page_title: Asia
section_title: Geography and climate
hierarchical_section_title: Asia / Geography and climate
caption_attribution_description: English: Map: Asia (location), subregions as delineated by United Nations geographic classification scheme, except *: &#160;&#160; Northern Asia* &#160;&#160; Russia in Eastern Europe &#160;&#160; Central Asia &#160;&#160; territories geographically, wholly or partially, in Eastern Europe &#160;&#160; Western Asia &#160;&#160; territories geographically, wholly or partially, in Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, and Northern Africa &#160;&#160; Southern Asia &#160;&#160; Eastern Asia &#160;&#160; Southeastern Asia &#160;&#160; territories geographically, wholly or partially, in Melanesia (Oceania) Deutsch: Karte Asiens, Regionen nach [1]: &#160;&#160; Nordasien &#160;&#160; Russische Teile Osteuropas &#160;&#160; Zentralasien &#160;&#160; Gebiete, die ganz oder teilweise in Osteuropa liegen &#160;&#160; Westasien &#160;&#160; Gebiete, die ganz oder teilweise in Osteuropa, Südeuropa oder Nordafrika liegen &#160;&#160; Südasien &#160;&#160; Ostasien &#160;&#160; Südostasien &#160;&#160; Gebiete, die ganz oder teilweise in Melanesien liegen ไทย: แผนที่&#160;: เอเชีย United Nations geographic classification scheme &#160;&#160; เอเชียเหนือ* &#160;&#160; เอเชียกลาง &#160;&#160; เอเชียตะวันตก &#160;&#160; เอเชียใต้ &#160;&#160; เอเชียตะวันออก &#160;&#160; เอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้
context_page_description: Asia is Earth's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the Eastern and Northern Hemispheres. It shares the continental landmass of Eurasia with the continent of Europe and the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Europe and Africa. Asia covers an area of 44,579,000 square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the human population, was the site of many of the first civilizations. Asia is notable for not only its overall large size and population, but also dense and large settlements, as well as vast barely populated regions. Its 4.5 billion people constitute roughly 60% of the world's population.
  In general terms, Asia is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the north by the Arctic Ocean. The border of Asia with Europe is a historical and cultural construct, as there is no clear physical and geographical separation between them. It is somewhat arbitrary and has moved since its first conception in classical antiquity.
context_section_description: Asia is the largest continent on Earth. It covers 9% of the Earth's total surface area (or 30% of its land area), and has the longest coastline, at 62,800 kilometres (39,022 mi). Asia is generally defined as comprising the eastern four-fifths of Eurasia. It is located to the east of the Suez Canal and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains (or the Kuma–Manych Depression) and the Caspian and Black Seas. It is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean and on the north by the Arctic Ocean. Asia is subdivided into 49 countries, five of them (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey) are transcontinental countries and having part of their land in Europe.
  Asia has extremely diverse climates and geographic features. Climates range from arctic and subarctic in Siberia to tropical in southern India and Southeast Asia. It is moist across southeast sections, and dry across much of the interior. Some of the largest daily temperature ranges on Earth occur in western sections of Asia. The monsoon circulation dominates across southern and eastern sections, due to the presence of the Himalayas forcing the formation of a thermal low which draws in moisture during the summer. Southwestern sections of the continent are hot. Siberia is one of the coldest places in the Northern Hemisphere, and can act as a source of arctic air masses for North America. The most active place on Earth for tropical cyclone activity lies northeast of the Philippines and south of Japan. The Gobi Desert is in Mongolia and the Arabian Desert stretches across much of the Middle East. The Yangtze River in China is the longest river in the continent. The Himalayas between Nepal and China is the tallest mountain range in the world. Tropical rainforests stretch across much of southern Asia and coniferous and deciduous forests lie farther north.
caption: Division of Asia into regions by the UNSD  North Asia  Central Asia  Western Asia (Near East)  South Asia  East Asia (Far East)  Southeast Asia
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