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Asia is the largest and most populous region or Continent , depending on the definition. It is traditionally defined as part of the Landmass of Africa - Eurasia lying east of the Suez Canal , east of the Ural Mountains , and south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Sea s. About 60% of the world's Human Population lives in Asia. DEFINITION AND BOUNDARIES Medieval Europeans considered Asia as a continent, a distinct landmass. The European concept of the three continents in the Old World goes back to Classical Antiquity with the Etymology of the word rooted in the ancient Near and Middle East . The demarcation between Asia and Africa is the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea . The boundary between Asia and Europe is commonly believed to run through the Dardanelles , the Sea Of Marmara , the Bosporus , the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the Ural River to its source, and the Ural Mountains to the Kara Sea near Kara, Russia . However, modern discovery of the extent of Africa and Asia made this definition rather anachronistic, especially in the case of Asia, which would have several regions that would be considered distinct landmasses if these criteria were used (for example, South Asia and East Asia). Geologists and physical geographers no longer consider Asia and Europe to be separate continents. It is either defined in terms of geological landmasses (physical geography) or tectonic plates (geology). In the former case, Europe is a western peninsula of Eurasia or the Africa-Eurasia landmass. In the latter, Europe and Asia are parts of the Eurasian plate, which excludes the Arabian and Indian tectonic plates. In human geography, there are two schools of thought. One school follows historical convention and treats Europe and Asia as different continents, categorizing Europe, East Asia (the Orient), South Asia (British India), and the Middle East (Arabia and Persia) as specific regions for more detailed analysis. The other schools equate the word "continent" in terms of geographical region when referring to Europe, and use the term "region" to describe Asia in terms of physical geography. Because in linguistic terms, "continent" implies a distinct landmass, it is becoming increasingly common to substitute the term "region" for "continent" to avoid the problem of disambiguation altogether. There is much confusion in European languages with the term "Asian". Because a category implies homogenity, the term "Asian" almost always refers to a subcategory of people from Asia rather than referring to "Asian" defined in term of "Asia". The fact that in American English, Asian refers to East Asian (Orientals), while in British English, Asian refers to South Asian reflects this confusion. Sometimes, it is not even clear exactly what "Asia" consists of. Some definitions exclude Turkey , the Middle East, or Russia. The term is sometimes used more strictly in reference to Asia Pacific , which does not include the Middle East or Russia, but does include islands in the Pacific Ocean — a number of which may also be considered part of Australasia or Oceania . Asia contains the Indian Subcontinent , Arabian subcontinent, as well as a piece of the North American plate in Siberia. See Also: Copenhagen criteria#Geographic_criteria for the definition of Europe See Also: Orientalism MAIN GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES The mean elevation of the continent is 950 m (3,117 ft.), the largest of any in the world. The Plateau and Mountain ous areas broadly sweep SW-NW across Asia, climaxing in the high Tibetan Plateau , rising to the highest peaks in the world in the Himalaya . To the north west lie plains, while to the south lie the geologically distinct areas of the Arabian Peninsula , Indian Subcontinent and Malay Peninsula . Large numbers of islands lie south east of the continent. ISLANDS Besides its mainland, Asia includes a large number of Islands , including some of the world's largest islands, such as Borneo and Sumatra , and some of the world's most populated islands, such as Java and Honshu . Other famous islands include Bali , Madura and Sulawesi of Indonesia ; Hokkaido , Shikoku , Kyushu and Okinawa of Japan ; the Andaman and Nicobar of India ; Luzon , Cebu and Mindanao of the Philippines ; Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Samui of Thailand ; as well as Sri Lanka , Maldives , Singapore , Hong Kong Island and Sakhalin . The Asian nations of Indonesia, Brunei , East Timor , Singapore, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan , Sri Lanka, Maldives and Cyprus are solely made up of One Or More Islands , and have no territory on the mainland. For a comprehensive list of Asian islands, see List Of Islands Of Asia . EXTREME POINTS This is a list of the extreme points of Asia , the points that are farther North , South , East or West than any other location on the Continent . ''Asia''
''Asia (mainland)''
¹ If the Cocos (Keeling) Islands are included as part of Asia, then South Island (12°04'S) is the southernmost point. ² The Turkish islands in the Aegean and Mediterranean Sea s are considered part of Europe. ³ According to the International Date Line . GEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS See Also: Geography of Asia As already mentioned, Asia is a subregion of Eurasia . For further subdivisions based on that term, see North Eurasia and Central Eurasia . Some Asian countries stretch beyond Asia. See Bicontinental Country for details about the borderline cases between Asia and Europe, Asia and Africa, and Asia and Oceania. The following subregions of Asia are traditionally recognized:
Central Asia There is no absolute consensus in the usage of this term. Usually, Central Asia includes:
Central Asia is currently geopolitically important because international disputes and conflicts over Oil Pipeline s, Nagorno-Karabakh , and Chechnya , as well as the presence of U.S. Military and U.K. Military forces in Afghanistan . East Asia This area includes:
Sometimes the nations of Mongolia and Vietnam are also included in East Asia. More informally, Southeast Asia is included in East Asia on some occasions. North Asia This term is rarely used by geographers, but usually it refers to the bigger Asian part of Russia, also known as Siberia . Sometimes the northern parts of other Asian nations, such as Kazakhstan , are also included in Northern Asia. South Asia (or Indian Subcontinent) South Asia is also referred to as the Indian Subcontinent . It includes:
Southeast Asia This region contains the Malay Peninsula , Indochina and islands in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean . The countries it contains are:
The country of Malaysia is divided in two by the South China Sea , and thus has both a mainland and island part. Southwest Asia (or Middle East, Near East or West Asia) This can also be called by the Western term '' Middle East '', which is commonly used by Europeans and Americans. ''Middle East'' (to some interpretations) is often used to also refer to some countries in North Africa . Southwest Asia can be further divided into:
See Also: Gulf States Table of territories and regions
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