ASIA-INGLES

Asia

Asia

Surface 44.579 million km ²

Population 4.14 billion inhabitants.

Density 92 inhab. / km ²

Gentile Asian

Subdivisions North Asia

South Asia

East Asia

Central Asia

Siberia

Southeast Asia

West Asia

Countries 48 countries[mostrar]

Dependencies 3[mostrar]

Countries not recognized 6[mostrar]

Regional Languages

Languages of Asia

Language

Zone UTC +2

UTC +12

Internet TLD . Asia

Most populated cities Tokyo

Seoul

Bombay

New Delhi

Shanghai

Manila

Osaka

Calcutta

Karachi

Jakarta

Beijing

Canton

Dhaka

Hong Kong

Tehran

Bangalore

Shenzhen

Bangkok

Nanjing

Tianjin

Ho Chi Minh City

Asia or Asia is the continent largest and most populous of the Earth , with about 44 million square kilometers, accounting for 8.70% of the total land area and 29.45% of the land area and 4,200 000,000 inhabitants, 60% of the world population. It extends over the eastern half of the northern hemisphere , from the Arctic Ocean to the north, to the Indian Ocean to the south. Bordered to the west, the Ural Mountains , and on the east by the Pacific Ocean .

In the conventional division of continents, from Europe, Asia, and Europe appear as two different entities for cultural and historical reasons. In geographical terms, actually form a single continent called Eurasia . Furthermore, Africa is joined to Eurasia by theSuez Canal so you can also consider joint full extent of Europe, Asia and Africa as a single supercontinent, occasionally calledEurafrasia , or Afro-Eurasia.

Index

1 Definition and boundaries

1.1 Physical Geography

1.2 Relief

1.3 Political Geography

2 Countries and territories

3 History

4 Demographics

4.1 Characteristics of the population

4.2 Population by sex

5 Language

6 Economy

6.1 The 1997 Asian financial crisis

7 Religion

8 Film

9 Sports

10 See also

11 Notes and references

12 External Links

Definition and boundaries

Physical Geography

T map O

The European concept of three continents in the Old World goes back to classical antiquity, but in the Middle Ages was especially defended because studies VII century scholar Isidore of Seville (see Map of T in O ). The demarcation between Asia and Africa (in the southwest) is the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea . The boundary between Asia and Europe is conventionally considered to run between the Dardanelles , the Sea of Marmara , the Bosphorus , the Black Sea , the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea , the Ural River and the Ural Mountains to the Kara Sea (Russian ).

In Far East Asia, Siberia is separated from North America by the Bering Strait . Asia is bordered to the south by the Indian Ocean (specifically, from west to east, the Gulf of Aden , the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal ), to the east by the waters of the Pacific Ocean (including, counterclockwise against , the China Sea , the East China Sea , theYellow Sea , the Sea of Japan , the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea ) and north by the Arctic Ocean . Australia (or Oceania ) remains in the southeast.

Some geographers do not consider Asia and Europe to be separate continents, since there is no logical physical separation between them. For example, Barry Cunliffe, the emeritus professor of European archeology at Oxford, argues that Europe has been geographically and culturally "Western outgrowth of Asia". Geographically, Asia is the major eastern part of the continent called Eurasia with Europe constituting a peninsula northwest of the mainland called Eurafrasia : geologically, Asia, Europe and Africa make up a single territory and continuous (except artificial Suez Canal ) and share a shelf together. Most of Europe and Asia are based on tectonic plate Eurasian, bordering the Arabian plate and the Indian plate to the south, the northeastern part of Siberia (east of the Montes Cherski ) is part of the North American plate .

In geography, there are two main schools of thought. A school due to historical convention and treats Europe and Asia as different continents, categorizing subregions within them for more detailed analysis. The other school compares the word "continent" with a geographical region when referring to Europe, and uses the term "region" to describe Asia in terms of physiography. Since, in linguistic terms, "continent" implies a different mass, it is increasingly common to substitute the term "region" by "continent" to avoid the problem of disambiguation.

