All about Asia

Netizen replied 2014-11-27 Report

Asia is the abbreviation of "Asia". The word "Asia" comes from the Semitic language of ancient people in West Asia and other places. Asia means the place where the sun rises in the east. Asia is home to China, India, and Babylon, the world's ancient civilizations. It is also the birthplace of Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity. It has a significant impact on the development of world culture.

Asia is located in the northeastern part of the Eastern Hemisphere, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Indian Ocean to the south, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. The mainland extends to Cape Dezhnev in the east (longitude 169 degrees 40 minutes west, latitude 60 degrees 5 minutes north), to Cape Piai in the south (longitude 103 degrees 30 minutes east, latitude 1 degrees 17 minutes north), and to Cape Baba (longitude 26 east). degrees 3 minutes, north latitude 39 degrees 27 minutes), north to Cape Chelyuskin (104 degrees 18 minutes east longitude, 77 degrees 43 minutes north latitude). It spans the widest latitudes among all continents and has almost all climate and natural zones from the equator to the Arctic zone. It also spans the widest range of longitudes, with a time difference of 11 hours between east and west. It is divided from Europe by the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus Mountains, the Bosporus Strait, and the Dardanelles Strait to the northwest; it is adjacent to Africa across the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the southwest; and it faces Oceania across the sea to the southeast. ; The Bering Strait, which is only 86 kilometers wide in the northeast, faces North America. Asia covers an area of ??44 million square kilometers (including islands), accounting for approximately 29.4% of the world's total land area, and is the largest continent in the world. The Asian continent and the European continent are adjacent to form the Eurasian continent, the world's largest land mass, with a total area of ??approximately 50.71 million square kilometers, of which the Asian continent accounts for approximately 4/5.

Residents: The racial and ethnic composition of Asia is very complex, especially in South Asia. The yellow race (also known as the Mongolian race) is the dominant race, accounting for about 60% of the continent's population. The rest are white, brown, and a mixture of races. There are about 1,000 ethnic groups and racial groups in the continent, accounting for about half of the total number of ethnic groups and races in the world. Among them, there are Han people with a population of more than one billion, and there are also ethnic groups or tribes with only a few hundred people. According to the degree of language similarity, the residents of Asia belong to the Sino-Tibetan language family, the Austro-Asiatic language family, the Altaic language family, Korean and Japanese (some people think that these two language families are undecided.), the Malayo-Polynesian language family, and the Dravidian language family. , Semitic-Hamitic language family, Indo-European language family, etc. Asia is the birthplace of three major religions: Buddhism, Islam and Christianity.

Natural environment: Asia’s continental coastline is long and winding, with a coastline of 69,900 kilometers. It is the continent with the longest coastline in the world. Coast types are complex. It has many peninsulas and islands and is the continent with the largest peninsula area. The Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Kalimantan is the third largest island in the world. The general characteristics of Asia's terrain are that the surface is highly undulating, with high mountains and ridges converging in the central part. Mountains, plateaus and hills account for about 3/4 of the continent's area. The average altitude of the entire continent is 950 meters, making it the highest continent in the world except Antarctica. The entire continent is roughly centered on the Pamir Plateau, with a series of tall mountains extending in all directions, the tallest of which is the Himalayas. There are many vast plateaus and basins between the tall mountains. There are also vast plains outside the mountains and plateaus. There are many famous peaks in Asia. The world's peaks with an altitude of more than 8,000 meters are all distributed in the Karakoram Mountains and the Himalayas. Among them, the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, is 8,848 meters above sea level. Asia has the lowest depression and lake in the world - the Dead Sea (the lake level is 592 meters lower than the Mediterranean Sea), as well as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, known as the roof of the world. Asia is the continent with the most volcanoes in the world. The island group outside the eastern marginal sea is the most volcanic area in the world. Earthquakes occur frequently in the eastern coastal islands, Central Asia and northern West Asia. Many large rivers in Asia originate from the central mountains and flow into the Pacific, Indian and Arctic oceans respectively. Inner flow areas are mainly distributed in central and western Asia. The longest river in Asia is the Yangtze River, 6,397 kilometers long; followed by the Yellow River, 5,464 kilometers long; and the Mekong River, 4,500 kilometers long. The longest inland river is the Syr Darya River, followed by the Amu Darya River and the Tarim River. Lake Baikal is Asia's largest freshwater lake and the world's deepest lake.

