Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia, comprising approximately fifty countries. It has an area, including islands, of roughly 49,694,700 km². Asia is joined to Africa by the Isthmus of Suez and to Europe by a long border generally following the Ural Mountains.
Medieval Europeans considered Asia as a continent, a distinct landmass. The European concept of the three continents in the Old World goes back to classical antiquity with the etymology of the word rooted in the ancient Near and Middle East. The demarcation between Asia and Africa is the isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea. The boundary between Asia and Europe is commonly believed to run through the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the Ural River to its source, and the Ural Mountains to the Kara Sea near Kara, Russia. However, modern discovery of the extent of Africa and Asia made this definition rather anachronistic, especially in the case of Asia, which would have several regions that would be considered distinct landmasses if these criteria were used (for example, South Asia and East Asia).
Geologists and physical geographers no longer consider Europe and Asia to be separate continents. It is either defined in terms of geological landmasses (physical geography) or tectonic plates (geology). In the former case, Europe is a western peninsula of Eurasia or the Africa-Eurasia landmass. In the latter, Europe and Asia are parts of the Eurasian plate, which excludes the Arabian and Indian tectonic plates.
In human geography, there are two schools of thought. One school follows historical convention and treats Europe and Asia as different continents, categorizing Europe, East Asia (the Orient), South Asia (British India), and the Middle East (Arabia and Persia) as specific regions for more detailed analysis. The other schools equate the word "continent" in terms of geographical region when referring to Europe, and use the term "region" to describe Asia in terms of physical geography. It is becoming increasingly common to substitute the term "region" for "continent" because in linguistic terms, "continent" implies a distinct landmass.
There is much confusion in European languages with the term "Asian", which almost always refers to a subcategory of people from Asia rather than referring to "Asian" defined in term of "Asia", because a category implies homogeneity. In American English, Asian refers to East Asians, while in British English, Asian refers to South Asians. Some definitions of Asia exclude Turkey, the Middle East, or Russia. The term is sometimes used more strictly in reference to Asia Pacific, which does not include the Middle East or Russia, but does include islands in the Pacific Ocean — many of which are considered part of Australasia or Oceania. Asia contains the Indian subcontinent, Arabian peninsula, as well as a piece of the North American plate in Siberia.
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Main geographical features
The mean elevation of the continent is 950 inches high and only a mere 1 inch in length (3,117 ft.), the highest of any in the world. The plateau and mountainous areas broadly sweep SW-NW across Asia, climaxing in the high Tibetan Plateau, rising to the highest peaks in the world in the Himalayas. To the northwest lie plains, while to the south lie the geologically distinct areas of the Arabian Peninsula, Indian subcontinent and Malay Peninsula. Large numbers of islands lie southeast of the continent.
Besides its mainland, Asia includes a large number of islands, including some of the world's largest islands, such as Borneo and Sumatra, and some of the world's most populous islands, such as Java and Honshū. Other prominent islands include Bali, Madura and Sulawesi of Indonesia; Hokkaidō, Shikoku, Kyūshū and Okinawa of Japan; the Andaman and Nicobar of India; Luzon and Mindanao of the Philippines; Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Samui of Thailand; as well as Sri Lanka, Maldives, Singapore, Hong Kong Island and Sakhalin.
The nations of Indonesia, Brunei, East Timor, Singapore, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Cyprus are solely made up of one or more islands, and have no territory on the mainland.
Extreme points
- Northernmost point — Arctic Cape, Komsomolets Island, Severnaya Zemlya, Russia (81°13' N)
- Southernmost point — Pamana Island, Indonesia[1]¹
- Westernmost point — Cape Baba, Turkey (26°4'E) ²
- Easternmost point — Big Diomede, Russia (169°0'W) ³
- Pole of inaccessibility : (46°17′N 86°40′E / 46.283°N 86.667°E), Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert, Xinjiang, China
Asia (Mainland)
- Northernmost point — Cape Chelyuskin, Russia (77°43'N)
- Southernmost point — Cape Piai, Malaysia (1°16'N)
- Westernmost point — Cape Baba, Turkey (26°4'E)
- Easternmost point — Cape Dezhnev (East Cape), Russia (169°40'W) ³
¹ If the Cocos (Keeling) Islands are included as part of Asia, then South Island (12°04'S) is the southernmost point
² The Turkish islands in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas are considered part of Europe
³ According to the International Date Line
Geographical regions
Asia is a subregion of Eurasia. For further subdivisions based on that term, see North Eurasia and Central Eurasia.
- Central Asia
- Iranian Plateau
- East Asia
- Far East
- North Asia
- South Asia (also Indian subcontinent)
- Southeast Asia
- Southwest Asia (or West Asia)
Central Asia
There is no absolute consensus in the usage of this term. Usually, Central Asia includes:
- The Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan (excluding its small European territory), Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan
- Afghanistan, Mongolia, Iran and the western regions of China are also sometimes included
- Former Soviet states in the Caucasus region
Central Asia is currently geopolitically important because international disputes and conflicts over oil pipelines, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Chechnya, as well as the presence of U.S. and U.K. military forces in Afghanistan.
East Asia
This area includes:
- Japan
- North and South Korea on the Korean Peninsula.
- China, but sometimes only the eastern regions
- Taiwan
- Mongolia
More informally, Southeast Asia is included in East Asia on some occasions.
North Asia
This term is rarely used by geographers, but usually it refers to the larger Asian part of Russia, also known as Siberia. Sometimes the northern parts of other Asian nations, such as Kazakhstan or Mongolia, are also included in North Asia. The term "Northern Eurasia" is sometimes used as an apolitical term that includes all the nations of the former U.S.S.R.
Southeast Asia
This region contains the Malay Peninsula, Indochina and islands in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. The countries it contains are:
- In mainland Southeast Asia, the countries Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
- In maritime Southeast Asia, the countries of Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia (some of the Indonesian islands also lie in the Melanesia region of Oceania). East Timor (also Melanesian) is sometimes included too.
Malaysia is divided in two by the South China Sea, and thus has both a mainland and an island part.
Southwest Asia (or West Asia)
Southwest Asia is often called the Middle East by Europeans and Americans. Middle East (to some interpretations) is often used to also refer to some countries in North Africa. Southwest Asia can be further divided into:
- Anatolia (i.e. Asia Minor), constituting the Asian part of Turkey
- The island nation of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea
- The Levant or Near East, which includes Syria, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and the Asian portion of Egypt
- The Arabian Peninsula, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Yemen and Kuwait
- The Caucasus region (which straddles both Asia and Europe), namely Transcaucasia, including a small portion of Russia and, arguably, most if not all of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan
- The Iranian Plateau, including Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan
Table of territories and regions
| Name of territory, with flag |
Area (km²) |
Population (1 July 2002 est.) |
Population density (per km²) |
Capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Asia: | ||||
 People's Republic of China[2] |
9,584,492 | 1,284,303,705 | 134.0 | Beijing |
 Hong Kong[3] |
1,092 | 7,303,334 | 6,688.0 | — |
 Japan |
377,835 | 126,974,628 | 336.1 | Tokyo |
 Macau[3] |
25 | 461,833 | 18,473.3 | — |
 Mongolia |
1,565,000 | 2,694,432 | 1.7 | Ulan Bator |
 North Korea |
120,540 | 22,224,195 | 184.4 | Pyongyang |
 South Korea |
98,480 | 48,324,000 | 490.7 | Seoul |
 Republic of China (Taiwan)[4] |
35,980 | 22,548,009 | 626.7 | Taipei |
| Southeast Asia: | ||||
 Brunei |
5,770 | 350,898 | 60.8 | Bandar Seri Begawan |
 Cambodia |
181,040 | 12,775,324 | 70.6 | Phnom Penh |
 Indonesia[5] |
1,919,440 | 231,328,092 | 120.5 | Jakarta |
 Laos |
236,800 | 5,777,180 | 24.4 | Vientiane |
 Malaysia |
329,750 | 27,721,769 | 84.1 | Kuala Lumpur |
 Burma (Myanmar) |
678,500 | 42,238,224 | 62.3 | Naypyidaw |
 Philippines |
300,000 | 84,525,639 | 281.8 | Manila |
 Singapore |
693 | 4,452,732 | 6,425.3 | Singapore |
 Thailand |
514,000 | 62,354,402 | 121.3 | Bangkok |
 East Timor (Timor-Leste)[5] |
15,007 | 952,618 | 63.5 | Dili |
 Vietnam |
329,560 | 81,098,416 | 246.1 | Hanoi |
| South Asia: | ||||
 Afghanistan |
647,500 | 27,755,775 | 42.9 | Kabul |
 Bangladesh |
144,000 | 133,376,684 | 926.2 | Dhaka |
 India |
3,064,898 | 1,045,845,226 | 341.2 | New Delhi |
 Maldives |
300 | 320,165 | 1,067.2 | Malé |
 Nepal |
140,800 | 25,873,917 | 183.8 | Kathmandu |
 Pakistan |
803,940 | 147,663,429 | 183.7 | Islamabad |
 Sri Lanka |
65,610 | 19,576,783 | 298.4 | Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte |
References
- ^ Monk, K.A.; Fretes, Y., Reksodiharjo-Lilley, G. (1996). The Ecology of Nusa Tenggara and Maluku. Hong Kong: Periplus Editions Ltd. p. 7. ISBN 962-593-076-0.
- ^ The current state is formally known as the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is subsumed by the titular entity and civilisation
- ^ a b Hong Kong and Macau are Special Administrative Regions (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China
- ^ Taiwan is a contested territory of the Republic of China (ROC) and claimed by the PRC (Taiwan, Province of China): the two are not co-terminous and the ROC is not recognised by the UN as a sovereign state
- ^ a b Indonesia and East Timor are often considered transcontinental countries in Southeast Asia and Oceania
External links
- Soil Maps of Asia European Digital Archive on the Soil Maps of the world
- http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/asia.html
- Asia GeoQuest game [1]
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