Asia is the Earth's largest and most populous continent,

located primarily in the eastern and northern

hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface
area and comprises 30% of its land area. With
approximately 4.3 billion people, it hosts 60% of the
world's current human population. Like most of the
world, Asia has a high growth rate in the modern era. For
instance, during the 20th century, Asia's population
nearly quadrupled, as did the world population.
The boundaries of Asia are culturally determined, as
there is no clear geographical separation between it and
Europe, which together form one continuous landmass
called Eurasia. The most commonly accepted boundaries
place Asia to the east of the Suez Canal, the Ural River,
and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus
Mountains (or the KumaManych Depression) and the
Caspian and Black Seas.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.
The Don River became unsatisfactory to northern Europeans when Peter the
Great, king of the Tsardom of Russia, defeating rival claims of Sweden and the
Ottoman Empire to the eastern lands, and armed resistance by the tribes of
Siberia, synthesized a new Russian Empire extending to the Ural Mountains
and beyond, founded in 1721. The major geographical theorist of the empire
was actually a former Swedish prisoner-of-war, taken at the Battle of Poltava
in 1709 and assigned to Tobolsk, where he associated with Peter's Siberian
official, Vasily Tatishchev, and was allowed freedom to conduct geographical
and anthropological studies in preparation for a future book
In Sweden, five years after Peter's death, in 1730 Philip Johan von
Strahlenberg published a new atlas proposing the Urals as the border of Asia.
The Russians were enthusiastic about the concept, which allowed them to
keep their European identity in geography. Tatishchev announced that he had
proposed the idea to von Strahlenberg. The latter had suggested the Emba
River as the lower boundary. Over the next century various proposals were
made until the Ural River prevailed in the mid-19th century. The border had
been moved perforce from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea into which the
Ural River projects. In the maps of the period, Transcaucasia was counted as
Asian. The incorporation of most of that region into the Soviet Union tended
to push views of the border to the south. Asian cultures had no say in this
system of determining the imaginary boundaries separating them from Europe.
Fast Facts
Population:3,033,000
Capital: Yerevan; 1,079,000
Area:29,743 square
kilometers (11,484 square
miles)
Language: Armenian, Russian
Religion: Armenian Apostolic
Currency: Dram
Life Expectancy:72
GDP per Capita: U.S. $3,600
Literacy Percent:99
Smallest of the former Soviet
republics, Armenia lies
landlocked and earthquake
ridden in rugged mountains. In
A.D. 301, Armenia became the
first Christian nation; today it is
almost surrounded by Islamic
nations. During World War I the
Ottoman Turks brutally forced
out Armenians, causing a
diaspora to foreign havens.
ECONOMY:
Industry: Metal-cutting machine
tools, forging-pressing machines,
electric motors, tires
Agriculture: Fruit (especially grapes),
vegetables; livestock
Exports: Diamonds, mineral
products, foodstuffs, energy
Fast Facts
Population:29,929,000
Capital: Kabul; 2,956,000
Area:652,090 square kilometers
(251,773 square miles)
Language: Pashtu, Afghan
Persian (Dari), Uzbek, Turkmen,
30 minor language.
Religion: Sunni and Shiite
Muslim
Currency: Afghani
Life Expectancy:46
GDP per Capital: U.S. $700
Literacy Percent:36
Since Alexander the Great,
invading armies and peaceful
migrations have brought in
diverse peoples to this Central
Asian crossroads. As a result,
Afghanistan is a country of
ethnic minorities: Pashtun (38
percent), Tajik (25 percent),
Hazara (19 percent), and
Uzbek (6 percent). The
towering Hindu Kush range
dominates and divides
Afghanistan.
ECONOMY
Industry: Small-scale production of
textiles, soap, furniture, shoes
Agriculture: Opium, wheat, fruits,
nuts; wool
Exports: Opium, fruits and nuts,
handwoven carpets, wool, cotton
Fast Facts
Population:8,388,000
Capital:Baku; 1,816,000
Area:86,600 square
kilometers (33,436 square
miles)
Language:Azerbaijani, Russian
Religion:Muslim, Russian
Orthodox
Currency:Azerbaijani manat
Life Expectancy:72
GDP per Capita:U.S. $3,700
Literacy Percent:97
South of Russia, Azerbaijan
is on the west coast of the
Caspian Sea; the Caucasus
Mountains define the
northwestern border of this
republic. South and west of
Baku, the oil-rich capital,
there are extensive
lowlands, often below sea
level. To the west,
separated from the main
part of the country by
Armenia, is the autonomous
region of Naxivan with
about 300,000 people.
ECONOMY
Industry: Petroleum and natural
gas, petroleum products, oilfield
equipment, steel
Agriculture: Cotton, grain, rice,
grapes; cattle
Exports: Oil and gas,
machinery, cotton, foodstuffs

Fast Facts
Population:731,000
Capital: Manama; 139,000
Area:717 square kilometers
(277 square miles)
Language: Arabic, English,
Farsi, Urdu
Religion: Shiite and Sunni
Muslim
Currency: Bahraini dinar
Life Expectancy:74
GDP per Capita: U.S.
$15,100
Literacy Percent:89
Bahrain consists of 33
islands in the Persian Gulf
(Arabian Gulf). The islands
are mostly desert, and
most of the population
lives in or near Manama,
the capital. Since the
1930s the oil industry has
replaced pearl diving, and
Bahrain has become a
financial and
communications hub.
ECONOMY
Industry: Petroleum processing and refining,
aluminum smelting, offshore banking, ship
repairing, tourisma
Agriculture: Fruit, vegetables; poultry;
shrimp
Exports: Petroleum and petroleum products,
aluminum, textiles

Fast Facts
Population:69,515,000
Capital: Tehran; 7,352,000
Area:1,648,000 square
kilometers (636,296 square
miles)
Language: Persian, Turkic,
Kurdish, various local dialects
Religion: Shiite and Sunni
Muslim
Currency: Iranian Rial
Life Expectancy:69
GDP per Capita: U.S. $6,800
Literacy Percent:79
Iran is a southwest Asian country of
mountains and deserts. Eastern Iran
is dominated by a high plateau, with
large salt flats and vast sand
deserts. The plateau is surrounded
by even higher mountains, including
the Zagros to the west and the
Elburz to the north. Farming and
settlement are largely concentrated
in the narrow plains or valleys in the
west or north, where there is more
rainfall. Iran's huge oil reserves lie
in the southwest, along the Persian
Gulf.
ECONOMY
Industry: Petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement
and other construction materials
Agriculture: Wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets;
dairy products; caviar
Exports: Petroleum, carpets, fruits and nuts, iron and
steel, chemicals