The continent of Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent with over 4 billion people calling Asia home. Asia also contains the world's most populous country, China, and the world's largest country, Russia. Asia borders Africa and Europe to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east.
The continent of Asia is so large and diverse that it often is divided into sub-regions (see map below).
Northern Asia
Central Asia
Middle East
Southern Asia
Eastern Asia
Southeastern Asia
Asia is rich in diverse races, cultures, and languages. Many of the world's major religions came out of Asia including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
Asia has a major influence on world culture and the world's economy. Countries such as Russia, China, Japan and India produce products and services that are used by every nation in the world. Asia is also abundant in natural resources. Oil in the Middle East is a major supplier of much of the world's energy.
Population: 4,164,252,000 (Source: 2010 United Nations)
Area: 17,212,000 square miles
Ranking: It is the largest and most populous continent
Major Biomes: desert, grasslands, temperate forest, taiga
Major cities:
Tokyo, Japan
Jakarta, Indonesia
Seoul, South Korea
Delhi, India
Mumbai, India
Manila, Philippines
Shanghai, China
Osaka, Japan
Kolkata, India
Karachi, Pakistan
Bordering Bodies of Water: Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arctic Ocean, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, South China Sea, Yellow Sea, Bering Sea
Major Rivers and Lakes: Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, Aral Sea, Qinghai Lake, Yangtze River, Yellow River, Ganges River, Indus River
Major Geographical Features: Himalayas, Ural Mountains, Kunlun Mountains, Arabian Desert, Gobi Desert, Takla Makan Desert, Thar Desert, Island of Japan, Mount Everest, Siberia
Countries of Asia
Learn more about the countries from the continent of Asia. Get all sorts of information on each Asian
country including a map, a picture of the flag, population, and much more. Select the country below for more information:
Asia contains around 30% of the world's land area and 60% of the world's population.
The highest point on earth, Mt. Everest, is in Asia. The lowest point on land, the Dead Sea, is also in Asia.
Asia is the only continent that shares borders with two other continents; Africa and Europe. It sometimes joins with a third continent, North America, in the winter by ice forming in the Bering Sea.
Asia is home to two of the three largest economies in the world: China (2nd largest) and Japan (3rd largest). Russia and India are also top 10 world economies.
Asia is home to many interesting animals including the giant panda, Asian elephant, tiger, Bactrian camel, komodo dragon, and the king cobra.
China and India are the two largest countries in the world by population. China is number one with over 1.3 billion people. India is number two with over 1.2 billion. The third largest country in the world, the United States, only has just over 300 million people.
Coloring Map
Color in this map to learn the countries of Asia (See Southeast Asia and Middle East for those regions of Asia)
Click picture to get a larger printable version of map.
