General Introduction to Asia

General Introduction to Asia

» The word 'Asia' is derived from the word 'Asu' (of Hibru language), which literally means 'the rising sun'.
» Asia is the largest of all the seven continents of the world.
» With 44.6 million sq km area, it covers 30% (about one-third) of the land surface of the world.
» With 4,299 million people, it contains about 60% of the world population and emerges as the most populous continent of the world.
» This vast continent comprises the greatest diversity in terms of physical features, climate, vegetation, wildlife and people.
» It has the highest mountain peak on the Earth, Mount Everest (8850 m) and the lowest point, the Dead Sea (396.8 m below sea level).
» It has the coldest place. Vostok, Antarctica has winter temperature of -89.2°C.
» Jacobabad in Sindh is the hottest place on the Earth.
» Mawsynram, near Cherrapunji (India) has the world's highest average rainfall of 11,873 mm. Simultaneously, it has desert areas of central Asia.
» Asia has the world's deepest fresh water lake, i.e. Baikal Lake (Russia) which is 1741 meters deep.
» It has the largest delta 'Sunderbans', the most fertile river valleys (Ganga, Indus, Brahmaputra, Yangtse kiang and Huang-Ho etc) and the extensive barren lands of Baluchistan.
» It has rich and varied wildlife which is peculiar to this continent.
» Asia has been the cradle of ancient civilizations like the Mesopotamian Civilization, the Indus Civilization and the Chinese Civilization which sustained in the fertile river valleys of Asia.
» Asia has the privilege of being the birthplace of major religions of the world Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Shintoism, Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism etc.
» Asia wholly lies in the Northern Hemisphere.

Latitude : It lies between 10 0S to 80°N latitudes, i.e. it spans over 90° of latitudes.
Longitude : It lies almost entirely in the Eastern Hemisphere.
» It extends from 25°E to 170°E. This large longitudinal extent brings about a difference of 11 hours between the local times of the easternmost part and the westernmost part of Asia.
Boundaries : The continent is bounded by oceans on three sides-Arctic Ocean in the north, Pacific in the east and the Indian Ocean in the south. » In the west, Asia is separated from Europe by the low Yural Mountains, the Yural river and the Caspian Sea. The Red Sea and Suez Canal separate it from Africa.
» In the north-east, the Bering strait separates it from North America.

Geography of the Indian Subcontinent

Introduction India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, collectively constitute the Indian subcontinent.
These six countries are India's closest and nearest neighbors and share a common heritage of history and geography.