Asia

Asia was the largest continent on Earth; it made up a majority of the Eurasian landmass. Western Asia was where some of the Middle Eastern countries were located. A person who was from this continent was sometimes referred to as an Oriental. The equator, a line of latitude that divided the Earth into northern and southern hemispheres, passed through this continent.
In the late 17th century, a cartographer created a map, from what was learned from European explorers and traders, of the lands that had coastlines on the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea. The map included portions of the western, southern, and south-eastern Asian continent. (, opening credits)
During the 19th and 20th centuries, the Orient Express was a train route that traveled from Paris, in Western Europe, to Istanbul, located in Western Asia. ()
In the same century, the Asian continent was a location of many Brush Wars fought by the two main opponents in the Cold War, the USSR and the USA, where these two supplied different groups with weapons to gain influence in Asia, but to prevent a full-scale war. This situation was similar to the involvement of the Federation and the Klingon Empire on the planet Neural in the mid-23rd century as was remarked by Captain Kirk. ()
In 1968, a government coup took place in Asia which was considered by Spock to have been "dangerous" for Earth's political development. ()
In the late 20th century, Asia was seen on the photograph "The Blue Marble". ()
From 1992 to 1996, Khan Noonien Singh was absolute ruler of more than a quarter of Earth's land mass, from Asia to the Middle East. ()
In 2153, the first prototype of the Xindi weapon self-destructed over Earth; portions of this probe were recovered by a Vulcan transport in Central Asia, due to an undetonated charge in the vessel's engine. ()
A 21st century-era political map of Earth was stored in the 's library computer in 2254. The Asian continent was seen on this map. This map was among the materials viewed by the Talosians when they scanned the Enterprise computer. ()
== Background information ==
In the real 1968 a coup took place in the Western Asian country of Iraq.
The 17th century map, known as "Harmonia macrocosmica seu atlas universalis et novus, totius universi creati cosmographiam generalem, et novam exhibens", was created by . A scan of the original can be found 
Retroactive continuity: Several 20th century-era maps depicting Asia, or portions of it, were stored in the library computer in 2254. These maps included a continent projections map, an eastern hemisphere map, two political maps of the northern hemisphere, and a statistical map. These maps were among the materials viewed by the Talosians when they scanned the Enterprise computer. ()
Decades later, a Central Intelligence Agency map was used for the remastered "The Cage". This map was published either in April 2007 or September 2008. The difference, which was not noticeable at the resolution of the image from the episode, was the addition of Kosovo, which gained its independence between the releases.
File:Earth continents.jpg|Asia on a map of Earth's continents.
File:Eastern hemisphere graphic, The Cage.jpg|Asia on a map of Earth's eastern hemisphere.
File:Earth map, 20th century, North Pacific.jpg|Asia on a 20th century-era political map of Earth's North Pacific Ocean region.
File:Earth map, 20th century, Northern Hemisphere.jpg|Asia on a 20th century-era political map of Earth's northern hemisphere. 
File:Statistical map.jpg|Asia on a statistical map.
Features from the CIA map 	Features from the CIA map	Features from the CIA map
Country 	Capital 	Notes
Afghanistan 	Kabul 	A southern Asian country. Major cities – Herat, Kandahar.
Armenia 	Yerevan 	A western Asian country.
Azerbaijan 	Baku 	A western Asian country.
Bahrain 	Manama 	A western Asian country.
Bangladesh 	Dhaka 	A southern Asian country.
Bhutan 	Thimpu 	A southern Asian country.
British Indian Ocean Territory	 	An Indian Ocean archipelago administered by the United Kingdom. Diego Garcia was an island in this territory.
Brunei 	Bandar Seri Begawan 	A south-eastern Asian country.
Burma 	Nay Pyi Taw 	A south-eastern Asian country. Major city – Mandalay.
Cambodia 	Phnom Penh 	A south-eastern Asian country.
