia". Science 365 (6457). doi:10.1126/science.aat7487. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 31488661. Bibcode: 2019Sci...365t7487N.
52. ↑ Lee, Adela C. Y.. "Ancient Silk Road Travellers". Silkroad Foundation. http://www.silk-road.com/artl/srtravelmain.shtml.
53. ↑ "How Islam Spread Throughout the World". 14 December 2018. https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-islam-spread-throughout-the-world.
54. ↑ "Did you know?: The Spread of Islam in Southeast Asia through the Trade Routes". https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/did-you-know-spread-islam-southeast-asia-through-trade-routes.
55. ↑ Ping-ti Ho. "An Estimate of the Total Population of Sung-Chin China", in Études Song, Series 1, No. 1, (1970). pp. 33–53.
56. ↑ "Black Death". BBC. 17 February 2011. https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/blackdisease_01.shtml.
57. ↑ Hu-DeHart, Evelyn; López, Kathleen (2008). "Asian Diasporas in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Historical Overview". Afro-Hispanic Review 27 (1): 9–21. ISSN 0278-8969.
58. ↑ "The Story of India". PBS. https://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/timeline/5/.
59. ↑ Sen, Sailendra Nath (2010). An Advanced History of Modern India. Macmillan. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-230-32885-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=bXWiACEwPR8C&pg=PA1941-IA82.
60. ↑ "How India's Economy Will Overtake the U.S.'s". Time. 28 July 2023. https://time.com/6297539/how-india-economy-will-surpass-us/. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
61. ↑ "Behind the Enduring Relevance of the Suez Canal Is the Long Shadow of European Colonialism". The Wire. https://thewire.in/history/suez-canal-relevance-europe-colonialism. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
62. ↑ "Milestones: 1830–1860 – Office of the Historian". https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/china-1.
63. ↑ "For China, the history that matters is its 'century of humiliation'". South China Morning Post. 28 September 2021. https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3150233/china-history-matters-still-century-humiliation.
64. ↑ "Southeast Asia, 1800–1900 A.D.". Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/10/sse.html.
65. ↑ "Introduction: Race and Empire in Meiji Japan". 15 October 2020. https://apjjf.org/2020/20/Zohar.html.
66. ↑ Huffman, James L. (2019). The Rise and Evolution of Meiji Japan. Amsterdam University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctvzgb64z. ISBN 978-1-898823-94-0.
67. ↑ "The United States and the Opening to Japan, 1853". https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/opening-to-japan.
68. ↑ Yakoubi, Myriam (4 January 2022). "The French, the British and their Middle Eastern Mandates (1918-1939): Two Political Strategies". Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique. French Journal of British Studies XXVII (1). doi:10.4000/rfcb.8787. ISSN 0248-9015.
69. ↑ Kennedy, Dane (2016). "Global war's colonial consequence". Decolonization: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. pp. 25–45. doi:10.1093/actrade/9780199340491.003.0003. ISBN 978-0-19-934049-1.
70. ↑ Dalrymple, William (22 June 2015). "The Mutual Genocide of Indian Partition". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/29/the-great-divide-books-dalrymple. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
71. ↑ "How the Cold War Shaped Bangladesh's Liberation War". the Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/how-the-cold-war-shaped-bangladeshs-liberation-war/. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
72. ↑ Foust, Joshua (16 December 2011). "No Great Game: The Story of Post-Cold War Powers in Central Asia". The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/12/no-great-game-the-story-of-post-cold-war-powers-in-central-asia/250010/. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
73. ↑ "Oil Discovered in Saudi Arabia". https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/oil-discovered-saudi-arabia/.
74. ↑ Bazelon, Emily (1 February 2024). "The Road to 1948, and the Roots of a Perpetual Conflict". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/02/01/magazine/israel-founding-palestinian-conflict.html.
75. ↑ "America's Middle East Scorecard: Many Interventions, Few Successes". NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/08/25/341892606/america-s-middle-east-scorecard-many-interventions-few-successes.
76. ↑ "Economic Issues 1 – Growth in East Asia". https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/issues1/.
77. ↑ "China's Post-1978 Economic Development and Entry into the Global Trading System". https://www.cato.org/publications/chinas-post-1978-economic-development-entry-global-trading-system.
78. ↑ Saul, Derek. "China And India Will Overtake U.S. Economically By 2075, Goldman Sachs Economists Say". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/12/06/china-and-india-will-overtake-us-economically-by-2075-goldman-sachs-economists-say/.
79. ↑ "25 years of liberalisation: A glimpse of India's growth in 14 charts". Firstpost. 7 July 2016. https://www.firstpost.com/business/25-years-of-liberalisation-a-glimpse-of-indias-growth-in-14-charts-2877654.html.
80. ↑ Kumar, Manoj (17 July 2023). "One-tenth of India's population escaped poverty in 5 years – government report". Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/one-tenth-indias-population-escaped-poverty-5-years-government-report-2023-07-17/.
81. ↑ Matamis, Joaquin (16 June 2024). "From the Mountains to the Seas: India-China Competition in the Wake of Galwan". Stimson Center. https://www.stimson.org/2024/from-the-mountains-to-the-seas-india-china-competition-in-the-wake-of-galwan/.
82. ↑ Kuo, Mercy A.. "The Origin of 'Indo-Pacific' as Geopolitical Construct". The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2018/01/the-origin-of-indo-pacific-as-geopolitical-construct/. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
83. ↑ "A Map of the Countries between Constantinople and Calcutta: Including Turkey in Asia, Persia, Afghanistan and Turkestan". 1885. http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11753/#institution=library-of-congress&page=17.
84. ↑ "Asia". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2006. https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110518/Asia.
85. ↑ FAO (2025) (in English). Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025. FAO. doi:10.4060/cd6709en. ISBN 978-92-5-140082-1. https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cd6709en.
86. ↑ "Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use (M49 Standard)". UN Statistics Division. https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/. "Geographic Regions" anklicken Zitat: "The assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories by the United Nations."
87. ↑ Beck, Hylke E.; Zimmermann, Niklaus E.; McVicar, Tim R.; Vergopolan, Noemi; Berg, Alexis; Wood, Eric F. (30 October 2018). "Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution". Scientific Data 5. doi:10.1038/sdata.2018.214. PMID 30375988. Bibcode: 2018NatSD...580214B.
88. ↑ 88.0 88.1 "Democracy Report 2026, Unraveling The Democratic Era?". https://v-dem.net/documents/75/V-Dem_Institute_Democracy_Report_2026_lowres.pdf.
89. ↑ 89.0 89.1 ""World Population prospects – Population division"". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. https://population.un.org/wpp/.
90. ↑ 90.0 90.1 ""Overall total population" – World Population Prospects: The 2019 Revision" (xslx). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Files/1_Indicators (Standard)/EXCEL_FILES/1_Population/WPP2019_POP_F01_1_TOTAL_POPULATION_BOTH_SEXES.xlsx.
91. ↑ 91.0 91.1 91.2 "World Economic Outlook Database April 2026". https://data.imf.org/en/Data-Explorer?datasetUrn=IMF.RES:WEO(9.0.0).
92. ↑ "Largest_Economies_in_Asia". http://www.aneki.com/countries2.php?t=Largest_Economies_in_Asia&table=fb126&places=2&unit=*&order=desc&dependency=independent&number=5&cntdn=n&r=-201-202-203-204-205-206-207-208-209-210-211-212-116-214-215-216-217-218-219-220&c=asia&measures=Country--GDP&units=*--$*&decimals=*--*.
93. ↑ "Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo World's Top Office Destinations". CFO innovation ASIA. http://www.cfoinnovation.com/content/hong-kong-singapore-tokyo-worlds-top-office-destinations.
94. ↑ Farah, Paolo Davide (4 August 2006), Five Years of China WTO Membership: EU and US Perspectives About China's Compliance With Transparency Commitments and the Transitional Review Mechanism
95. ↑ Maddison, Angus (20 September 2007). Contours of the World Economy 1-2030 AD: Essays in Macro-Economic History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-164758-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=a-JGGp2suQUC&q=angus+maddison. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
96. ↑ Angus, Maddison (2003). Development Centre Studies the World Economy Historical Statistics: Historical Statistics. OECD. ISBN 978-9264104143. https://books.google.com/books?id=rHJGz3HiJbcC&pg=PA261. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
97. ↑ Bairoch, Paul (1995). Economics and world history: Myths and paradoxes. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-03463-8. https://archive.org/details/economicsworldhi00bair_0.
98. ↑ Maddison, Angus (17 September 2006). Table B–18. World GDP, 20 Countries and Regional Totals, 0–1998 A.D.. Development Centre Studies. doi:10.1787/9789264022621-en. ISBN 978-92-64-02261-4. http://www.theworldeconomy.org/MaddisonTables/MaddisontableB-18.pdf. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
99. ↑ Nalapat, M. D. (11 September 2001). "Ensuring China's "Peaceful Rise"". Bharat-rakshak.com. http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/SRR/Volume14/nalapat.html.
100. ↑ "The Real Great Leap Forward". The Economist. 30 September 2004. http://www.economist.com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_PNTJQTR.
101. ↑ "Rise of Japan and 4 Asian Tigers from". emergingdragon.com. http://www.emergingdragon.com/.
102. ↑ Fairless, Tom. "Rich Countries Are Becoming Addicted to Cheap Labor". The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/economy/business-immigrant-low-skilled-labor-addiction-bf009a83.
103. ↑ "Global firms are eyeing Asian alternatives to Chinese manufacturing". The Economist. https://www.economist.com/business/2023/02/20/global-firms-are-eyeing-asian-alternatives-to-chinese-manufacturing.
104. ↑ "Philippine potential cited". SME. 24 February 2011. http://www.sme.com.ph/sme-news/news.php?newsid=2324.
105. ↑ "India growing as offshore outsourcing hub even for non-IT roles: Randstad India". Business Today. 28 October 2021. https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/corporate/story/india-growing-as-offshore-outsourcing-hub-even-for-non-it-roles-randstad-india-310773-2021-10-28.
106. ↑ "Melting Arctic ice could transform international shipping routes, study finds". Brown University. 19 September 2024. https://www.brown.edu/news/2022-06-22/arctic.
107. ↑ "Global Marine Trends 2030 Report". https://www.futurenautics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/GlobalMarineTrends2030Report.pdf.
108. ↑ Harry G. Broadman. "Afrika's Silk Road" (2007), pp. 59.
109. ↑ Harry de Wilt. Is One Belt, One Road a China crisis for North Sea main ports? in World Cargo News, 17 December 2019.
110. ↑ Bernhard Simon: Can The New Silk Road Compete With The Maritime Silk Road? in The Maritime Executive, 1 January 2020.
111. ↑ Jean-Marc F. Blanchard "China's Maritime Silk Road Initiative and South Asia" (2018).
112. ↑ "INTRA-ASIA". https://www.joc.com/maritime-news/trade-lanes/intra-asia.
113. ↑ "Asia has more millionaires than Europe". Toronto. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-news/asian-pacific/asias-millionaire-population-overtakes-europe/article2072205/.
114. ↑ Vallikappen, Sanat (28 March 2012). "Citigroup Study Shows Asian Rich Topping North American". Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-27/citigroup-study-shows-asian-rich-topping-north-american.html.
115. ↑ "Global Electricity Review 2025" (in en-US). https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-review-2025.
116. ↑ "Asia" (in en-US). https://ember-energy.org/countries-and-regions/asia.
117. ↑ 117.0 117.1 117.2 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2023). "Asia". Climate Change 2022 – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. pp. 1457–1580. doi:10.1017/9781009325844.012. ISBN 978-1-009-32584-4. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Chapter10.pdf.
118. ↑ "Asia" (in en-US). 13 June 2025. https://ember-energy.org/countries-and-regions/asia.
119. ↑ IEA. "Natural gas: Global Energy Review 2025" (in en-GB). https://www.iea.org/reports/global-energy-review-2025/natural-gas.
120. ↑ Climate Analytics (13 February 2024). "Tripling renewables by 2030: interpreting the global goal at the regional level" (in en). https://climateanalytics.org/publications/tripling-renewables-by-2030-interpreting-the-global-goal-at-the-regional-level.
121. ↑ IEA. "COP28 Tripling Renewable Capacity Pledge" (in en-GB). https://www.iea.org/reports/cop28-tripling-renewable-capacity-pledge/executive-summary.
122. ↑ "Yearly Electricity Data" (in en-US). https://ember-energy.org/data/yearly-electricity-data.
123. ↑ Ember (9 September 2025). China Anergy Transition 2025. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/09/China-Energy-Transition-Review-2025.pdf.
124. ↑ Ember. "India" (in en-US). https://ember-energy.org/countries-and-regions/india.
125. ↑ "Milan and Rome named among the most widely visited cities in the world in the Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index report". 28 May 2013. http://www.italianvenue.com/news/20135281339-milan-and-rome-named-among-the-most-widely-visited-cities-in-the-world-in-the-mastercard-global-destination-cities-index-report/.
126. ↑ 126.0 126.1 126.2 "2010 Human Development Report: Asian countries lead development progress over 40 years". UNDP. http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/PR6-HDR10-RegRBAP-E-rev5-sm.pdf.