Asia spans cold, warm and hot zones. Its basic climate characteristics are strong continental climate, typical monsoon climate and complex climate types. The northern coastal area has a frigid tundra climate. Most of Siberia has a temperate coniferous forest climate. The mid-latitude area near the Pacific Ocean in the east has a monsoon climate, which transitions to a subtropical forest climate in the south. Southeast Asia and South Asia have a savanna climate, and most areas near the equator have a tropical rainforest climate. Most areas of Central and West Asia have desert and steppe climates. The Mediterranean coast of Western Asia has a subtropical Mediterranean climate. The extreme minimum temperatures in Verkhyansk and Oymyakon in eastern Siberia have reached -71 degrees Celsius, making them the lowest in the Northern Hemisphere.

Natural resources: Asia is rich in mineral resources, with a wide variety of mineral resources and many rich areas. The main mineral deposits include coal, iron, petroleum, tin, tungsten, antimony, copper, lead, zinc, manganese, magnesite, gold, graphite, chromium, etc. The reserves of oil, tin, magnesite, iron, etc. all rank first among all continents, and the tin ore reserves account for more than 60% of the world's total tin ore reserves. Asia's forest area accounts for approximately 13% of the world's total forest area. The available water resources are also extremely abundant.

The area of ??coastal fisheries in Asia accounts for about 40% of the total area of ??coastal fisheries in the world. Famous fisheries are mainly distributed on the eastern coast of the mainland, including China's Zhoushan Islands, Taiwan Island and Paracel Islands fisheries, as well as the Sea of ??Okhotsk, Hokkaido, Kyushu and other fisheries.

Economy: In ancient times, Asian people created a splendid culture. It has well-known agriculture and handicraft industries, as well as many scientific inventions and creations, which have made great contributions to the development of the world economy. After the 16th century, Western colonialism and imperialism invaded one after another, and many countries and regions became colonies and semi-colonies. The economy was severely damaged and the national economy developed slowly. As a result, many countries and regions have been in a state of poverty and backwardness for a long time. At present, most countries in Asia, except Japan, are developing countries. Agriculture plays an important role in Asian countries. The output of rice, natural rubber, cinchona, abaca, teak, pepper, jute, copra, tea, etc. respectively account for 80%-90% of the world's total output. The output of crude oil, fish, soybeans, and cotton all account for the world's total output. 30% - 40%. The output of tin concentrate accounts for about 60% of the world's total output. The output of tungsten concentrate, peanuts, sesame, tobacco, and rapeseed all account for 45% of the world's total output. Kapok, silk, dates, etc. The output and total number of livestock are also among the best in the world. The vast majority of countries have a weak industrial base, with relatively advanced mining and agricultural product processing industries, and heavy industry development. The eastern half of China, Japan, South Korea, Java Island, western Sri Lanka, central India, and western Turkey have developed transportation. Maritime transportation is developed along the southeast coast. The vast inland areas and desert areas are dominated by animal power.

Geographic region: Geographically, it is customarily divided into East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, Central Asia and North Asia.

East Asia: refers to eastern Asia. Including China, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia and Japan. It covers an area of ??approximately 11.7 million square kilometers. The terrain is higher in the west and lower in the east, divided into four steps. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in southwest China, known as the "Roof of the World", has an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters. The southeastern half is a monsoon area with a temperate broad-leaved forest climate and a subtropical forest climate; the northwest has a continental temperate grassland and desert climate; and the southwest has a mountainous plateau climate. From May to October, the eastern coast is affected by typhoons. The most abundant mineral resources are coal, iron, petroleum, copper, antimony, tungsten, molybdenum, gold, magnesite, graphite, etc. East Asia is the origin of cultivated plants such as rice, yam, millet, buckwheat, soybeans, ramie, tea, tung oil, sumac, citrus, longan, lychee, and ginseng. The rice produced accounts for more than 40% of the world's total rice production, tea accounts for more than 25% of the world's total production, and soybeans account for 20%. The output of cotton, peanuts, corn, sugar cane, sesame, rapeseed, silk, etc. occupies an important position in the world.

