Asia is the largest continent by landmass and covers 8.6% of the Earth's surface . The land area of Asia is actually larger than the land area of the moon. (44.6K sq km – 37k sq km respectively.)
Did you know that more people live in India than in Central America, North America and South America – altogether! The population of Hindus approximately 3 times bigger than population of the USA.. More than 60% of the world's population live in Asia.. This many people standing side by side holding hands would reach around the world at the equator more than 100 times.
In China there are 1.3 billion of people and in India 1.1 billion. More than half of Asia's population lives in this 2 countries. India should take over China in about 20 years.
Asia’s boundaries extend from the Suez Canal and Ural Mountains in the west, to the south of the Caucasus Mountains and Caspian and Black Seas. Also to the South is the Indian Ocean, to the North the Arctic Ocean and to the Far East the Pacific Ocean.
Asia can be divided into 6 subcontinents -
- Central Asia – Kazakhstan Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
- East Asia – China, Japan, Mongolia, Taiwan, North and South Korea.
- North Asia – Russia.
- India Subcontinent – India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
- Southeast Asia – Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar [Burma], Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
- Southwest Asia – The Middle East including Turkey, Iran, Cyprus, Israel, and Lebanon.
The Gobi Desert is a desert which extends into both China and Mongolia. Gobi means "very large and dry" in Mongolian. It occupies 1,300,000 sq. km. but is not full of sand. The Gobi is covered by rock.
Three of the top four economies in the world are in Asia – China, Japan and India. They are numbers 2, 3 and 4 respectively. However, tiny Japan has less than 1/10th of the population of China or India. Yet Asia’s economy as a continent trails North America and Europe.
Asia’s three dominant financial centers are Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Asia’s dominant religions are Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucian/Taoism and Islam. In South Asia live more Muslims than in the whole Middle East, yet Muslims in South Asia is less than 15% of total population.
One of the most densely populated country in the world is Bangladesh, With 85% of Muslims and 15% of Hindus.
Maldives is 99% Muslim country. In Maldives it is illegal for tourists have more than 1 Bible, because they fear that tourists can give it to local people.
Asia’s western most point is Cape Baba in Northwestern Turkey.
Asia’s eastern most point is Cape Chelyuskin in Siberia.
Asia is 5,300 miles wide
Asia is home to the highest (Mount Everest 8,848m) and lowest Dead Sea (-395m) points on Earth.
The world's deepest lake, Lake Baikal, is located in the Siberian region of Russia. It is also the largest freshwater lake in the world and holds 20% of the liquid fresh water on Earth.
The Ten longest rivers in Asia -
- Yangtze (in china) - 6,300 km - 3,915 miles (6,301 km)
- Yellow River (Huang He) - 5,464 km - 3,395 miles (5,464 km)
- Lena River - 4,400 km - 2,734 miles (4,400 km)
- Mekong River - 4,350 km - 2,703 miles (4,350 km)
- Irtysh River - 4,248 km - 2,640 miles (4,250 km)
- Yenisei River - 4,090 km - 2,540 miles (4,090 km)
- Ob River - 3,650 km - 2,268 miles (3,650 km)
- Nizhnyaya Tunguska River - 2,989 km - 1,857 miles (2,989 km)
- Indus River - 2,900 km - 1,800 miles (2,900 km)
- Brahmaputra River - 2,900 km - 1,800 miles (2,900 km)
In Asia somewhere near place where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers meet located the mother land to the birth of human civilization.
The ten tallest mountains in Asia -
- Everest (8,848 m), Nepal-Tibet
- K2 (8,611 m), Pakistan-China
- Kangchenjunga (8,586 m), Nepal-Sikkim, India
- Lhotse (8,516 m), Nepal-Tibet, China
- Makalu (8,462 m), Nepal-Tibet, China
- Cho Oyu (8,201 m), Nepal-Tibet, China
- Dhaulagiri (8,167 m), Nepal
- Manaslu (8,156 m), Nepal
- Nanga Parbat (8,125 m), Pakistan
- Annapurna (8,091 m), Nepal
The Tibetan Plateau in Central Asia covers most of Tibet. Its average elevation is more than 4,500 meters, and it has been called "the roof of the world." It is by far the biggest and highest plateau in the world. It covers an area that is approximately 4 times the size of Texas!
The Caucasus Mountains not only form a natural border with Europe, they are home to the biblical Mt. Ararat. Noah's Ark is said to have landed on Mt. Ararat.