127. ↑ Obeid, Anis (2006). The Druze & Their Faith in Tawhid. Syracuse University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-8156-5257-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=FejqBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT1.
128. ↑ MacQueen, Benjamin (2013). An Introduction to Middle East Politics: Continuity, Change, Conflict and Co-operation. SAGE. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-4462-8976-1. "The Middle East is the cradle of the three monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam."
129. ↑ Takacs, Sarolta (2015). The Modern World: Civilizations of Africa, Civilizations of Europe, Civilizations of the Americas, Civilizations of the Middle East and Southwest Asia, Civilizations of Asia and the Pacific. Routledge. p. 552. ISBN 978-1-317-45572-1.
130. ↑ "The Jewish Population of the World". Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/jewpop.html.
131. ↑ Ettinger, Yoram (5 April 2013). "Defying demographic projections". Israel Hayom. http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=3913.
132. ↑ "Turkey Virtual Jewish History Tour | Jewish Virtual Library". jewishvirtuallibrary.org. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Turkey.html.
133. ↑ "Ethnic composition of Azerbaijan 2009". Pop-stat.mashke.org. 7 April 1971. http://pop-stat.mashke.org/azerbaijan-ethnic2009.htm.
134. ↑ "Jewish woman brutally murdered in Iran over property dispute". The Times of Israel. 28 November 2012. http://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-woman-brutally-murdered-in-iran-over-property-dispute/. "A government census published earlier this year indicated there were a mere 8,756 Jews left in Iran" See Persian Jews#Iran
135. ↑ "World Jewish Population 2007". http://www.ajcarchives.org/AJC_DATA/Files/AJYB727.CV.pdf. , American Jewish Yearbook, vol. 107 (2007), p. 592.
136. ↑ "World Jewish Population 2016". http://www.jewishdatabank.org/Studies/details.cfm?StudyID=831.
137. ↑ "Christians". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 18 December 2012. http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-christians/.
138. ↑ Britannica Book of the Year 2014. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2014. ISBN 978-1-62513-171-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=LccRAwAAQBAJ&q=reconciled table "worldwide by religion"&pg=PA324. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
139. ↑ 139.0 139.1 139.2 139.3 "Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population". Pew Research Center. https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf.
140. ↑ Hindson, Edward E.; Mitchell, Daniel R. (1 August 2013). The Popular Encyclopedia of Church History. Harvest House. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-7369-4807-4.
141. ↑ The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 5 by Erwin Fahlbusch. Wm. B. Eerdmans. 2008, p. 285. ISBN 978-0-8028-2417-2.
142. ↑ "Region: Asia–Pacific". 27 January 2011. http://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-asia/.
143. ↑ Colbert, C. Held (2008). Middle East Patterns: Places, People, and Politics. Routledge. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-429-96200-4. "Worldwide, they number 1 million or so, with about 45 to 50 percent in Syria, 35 to 40 percent in Lebanon, and less than 10 percent in Israel. Recently there has been a growing Druze diaspora."
144. ↑ Jha, Preeti (26 December 2007). "Guinness comes to east Delhi: Akshardham world's largest Hindu temple". The Indian Express. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Guinness-comes-to-east-Delhi-Akshardham-worlds-largest-Hindu-temple/254631/.
145. ↑ Template:Cite CIA World Factbook
146. ↑ Template:Cite CIA World Factbook
147. ↑ Template:Cite CIA World Factbook
148. ↑ Template:Cite CIA World Factbook
149. ↑ Template:Cite CIA World Factbook
150. ↑ "The Census of Population and Housing of Sri Lanka-2011". Department of Census and Statistics. http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/CPH2011/index.php?fileName=pop43&gp=Activities&tpl=3.
151. ↑ Template:Cite CIA World Factbook
152. ↑ Template:Cite CIA World Factbook
153. ↑ Template:Cite CIA World Factbook
154. ↑ "China (includes Taiwan only): International Religious Freedom Report 2005". US Department of State: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 8 November 2005. https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51508.htm.
155. ↑ "China (includes Taiwan only): International Religious Freedom Report 2006". US Department of State: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 15 September 2006. https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71337.htm.
156. ↑ "China (includes Taiwan only): International Religious Freedom Report 2007". US Department of State: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 15 September 2006. https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90134.htm.
157. ↑ Template:Cite CIA World Factbook
158. ↑ Template:Cite CIA World Factbook
159. ↑ Template:Cite CIA World Factbook
160. ↑ Template:Cite CIA World Factbook
161. ↑ "Chinese Han Nationality: Language, Religion, Customs". http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/nationality/han/.
162. ↑ "Singapore Census 2020, Demographic Characteristics, Education, Language and Religion, p.215-216". Singapore Department of Statistics. https://www.singstat.gov.sg/-/media/files/publications/cop2020/sr1/cop2020sr1.pdf.
163. ↑ "Culture of North Korea – Alternative name, History and ethnic relations". Countries and Their Cultures. Advameg. http://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/North-Korea.html.
164. ↑ Template:Cite CIA World Factbook
165. ↑ Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2009). "Background Note: North Korea". U.S. State Department. https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2792.htm.
166. ↑ "Geographic Regions". United Nations. https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/.
167. ↑ Collon, Dominique. "BBC – History – Ancient History in depth: Mesopotamia". https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/cultures/mesopotamia_gallery.shtml.
168. ↑ Morris, Ian (2011). Why the West rules – for now: the patterns of history, and what they reveal about the future. Profile. ISBN 978-1846682087. OCLC 751789199.
169. ↑ Lockard, Craig A. (19 June 2014). Societies, Networks, and Transitions, Volume I: To 1500: A Global History. Cengage. ISBN 978-1285783086. https://books.google.com/books?id=lTEeCgAAQBAJ&q=Indianized+kingdoms&pg=PA299. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
170. ↑ "Muhammad Yunus returns to Bangladesh to lead interim government". https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/8/muhammad-yunus-returns-to-bangladesh-to-lead-interim-government.
171. ↑ His Holiness's Teachings at TCV. "A Brief Biography – The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama". Dalailama.com. http://www.dalailama.com/biography/a-brief-biography.

