Asia is the abbreviation for Asia Minor

Interpretation of the name of the continent: Ancient Semitic language, meaning "the land of the rising sun in the east".

Area: 44 million square kilometers, the largest continent in the world.

Population: 3.513 billion people, about 60.5% of the world's total population.

Ethnicity: Yellows make up more than 3/5 of the continent's population, followed by Caucasians, and blacks are rare.

Languages: Sino-Tibetan, Austroasiatic, Altaic, Korean, Japanese, Malayo-Polynesian, Dravidian, Semitic-Hanmite, Indo-European.

Religion: Asia is the birthplace of three major religions: Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity.

Climate: The Asian continent straddles three climatic zones: cold, warm and hot. The main characteristics of the climate are: the climate type is complex and diverse, the monsoon climate is typical, and the continentality is significant.

Natural resources: There are many types of minerals, large reserves, and the reserves of oil, iron, and tin rank first among all continents; The total forest area accounts for about 13% of the world's total developable forest area; The annual power generation capacity of exploitable hydropower resources is 2.6 trillion kilowatt hours, accounting for 27% of the world's exploitable hydropower resources; Coastal fisheries account for about 40 per cent of the world's total coastal fisheries.

Economy: With the exception of Japan, Singapore, South Korea and other countries, the economy of most Asian countries is dominated by agriculture and mining. There are significant differences in the level of industrial development, sectoral and regional structure among countries and regions, and the industrial base of most countries is weak, with mining, agricultural product processing and economic and textile industries occupying a dominant position.

It is located in the northeast of the Eastern Hemisphere, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Indian Ocean to the south, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea to the Atlantic Ocean to the west.

The continent is bounded by Cape Dezhniov in the east (169°40' W, 60°5' N), Cape Piai in the south (103°30' E, 1°17' N), Cape Baba (26°3' E, 39°27' N) and Cape Cheryuskin (104°18' E, 77°43' N) in the west. It spans the widest latitude of any continent and has almost all climatic and natural zones from the equatorial to the Arctic. It also spans the widest range of longitudes, with an east-west time difference of 11 hours.

The northwest is bordered by the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus Mountains, the Bosphorus, and the Dardanelles; It is adjacent to Africa in the southwest by the Suez Canal and the Red Sea; The southeast faces Oceania across the sea; The Bering Strait, which is only 86 kilometers wide to the northeast, is opposite North America.

With an area of 44 million square kilometers (including islands), Asia accounts for about 29.4% of the world's total land area, making it the largest continent in the world. The Asian continent is adjacent to the European continent, forming the world's largest land mass, the Eurasian continent, with a total area of about 50.71 million square kilometers, of which the Asian continent accounts for about 4/5.

Residents: The racial and ethnic composition of Asia is very complex, especially in South Asia. The yellow race (also known as the Mongolian race) is the main race, accounting for about 60% of the continent's population. The remainder are Caucasian, brown and a mixture of races. There are about 1,000 ethnic groups and races on the continent, accounting for about half of the total number of ethnic groups and races in the world. Among them, there are Han people with a population of more than one billion, and there are also ethnic groups or tribes with a population of only a few hundred. According to the degree of linguistic similarity, the inhabitants of Asia belong to the Sino-Tibetan, Austroasiatic, Altaic, Korean, and Japanese languages (some consider these two language families to be undetermined). ), Malay-Polynesian languages, Dravidian tea languages, Semitic-Hanmitian languages, Indo-European languages, etc. Asia is the birthplace of three major religions: Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity.

