A demarcation between Asia & Africa is the isthmus of Suez (though the Sinai Peninsula, being the a share of Egypt east of the canal, is often geopolitically considered the section of Africa). A boundary between Asia & Europe diarrhea via a Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus, to the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the Ural River to its source, and a Ural Mountains to the Kara Sea at Kara, Russia. All about 60 percent of the world's human population lives in Asia.

Asia as a political section consists of the section of Eurasia & nearby islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, often excluding Russia.

A word Asia entered English via Latin from Ancient Greek Ασία (Asia; see too List of traditional Greek place names), first attested within Herodotus, where it refers to Asia Minor, or for the purposes of the Persian Wars, to the Persian Empire as opposed to Greece and Egypt. Homer knows a Trojan ally named Asios, son of Hyrtacus, the ruler above many towns, & when well describes a marsh as 461).

A Greek term was in all probability from either Assuwa, a 14th century BC confederation of states in ancient Anatolia. Hittite assu- "good" occurs as belike element therein title. Instead, a ultimate etymology of a term can be from either the Akkadian word asu, which means "to go out" or even "to rise", on to the counsel of the sun at sunrise in the Middle East. Compare to this a guide for the etymology of Europe from Semitic erebu "to set". A motives for a list of Asia & Europe would so mirror every more, lot prefer the terms orient and occident (the list Anatolia and Levant likewise signify "sunrise"). This guide is widely quoted, however it suffers from either either a fact that Anatolia from an Akkadian or even usually Semitic perspective doesn't lie in the east.

Watch likewise Geography of Asia.

Equally already mentioned, Asia occurs as subregion of Eurasia. For farther subdivisions according to that term, view North Eurasia and Central Eurasia.

A few Asian countries stretch beyond Asia. Understand Bicontinental country for details about a marginal lawsuits between Asia & Europe, Asia & Africa & Asia & Oceania.

Asia itself is typically divided in the charted subregions: North Asia Central Asia East Asia (or Far East) Southeast Asia South Asia (or Indian Subcontinent) Southwest Asia (or West Asia)

North Asia

This term is seldom utilized by geographers, however normally it refers to the large Asian a share of Russia, likewise referred to as Siberia. Periodically a northern area of more Asian nations, like Kazakhstan are also involved inside Northern Asia.

Central Asia

No absolute consensus in the usage of this term. Ordinarily, Central Asia includes: a Central Asian Republics of Kazakhstan (excluding its small European territory), Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. Afghanistan, Mongolia, and a american regions of China are also every now and again involved. Previous Soviet states in the Caucasus region.

Central Asia is presently geopolitically significant because international disputes & conflicts above oil pipelines, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Chechnya, when well as a presence of U.S. military forces in Afghanistan.

East Asia (or Far East)

This locality includes: A Pacific Ocean islands of Taiwan and Japan. North and South Korea on the Korean Peninsula. China, but every now and again exclusively a eastern regions

Occasionally a nations of Mongolia and Vietnam are also involved inside East Asia.

Other informally, Southeast Asia is included inside East Asia in occasionally occasions.

Southeast Asia

This vicinity contains a Malay Peninsula, Indochina and islands in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. A countries it contains come:

Within mainland Southeast Asia, the countries Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Inside 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 involved as well.

A united states of Malaysia is divided in 2 per South China Sea, & so has two the mainland and island a portion.

South Asia (or Indian Subcontinent)

South Asia is too known as a Indian Subcontinent. It includes: a Himalayan States of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. a Indian Ocean nations of Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Southwest Asia (or West Asia)

This can as well become known as per American term Middle East, which is commonly utilized by Europeans & Americans. Middle East (to a select few interpretations) is typically wont to as well refer to a select few countries within North Africa. Southwest Asia may be farther divided into:

Anatolia (i.e. Asia Minor), constituting the Asian part of Turkey. A island nation of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea. A Levant or Near East, which includes Syria, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and the Asian portion of Egypt. A Arabian peninsula, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Yemen and occasionally Kuwait. A Caucasus region, including Armenia, a diminutive part of Russia & about a whole of Georgia and Azerbaijan. A Iranian Plateau, containing Iran and parts of more nations.

As well watch Gulf States, for a different grouping involving many of the above countries.