## Bibliography

* Lewis, Martin W.; Wigen, Kären (1997). The myth of continents: a critique of metageography. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-20743-1.
* Ventris, Michael; Chadwick, John (1973). Documents in Mycenaean Greek (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

## Further reading

* Embree, Ainslie T., ed. Encyclopedia of Asian history (1988)
* vol. 1 online; vol 2 online; vol 3 online; vol 4 online
* Higham, Charles. Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations. Facts on File library of world history. New York: Facts On File, 2004.
* Kamal, Niraj. "Arise Asia: Respond to White Peril". New Delhi: Wordsmith, 2002, ISBN 978-81-87412-08-3
* Kapadia, Feroz, and Mandira Mukherjee. Encyclopaedia of Asian Culture and Society. New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 1999.
* Levinson, David, and Karen Christensen, eds. Encyclopedia of Modern Asia. (6 vol. Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002).
* Wang, Hui (31 March 2011). The Politics of Imagining Asia. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-05519-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=L_d9QajZdFwC.

## External links

* Template:GovPubs
* Asia at the Encyclopædia Britannica
* Asia: Human Geography at the National Geographic Society
* Asian Reading Room from the United States Library of Congress
* "Display Maps". The Soil Maps of Asia. European Digital Archive of Soil Maps – EuDASM. http://eusoils.jrc.ec.europa.eu/esdb_archive/EuDASM/asia/indexes/idx_country.htm.
* "Asia Maps". Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection. University of Texas Libraries. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/asia.html.
* "Asia". Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library. http://maps.bpl.org/search_advanced/?mtid=786.
* Bowring, Philip (12 February 1987). "What is Asia?". Eastern Economic Review 135 (7). http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/geography/geo_whatis.html. Retrieved 22 April 2009.

* v
* t
* e

Asia articles

History|

| Chronology|

* Indian Ocean trade
* Silk Road
* Imperialism
* Decolonisation

|

By topic|

* Military
* conflicts
* Sovereignty

Geography|

* Cities
* metropolitan areas
* tallest buildings
* Countries and territories
* by population
* Extreme points
* Islands
* Lakes
* Mountains
* Rivers

Regions|

* Asia-Pacific
* Central Asia
* East Asia
* Eurasia
* Inner Asia
* North Asia
* Northeast Asia
* South Asia
* Southeast Asia
* Tropical Asia
* Western Asia

Politics|

* Heads of government
* Heads of state
* Elections
* political parties
* Human rights
* Law
* Military

Intergovernmental|

* Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD)
* Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
* Bay of Bengal Initiative (BIMSTEC)
* Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)
* Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)
* Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
* Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)
* Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG / GCC)
* Mekong–Ganga Cooperation (MGC)
* Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
* South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
* Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

Economy|

* Countries by GDP (PPP)
* Countries by HDI
* Currencies
* Stock exchanges
* Technology
* renewable energy
* Transport
* airports
* high-speed rail

Markets|

* Bond markets
* Property markets

Society|

* Demographics
* Education
* Etiquette
* Health
* Languages
* People
* ethnic groups

Culture|

* Art
* Cinema
* Cuisine
* Literature
* Music
* Philosophy
* Religion
* Sport

Future|

* Asian Century
* Chinese Century
* Indian Century
* Pacific Century

* Maps

Template:Countries of Asia

* v
* t
* e

Continents of the world

|  |

Africa

Antarctica

Asia

Australia

Europe

North America

South America

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

|  |

Afro-Eurasia

America

Eurasia

Oceania

|
|
|
|

|  |

* Prehistoric supercontinents
Gondwana
* Laurasia
* Pangaea
* Pannotia
* Rodinia
* Columbia
* Kenorland
* Nena
* Sclavia
* Ur
* Vaalbara

* Other prehistoric continents
Amazonia
* Arctica
* Asiamerica
* Atlantica
* Avalonia
* Baltica
* Cimmeria
* Congo Craton
* Euramerica
* Kalaharia
* Kazakhstania
* Laurentia
* North China
* Siberia
* South China
* East Antarctica
* Pampia
* Cuyania
* Chilenia

|
|

|  |

* Submerged continents
Kerguelen Plateau
* Zealandia
* Sahul
* Sunda

* Possible future supercontinents
Pangaea Ultima
* Amasia
* Novopangaea

* Mythical and hypothesised continents
Atlantis
* Kumari Kandam
* Lemuria
* Meropis
* Mu
* Hyperborea
* Terra Australis

* Subcontinents
Arabian Peninsula
* Indian subcontinent
* Madagascar

|
|
|
|

* See also Regions of the world
* Continental fragment

* Book
* Category

* v
* t
* e

Earth's primary regions

* v
* t
* e

Regions of Africa

Central Africa|

* Guinea region
* Gulf of Guinea
* Cape Lopez
* Mayombe
* Igboland
* Mbaise
* Pool Malebo
* Congo Basin
* Chad Basin
* Cameroonian Highlands forests
* Congolian rainforests
* Ouaddaï highlands
* Ennedi Plateau

East Africa|

* African Great Lakes
* Albertine Rift
* East African Rift
* Great Rift Valley
* Gregory Rift
* Rift Valley lakes
* Virunga Mountains
* Kavirondo
* Zanj
* East African montane forests
* Eastern Arc Mountains
* Serengeti
* Horn of Africa
* Afar Triangle
* Al-Habash
* Barbara
* Danakil Alps
* Danakil Desert
* Ethiopian Highlands
* Dahlak Archipelago
* Hanish Islands
* Gulf of Aden
* Gulf of Tadjoura
* Red Sea
* Indian Ocean islands
* Comoro Islands
* Lamu Archipelago
* Zanzibar Archipelago
* Swahili coast

