List of Countries:
- Asia is the world’s largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth’s total surface area (or 30% of its land area) and with approximately 4.3 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world’s current human population.
- During the 20th century Asia’s population nearly quadrupled.
- More than half of Asia’s population resides in two countries –China (1.3 billion) and India (1.1 billion).
- India’s population is estimated to take over China’s in about 20 years or so.
- Three of the top four economies in the world are in Asia – China, Japan and India.
- Asia‘s dominant religions are Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucian/Taoism and Islam.
Asia is defined as comprising the eastwards four-fifths of Eurasia. It is located to the east of the Suez Canal, the Ural river, 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.
Given its size and diversity, Asia – a toponym dating back to classical antiquity – “is more a cultural concept” incorporating diverse regions and peoples than a homogeneous physical entity. Asia differs very widely among and within its regions with regard to ethnic groups, cultures, environments, economics, historical ties and government systems.