Given the scope and diversity of the land mass, sometimes not even clear what "Asia" exactly. Some definitions exclude Turkey , the Middle East , Central Asia and Russia , and only consider that make Asia the Far East, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, especially in the United States after World War II . The term is sometimes closer reduces to refer to the region Asia-Pacific , which includes the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Russia, but includes the islands of the Pacific Ocean and can include parts of Australasia orOceania , although Pacific peoples are not considered Asians.

Relief

Physical map of Asia, excludingSoutheast Asia .

Projection by two points equidistant Asia.

In Asia include the following formations:

In the north the plain Asian.

In the central area a series of high plateaus such as Iran , Pamir , Tibet and Mongolia . The Pamir and Tibet are located 3.600 m 5.000 m respectively by what are known as the roof of the world. There are also a number of young mountain ranges: the Zagros Mountains , theKarakoram and the Himalayas , where the highest point on Earth, the Everest (8,848 m).

In eastern China Plain.

In southern Plateau of Deccan Plain and Indochina .

Relief is completed with a series of alluvial plains where large rivers pass.

Political Geography

Historical circumstances have shaped human and real division between West Asia from Indiato the west and East Asia known as the Far East , from India to the east.

Countries and territories

They are classified according to the scheme of subregions of the UN, these data include your references and when indicated their qualifications differ.

Geographically, much of Russia belongs to Northern Asia (the rest are in Europe). Most of Turkey is in Asia (the rest in Europe). A small part of Egypt , the Sinai Peninsula , belongs to Western Asia (mostly in Africa).

Subregion Asia geographical:

Sub-regions of Asia as the subdivision of the UN :

Name of the region and

territory, with flag

Area

(Km ²) Population

(July 1, 2008 Est.) Population Density

(Per km ²) Capital

Central Asia :

Kazakhstan

2724927 15,666,533 5.7 Astana

Kyrgyzstan

198,500 5356869 24.3 Bishkek

Tajikistan

143,100 7211884 47.0 Dushanbe

Turkmenistan

488,100 5179573 9.6 Ashgabat

Uzbekistan

447,400 28,268,441 57.1 Tashkent

East Asia :

China

9640821 1,322,044.605 134.0 Beijing

North Korea

120,540 23,479,095 184.4 Pyongyang

South Korea

98,480 49,232,844 490.7 Seoul

Hong Kong

1,092 7,008,300 6417.9 -

Japan

377,835 127,288.628 336.1 Tokyo

Macau

25 460 823 18473.3 -

Mongolia

1,565,000 2996082 1.7 Ulan Bator

Republic of China

35,980 22,920,946 626.7 Taipei

North Asia :

Russia

17,075,400 142 200 000 26.8 Moscow

Southeast Asia :

Brunei

5,770 381 371 66.1 Bandar Seri Begawan

Burma

676 578 47,758,224 70.3 Naypyidaw

Cambodia

181,035 13,388,910 74 Nom Pen

Philippines

300,000 92,681,453 308.9 Manila

Indonesia

1,919,440 230 512 000 120.1 Jakarta

Laos

236,800 6677534 28.2 Vientiane

Malaysia

329,847 27.78 million 84.2 Kuala Lumpur

Singapore

704 4608167 6545.7 Singapore

Thailand

514,000 65,493,298 127.4 Bangkok

East Timor

15,007 1108777 73.8 Dili

Vietnam

331,690 86,116,559 259.6 Hanoi

South 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

3,287,263 1147995226 349.2 New Delhi

Maldives

300 379 174 1263.3 Male

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

West Asia :

Saudi Arabia

1960582 23,513,330 12.0 Riad

Armenia

29,800 3.299 million 280.7 Yerevan

Azerbaijan

86,660 8845127 102.736 Baku

Baréin

665 718 306 987.1 Manama

Taste

11,437 928 635 69.4 Doha

Cyprus

9,250 792 604 83.9 Nicosia

United Arab Emirates

82,880 4621399 29.5 Abu Dhabi

Georgia

69,700 4.6364 million 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 7112359 290.3 Jerusalem