North Africa|

* Eastern Desert
* Maghreb
* Ancient Libya
* Atlas Mountains
* Barbary Coast
* Bashmur
* Gibraltar Arc
* Ifriqiya
* Nile Valley
* Nile Delta
* Cataracts of the Nile
* Darfur
* Gulf of Aqaba
* Lower Egypt
* Lower Nubia
* Middle Egypt
* Nile Delta
* Nuba Mountains
* Nubia
* The Sudans
* Upper Egypt
* Tibesti Mountains
* Western Sahara

West Africa|

* Pepper Coast
* Gold Coast
* Slave Coast
* Ivory Coast
* Cape Palmas
* Cape Mesurado
* Guinea region
* Guinean Forests of West Africa
* Upper Guinean forests
* Lower Guinean forests
* Guinean forest-savanna mosaic
* Guinea Highlands
* Gulf of Guinea
* Niger Basin
* Dahomey Gap
* Niger Delta
* Inner Niger Delta
* Yorubaland

Southern Africa|

* Madagascar
* Central Highlands (Madagascar)
* Northern Highlands
* Rhodesia
* North
* South
* Thembuland
* Succulent Karoo
* Nama Karoo
* Bushveld
* Maputaland
* Highveld
* Fynbos
* Cape Floristic Region
* Skeleton Coast
* Kalahari Desert
* Okavango Delta
* Cape Peninsula
* False Bay
* Hydra Bay

Macro-regions|

* Aethiopia
* Afromontane
* Arab world
* Commonwealth realm
* Equatorial Africa
* Françafrique
* Greater Middle East
* Guineo-Congolian region
* Islands of Africa
* List of countries where Arabic is an official language
* Mediterranean Basin
* MENA
* MENASA
* Middle East
* Miombo woodlands
* Mittelafrika
* Negroland
* Northeast Africa
* Portuguese-speaking African countries
* Sahara
* Sahel
* Sub-Saharan Africa
* Sudan (region)
* Sudanian Savanna
* East Sudanian Savanna
* Tropical Africa
* Zambezian region

* v
* t
* e

Regions of Asia

Central|

* Greater Middle East
* Aral Sea
* Aralkum Desert
* Caspian Sea
* Dead Sea
* Sea of Galilee
* Tartary
* Transoxiana
* Turan
* Greater Khorasan
* Ariana
* Arachosia
* Khwarazm
* Sistan
* Kazakhstania
* Kazakh Steppe
* Betpak-Dala
* Eurasian Steppe
* Asian Steppe
* Kazakh Steppe
* Pontic–Caspian steppe
* Mongolian-Manchurian grassland
* Wild Fields
* Yedisan
* Muravsky Trail
* Ural
* Ural Mountains
* Volga region
* Idel-Ural
* Pryazovia
* Bjarmaland
* Kuban
* Zalesye
* Ingria
* Novorossiya
* Gornaya Shoriya
* Tulgas
* Iranian Plateau
* Altai Mountains
* Pamir Mountains
* Tian Shan
* Badakhshan
* Wakhan Corridor
* Wakhjir Pass
* Mount Imeon
* Mongolian Plateau
* Western Regions
* Taklamakan Desert
* Karakoram
* Trans-Karakoram Tract
* Siachen Glacier

North|

* Arctic
* Arctic Circle
* Inner Asia
* Northeast
* Ural
* Ural Mountains
* Far East
* Russian Far East
* Okhotsk-Manchurian taiga
* Beringia
* Chukchi Peninsula
* Kamchatka Peninsula
* Extreme North
* Tartary
* Siberia
* Baikalia (Lake Baikal)
* Baraba steppe
* Khatanga Gulf
* Transbaikal
* West
* Amur Basin
* Yenisei Gulf
* Yenisei Basin
* Sikhote-Alin
* Kolyma
* Bering Strait
* Ring of Fire
* Asia-Pacific

East|

* Orient
* Japanese archipelago
* Northeastern Japan Arc
* Sakhalin Island Arc
* Korean Peninsula
* Gobi Desert
* Taklamakan Desert
* Greater Khingan
* Mongolian Plateau
* Inner Asia
* Inner Mongolia
* Outer Mongolia
* China proper
* Manchuria
* Outer Manchuria
* Inner Manchuria
* Northeast China Plain
* Mongolian-Manchurian grassland
* North China Plain
* Yan Mountains
* Kunlun Mountains
* Liaodong Peninsula
* High-mountain Asia
* Himalayas
* Tibetan Plateau
* Tibet
* Karakoram
* Tarim Basin
* Sichuan Basin
* Northern Silk Road
* Hexi Corridor
* Nanzhong
* Lingnan
* Liangguang
* Jiangnan
* Jianghuai
* Guanzhong
* Huizhou
* Wu
* Jiaozhou
* Zhongyuan
* Shaannan
* Ordos Loop
* Loess Plateau
* Shaanbei
* Hamgyong Mountains
* Central Mountain Range
* Japanese Alps
* Suzuka Mountains
* Leizhou Peninsula
* Gulf of Tonkin
* Yangtze River
* Yangtze River Delta
* Yellow River
* Pearl River Delta
* Yenisei Basin
* Altai Mountains
* Wakhan Corridor
* Wakhjir Pass
* Far East
* Ring of Fire
* Asia-Pacific
* Tropical Asia