Natural environment: Asia's continental coastline is long and winding, with a coastline of 69,900 kilometers. It has the longest coastline in the world. The type of coast is complex. It has many peninsulas and islands, and is the largest continent in terms of peninsula area. The Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Kalimantan is the third largest island in the world. The general topography of Asia is characterized by a large undulating surface, with lofty mountains converging in the middle, and mountains, plateaus and hills accounting for about three-quarters of the continent's area. With an average altitude of 950 meters, it is the highest continent in the world except Antarctica. The whole continent is roughly centered on the Pamirs, with a series of tall mountain ranges jutting out in all directions, the highest being the Himalayas. Between the high mountain ranges, there are many vast plateaus and basins. There are also vast plains on the outer side of the mountains and plateaus. There are many famous peaks in Asia, the world's highest peaks above 8,000 meters above sea level, all distributed in the Karakoram and Himalayan regions, including the world's highest peak Mount Everest, with an altitude of 8,848 meters. Asia is home to the Dead Sea, the lowest depression and lake in the world (592 meters below the Mediterranean Sea), and the Tibetan Plateau, known as the roof of the world. Asia is the continent with the most volcanoes in the world. The islands on the eastern edge are the most volcanic in the world. Earthquakes are frequent on the eastern coastal islands and in northern Central and West Asia. Many of Asia's great rivers originate in the central mountains and empties into the Pacific, Indian and Arctic Oceans. The endorheic region is mainly distributed in central and western Asia. The longest river in Asia is the Yangtze River, which is 6,397 kilometers long; followed by the Yellow River, with a length of 5,464 kilometers; The Mekong River is 4,500 kilometers long. The longest inland river is the Syr Darya, followed by the Amu Darya and Tarim rivers. Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in Asia and the deepest lake in the world.

Asia straddles three zones: cold, warm and hot, and its basic climate is characterized by a strong continental climate, a typical monsoon climate, and complex climate types. The northern coastal region has a cold tundra climate. Most of Siberia has a temperate coniferous forest climate. The mid-latitudes of the eastern Pacific Ocean have a monsoon climate, and the southward transition to a subtropical forest climate. Southeast Asia and South Asia have a savannah climate, and the equator is mostly tropical rainforest. Most of Central and West Asia has a desert and steppe climate. The Mediterranean coast of Western Asia has a subtropical Mediterranean climate, with extreme minimum temperatures of -71 degrees Celsius in Verkhniy Yansk and Oymyakon in eastern Siberia, the coldest places in the Northern Hemisphere.

Natural resources: Asia is rich in mineral resources, with a wide variety of rich areas and rich areas. The main mineral deposits are coal, iron, petroleum, tin, tungsten, antimony, copper, lead, zinc, manganese, magnesite, gold, graphite, chromium, etc. The reserves of oil, tin, magnesite, iron, etc. rank first in all continents, and the tin ore reserves account for more than 60% of the world's total tin ore reserves. Asia accounts for about 13 per cent of the world's total forest area. The availability of water resources is also extremely abundant. The coastal fishing grounds in Asia account for about 40% of the total coastal fishery area in the world, and the famous fishing grounds are mainly distributed along the eastern coast of the mainland, including the fishing grounds of China's Zhoushan Islands, Taiwan Island and Xisha Islands, as well as the fishing grounds of the Sea of Okhotsk, Hokkaido and Kyushu.

Economy: In ancient times, the peoples of Asia created a splendid culture. It is known as a well-developed agriculture and handicraft industry, and there are many scientific inventions and creations, which have made great contributions to the development of the world economy. After the 16th century, Western colonialism and imperialism invaded one after another, and many countries and regions were reduced to colonies and semi-colonies, and their economies were severely damaged, and the national economy developed slowly. As a result, many countries and regions have been in a state of poverty and backwardness for a long time. At present, most countries in Asia, with the exception of Japan, are developing countries. Agriculture plays an important role in Asian countries. The output of rice, natural rubber, cinchona, manila hemp, teak, pepper, jute, copra, and tea respectively accounts for more than 80 to 90 percent of the world's total output, the output of crude oil, fish, soybeans, and cotton accounts for 30 to 40 percent of the world's total output, the output of tin concentrate accounts for about 60 percent of the world's total output, the output of tungsten concentrate, peanuts, sesame, tobacco, and rapeseed all account for 45 percent of the world's total output, and the output of kapok, silk, and dates and the total number of livestock also rank among the top in the world. The vast majority of countries have a weak industrial base, the mining industry and the processing of agricultural products are relatively advanced, and heavy industry is developing. The eastern half of China, Japan, South Korea, Java, western Sri Lanka, central India, and western Turkey have well-developed transportation. The southeast coast has developed sea transportation. The vast inland areas and desert areas are dominated by animal power.

Geographical region: Geographically it is customarily divided into East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, Central Asia and North Asia.

