Asia makes up the eastern portion of the Eurasian supercontinent; Europe occupies the western portion. The border between the two continents is debated. However, most geographers define Asia’s western border as an indirect line that follows the Ural Mountains, the Caucasus Mountains, and the Caspian and Black seas. Asia is bordered by the Arctic, Pacific, and Indian oceans.
2. Natural resources of Southest
Asia Countries
• Asia is the largest of the world’s continents, covering
approximately 30 percent of the Earth’s land area. It is also the
world’s most populous continent, with roughly 60 percent of the
total population.
• Asia makes up the eastern portion of the Eurasian
supercontinent; Europe occupies the western portion. The border
between the two continents is debated. However, most
geographers define Asia’s western border as an indirect line that
follows the Ural Mountains, the Caucasus Mountains, and the
Caspian and Black seas. Asia is bordered by the Arctic, Pacific, and
Indian oceans.
3. • The geographic term “Asia” was originally used by ancient
Greeks to describe the civilizations east of their empire.
Ancient Asian peoples, however, saw themselves as a varied
and diverse mix of cultures—not a collective group. Today, the
term “Asia” is used as a cultural concept, while subregion
classifications describe the distinct geopolitical identities of
the continent. These classifications are Western Asia, Central
Asia, Southern Asia, Eastern Asia, Southeastern Asia, and
Northern Asia.
4. • Today, Asia is home to the citizens of Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Georgia, India,
Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan,
Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal,
North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia,
Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste
(East Timor), Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan,
Vietnam, and Yemen.
• Asia’s physical geography, environment and resources, and human
geography can be considered separately.
• Asia’s stake in world markets has grown dramatically in the last half-
century. Today, Asian countries rank as some of the top producers of many
agricultural, forest, fishing, mining, and industrial products. This increased
production has brought both extreme wealth and negative environmental
impacts to the continent.
5. • Climate and Agriculture
• Asia’s vast area allows for varied and extreme climates. It has some
of the coldest, hottest, wettest, and driest places on Earth. While
many distinct climates exist across the continent, Asia’s climate can
be most generally divided into three zones: north/central,
southwest, and southeast.
• The continent’s north/central zone is affected by cold and dry Arctic
winds, especially the Siberia region of Russia. Hardier grains, such
as barley, buckwheat, millet, oats, and wheat, are grown in the
central and southern areas of this zone, where permanent frosts
inhibit plant growth. Animal husbandry is also very important in this
zone. In Mongolia, for example, 75 percent of agricultural land is
allocated to the rearing of livestock, such as sheep, goats, and
cattle.
6. • The southwest zone is a dry, hot region that stretches from the Gobi
Desert in Mongolia through Pakistan, Iran, and into the Arabian Peninsula.
This zone has very few areas with enough moisture and precipitation to
produce crops. Grains, such as barley and corn, are the principal irrigated
crops of some countries. A lack of pastureland suitable for grains,
however, means heat-resistant vegetables and fruits are grown most
widely in this zone. Dates, figs, apricots, olives, onions, grapes, and
cherries are the most important of these fruit and vegetable crops.
• The southeast zone is greatly affected by the summer monsoon season.
During this season, a low-pressure system south of the Himalayas attracts
moisture-laden winds from the Indian Ocean. The Himalayas push these
winds up, causing clouds and precipitation to form at a rapid rate. As a
result, many areas of Southeast Asia are considered the wettest places on
Earth and can see more than 254 centimeters (100 inches) of rain every
year.
7. Natural resources of East Asia
Countries
• East Asia is the eastern subregion of the Asian continent, which can be defined in either
geographical[3] or pan-ethno-cultural[4] terms. Geographically and geopolitically, it
includes China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea,
Japan and Taiwan; it covers about 12,000,000 km2 (4,600,000 sq mi), or about 28% of
the Asian continent. GDP(PPP) of East Asia is 32.4 trillion while Nominal GDP is 19.1
trillion USD.
• East Asians comprise around 1.6 billion people. About 38% of the population of Asia
and 22%, or over one fifth of world's population live in East Asia. Although the coastal
and riparian areas of the region form one of the world's most populated places, the
population in Mongolia and Western China, both landlocked areas, is very sparsely
distributed, with Mongolia having the lowest population density of a sovereign state.
The overall population density of the region is 133 inhabitants per square kilometre
(340/sq mi), about three times the world average of 45/km2 (120/sq mi).
• Historically, societies in East Asia have been part of the Chinese cultural sphere, and
East Asian vocabulary and scripts are often derived from Classical Chinese and Chinese
script. Major religions include Buddhism (mostly Mahayana[5]), Confucianism or Neo-
Confucianism, Taoism, Chinese folk religion in China and Taiwan, Shinto in Japan,
Korean shamanism in Korea. Shamanism is also prevalent among Mongolians and other
indigenous populations of northern East Asia such as the Manchus and Ewenki.[6][7]
Islam is popular in Northwest China and Kazaks in Mongolia.The Chinese calendar is the
root from which many other East Asian calendars are derived.
8. History
• Main article: History of East Asia
• The Chinese Dynasties dominated this region culturally and militarily for a
lengthy period of time. Cultural and religious exchange between the
Chinese and other regional East Asian Dynasties and Kingdoms occurred.
• As connections with the Western world strengthened, China's power
began to diminish. Around the same time, Japan solidified itself as a
nation state. During World War II, Korea, Taiwan, much of eastern China,
Hong Kong, and Vietnam all fell under Japanese control. Following Japan's
defeat in the war, the Korean peninsula became independent but then it
was divided into two rival states, while Taiwan became the main territory
of de facto state Republic of China after the latter lost mainland China to
the People's Republic of China in the Chinese Civil War.
9. Natural resources of Europe
countries
• Eastern Europe is the eastern part of the European continent. There is no
consensus on the precise area it covers, partly because the term has a
wide range of geopolitical, geographical, cultural, and socioeconomic
connotations. There are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as
there are scholars of the region". A related United Nations paper adds that
"every assessment of spatial identities is essentially a social and cultural
construct".
• One definition describes Eastern Europe as a cultural entity: the region
lying in Europe with the main characteristics consisting of Greek,
Byzantine, Eastern Orthodox, Russian , and some Ottoman culture
influences.Another definition was created during the Cold War and used
more or less synonymously with the term Eastern Bloc. A similar definition
names the formerly communist European states outside the Soviet Union
as Eastern Europe.Some historians and social scientists view such
definitions as outdated or relegated,but they are still sometimes used for
statistical purposes
10. Several other definitions of Eastern Europe exist today, but they often lack
precision, are too general or outdated. These definitions vary both across
cultures and among experts, even political scientists,as the term has a
wide range of geopolitical, geographical, cultural, and socioeconomic
connotations.
• There are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are
scholars of the region".[A related United Nations paper adds that "every
assessment of spatial identities is essentially a social and cultural
construct".
• Geographical
• While the eastern geographical boundaries of Europe are well defined, the
boundary between Eastern and Western Europe is not geographical but
historical, religious and cultural.
• The Ural Mountains, Ural River, and the Caucasus Mountains are the
geographical land border of the eastern edge of Europe.
• In the west, however, the historical and cultural boundaries of "Eastern
Europe" are subject to some overlap and, most importantly, have
undergone historical fluctuations, which make a precise definition of the
western geographic boundaries of Eastern Europe and the geographical
midpoint of Europe somewhat difficult.