West|

* Greater Middle East
* MENA
* MENASA
* Middle East
* Red Sea
* Hanish Islands
* Caspian Sea
* Mediterranean Sea
* Zagros Mountains
* Elam
* Persian Gulf
* Pirate Coast
* Strait of Hormuz
* Greater and Lesser Tunbs
* Al-Faw Peninsula
* Gulf of Oman
* Gulf of Aqaba
* Gulf of Aden
* Balochistan
* Arabian Peninsula
* Najd
* Al-Yamama
* Hejaz
* Tihamah
* Eastern Arabia
* South Arabia
* Hadhramaut
* Arabian Peninsula coastal fog desert
* Al-Sharat
* Tigris–Euphrates
* Mesopotamia
* Upper Mesopotamia
* Lower Mesopotamia
* Sawad
* Nineveh plains
* Akkad (region)
* Babylonia
* Canaan
* Aram
* Aram-Naharaim
* Eber-Nari
* Suhum
* Eastern Mediterranean
* Mashriq
* Kurdistan
* Levant
* Southern Levant
* Transjordan
* Jordan Rift Valley
* Levantine Sea
* Holy Land
* Palestine
* Land of Israel
* Golan Heights
* Hula Valley
* Galilee
* Gilead
* Judea
* Samaria
* Arabah
* Anti-Lebanon Mountains
* Sinai Peninsula
* Arabian Desert
* Syrian Desert
* Fertile Crescent
* Azerbaijan
* Syria
* Hauran
* Iranian Plateau
* Dasht-e Kavir
* Armenian Highlands
* Caucasus
* Caucasus Mountains
* Greater Caucasus
* Lesser Caucasus
* North Caucasus
* South Caucasus
* Shirvan
* Kur-Araz Lowland
* Lankaran Lowland
* Alborz
* Absheron Peninsula
* Kartli
* Anatolia
* Taurus Mountains
* Aeolis
* Paphlagonia
* Phasiane
* Isauria
* Ionia
* Bithynia
* Cilicia
* Cappadocia
* Caria
* Corduene
* Chaldia
* Doris
* Lycaonia
* Lycia
* Lydia
* Galatia
* Pisidia
* Pontus
* Mysia
* Arzawa
* Speri
* Sophene
* Biga Peninsula
* Troad
* Tuwana
* Alpide belt

South|

* Orient
* Greater India
* Indian subcontinent
* Himalayas
* Hindu Kush
* Bactria
* Carnatic region
* Tamilakam
* Western Ghats
* Eastern Ghats
* Ganges Basin
* Ganges Delta
* Guzgan
* Pashtunistan
* Punjab
* Balochistan
* Gedrosia
* Makran
* Marathwada
* Kashmir
* Kashmir Valley
* Pir Panjal Range
* Thar Desert
* Indus Valley
* Indus River Delta
* Indus Valley Desert
* Indo-Gangetic Plain
* Eastern Coastal Plains
* Kalinga
* Western Coastal Plains
* Meghalaya subtropical forests
* MENASA
* Lower Gangetic plains moist deciduous forests
* Northwestern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows
* Doab
* Bagar tract
* Great Rann of Kutch
* Little Rann of Kutch
* Deccan Plateau
* Coromandel Coast
* Konkan
* False Divi Point
* Hindi Belt
* Ladakh
* Aksai Chin
* Gilgit-Baltistan
* Baltistan
* Shigar Valley
* High-mountain Asia
* Karakoram
* Saltoro Mountains
* Siachen Glacier
* Bengal
* Bay of Bengal
* Gulf of Khambhat
* Gulf of Kutch
* Halar
* Gulf of Mannar
* Trans-Karakoram Tract
* Wakhan Corridor
* Wakhjir Pass
* Lakshadweep
* Laccadive Islands
* Amindivi Islands
* Paropamisadae
* Andaman and Nicobar Islands
* Andaman Islands
* Nicobar Islands
* Maldive Islands
* Alpide belt
* Asia-Pacific
* Tropical Asia

Southeast|

* Orient
* Sundaland
* Mainland
* Indochina
* Malay Peninsula
* Northern Triangle temperate forests
* Maritime
* Peninsular Malaysia
* Sunda Islands
* Greater Sunda Islands
* Lesser Sunda Islands
* Indonesian Archipelago
* Wallacea
* Timor
* Philippine Archipelago
* Luzon
* Visayas
* Mindanao
* Leyte Gulf
* Gulf of Thailand
* East Indies
* Nanyang
* Alpide belt
* Far East
* Ring of Fire
* Asia-Pacific
* Tropical Asia

* v
* t
* e

Regions of Europe

North|

* Arctic
* Arctic Circle
* Nordic
* Northwestern
* Scandinavia
* Scandinavian Peninsula
* Fennoscandia
* Baltoscandia
* Jutland
* Gotland
* Sápmi
* Ingria
* West Nordic
* Baltic
* Baltic Sea
* Gulf of Bothnia
* Gulf of Finland
* Iceland
* Faroe Islands
* British Isles

East|

* Danubian countries
* Prussia
* Galicia
* Volhynia
* Wallachia
* Transylvania
* Moldavia
* Bukovina
* Bessarabia
* Livonia
* Ruthenia
* Carpathian Ruthenia
* Donbass
* Sloboda Ukraine
* Sambia Peninsula
* Amber Coast
* Curonian Spit
* Izyum Trail
* Lithuania Minor
* Nemunas Delta
* Baltic
* Baltic Sea
* Vyborg Bay
* Karelia
* East Karelia
* Karelian Isthmus
* Lokhaniemi
* Southeastern
* Crimea
* Epirus
* Rumelia
* Balkans
* Aegean Sea
* Aegean Islands
* Attica
* Boeotia
* Opuntian Locris
* Phocis
* Megaris
* Peloponnese
* Chalkidiki
* Aetolia
* Gulf of Chania
* North Caucasus
* Greater Caucasus
* Kabardia
* Istria
* European Russia
* Arctic
* Arctic Circle
* Taman Peninsula
* Southern Russia
* Kola Peninsula

Central|

* North European Plain
* Baltic
* Baltic Sea
* Alpine states
* Alpide belt
* Visegrád Group
* Rhineland
* Eastphalia
* Westphalia
* Prussia
* Lusatia
* Bohemia
* Moravia
* Silesia
* Czech Silesia
* Pomerania
* Pomerelia
* Kashubia
* Bukovina
* Istria
* Transdanubia
* Polesia
* Germania
* Germania Slavica

West|

* Benelux
* Low Countries
* Northwest
* British Isles
* English Channel
* Channel Islands
* Cotentin Peninsula
* Doggerland
* Upper Rhine Plain
* Upper Rhine
* Gaul
* Gascony
* Normandy
* Brittany
* Septimania
* Batavia
* Gulf of Lion
* Iberia
* Al-Andalus
* Baetic System
* Pyrenees
* Alpide belt

South|

* Po Valley (Padania)
* Italian Peninsula
* Tuscan Archipelago
* Insular Italy
* Aegadian Islands
* Occitania
* Iberia
* Al-Andalus
* Baetic System
* Gibraltar Arc
* Southeastern
* Mediterranean
* Alpide belt

* Germanic
* Romance
* Celtic
* Slavic countries
* European Plain
* Eurasian Steppe
* Pontic–Caspian steppe
* Wild Fields
* Pannonian Basin
* Great Hungarian Plain
* Little Hungarian Plain
* Eastern Slovak Lowland