Jordan

92,300 6198677 57.5 Amman

Kuwait

17,820 2596561 118.5 Kuwait City

Lebanon

10,452 3971941 353.6 Beirut

Oman

212 460 3311640 12.8 Muscat

State of Palestine

6,257 4.277 million 683.5 Ramallah and Gaza

Syria

185,180 19,747,586 92.6 Damascus

Turkey

783,562 70,561,312 92.6 Ankara

Yemen

527,970 23,013,376 35.4 Sanaa

Total 43,810,582 4162966086 89.07

History

While Africa is generally regarded as the birthplace of humanity, it is believed that Asia along with Europe , was the cradle of civilization, although this was not unique and uniform: the vast expanse of Asia was almost bound to arise several cultures independently. The following section attempts to show the interactions, collisions and succession of these civilizations from a continental perspective. About the regions mentioned in the history sections on the various Asian cultural find the Asia Minor , Assyria , Babylon , the Indus Valley Civilization , the Middle East , Persia , Siberia and Sumer . In addition we highlight the ancient civilizations that arose, as in Mesopotamia , the Indian civilizations, the origins of civilization Chinese .

The main kingdoms oldest cultural interaction as the great emperor Cyrus the Great , who unified the hometowns Iran in the Kingdom of Persia . After the creation of theAchaemenid Persian Empire ( 550 - 330 BC. C. approximately), who extended the Persian culture from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indus River . The expansion india , dissemination of Chinese civilization, the domain Muslim (known as the rise and expansion of Islam ) and Mongolian , Chinese influence and Mongolian . Besides the very beginning of colonial rule of the great powers Europe , as exploration and colonization made first by Spain and Portugal , as the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 who discovered the eastern part of Asia followed later by Juan Sebastian Elcano , and later colonized by France , Great Britain , Netherlands and Russia . After reaching independence of the colonized countries of their former metropolis that by adopting a response to imperialism itself in each country, Asia would maintain that independence, the appearance of conflict, the intensification of nationalism, the ideological confrontation and expansion economical.

Demographics

Dancer at a festival in South Korea .

The population of Asia is close to 4 billion people, concentrating on the coast of the South China Sea and the Indian subcontinent, in regions that reach densities of thousand inhabitants per square kilometer. Although in recent decades growth has slowed, still in Middle Eastern countries remain significant population growth rates, generally about 70% of births in the world occur in Asia so that aging is not as progressive. It also has a high proportion population whose age is below 30 years and in which the elderly are a relatively minor.

Population characteristics

The population Asian has different characteristics, not homogeneous among themselves, some common features in certain areas of Asia are: yellow skin and slanted eyes (in the Far East from Siberia, China, Vietnam, the Korean peninsula, the islands of Taiwan , Japan, the Malay Archipelago and Filipino). Within that highlights ethnic group native Malays or dark brown skin which are divided into different branches, since they descend the Tagalogs, visayos, iloacanes, Polynesian, Melanesian, Micronesian, etc. The white phenotype ethnicities comprise the Middle and Near East . Among them are the Arabs , Armenians , Jews , Persians , Assyrians ,Turks , Russians , etc.. There are also some ethnic groups and immigrants Negroid type from different European countries.

Population by sex

In most of the Asian countries from both the Far East and Middle East , dominated by men, except in Japan , Vietnam , Laos ,Cambodia , Thailand , Burma , Lebanon , Israel , Russia , Kazakhstan , Armenia , Sri Lanka and others where women predominate.While Israel and Japan , men under age 65 are the majority of the population, but not in the Philippines , where women between 15 and 65 (and thereafter) majority. In Russia the high number of women have is due to the wars that spanned the country, which has made men have been declining as other countries in Eastern Europe as well as other cases in Europe and Asia.

The continent has over 3,800 million, representing nearly 61% of the world population . It is also the most populous continent.

