Asia

Asia is the largest continent on Earth by both land area and population. It occupies the northeastern portion of the combined landmass of Eurasia and, more broadly, Afro-Eurasia, covering roughly 44 million square kilometres and about 30% of Earth’s land surface. Its population is about 4.7–4.8 billion people, or around 60% of the world total.

Asia is usually bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Indian Ocean to the south, and the Arctic Ocean to the north. Its western limit with Europe is not a sharp physical divide but a historical and cultural boundary, commonly drawn along the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, the Black Sea, and the Turkish straits. Asia is therefore best understood as a large and diverse region rather than a continent with a single homogeneous identity.

The continent has been home to many of the world’s earliest civilizations and has played a central role in global history. Major historical powers arose there, including the Zhou dynasty, the Assyrian Empire, the Achaemenid Empire, and the Mongol Empire. It was also a major center of long-distance commerce through routes such as the Silk Road and the Straits of Malacca.

Asia is culturally, politically, and environmentally varied. It includes many languages, ethnic groups, and government systems, and is associated with the origins of major religions such as Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Its geography ranges from tropical forests and equatorial climates in the south and southeast to deserts, temperate zones, and vast subarctic and polar regions in the north.