We explain everything about Asia, its relief, religions and other characteristics of the continent. Also, the countries that make it up.
What is Asia?
Asia is the largest continent and the one with the greatest diversity of races, cultures and languages of the world. It occupies an area of 44,614,000 square kilometers, which represents 4/5 of the continental mass of Eurasia and is equivalent to 1/3 of the total land area.
It has the highest and deepest points on the Earth's surface, the longest coastline of any continent and, due to its breadth, it has very diverse climatic conditions and extensive biodiversity.
Asia It is the only continent that shares borders with two others: Africa and Europe. It borders in the north with the Arctic Ocean, in the south with the Indian Ocean, in the southwest with Africa, in the east with the Pacific Ocean and in the west with Europe. It is separated from North America by the Bering Strait and from Australia by the seas that connect the Indian and Pacific oceans.
The border between Asia and Europe is a historical and cultural construction that has been defined in diverse ways. Geographers usually adopt as their geographical boundary a line from the Arctic Ocean to the Ural Mountains, continuing southwest along the Emba River to the coast of the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus mountain range in the south, ending in the Gulf of Aden to the south.
Features of Asia
The geography of Asia presents the most varied characteristics. It has the highest peak in the world, Mount Everest of 8,850 meters, and the deepest channel on the planet Lake Baikal which is 1,620 meters deep (whose bottom is 1,165 meters below sea level).
The mountain systems of Central Asia have not only provided meltwater for large rivers, but have facilitated the migration of people from arid areas to India, through mountain passes. The most recent migrations have originated in China towards all of Southeast Asia and, to a lesser extent, among the Korean and Japanese peoples.
Asia It is the continent with the largest number of inhabitants, who constitute 3/5 of the world's population. The two countries with the largest populations in the world are China (with 1.3 billion inhabitants) and India (with 1.2 billion inhabitants). The United States, which is the third largest country in the world, has 300 million inhabitants.
The distribution of the Asian population is uneven, mainly due to climatic factors. There is a large concentration of inhabitants in Western Asia, India and Eastern China. On the other hand, in the regions of Central and North Asia, where the climate is not conducive to agricultural production, inhabitants are sparse.
Asia relief
The surface of Asia contains mountain belts and plateaus result of the collision of tectonic plates. Asia is made up of several very ancient continental shelves that, along with other blocks of land, merged over millions of years.
The coast of Asia has a length of 62,800 kilometers and it is characterized by being a high, mountainous and terraced area, the result of plate movements where the land has been uplifted in some areas and subsided in others. In addition, active volcanoes, coral cords and sandy beaches predominate.
Religions of Asia
In Asia The main religions of the world emerged such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism. Christianity developed outside the continent, Buddhism had its greatest impact in India, China, South Korea, Japan, the southeastern countries and Sri Lanka, and Islam has spread from Arabia to the east and southeast of the continent.
Countries and capitals of Asia
Asia It is made up of 48 countries (41 are entirely Asian and 7 are Eurasian, that is, due to the absence of well-defined boundaries they are considered European and Asian countries).
The Asian countries are:
- Afghanistan Capital: Kabul
- Saudi Arabia Capital: Riyadh
- Armenia Capital: Yerevan
- Azerbaijan Capital: Baku
- Bangladesh Capital: Dhaka
- Bahrain Capital: Manam
- Burma/Myanmar Capital: Naypydow
- Brunei Capital: Sari Begawan Band
- Bhutan Capital: Thimphu
- Cambodia Capital: Phnom Penh
- Taste Capital: Doha
- China Capital: Beijing
- Cyprus Capital: Nicosia
- North Korea Capital: Pyongyang
- South Korea Capital: Seoul
- United Arab Emirates Capital: Abu Dhabi
- Philippines Capital: Manila
- Georgia Capital: Tbilisi
- India Capital: New Delhi
- Indonesia Capital: Jakarta
- Iraq Capital: Baghdad
- Iran Capital: Tehran
- Israel Capital: Jerusalem
- Japan Capital: Tokyo
- Jordan Capital: Amman
- Kazakhstan Capital: Astana
- Kyrgyzstan Capital: Bishkek
- Kuwait Capital: Kuwait
- Laos Capital: Vientiane
- Lebanon Capital: Beirut
- Malaysia Capital: Kuala Lumpur
- Maldives Capital: Male
- Mongolia Capital: Ulaanbaatar
- Nepal Capital: Kathmandu
- Oman Capital: Muscat
- Pakistan Capital: Islamabad
- Russia Capital: Moscow
- Singapore Capital: Singapore
- Syria Capital: Damascus
- Sri Lanka Capital: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
- Tajikistan Capital: Dushanbe
- Thailand Capital: Bangkok
- East Timor Capital: Dili
- Turkmenistan Capital: Ashgabat
- Türkiye Capital: Ankara
- Uzbekistan Capital: Tashkent
- Vietnam Capital: Hanoi
- Yemen Capital: Sana'a
The Eurasian countries are:
- Armenia Capital: Yerevan
- Azerbaijan Capital: Baku
- Cyprus Capital: Nicosia
- Georgia Capital: Tbilisi
- Kazakhstan Capital: Astana
- Russia Capital: Moscow
- Türkiye Capital: Ankara
Asia map
The other continents
Asia is the continent with the largest area, followed by America (with 42,655,000 square kilometers), Africa (with 30,221,000 square kilometers), Antarctica (with 14,000,000 square kilometers), Europe (with 10,530,000 square kilometers) and Oceania (with 9,008,000 square kilometers).
References
- “Asia” in Encyclopedia Britannica
- “The world factbook” at CIA.gov
- «Surface of the 5 continents» in Knowing is practical
