ASIA: The Largest and Most Populous Continent

• Land area
  • 17 million square miles
  • about 30% of the world’s total land area
• Population
  • 3.7 billion people
  • about 60% of the world's total population
• Concept of ``Asia"
  • given by Greeks in 5th century B.C.
  • ``Asia minor" versus ``Asia major"
• Five major realms
  • East Asia
    • China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Japan
  • Southeast Asia
    • Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines
  • South Asia
    • India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, and Bhutan
  • Southwest Asia
    • Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Cyprus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait
  • Russian Asia and Central Asia
    • Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
• Other divisions
  • culturally Asian
    • East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia
  • Pacific Asia
    • East Asia and Southeast Asia
• Natural environment
  • The Himalayas Mountains and Tibetan Plateau
  • Rivers and plains
    • the Tigris, the Euphrates, and Mesopotamia
    • the Ganges and the Indus River
    • the Yangtze (Changjiang, or ``Long River") and Huanghe (``Yellow River")
      • cradles of Chinese civilization
  • The highest and lowest points on earth
    • Qumulangma Peak (Mount Everest)
    • Dead Sea
  • Natural disasters
    • flood and typhoons
    • ``Ring of Fire": earthquakes and volcanic eruptions