Language

The languages spoken in Asia are numerous. Among them the most spoken is Chinese or Mandarin , followed by Hindi , the Cantonese , the Urdu , the Arabic , among other highlight as the official languages and native Japanese , the Bahasa Indonesia , the Korean , Turkish , Hebrew , Persian , Burmese , Thai , Tagalog , Russian , Armenian , Tibetan , etc.. Since European settlement in different Asian countries, some European languages are also commonly used. For example, the English language is used as a trade partner and India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Burma, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Lebanon, Israel, United Arab Emirates, etc.. The French used the nations of the Indochina peninsula, part of India and Lebanon. The Spanish language as a minority in Asia, it is spoken by minorities in the Philippines and in the communities Sephardic Middle East, mainly in the countries belonging to the region of Israel and parts of Turkey. Also speaking minority in the cities Taiwanese of Ilan , Keelung and Tamsui . In addition to Spanish, in the eastern region has emerged a creole language called Chavacano , spoken in certain parts of the Philippines and also north of Sabah in Malaysia and the city of Ternate in Indonesia, all of them also former Spanish possessions. The Greek is spoken on the island of Cyprus with the Turkish, and Portuguese in some parts of India ( Dadra and Nagar Haveli , Daman and Diu , Goa) and China ( Macao ).

Economy

The Tokyo Stock Exchange is the second largest in the world.

The Economics of Asia, owns 60% of the world's population and about 30% of the land area, is the largest global producer of food, besides being the largest consumer has the largest reserves of most minerals. Asia is the continent that has the largest economic growth and consumes most of the global credit, about 80% of global economic growth, the highest growth of investment in science and technology, investment in education and economic sector as imaginable. Cooperation between government, industry and technology domain have led to Japan's economic success.

Meanwhile since 2004 the EU is the main trading partner of China, which in turn is the second largest trading partner of the European organization.

In 2005 , China became the sixth world economy. With official growth of 9.5% per year, China's economy is considered the fastest growing in the world, maintaining an average rate of over 8% from 1980 .

It also highlights the Southern Asia with annual growth of 8% .

Many parts of Asia are economically underdeveloped. A large proportion of the continent's population is engaged in agriculture, which despite much of farming crops and is characterized by relatively low labor productivity. Overall, a minority of Asians are employed in manufacturing activities, in many cases urban centers and industries are not well integrated with the rural sector. The local transport systems and international Asian countries are still underdeveloped in many areas, but have improved markedly in recent years.

However, there are a growing number of exceptions. Japan has successfully modernized its economy, like Israel, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and, to a lesser extent, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey and the oil states of the Arabian Peninsula .Generally have achieved economic growth rates that exceed 5% annually, a percentage that is away from their population growth rates.In contrast, although the countries of southwest Asia have made progress, the distribution of income has become more concentrated than in other countries. Spurred by large-scale foreign investment, rapid privatization and industrialization, China achieved the fastest growth in Asia in the early 1990s. It is estimated that China's economy grew 12% in 1992, although per capita income levels were relatively low. Vietnam and Laos, two of the poorest countries in Asia are beginning to achieve significant economic growth and attract a remarkable level of foreign investment.

The Asian financial crisis of 1997

In July of 1997 , the Thai currency (the baht ) was devalued, contradicting repeated statements from government authorities that would not happen. Within days, the currencies of Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia were heavily attacked and began to collapse. By late October, the won of South Korea collapsed and the crisis became widespread in Asia.

It may sound ironic that just a few months before the crisis, these economies were seen as solid and stable, with good economic future. Even days before the crises, financial and economic analysts seemed to have the slightest notion of what would happen. The fact that both economies were part of the group of economies monitored by the international financial community makes these two features even more unusual.

The fact is that most of the economies of East Asia suffered a severe recession in 1998, the GDP fell 14% in Indonesia, Thailand 9%, 7% in Malaysia, Korea 6%, 5% in Hong Kong and 3% in Japan. How could so sudden collapse and severe a region that had been so successful? The answer is that Asia experienced an acute financial crisis

Religion

Young Tibetan Buddhist monks fromDrepung .