Southeast Asia: refers to the southeastern region of Asia. Including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, East Timor and other countries and regions. It covers an area of ??approximately 4.48 million square kilometers. Geographically, it includes two parts: Indochina Peninsula and Nanyang Islands. It is one of the most volcanic areas in the world. The archipelago area and the southern part of the peninsula have a tropical rain forest climate, while the mountains in the northern part of the peninsula have a subtropical forest climate. The important minerals are tin, oil, natural gas, coal, nickel, bauxite, tungsten, chromium, gold, etc. Southeast Asia is the origin of tropical cultivated plants such as lemon, jute, clove, cardamom, pepper, banana, betel nut, pineapple, abaca, etc. It is rich in rice, rubber, spices, teak, kapok, cinchona and tropical fruits.

South Asia: refers to the southern region of Asia. Including Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim. It covers an area of ??approximately 4.37 million square kilometers. The northern part of this area is the mountainous area at the southern foot of the Himalayas, the southern Indian peninsula is the Deccan Plateau, and between the northern mountains and the Deccan Plateau is the Indo-Gangetic Plain. The northern and central plains basically have a subtropical forest climate, the Deccan Plateau and northern Sri Lanka have a tropical grassland climate, the southwestern tip of the Indian Peninsula, southern Sri Lanka and the Maldives have a tropical rainforest climate, and the Indus Plain has a subtropical grassland and desert climate. The most abundant mineral resources are iron, manganese and coal. South Asia is the origin of cultivated plants such as mango, castor, eggplant, banana, sugar cane, and lotus root. The jute and tea produced account for about 1/2 of the world's total output. The output of rice, peanuts, sesame, rapeseed, sugar cane, cotton, rubber, wheat and copra also occupies an important position in the world.

West Asia: Also called Southwest Asia, referring to western Asia. Includes Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain. It covers an area of ??approximately 7 million square kilometers. Plateaus are widespread and there are many mountains in the north. Between the mountainous plateau in the north and the Arabian Peninsula in the south is the Mesopotamian plain formed by the alluvial waters of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The climate is dry. The southern desert is vast. The Mediterranean and Black Sea coastal areas and western mountains of this area have a Mediterranean climate, the eastern and inland plateaus have a subtropical grassland and desert climate, and most of the Arabian Peninsula has a tropical desert climate. Oil reserves and production occupy an important position in the world. West Asia is the origin of cultivated plants such as carrots, melons, onions, spinach, alfalfa, and dates, as well as famous livestock species such as Arabian camels, Arabian horses, Angora goats, and Angora rabbits.

Central Asia: refers to the Central Asian sub-region.

In a narrow sense, it only includes all the four countries of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and the southern part of Kazakhstan. The southeastern part of this area is mountainous, with frequent earthquakes and a mountainous climate; the rest of the area is plains and hills, with widespread deserts and an arid climate, with a temperate and subtropical desert and grassland climate. The most important minerals are natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead, zinc, mercury, sulfur and mirabilite. Central Asia is the origin of cultivated plants such as peas, broad beans, and apples, as well as the Karakul sheep. Produces cotton, tobacco, rice, silk, wool, grapes, apples, etc.

North Asia: refers to the Siberian region in the Asian part of Russia. The west is the West Siberian Plain, the middle is the Central Siberian Plateau and mountains, and the east is the Far East Mountains. The climate north of the polar circle is a frigid tundra climate, while the rest of the area has a temperate coniferous forest climate. The river freezes for more than six months. The most important minerals are petroleum, coal, copper, gold and diamond.

Produces wheat, potatoes, flax, wood, etc.