Asia

Asia World's largest continent. Entirely in the Eastern Hemisphere, it extends from n of the Arctic Circle in Russia to s of the Equator in Indonesia.

Land

On the w, Asia's boundary with Europe follows a line through the Ural Mountains, w of the Caspian Sea and along the Caucasus. Geographically, Europe and Asia are one enormous continent (Eurasia) but historically they have always been regarded as separate. Asia has six regions, each largely defined by mountain ranges. Northern Asia includes the massive inhospitable region of Siberia. A large part lies within the Arctic Circle forming a vast cold, treeless plain (tundra) where the soil, except on the surface, is permanently frozen to depths exceeding 700m (2000ft). Southern Siberia includes great coniferous forests (taiga) and the Russian steppes. Its s boundary runs through the Tian Shan and Yablonovy mountains and Lake Baikal, the world's deepest lake. The high plateau area of Central Asia extends s to the Himalayas and includes the w Chinese provinces of Tibet and Xinjiang as well as Mongolia. This is a region of low rainfall and very low winter temperatures. Much of the area is desert, the largest being the Gobi and Takla Makan. The Tibetan plateau is mostly barren. Eastern Asia lies between the plateaux of Central Asia and the Pacific. It is a region of highlands and plains, watered by broad rivers. Off the e coast there are many islands, the most important being the Japanese islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, and Kyushu, and the Chinese island of Taiwan. Southeast Asia includes the Indochina peninsula, part of which forms the Malay Peninsula, Burma and a large number of islands, among which the Philippines and Indonesia are the most important. The n of this region is mountainous and the s mainly low-lying. Southern Asia consists of the Indian subcontinent and the island of Sri Lanka. In the n it is bounded by the Hindu Kush, Pamir, Karakoram, and Himalayan mountains. In the Himalayas is Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain. To the s of the mountains lie wide plains, crossed by rivers flowing from the Himalayas. Farther s is the Deccan plateau that rises on its e and w edges culminating in the e and w Ghats. South-west Asia includes most of the region known as the Middle East. It is made up largely of two peninsulas; Anatolia (Asia Minor) and the vast Arabian Peninsula. It is also a region of large inland seas: the Aral, Caspian, Dead and Black seas.

Structure and geology

The most striking feature of the continent is the massive range of Himalayan fold mountains that were formed when the Indo-Australian and Eurasian tectonic plates collided in the Mesozoic era. Most of China and s central Asia is composed of folded Palaeozoic and Mesozoic sediments, and large expanses of central Siberia consist of flat-lying sediments of the same age. The Indian subcontinent is largely pre-Cambrian except for the Deccan Plateau which is a complex series of lava flows.

Lakes and rivers

Most of the major Asian lakes are found in the centre of the continent, and include the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea, and Lake Balkhash. The River Yangtze in China, is Asia's longest. The River Huang He is China's other major river and, until control measures were taken, it flooded regularly, drowning thousands of people. Like these rivers, the three principal waterways of se Asia (Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong) rise on the Tibetan plateau but flow s instead of e. The Indus, Brahmaputra and Ganges are the largest rivers of the Indian subcontinent, and the Ob, Yenisei and Lena are the continent's major n-flowing rivers, emptying into the Arctic Ocean.

Climate and vegetation

Except for the w temperate seaboards, all the world's major climatic divisions (with local variations) are represented in the continent. The monsoon climates of India and Southeast Asia are peculiar to these regions and, apart from extremes of heat and cold, typify the continent. Large expanses are covered by desert and semi-arid grassland, with belts of coniferous forest to the n and tropical forest to the s.

People

Asians constitute 60% of the world's population. The main language groups are Indo-Aryan, Sino-Tibetan, Ural-Altaic, Malayan, and Semitic. Mandarin Chinese is the most numerous (if not the most widespread) language. Hinduism is the religion with the most adherents, although it is confined to India and se Asia. Islam, Confucianism, Buddhism, Shinto, Christianity, Taoism, and Judaism are also important, with Islamic influence stretching from Turkey to Indonesia.

Economy

Agriculture is important, although less than 10% of the continent is cultivated. Asia produces more than 90% of the world's rice, rubber, cotton and tobacco. Rice is the major crop in the e and s, wheat and barley are grown in the w and n. China, Japan, and Russia are the most highly industrialized countries in terms of traditional heavy materials. Oil is the most important export of many Middle East countries. Since the 1960s there has been dramatic commercial growth in several se and e Asian countries based on a combination of household and high-tech products. Following Japan's example, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand form the ‘tiger’ economies. In 1997 these economies plunged into recession, fuelling fears of a worldwide depression.

Recent history

Since World War II, the history of Asia has been dominated by three main themes: the legacy of colonialism, the growth of communism, and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. The Indian subcontinent gained its independence from Britain in 1947, when India and Pakistan became separate nations. Indonesia achieved formal independence from the Netherlands in 1949. During the 1950s, Indochina and Malaysia won independence from France and Britain respectively after military confrontations. The spread of communism began with the victory of Mao Zedong in China in 1949. North Korea failed, in its war with South Korea (1950–53), to establish a united communist state and communism was also repulsed with Western help, in Indonesia. Communism did finally gain control of Vietnam and Cambodia, following the Vietnam War. The break-up of the Soviet Union led to the creation of eight ‘new’ countries in central Asia, few of which were politically stable or economically strong. In the Middle East, Israel remained on uneasy terms with its Arab neighbours, and Iraq was involved in a prolonged war with Iran (1980–88) and later with an international coalition, headed by the USA, following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Total area: 44,391,206sq km (17,139,445sq mi) Highest mountain Mount Everest (Nepal) 8848m (29,029ft) Longest river Yangtze (China) 6300km (3900mi) Population 3,780 million Largest cities Shanghai (14,173,000); Mumbai (11,914,398); Tokyo (8,130,000); See also articles on individual countries