Economy

Independent article: Economy of Asia

Inside terms of gross domestic product (PPP), Asia's largest economy whole in Asia is that of the PRC (People's Republic of China), yet a economy of the E.U. (European Union), one state of which (Cyprus) lies within Asia, is the largest in the world. A E.U.'s status as a supranational union, like than a sovereign state, makes a claim confutative, especially since, whilst considered alone, a economy of Cyprus is one of a smallest within each the E.U. & Asia, & non numbers of days big than that of East Timor, a Asian state by using a little economy (although as of 2005 there is no reliable information for even either Iraq or N Korea). All over a endure decade, China's & India's economies keep close at hand been growing chop-chop, each sustaining an typical annual rate of growth across 6%. PRC is the globe's third big economy when a E.U. & U.S.The., followed by Japan and India as the world's fourth & fifth big economies severally (so followed per European nations: Germany, U.K., France & Italy). Inside terms of exchange rates however, Japan has a big economy within Asia & the third big in the globe. South Korea is also one of a big economies around Asia, when North Korea is one of the poorest.

Trade axis: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Association of Southeast Asian Nations Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement Commonwealth of Independent States South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation South Asia Free Trade Agreement (proposed)

Natural resources

Asia is by a considerable margin the big continent in the world, and is rich within natural resources, like Petroleum and iron.

High productivity within agriculture, especially of rice, allows high population density of countries in the warmly & humid region. More independent farming products include wheat and chicken.

Forestry is extensive throughout Asia except Southwest & Central Asia. Fishing is a major source of food inside Asia, particularly in Japan.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing around Asia has traditionally been strongest withwithin East & Southeast Asia, particularly in PRC, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. A industry varies from either manufacturing inexpensive goods like toys to high-tech goods like computers and cars. Several corporations from either Europe, North America, and Japan have significant operations in the underdeveloped Asia to choose avantage of its abundant supply of inexpensive labor.

One of a major employers witharound manufacturing in Asia is the textile industry. Great deal of the globe's supply of habiliment & footwear nowadays originates inside Southeast Asia.

Financial and other services

Asia has terzetto independent financial centers. It is inside Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. Call centre come becoming major employers around India, due to the availablity of many easily-knowledgeable English speakers. A rise of the business run outsourcing industry hwhen seen a rise of India & China as the more financial centers.

Early history

Independent article: History of Asia

A history of Asia may be seen when a distinct histories of many peripheral coastal regions, East Asia, South Asia, and a Middle East, linked by the interior mass of the Eurasian steppe.

A coastal fringe was a number 1 to exist as at home to civilization, sustaining both of the threesome regions getting early civilizations in the area of fertile flow of any stream vale. A civilizations inside Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and a Yangtze shared many similarities & belike exchanged technologies & ideas like maths & a wheel. More notions like that of writing belike developed singly within every front yard. Cities, states & empires developed inside these lowlands.

A steppe vicinity got hanker been inhabited by mounted nomads, & from either a central steppes it can email a lot areas of Asia. A earliest known such central expansion away from a steppe is that of the Indo-Europeans, who spread their languages into a Middle East, India, & in the Tocharians to the borders of China. A northern a portion of Asia, covering great deal of Siberia, was inaccessible to a steppe nomads, due to the heavy forests & the tundra. These areas were super sparsely populated.

A centre & fringe were saved separate by mountains & deserts. A Caucasus, Himalaya, Karakum Desert and Gobi Desert formed barriers that the steppe horsemen can single cross by owning difficulty. When technologically & unfeeling, a urban city habitant were extra advanced, it can clean little determined to defend against a mounted hordes of the steppe. Even so, the lowlands did non develop plenty open grasslands to trend lines a big horsebound inflict. So a nomads world health organization conquered states around China, India, & a Middle East were shortly forced to adapt to the local societies.

Population density

A ensuing table lists countries & dependencies by population density in inhabitants & kilometre^Two.

Unlike a numbers in a united states articles, the numbers in that table come according to areas including inl& h2o bodies (streams, lakes, and wells throughout, reservoirs, lakes) and can so become moo on this text.

A whole of Egypt, Russia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan & Turkey come referred to in the table, although it is single partly in Asia.

Religion

The big majority of the humans inside the globe world health organization practice the religious faith practice of these which was founded in Asia.

Religions founded inside Asithe & sustaining a majority of their contemporary disciple within Asia include:

Bahá'í Faith (slightly more than half of adherents in Asia) Buddhism (Japan, Korea, Singapore, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, India) Hinduism (India, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, Bali) Islam (Central, South, and Southwest Asia, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia) Jainism (India) Shinto (Japan) Sikhism(India, Malaysia, Hong kong) Taoism (China, Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia) Zoroastrianism (Iran, India, Pakistan)

Religions founded inside Asia that use at times a majority of their contemporary disciple around more regions include:

Christianity (South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, East Timor, India and a Philippines) Judaism (slightly less than half of disciple inside Asia)