* v
* t
* e

Regions of North America

North
(Canada)|

| Eastern|

* Central Canada
* Atlantic Canada
* Atlantic Northeast
* The Maritimes
* Great Lakes region

|

Western|

* Pacific Northwest
* Prairie Pothole Region

Northern|

* Arctic
* Arctic Circle
* Canadian Arctic Archipelago
* Greenland

* Canadian Prairies
* The Maritimes
* French Canada
* English Canada
* Acadia
* Acadian Peninsula
* Quebec City–Windsor Corridor
* Peace River Country
* Cypress Hills
* Palliser's Triangle
* Canadian Shield
* Interior Alaska-Yukon lowland taiga
* Kodiak Island
* Newfoundland (island)
* Vancouver Island
* Gulf Islands
* Strait of Georgia
* Labrador Peninsula
* Gaspé Peninsula
* Avalon Peninsula
* Bay de Verde Peninsula
* Brodeur Peninsula
* Melville Peninsula
* Bruce Peninsula
* Banks Peninsula (Nunavut)
* Cook Peninsula
* Gulf of Boothia
* Georgian Bay
* Hudson Bay
* James Bay

North
(United States)|

| Arctic|

* Aleutian Arc
* Aleutian Range
* Alaska Peninsula
* Aleutian Islands
* Arctic
* Arctic Circle
* Bering Strait
* Gulf of Alaska

|

Eastern|

* East Coast
* Northeast
* Atlantic Northeast
* The Maritimes
* New England
* Mid-Atlantic
* Commonwealth
* Southeast

Western|

* West Coast
* Mountain states
* Intermountain West
* Great Basin
* Basin and Range Province
* Northwestern United States
* Inland Northwest
* Pacific Northwest
* Southwest
* Old Southwest
* Four Corners

Central|

* Great Lakes
* Tallgrass prairie
* Midwest
* Upper Midwest
* South Central
* Gulf Coast

Southern|

* Deep South
* Old South
* Upland South
* Santa Fe de Nuevo México

* Pacific Coast Ranges
* Oregon Trail
* Mormon Corridor
* Calumet Region
* Llano Estacado
* Third Coast
* Backcountry
* Trans-Mississippi
* Great North Woods
* Great Plains
* Interior Plains
* Great Basin
* Great Basin Desert
* Acadia
* Ozarks
* Ark-La-Tex
* Waxhaws
* Siouxland
* Twin Tiers
* Driftless Area
* Palouse
* Piedmont
* Atlantic coastal plain
* Outer Lands
* Black Dirt Region
* Blackstone Valley
* Piney Woods
* Rocky Mountains
* Mojave Desert
* The Dakotas
* The Carolinas
* Shawnee Hills
* San Fernando Valley
* Tornado Alley
* North Coast
* Lost Coast
* Emerald Triangle
* San Francisco Bay Area
* San Francisco Bay
* North Bay
* East Bay
* Silicon Valley
* Interior Alaska-Yukon lowland taiga
* Gulf of Mexico
* Lower Colorado River Valley
* Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta
* Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta
* Colville Delta
* Arkansas Delta
* Mobile–Tensaw River Delta
* Mississippi Delta
* Mississippi River Delta
* Columbia River Estuary
* Great Basin
* High Desert
* Monterey Peninsula
* Upper Peninsula of Michigan
* Lower Peninsula of Michigan
* Virginia Peninsula
* Keweenaw Peninsula
* Middle Peninsula
* Delmarva Peninsula
* Alaska Peninsula
* Kenai Peninsula
* Niagara Peninsula
* "Belt" regions
* Bible Belt
* Black Belt
* Corn Belt
* Cotton Belt
* Frost Belt
* Rice Belt
* Rust Belt
* Sun Belt
* Snow Belt

Middle|

| Northern|

* Basin and Range Province
* Baja California Peninsula
* Gulf of California
* Colorado River Delta
* Gulf of Mexico

|

Southern|

* Soconusco
* Tierra Caliente
* La Mixteca
* La Huasteca
* Bajío
* Valley of Mexico
* Mezquital Valley
* Sierra Madre de Oaxaca
* Yucatán Peninsula
* Gulf of Mexico

Central|

* Northern Triangle of Central America
* Western Caribbean Zone
* Isthmus of Panama
* Gulf of Panama
* Pearl Islands
* Azuero Peninsula
* Mosquito Coast

Caribbean|

* Antilles
* Greater Antilles
* Lesser Antilles
* Leeward
* Leeward Antilles
* Windward
* Lucayan Archipelago
* Southern Caribbean
* West Indies

* Aridoamerica
* Mesoamerica
* Oasisamerica
* Anglo
* Latin
* French
* Hispanic
* American Cordillera
* Ring of Fire
* LAC

* v
* t
* e

Regions of Oceania

Australia|

| Australian Capital Territory|

* Australian Capital Territory

|

New South Wales|

* Central Coast
* Central Tablelands
* Central Western Slopes
* Greater Western Sydney
* Hunter
* Mid North Coast
* Northern Rivers
* North West Slopes
* Northern Tablelands
* Riverina
* South Coast
* South West Slopes
* Southern Tablelands
* Western Plains

Northern Territory|

* Arnhem Land
* Barkly Tableland
* Central Australia
* Darwin
* Katherine

Queensland|

* Central West
* Central
* Darling Downs
* Far North
* Gulf Country
* North
* South East
* South West
* Wide Bay–Burnett

South Australia|

* Adelaide Hills
* Barossa Light and Lower North
* Eastern Adelaide
* Eyre Western
* Far North
* Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island
* Limestone Coast
* Murray and Mallee
* Northern Adelaide
* Southern Adelaide
* Western Adelaide
* Yorke and Mid North

Tasmania|

* Central Highlands
* East Coast
* Midlands
* North East
* North West
* Northern
* South West
* Southern
* West Coast

Victoria|

* Barwon South West
* Gippsland
* Grampians
* Greater Melbourne
* Hume
* Loddon Mallee

Western Australia|

* Gascoyne
* Goldfields-Esperance
* Great Southern
* Kimberley
* Mid West
* Peel
* Pilbara
* South West
* Wheatbelt

