Asia

Asia, the largest continent on Earth, occupies over 30 percent of the world's land area. Oceans surround much of Asia—the Pacific to the east, the Arctic to the north, and the Indian Ocean to the south. Europe forms its western border, while a sliver of Africa borders it along the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

By 2023, over half of the world’s population, nearly 4.8 billion people, lived within Asia's borders. It also occupies nearly a third of the earth’s total land surface, making Asia the world’s largest continent in both size and population.

The earliest known human civilization began in Asia in Mesopotamia, in the “fertile crescent” formed by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Since then, dozens of civilizations across the continent have come and gone.

The number of countries in Asia varies according to the organization or government assessing the region, but most identify between forty-five and fifty-three countries. The largest countries in Asia are Russia, China, and India, respectively.

Many Asian nations have been historically poor and under-developed, and while many individuals living in Asia in the twenty-first century continue to experience poverty, several nations experienced rapid development between the 1990s and 2020s, faster than many developed nations, including the United States.

From giant pandas to Siberian tigers, Asian fauna is among the world’s rarest. Tens of thousands of other animal and plant species can be found only in places like the Gobi desert, the Himalaya Mountains, and the vast forests of Siberia. These include the proboscis monkey, snow leopards, sun bears, and ion-tailed macaques.

Asia’s actual borders are in dispute. For example, there is debate over where Oceania begins and Asia ends and whether to include Russia as an Asian or European nation. Most scholars distinguish European Russia from Asian Russia. Either way, the Asian continent stretches into two hemispheres—the northern and eastern.

Geography and Climate

From the dense jungles in the southeast to the vast winter wilderness in the north and the massive Himalayan Mountains in the south, no continent can match the vast diversity of Asia’s climate and geography. Climates range from intense tropical heat to dry desert, from balmy winds along seashores to the harshest winters outside the two poles.

The Ganges, Yangtze, Mekong, Volga, Yellow, Indus, and Lena are among the continent’s major rivers. Lake Baikal, in eastern Russia, is the world’s deepest lake and holds the highest volume of fresh water. Other major Asian lakes include the Balkhash in Kazakhstan and the Ladoga, Taymyr, and Onega—all in Russia. Asia is partially surrounded by 38,000 miles (61,155 kilometers) of coastline, the most of any continent. Asia is also home to Mount Everest, Earth's highest point, and the Dead Sea, the lowest point.

The five major geographic terrains of Asia include saltwater environments; freshwater environments; plateaus; mountain systems; and plains, steppes, and deserts. Each region is characterized by its own unique geographies, and while sharing species, each is also filled with its own unique diversity of flora and fauna.

Environmental protection varies by country. China, for example, has become the world’s leading polluter. Thousands of rare plants and animals are threatened as Asian countries grow their economies. Population growth in already burgeoning countries such as China and India has destroyed much of Asia’s habitat lands. As these lands are destroyed, climate change accelerates. Severe weather events and rising temperatures threaten the region’s economic and social stability. Western Siberia, central Asia, eastern China, and Japan have experienced the most significant temperature increases on the continent. In the first decades of the twenty-first century, flooding increased in Southeast and East Asia, and droughts increased in arid and semiarid regions. In the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, glacial retreat accelerated. Though governments have implemented various measures to limit pollution and slow climate change, most experts note these efforts failed to address the seriousness of environmental decline.

Economy

Beginning with the 3,000 mile-long (4,828 kilometer-long) Silk Road, trade, whether importing or exporting, has been a central feature of Asia’s economy. Asian economies vary from well-developed nations like Japan and Israel to struggling economies in Brunei and Laos. Poised to supplant the United States as the world’s largest economy, China dominates all other Asian economies.

Economic activity ranges from subsistence farming and nomadic herding to the most advanced technologies in the world. Examples of advanced economic activity include China’s massive industrial infrastructure and the Russian space program, though the space program declined in advancement.

Asia is the world’s leading supplier of crude oil, the economic lifeblood of most nations. Other important natural resource exports include manganese from India and chromite from the Philippines and Turkey.

Asia’s principal agricultural product is rice, but it is also a major supplier of wood products, and millions of acres of forest plantations are planted. Other important crops include soybeans, wheat, cotton, silk, and rubber. Still, less than 10 percent of the land is under cultivation. China produces more coal, aluminum, gold, and tin than any other nation.

Manufacturing is the principal industrial activity, especially textile manufacturing. China supplies more clothes and shoes than any other country. Other major industries include electronics and automobiles. Customer service, especially call centers in India, is another major economic activity.

Over 175 of the Fortune 500’s largest global corporations are Asian. Hong Kong, Singapore, and Shanghai are three of the world’s leading financial centers. Though much of Asia, particularly Southeast Asia's, nations are developing, much of Asia’s economy is robust. The Japanese gross domestic product, for example, was around $55,600 in the mid-2020s.

Demographics

Asia is the most populous continent on earth, and its peoples and cultures are diverse. Six distinct regions share their own unique cultural, political, and physical traits: South Asia, which includes India; East Asia, with such economically advanced countries as Japan, China, and South Korea; ethnically diverse Southeast Asia; the Arabic, Turk, and Iranian lands of southwest Asia; the desert lands of central Asia; and the vast wilderness of Russian Asia.

Population growth is Asia’s greatest demographic challenge. Growth rates are highest in such countries that can least afford it, such as Cambodia, Laos, and Pakistan. Aging populations in China, Japan, and South Korea also challenge those nation’s resources.

In the mid-2020s, India and China were the continent’s most populous countries, with around 1.45 billion and 1.42 billion people, respectively. Government-mandated population control significantly slowed growth in China in the early twenty-first century, while India’s population grew at a much faster rate. Pakistan and Indonesia have populations of over 240 million, while Bangladesh, Japan, and the Philippines have more than 100 million people each. Ensuring the resources needed for adequate food, housing, and medical care in countries where populations grow faster than their economies is a significant challenge.

Asian nations have formed several economic alliances, including the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the East Asian Community (EAS).

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