Asia - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Asia is the largest continent on Earth by area and number of people.^[1] It is mainly in the northern hemisphere. Asia is connected to Europe in the west and Africa on the south.Sometimes Asia and Europe are combined to form a larger continent called Eurasia.^[2] Some of the oldest human civilizations began in Asia, for example Sumer, China, and India. Asia was the birthplace of many religions, for example Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Jainism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Christianity, Islam, and Sikhism. It was also home to some large empires, for example the Persian Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Mongol Empire, and the Ming Empire. It is home to at least 44 countries. Georgia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Greece have territory in both Europe and Asia.

Asia includes a large amount of land. Covering about 30% of the world's land area, it has more people than any other continent, with about 60% of the world's total population.^[3] Stretching from the icy Arctic in the north to the hot and steamy equatorial lands in the south, Asia contains huge, empty deserts, as well as some of the world's highest mountains and longest rivers.

Asia is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. It is separated from Europe by the Pontic Mountains and the Turkish Straits. A long, mainly land border in the west separates Europe and Asia. This line runs north–south down the Ural Mountains in Russia, along the Ural River to the Caspian Sea, and through the Caucasus Mountains to the Black Sea.

• East Asia
• Southeast Asia
• South Asia
• Central Asia
• West Asia
• North Asia

Some countries are in both Europe and Asia, for example Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Turkey. The Sinai Peninsula of Egypt is in western Asia. The rest of the country is in North-East Africa.

There are some other countries in Asia with limited recognition. Many countries do not recognize them as separate countries.

•  Abkhazia
•  Artsakh
•  Northern Cyprus
•  South Ossetia
•  Taiwan

• Asia Minor
• Asian Games

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Asia.