Melanesia|

* Islands Region
* Bismarck Archipelago
* Solomon Islands
* North Solomon Islands
* Solomon Islands
* Fiji
* New Caledonia
* New Guinea
* Bonis Peninsula
* Papuan Peninsula
* Huon Peninsula
* Huon Gulf
* Bird's Head Peninsula
* Gazelle Peninsula
* Vanuatu

Micronesia|

* Caroline Islands
* Federated States of Micronesia
* Palau
* Kiribati
* Mariana Islands
* Guam
* Northern Mariana Islands
* Marshall Islands
* Nauru
* Wake Island

Polynesia|

* Easter Island
* Hawaiian Islands
* Cook Islands
* French Polynesia
* Austral Islands
* Gambier Islands
* Mangareva Islands
* Marquesas Islands
* Society Islands
* Tuamotus
* Kermadec Islands
* New Zealand
* South Island
* North Island
* Niue
* Pitcairn Islands
* Samoan Islands
* American Samoa
* Independent State of Samoa
* Tokelau
* Tonga
* Tuvalu

* Asia-Pacific
* Ring of Fire

* v
* t
* e

Regions of South America

East|

* Amazon basin
* Atlantic Forest
* Caatinga
* Cerrado

North|

* Caribbean South America
* West Indies
* Los Llanos
* The Guianas
* Amazon basin
* Amazon rainforest
* Gulf of Paria
* Paria Peninsula
* Paraguaná Peninsula
* Orinoco Delta

South|

* Tierra del Fuego
* Patagonia
* Pampas
* Pantanal
* Gran Chaco
* Chiquitano dry forests
* Valdes Peninsula
* Triple Frontier
* Río de la Plata
* Río de la Plata Basin

West|

* Andes
* Tropical Andes
* Wet Andes
* Dry Andes
* Pariacaca mountain range
* Altiplano
* Atacama Desert

* Latin
* Hispanic
* Bolivarian
* American Cordillera
* Ring of Fire
* LAC

* v
* t
* e

Earth's Polar regions of Earth

Antarctic|

* Antarctic Peninsula
* East Antarctica
* West Antarctica
* Eklund Islands
* Ecozone
* Extreme points
* Islands

Arctic|

* Arctic Alaska
* British Arctic Territories
* Canadian Arctic Archipelago
* Finnmark
* Greenland
* Northern Canada
* Northwest Territories
* Nunavik
* Nunavut
* Russian Arctic
* Sakha
* Sápmi
* Yukon
* North American Arctic

* v
* t
* e

Earth's Borders of the oceans

Arctic Ocean|

* Amundsen Gulf
* Barents Sea
* Beaufort Sea
* Chukchi Sea
* East Siberian Sea
* Greenland Sea
* Gulf of Boothia
* Kara Sea
* Laptev Sea
* Lincoln Sea
* Prince Gustav Adolf Sea
* Pechora Sea
* Queen Victoria Sea
* Wandel Sea
* White Sea

Atlantic Ocean|

* Adriatic Sea
* Aegean Sea
* Alboran Sea
* Archipelago Sea
* Argentine Sea
* Baffin Bay
* Balearic Sea
* Baltic Sea
* Bay of Biscay
* Bay of Bothnia
* Bay of Campeche
* Bay of Fundy
* Black Sea
* Bothnian Sea
* Caribbean Sea
* Celtic Sea
* English Channel
* Foxe Basin
* Greenland Sea
* Gulf of Bothnia
* Gulf of Finland
* Gulf of Lion
* Gulf of Guinea
* Gulf of Maine
* Gulf of Mexico
* Gulf of Saint Lawrence
* Gulf of Sidra
* Gulf of Venezuela
* Hudson Bay
* Ionian Sea
* Irish Sea
* Irminger Sea
* James Bay
* Labrador Sea
* Levantine Sea
* Libyan Sea
* Ligurian Sea
* Marmara Sea
* Mediterranean Sea
* Myrtoan Sea
* North Sea
* Norwegian Sea
* Sargasso Sea
* Sea of Åland
* Sea of Azov
* Sea of Crete
* Sea of the Hebrides
* Thracian Sea
* Tyrrhenian Sea
* Wadden Sea

Indian Ocean|

* Andaman Sea
* Arabian Sea
* Bali Sea
* Bay of Bengal
* Flores Sea
* Great Australian Bight
* Gulf of Aden
* Gulf of Aqaba
* Gulf of Khambhat
* Gulf of Kutch
* Gulf of Oman
* Gulf of Suez
* Java Sea
* Laccadive Sea
* Mozambique Channel
* Persian Gulf
* Red Sea
* Timor Sea

Pacific Ocean|

* Arafura Sea
* Banda Sea
* Bering Sea
* Bismarck Sea
* Bohai Sea
* Bohol Sea
* Camotes Sea
* Celebes Sea
* Chilean Sea
* Coral Sea
* East China Sea
* Gulf of Alaska
* Gulf of Anadyr
* Gulf of California
* Gulf of Carpentaria
* Gulf of Fonseca
* Gulf of Panama
* Gulf of Thailand
* Gulf of Tonkin
* Halmahera Sea
* Koro Sea
* Mar de Grau
* Molucca Sea
* Moro Gulf
* Philippine Sea
* Salish Sea
* Savu Sea
* Sea of Japan
* Sea of Okhotsk
* Seram Sea
* Seto Inland Sea
* Shantar Sea
* Sibuyan Sea
* Solomon Sea
* South China Sea
* Sulu Sea
* Tasman Sea
* Visayan Sea
* Yellow Sea

Southern Ocean|

* Amundsen Sea
* Bellingshausen Sea
* Cooperation Sea
* Cosmonauts Sea
* Davis Sea
* D'Urville Sea
* King Haakon VII Sea
* Lazarev Sea
* Mawson Sea
* Riiser-Larsen Sea
* Ross Sea
* Scotia Sea
* Somov Sea
* Weddell Sea

Endorheic basins|

* Aral Sea
* Caspian Sea
* Dead Sea
* Salton Sea

* Book
* Category

Script error: No such module "Sister project links".

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Earth:Asia&oldid=4420341"
*[const.]: constitutional capital
*[SPC]: Supreme Political Council
*[prv.]: provisional
*[PLC]: Presidential Leadership Council
*[Pop.]: Population
*[±% p.a.]: Per annum growth rate
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template