Asia is the world’s largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the Earth‘s total surface area (or 29.9% of its land area) and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world’s current human population. During the 20th century Asia’s population nearly quadrupled.[2]
Asia is traditionally defined as part of the landmass of Eurasia—with the western portion of the latter occupied by Europe—located to the east of the Suez Canal, east of the Ural Mountains and south of the Caucasus Mountains (or the Kuma-Manych Depression)[3] and the Caspian and Black Seas.[4] 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 a number of regions and peoples than a homogeneous physical entity[3][5] (see Subregions of Asia, Asian people). The wealth of Asia differs very widely among and within its regions, due to its vast size and huge range of different ethnic groups, cultures, environments, historical ties and government systems.
Asia has been the historical birthplace of all major world religions.
| Name of region[16] and territory, with flag |
Area (km²) |
Population (1 July 2008 est.) |
Population density (per km²) |
Capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Asia: | ||||
 Kazakhstan[17] |
2,724,927 | 15,666,533 | 5.7 | Astana |
 Kyrgyzstan |
198,500 | 5,356,869 | 24.3 | Bishkek |
 Tajikistan |
143,100 | 7,211,884 | 47.0 | Dushanbe |
 Turkmenistan |
488,100 | 5,179,573 | 9.6 | Ashgabat |
 Uzbekistan |
447,400 | 28,268,441 | 57.1 | Tashkent |
| Eastern Asia: | ||||
 Hong Kong[18] |
1,092 | 7,008,300[19] | 6,417.9 | - |
 Japan |
377,835 | 127,288,628 | 336.1 | Tokyo |
 Macau[20] |
25 | 460,823 | 18,473.3 | — |
 Mongolia |
1,565,000 | 2,996,082 | 1.7 | Ulaan Baatar |
 North Korea |
120,540 | 23,479,095 | 184.4 | Pyongyang |
 People’s Republic of China[21] |
9,640,821 | 1,322,044,605 | 134.0 | Beijing |
 Republic of China (Taiwan)[22] |
35,980 | 22,920,946 | 626.7 | Taipei |
 South Korea |
98,480 | 49,232,844 | 490.7 | Seoul |
| Northern Asia: | ||||
 Russia[23] |
17,075,400 | 142,200,000 | 26.8 | Moscow |
| Southeastern Asia:[24] | ||||
 Brunei |
5,770 | 381,371 | 66.1 | Bandar Seri Begawan |
 Burma (Myanmar) |
676,578 | 47,758,224 | 70.3 | Naypyidaw[25] |
 Cambodia[26] |
181,035 | 13,388,910 | 74 | Phnom Penh |
 East Timor (Timor-Leste)[27] |
15,007 | 1,108,777 | 73.8 | Dili |
 Indonesia[28] |
1,919,440 | 230,512,000 | 120.1 | Jakarta |
 Laos |
236,800 | 6,677,534 | 28.2 | Vientiane |
 Malaysia |
329,847 | 27,780,000 | 84.2 | Kuala Lumpur |
 Philippines |
300,000 | 92,681,453 | 308.9 | Manila |
 Singapore |
704 | 4,608,167 | 6,545.7 | Singapore |
 Thailand |
514,000 | 65,493,298 | 127.4 | Bangkok |
 Vietnam |
331,690 | 86,116,559 | 259.6 | Hanoi |
| Southern Asia: | ||||
 Afghanistan |
647,500 | 32,738,775 | 42.9 | Kabul |
 Bangladesh |
147,570 | 153,546,901 | 1040.5 | Dhaka |
 Bhutan |
38,394 | 682,321 | 17.8 | Thimphu |
 India[29] |
3,287,263 | 1,147,995,226 | 349.2 | New Delhi |
 Maldives |
300 | 379,174 | 1,263.3 | Malé |
 Nepal |
147,181 | 29,519,114 | 200.5 | Kathmandu |
 Pakistan |
803,940 | 167,762,049 | 208.7 | Islamabad |
 Sri Lanka |
65,610 | 21,128,773 | 322.0 | Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte |
| Western Asia: | ||||
 Armenia[30] |
29,800 | 3,299,000 | 280.7 | Yerevan |
 Azerbaijan[31] |
86,660 | 8,845,127 | 102.736 | Baku |
 Bahrain |
665 | 718,306 | 987.1 | Manama |
 Cyprus[32] |
9,250 | 792,604 | 83.9 | Nicosia |
 Georgia[33] |
69,700 | 4,636,400 | 65.1 | Tbilisi |
 Iraq |
437,072 | 28,221,181 | 54.9 | Baghdad |
 Iran |
1,648,195 | 70,472,846 | 42.8 | Tehran |
 Israel |
20,770 | 7,112,359 | 290.3 | Jerusalem[34] |
 Jordan |
92,300 | 6,198,677 | 57.5 | Amman |
 Kuwait |
17,820 | 2,596,561 | 118.5 | Kuwait City |
 Lebanon |
10,452 | 3,971,941 | 353.6 | Beirut |
 Oman |
212,460 | 3,311,640 | 12.8 | Muscat |
 Palestinian territories |
6,257 | 4,277,000 | 683.5 | Ramallah |
 Qatar |
11,437 | 928,635 | 69.4 | Doha |
 Saudi Arabia |
1,960,582 | 23,513,330 | 12.0 | Riyadh |
 Syria |
185,180 | 19,747,586 | 92.6 | Damascus |
 Turkey[35] |
Ankara | |||
 United Arab Emirates |
82,880 | 4,621,399 | 29.5 | Abu Dhabi |
 Yemen |
527,970 | 23,013,376 | 35.4 | Sanaá |
| Total | 43,810,582 | 4,162,966,086 | 89.07 | |
 |
|
| Area | 44,579,000 km2 (17,212,000 sq mi) |
|---|---|
| Population | 3,879,000,000 (1st)[1] |
| Pop. density | 89/km2 (226/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Asian |
| Countries | 48 (List of countries) |
| Dependencies | |
| Unrecognized regions | |
| Languages | List of languages |
| Time Zones | UTC+2 to UTC+12 |
| Internet TLD | .asia |
| Largest cities | List of cities |