Asia continent | asia map | List of countries in asia

Asia is the world’s largest and most populated continent has a total 50 independent countries at this moment. Russia is the largest country and Maldives is the smallest country of this continent. China, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Turkey are the most visited countries in Asia. Shanghai, China is the largest city of Asia. China, Japan, India, South Korea and Indonesia are the largest economies in Asia.

Map of Asia

The Asia map shows big parts of this continent except of some countries in the Middle East and Western Asia. The map of Asia represents about one-third landmass of the earth and is lying completely north of the equator excluding some Southeast Asian islands.

The map of Asia also shows the connection to Africa by the Isthmus of Suez and borders of Europe along the Ural Mountains and across the Caspian Sea.

List of Countries in Asia

Before we discuss about the Asia, we should know some basic things first. We have represented a table below which contains all the necessary basics of this continent. The widely recognized 50 countries in Asia are listed by alphabetically with their current and estimated gross domestic product data collected from the International Monetary Fund for 2016.

Asia is located in the northern and eastern hemispheres of the globe. There are total 50 countries in Asia. Asian countries are known for its enormous diversity in terms of economics, environments, culture, historical background, ethnic groups and also the government systems. It is the largest continent in the world has a total area of 43,820,000 km² which is almost 30% of total landmass of the world.

The present population of Asia is 4.3 billion people which are almost 60% of total population of the world and it is also the most populated continent in the world. The large amount of population makes an important role in the world economy.

The boundary of this continent is not very clearly defined because there is not any clear geographical separation in between Asia and Europe. The mixture of this two continents form a large landmass is also known as Eurasia. The Pacific Ocean is on the east of Asia, Indian Ocean to the south and Arctic Ocean to the north.

Most of the Asian countries were the origin of most mainstream religions of the world including Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Confucianism, Sikhism, Zoroastranism, Taoism, Jainism as well as many other religions.

China and India exchanged in being the world’s largest economies from 1 to 1800 A.D. China was a most important economic power and influenced many to the east, and for many the renowned wealth and prosperity of the oldest culture of India embodied Asia, drawing European trade, exploration and expansionism.

The fortuitous discovery of America by Columbus in exploration for India exhibits this deep fascination. The Silk Road turned into the major East-West trading route in the Asian hither land whereas the Straits of Malacca remained as a major sea route.

Asia has demonstrated economic dynamism especially East Asia with robust population escalation during the twentieth century, however entire population expansion has since fallen.

Asia – Africa boundary

The border line between Asia and Africa is the Gulf of Suez, the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. For this reason, Egypt is a transcontinental nation, with the Sinai Peninsula in Asia and the rest of the nation in Africa.

Asia – Europe boundary

The boundary between Asia and Europe was historically characterized by European academics. The Don River turned into disappointing to northern Europeans when Peter the Great, emperor of the Tsardom of Russia, defeating enemy claims of Sweden and the Ottoman toward the eastern terrains, and armed confrontation by the tribes of Siberia, blended another Russian Empire reaching out to the Ural Mountains, established in 1721.

The main geographical scholar of the empire was in fact a former Swedish wartime captive, had taken at the Battle of Poltava in 1709 and relegated to Tobolsk, where he connected with Peter’s Siberian authority, Vasily Tatishchev, and was permitted freedom to lead anthropological and geographical reviews in readiness for a future book.

In 1730, five years later after Peter’s demise, Philip Johan von Strahlenberg shows new maps offering the Urals as the margin of Asia. The Russians were passionate about the conception, which permitted them to keep their European distinctiveness in geography.

Tatishchev declared that he had proposed the design to von Strahlenberg. Later on he had proposed the Emba River as the lower border. The border in between the Caspian and the Black Sea is generally placed beside the crest of the Caucasus Mountains and it is sometimes placed further north.

Asia – Oceania boundary

The boundary between Asia and the Oceania is generally placed wherever in the Malay Archipelago. In the nineteenth century, Southeast Asia and Oceania was developed have had a few incomprehensibly distinctive geographic implications since their inception.

The main factor in figuring out which islands of the Malay Archipelago are Asian has been the area of the area possessions of the different empires there. Lewis and Wigen declare, “The narrowing of ‘Southeast Asia’ to its present limits was thus a continuous process.

Geography and climate

Asia is the biggest continent on the planet which covers 8.8% of the total surface area of the earth or 30% of its land area and has the longest shoreline at 62,800 kilometers. It is normally defined as embracing the eastern four-fifths of Eurasia. Asia is surrounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the north by the Arctic Ocean and on the south by the Indian Ocean.

Asia has tremendously various weather and geographic features. Climates vary from arctic and subarctic in Siberia to humid in southern India and Southeast Asia. It is soggy across southeast parts and dry across greatly of the interior.

Some of the highest daily temperature varies on Earth happen in western sections of Asia. The monsoon flow dominates across eastern and southern sections, because of the presence of the Himalayas influencing the formation of a low temperature which causes in moisture during the summer.

Southwestern parts of the continent are warm. In the Northern Hemisphere Siberia is one of the coldest places and can active as a source of freezing air masses for North America. The Himalayas between China and Nepal is the world’s highest mountain range.

Economy

Asia has the second largest continent based on nominal GDP after Europe and the largest in purchasing power parity. China, Japan, India, South Korea and Indonesia are the largest economies in Asia. According to the international Office Locations, Asia subjugated the office locations among 4 of top 5 being in Asia, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore and Shanghai. Around 68% of global firms have office in Hong Kong.

From 1990 to 2000, the economies of the India and China have been mounting rapidly, both with an average yearly growth rate of over 8 percent. Israel, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Cyprus and the Philippines are most recent very-high-growth countries in Asia, and mineral-rich countries for example Kazakhstan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Iran, Brunei, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman.

It is projected that India will pass Japan by nominal GDP within 2020. By 2030, China will have the biggest economy in the world. A number of trade blocs subsist, with the most developed being the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Demographics

East Asia is the strongest overall Human Development Index with comparison of any region in the world, about doubling average Human Development Index accomplishment over the past fourty years, as indicated by the report’s analysis of education, health and pay information.

China is the world’s second most astounding achiever in terms of Human Development Index enhancement since 1970, is the only nation on the “Top 10 Movers” list caused by income instead of education or health accomplishments.

Nepal, a South Asian nation, rises as one of the speediest movers in the world since 1970 predominantly because of health and education achievements. Over four of each five offspring of school age in Nepal now going to primary school, contrasted with only one in every five 40 years prior.

Japan (11) and South Korea (12) positioned top among the countries grouped on the Human Development Index in the “very high human development” category, afterward Hong Kong (21) and Singapore (27). Afghanistan (155) is the lowest amongst all Asian nation.

Languages

Asia has various diverse dialects in various parts of the mainland. A large portion of these nations have more than a solitary local dialect. It has been found that there are more than 600 dialects in Indonesia, over 800 in India, and over 100 in the Philippines. China has distinctive vernaculars and dialects in the diverse regions.

Religions

Asia was the origin of most mainstream religions of the world including Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Confucianism, Sikhism, Zoroastranism, Taoism, Jainism as well as many other religions. Islam, Judaism, and Christianity originate in the Western Asia.

The Hinduism and the Buddhist philosophy form part of the Indian logic. Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism all started in India. Zen Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism started in East Asia.