China 	Beijing 	A country in eastern Asia. Major cities – Baotou, Changchun, Changsha, Changqing, Chengdu, Dalian, Datang, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Guiyang, Hangchou, Harbin, Hefei, Jilin, Jinan, Kashi, Kunming, Lanzhou, Lhasa, Nanchang, Nanjing, Nanning, Nantang, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenyang, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Tianjin, Ürümqi, Wuhan, Yantai, Xiamen, Xi'an, Zhanliang, Zhengzhou, Zibo.
Christmas Island 	 	An Indian Ocean territory of Australia.
Cocos (Keeling) Islands 	 	An Indian Ocean territory of Australia.
Cyprus 	Nicosia 	A western Asian country.
Georgia 	Tbilisi 	A western Asian country.
Hong Kong 	 	Special Administrative Region (S.A.R.) in China.
India 	New Delhi 	A southern Asian country. Major cities – Agra, Ahmadabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Calicut, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Hyderabad Indore, Jaipur, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Madurai, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Pune, Surat, Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam.
Indonesia 	Jakarta 	A south-eastern Asian country. Major cities – Banjarmasin, Bandung, Denpasar, Jayapura, Kupang, Makassar, Malang, Medan, Padang, Palembang, Pekanbaru, Pontianak, Samarinda, Semarang, Surabaya, Tanjungkarang-Telukbetung
Iran 	Tehran 	A southern Asian country. Major cities – Ahvaz, Esfahan, Kermanshah, Mashhad, Qom, Shiraz, Tabriz, Zāhedān.
Iraq 	Baghdad 	A western Asian country. Major cities – Al Başrah, Arbil, Mosul.
Israel 	Tel Aviv-Yafo 	A western Asian country. Major city – Jerusalem.
Japan 	Tokyo 	A eastern Asian country. Major city – Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Nagoya, Osaka, Sapporo, Yokohama.
Jordan 	Amman 	A western Asian country.
Kazakhstan 	Astana 	A central Asian country. Major cities – Almaty, Aqtaü (Aktau), Atyraü, Qaraghandy (Karaganda), Shymkent.
Kuwait 	Kuwait 	A western Asian country.
Kyrgyzstan 	Bishkek 	A central Asian country.
Laos 	Vientiane 	A south-eastern Asian country.
Lebanon 	Beirut 	A western Asian country.
Macao 	 	Special Administrative Region (S.A.R.) in China
Malaysia 	Kuala Lumpur 	A south-eastern Asian country.
Maldives 	Male 	A southern Asian country.
Mongolia 	Ulaanbaatar 	An eastern Asian country.
Nepal 	Kathmandu 	A southern Asian country.
North Korea 	Pyongyang 	A eastern Asian country.
Oman 	Muscat 	A western Asian country.
Pakistan 	Islamabad 	A southern Asian country. Major cities – Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta.
Philippines 	Manila 	An eastern Asian country. Major cities – Cebu, Davao, Zamboanga.
Qatar 	Doha 	A western Asian country.
Russia 	Moscow 	A northen Asian country.
Saudi Arabia 	Riyadh 	A western Asian country. Major cities – Mecca, Medina, Jiddah.
Singapore 	Singapore 	A south-eastern Asian country.
South Korea 	Seoul 	An eastern Asian country. Major city – Pusan.
Sri Lanka 	Colombo 	A southern Asian country.
Syria 	Damascus 	A western Asian country. Major city – Aleppo.
Taiwan 	Taipei 	A Taiwan Province, China. Major city – Kao-hsiung.
Tajikistan 	Dushanbe 	A central Asian country.
Thailand 	Bangkok 	A south-eastern Asian country. Major city – Chiang Mai.
Timor-Leste 	Dili 	A south-eastern Asian country.
Turkey 	Ankara 	A western Asian country. Major cities – Adana, Bursa, Gaziantep, Istanbul, Izmir, Konya.
Turkmenistan 	Ashgabat 	A central Asian country.
United Arab Emirates 	Abu Dhabi 	A western Asian country.
Uzbekistan 	Tashkent 	A central Asian country.
Vietnam 	Hanoi 	A south-eastern Asian country. Major cities – Da Nang, Haiphong, Ho Chi Minh City.
Yemen 	Sanaa 	A western Asian country. Major city – Aden.
==External link==
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