Asia
 

Asia is the largest continent (44,390,000 sq km) of the world, both in area and population. Two out of every three people on Earth live here. Asia was the site of some of the world's earliest civilizations and today contains nearly 60% of the world's population.

It is believed that that the name Asia has been derived from the Assyrian word asu, meaning East. Seen in a map, Asia is in the east as compared to Europe and the Americas in the west. Now you know, why the Americans and Europeans are called westerners?

 
Because of its varied climate, one can see the broadest and most amazing ways in which humans have adapted themselves in Asia.
Did you know?
* Asia is the birthplace of all the world's greatest religions. Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and many other minor religions have their roots in Asia.
* While most of the other religions have had greater impact outside Asia, Hinduism has been mostly confined to the Indian sub-continent.
 

Location
Asia is bounded by the Arctic Ocean on the north, the Pacific Ocean on the east, the Indian Ocean on the south and the continent of Europe on the west.

Features
It is traversed from east to west by a massive central highland region containing the Tibetan Plateau, the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush and other great mountain systems.

The continent has every type of climate, from tropical to polar and from desert to rainy.

Asia's Himalayan range of mountains has the highest peak in the world, Mount Everest, which is 29,028 feet high. Asia also has the lowest place on the Earth's land surface, the Dead Sea (394 m below sea level).

It is home to both the largest and deepest lakes on Earth, the Caspian Sea and Lake Baikal.
Out of the twelve longest rivers on Earth, seven wind through Asia.

Some of the world's greatest population densities are found in south and east Asia, particularly in the great alluvial river valleys of the Ganges in India, and the Chang (Yangtze) and Huang Ho in China.

Countries
The countries of Asia are Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Asian Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Asian Turkey, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Yemen; other political units are Hong Kong and Macao.