Main article: Eastern Religions .

Asia is a continent rich spiritual and religious importance diametrical as the religion most practiced in the world emerged in Asia, being home of the five major world religions, the Judaism , the Christianity , the Islam , the Buddhism and Hinduism . Because of this, Asian countries like Israel (sacred to Jews , Christians and Muslims ), Saudi Arabia (where two of the three holy cities of the Muslim ) and India(where the holy places of Hindus and Buddhists ), receive millions of pilgrims from around the world.

Other major religions emerged in Asia are the Baha'i ( Iran ), the Confucianism ( China ), the Jainism ( India ), the Sikhism ( India ), theShinto ( Japan ), the Taoism ( China ) and Zoroastrianism ( Iran ).

Among various Asian peoples also practiced animism and shamanism , from cult segudiores Bon in Tibet , and Chinese folk religion , to animistic beliefs of different indigenous tribes throughout Asia.

The main religion in Asia is Buddhism , practiced mainly in East and Southeast Asia (ranging from northern India and the Himalayas toJapan ), but in many countries it is practiced by syncretic form another national religion ( Taoism , Confucianism and Chinese folk religionin China for example, Shinto in Japan , etc..).

Close behind is the Islam prevalent in the Middle East and Central Asia (from the Sinai Peninsula to Pakistan ) over Malaysia and Indonesia . The Hinduism is another of the great religions of Asia even more geographically concentrated, a majority only in India and Nepal , but minorities in many Asian countries.

The Judaism is the majority in Israel (the only country where it is most in the world), and Christianity is dominant only in the Philippines and has a high percentage in South Korea , but has significant minorities across Asia.

Unlike other continents, religion in Asia is of great importance and in many countries is seen as part of ethnic identity, which has led to more than one ethnic conflict , such as theArab-Israeli conflict , the confrontation between Hindus and Muslims in India , Pakistan and Bangladesh , between Hindus and Buddhists in Sri Lanka , between Muslims and Buddhists in Indonesia , between Muslims and Christians in Lebanon and between Hindus and Sikhs in India .

Cinema

In Asia have highlighted many films, especially in the Far East Chinese and Japanese productions. Many, not all, related to martial arts , and many other film productions with content such as romance, comedy, horror, etc.. The leading actors are Jackie Chan and Jet Li , followed by Pat Morita , Bruce Lee , Tony Jaa and Monsour del Rosario , among others. Among the most renowned directors of the continent was the Japanese Akira Kurosawa . Or as the now famous "Slumdog Millionaire", which managed to records at the box office.

Sports

Miyamoto Musashi , a representation of the martial arts of Japan .

In mainland sports are practiced different styles, even in the Far East , the most popular are the martial arts such as Judo , the karate , the Aikido , the Kenjutsu , the Bojutsu , the Ninjutsu , the Kenpō , among others originating in Japan . The Taichi , the Kung Fu , the Choy Lee Fut , the Shaolin , among others originating from China . The Taekwondo , the Hapkido , the Taekkyon , the Tangsudo , including in Korea . The Eskrima , the Filipino Kali and others are from the Philippines . Moreover also in the continent have become famous sports like Football , Basketball , Swimming , Fencing, the Gymnastics , Tennis , Volleyball , etc ...

Certain Asian countries, grouped by the Olympic Council of Asia , have excelled in different continental tournaments or international level, such as the Asian Games held since 1951 in different countries of the continent, the Commonwealth Games , the Games of La Francophonie , Philippinesand East Timor have participated in one of the sporting events of the Ibero-American Games .

Japan was the first country on the continent to inaugurate the Olympic Games as Tokyo 1964 . They have also hosted Olympic South Korea in Seoul in 1988 and China in Beijing 2008 . Also for the first time two countries together, Japan and South Korea were the anfritiones of the World Cup 2002 .It will also be Qatar host the World Cup 2022 . Yao Ming is the best athlete of Chinese history plays in the NBA in the Huston Rockets, Ji Sung Park also one of the best Korean players playing for Manchester United.

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