Simplify the following text for a Grade 12 native English-speaking person.
Original: The history of Asia can be seen as the collective history of several distinct peripheral coastal regions such as , East Asia , South Asia , and the Middle East linked by the interior mass of the Eurasian steppe .
Simplified: The history of Asia can be seen as the history of several distinct regions , East Asia , South Asia , and the Middle East that have more or less context depending of the situation in the central Eurasian steppe .