East Asia: Refers to eastern Asia. These include China, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia and Japan. It covers an area of about 11.7 million square kilometers. The terrain is high in the west and low in the east, and it is divided into four steps. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, known as the "Roof of the World" in southwest China, has an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters. The southeastern half is the monsoon zone, which belongs to the temperate broad-leaved forest climate and subtropical forest climate; The northwest has a continental temperate grassland and desert climate; The southwest has a mountainous plateau climate. From May to October, the eastern coast was affected by typhoons. Mineral resources are most abundant in coal, iron, petroleum, copper, antimony, tungsten, molybdenum, gold, magnesite, graphite, etc. East Asia is the origin of cultivated plants such as rice, diosces, millet seeds, buckwheat, soybeans, ramie, tea, tung oil, sumac, citrus, longan, lychee, and ginseng. It produces more than 40 percent of the world's total rice production, tea accounts for more than 25 percent of the world's total, and soybeans account for 20 percent. The production of cotton, peanuts, corn, sugarcane, sesame, rapeseed, silk, etc. occupies an important position in the world.

Southeast Asia: refers to the southeastern region of Asia. Including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Timor-Leste and other countries and regions. It covers an area of about 4.48 million square kilometers. Geographically, it includes two major parts: Indochina Peninsula and Nanyang Islands. It is one of the most volcanic regions in the world. The archipelago and the southern part of the peninsula have a tropical rainforest climate, and the northern part of the peninsula has a subtropical forest climate. Minerals such as tin, oil, natural gas, coal, nickel, bauxite, tungsten, chromium, gold, etc. Southeast Asia is the origin of tropical cultivated plants such as lemon, jute, cloves, cardamom, pepper, banana, betel nut, jackapple, manila hemp, etc., and is rich in rice, rubber, spices, teak, kapok, cinchona cream and tropical fruits.

South Asia: Refers to the southern region of Asia. These include Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim. It covers an area of about 4.37 million square kilometers. The northern part of the region is the mountainous region of the southern foothills of the Himalayas, the southern Indian Peninsula is the Deccan Plateau, and the northern mountains are separated from the Deccan Plateau by the Indus-Gangetic Plain. The northern and central plains have a subtropical forest climate, the Deccan Plateau and northern Sri Lanka have a savannah climate, the southwestern tip of the Indian Peninsula, southern Sri Lanka and the Maldives have a tropical rainforest climate, and the Indus Plain has a subtropical savannah and desert climate. Mineral resources are most abundant in iron, manganese and coal. South Asia is home to cultivated plants such as mango, castor, eggplant, banana, sugar cane, and lotus root. The jute and tea produced account for about 1/2 of the world's total output. Rice, peanuts, sesame, rapeseed, sugarcane, cotton, rubber, wheat and copra also account for an important part of the world's production.

West Asia: Also called Southwest Asia, it refers to the western part of Asia. These include Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain. It covers an area of more than 7 million square kilometers. The plateau is widespread, and there are many mountains in the north. The Mesopotamian plain is formed by the alluvial Euphrates and Tigris rivers between the mountainous plateaus in the north and the Arabian Peninsula in the south. The climate is dry. The southern desert covers a vast area. The Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts and the western mountains of the region have a Mediterranean climate, the eastern and inland plateaus have a subtropical steppe and desert climate, and most of the Arabian Peninsula has a tropical desert climate. Oil reserves and production occupy an important position in the world. West Asia is the origin of cultivated plants such as carrots, melons, onions, spinach, alfalfa, dates, and famous livestock breeds such as Arabian camels, Arabian horses, Angora goats, and Angora rabbits.

Central Asia: Refers to the region of Central Asia. In a narrow sense, it includes only Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, all of Tajikistan and the southern part of Kazakhstan. The southeast of the area is mountainous, with frequent earthquakes and a mountainous climate. The rest of the region is plains and hills, with wide deserts and arid climates, temperate and subtropical deserts and steppe climates. Natural gas, oil, coal, copper, lead, zinc, mercury, sulfur and miscanthus are more important minerals. Central Asia is the origin of cultivated plants such as peas, broad beans, apples, as well as Karakul sheep. It produces cotton, tobacco, rice, silk, wool, grapes, apples, etc.

North Asia: Refers to the Siberian region in the Asian part of Russia. The West Siberian Plain is in the west, the Central Siberian Plateau and the Mountains, and the Far Eastern Mountains in the east. The north of the Polar Circle has a tundra climate, and the rest of the region has a temperate coniferous forest climate. Rivers are frozen for more than six months. Oil, coal, copper, gold, and diamond are more important minerals. It produces wheat, potatoes, flax and timber.