এশিয়ার ভূগোল
এশিয়া ইউরেশিয়ার মধ্য ও পূর্ব অংশ নিয়ে গঠিত। এই মহাদেশে প্রায় ৫০টি দেশের অবস্থান। দ্বীপগুলিসহ এই মহাদেশের ক্ষেত্রফল প্রায় ৪,৯৬,৯৪,৭০০ বর্গকিলোমিটার। মহাদেশটি সুয়েজ খালের মাধ্যমে আফ্রিকার সাথে এবং উরাল পর্বতমালার মাধ্যমে ইউরোপের সাথে যুক্ত।
মহাদেশটির সমুদ্রতল থেকে গড় উচ্চতা ৯৫০ মিটার (৩,১৭৭ ফুট)। সবগুলি মহাদেশের মধ্যে এটিই সর্বোচ্চ গড় উচ্চতা। মালভূমি ও পর্বতময় এলাকাগুলি মূলত দক্ষিণ-পশ্চিম থেকে উত্তর-পশ্চিম বরাবর বিস্তৃত। তিব্বত মালভূমি ও পৃথিবীর সর্বোচ্চ শিখরসমৃদ্ধ হিমালয় পর্বতমালায় এর পরিণতি। এর উত্তর-পশ্চিমে রয়েছে বিস্তৃত সমভূমি, এবং দক্ষিণে রয়েছে ভৌগোলিকভাবে বিচ্ছিন্ন আরব উপদ্বীপ, ভারতীয় উপমহাদেশ এবং মালয় উপদ্বীপ। এছাড়াও মহাদেশটির দক্ষিণ-পূর্বে রয়েছে বিপুল সংখ্যক দ্বীপ।
Besides its mainland, Asia includes a large number of islands, including some of the world's largest islands, such as Borneo and Sumatra, and some of the world's most populated islands, such as Java and Honshū.
Other famous islands include Bali, Madura and Sulawesi of Indonesia; Hokkaidō, Shikoku, Kyūshū and Okinawa of Japan; the Andaman and Nicobar of India; Luzon, Cebu and Mindanao of the Philippines; Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Samui of Thailand; as well as Sri Lanka, Maldives, Singapore, Hong Kong island and Sakhalin.
The Asian nations of Indonesia, Brunei, East Timor, Singapore, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Cyprus are solely made up of one or more islands, and have no territory on the mainland.
For a comprehensive list of Asian islands, see List of islands of Asia.Asia (Mainland)¹ If the Cocos (Keeling) Islands are included as part of Asia, then South Island (12°04'S) is the southernmost point.
² The Turkish islands in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas are considered part of Europe.
³ According to the International Date Line.
As already mentioned, Asia is a subregion of Eurasia. For further subdivisions based on that term, see North Eurasia and Central Eurasia.
Some Asian countries stretch beyond Asia. See Bicontinental country for details about the borderline cases between Asia and Europe, Asia and Africa, and Asia and Oceania.
The following subregions of Asia are traditionally recognized:
There is no absolute consensus in the usage of this term. Usually, Central Asia includes:
Central Asia is currently geopolitically important because international disputes and conflicts over oil pipelines, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Chechnya, as well as the presence of U.S. military and U.K. military forces in Afghanistan.
This area includes:
Sometimes the nations of Mongolia and Vietnam are also included in East Asia.
More informally, Southeast Asia is included in East Asia on some occasions.
This term is rarely used by geographers, but usually it refers to the bigger Asian part of Russia, also known as Siberia. Sometimes the northern parts of other Asian nations, such as Kazakhstan or Mongolia, are also included in Northern Asia. The term "Northern Eurasia" is sometimes used as an apolitical term that includes all the former nations of the U.S.S.R.
South Asia is also referred to as the Indian Subcontinent. It includes:
This region contains the Malay Peninsula, Indochina and islands in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. The countries it contains are:The country of Malaysia is divided in two by the South China Sea, and thus has both a mainland and island part.
This can also be called by the Western term "Middle East", which is commonly used by Europeans and Americans. "Middle East" (to some interpretations) is often used to also refer to some countries in North Africa. Southwest Asia can be further divided into: