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Asia (/ˈeɪʒə/ ^ⓘ AY-zhə, UK also /ˈeɪʃə/ AY-shə) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometers, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the human population, was the site of many of the first civilizations. Its 4.7 billion people constitute roughly 60% of the world's population.

Asia shares the landmass of Eurasia with Europe, and of Afro-Eurasia with both Europe and Africa. In general terms, 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 border of Asia with Europe is a historical and cultural construct, as there is no clear physical and geographical separation between them. It is somewhat arbitrary and has moved since its first conception in classical antiquity. The division of Eurasia into two continents reflects East–West cultural, linguistic, and ethnic differences, some of which vary on a spectrum rather than with a sharp dividing line. A commonly accepted division places Asia to the east of the Suez Canal separating it from Africa; and to the east of the Turkish Straits, the Ural Mountains and Ural River, and to the south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black seas, separating it from Europe.

China and India traded places as the largest economies in the world from 1 to 1800 CE. China was a major economic power for much of recorded history, with the highest GDP per capita until 1500. The Silk Road became the main east–west trading route in the Asian hinterlands while the Straits of Malacca stood as a major sea route. Asia has exhibited economic dynamism as well as robust population growth during the 20th century, but overall population growth has since fallen. Asia was the birthplace of most of the world's mainstream religions including Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Jainism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, and many other religions. (Full article...)

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Kolkata skyline

Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta (its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, 80 km (50 mi) west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary financial and commercial centre of eastern and northeastern India. Kolkata is seventh most populous city with an estimated city proper population of 4.5 million (0.45 crore) while its metropolitan region Kolkata Metropolitan Area is third most populous metropolitan region of India with metro population of over 15 million (1.5 crore). Kolkata is the regarded by many sources as the cultural capital of India and a historically and culturally significant city in the historic region of Bengal. It is the second largest Bengali-speaking city in the world. It has the highest number of Nobel laureates among all cities in India.

The three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690, the area was developed by the Company into Fort William. Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied the fort in 1756 but was defeated at the Battle of Plassey in 1757, after his general Mir Jafar mutinied in support of the company, and was later made the Nawab for a brief time. Under company and later crown rule, Calcutta served as the de facto capital of India until 1911. Calcutta was the second largest city in the British Empire, after London, and was the centre of bureaucracy, politics, law, education, science and the arts in India. The city was associated with many of the figures and movements of the Bengali Renaissance. It was the hotbed of the Indian nationalist movement. (Full article...)

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China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the world's second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land. With an area of nearly 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third-largest country by total land area. The country is divided into 33 province-level divisions: 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two semi-autonomous special administrative regions. Beijing is the country's capital, while Shanghai is its most populous city by urban area and largest financial center.

China is considered one of the cradles of civilization: the first human inhabitants in the region arrived during the Paleolithic; by the late second millennium BCE, the earliest dynastic states had emerged in the Yellow River basin. The eighth to third centuries BCE saw a breakdown in the authority of the Zhou dynasty, accompanied by the emergence of administrative and military techniques, literature, philosophy, and historiography. In 221 BCE, China was unified under an emperor for the first time. Appointed non-hereditary officials began ruling counties instead of the aristocracy, ushering in more than two millennia of imperial dynasties including the Qin, Han, Tang, Yuan, Ming, and Qing. With the invention of gunpowder and paper, the establishment of the Silk Road, and the building of the Great Wall, Chinese culture—including languages, traditions, architecture, philosophy and technology—flourished and has heavily influenced both its neighbors and lands further afield. However, China began to cede parts of the country in the late 19th century to various European powers by a series of unequal treaties. (Full article...)

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Featured biography

Tōru Takemitsu (武満徹, pronounced [takeꜜmitsɯ̥ toːɾɯ]; 8 October 1930 – 20 February 1996) was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu was admired for the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre. He is known for combining elements of oriental and occidental philosophy and for fusing sound with silence and tradition with innovation.

He composed several hundred independent works of music, scored more than ninety films and published twenty books. He was also a founding member of the Jikken Kōbō (Experimental Workshop) in Japan, a group of avant-garde artists who distanced themselves from academia and whose collaborative work is often regarded among the most influential of the 20th century. (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various Asia-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The Great Wall of China at Jinshanling (from Culture of Asia)
Image 2A view of the Fort St George in 18th-century Madras. (from History of Asia)
Image 3The Syriac Orthodox Saint Ahoadamah Church was a 7th-century church building in the city of Tikrit, one of the oldest in the world until its destruction by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on 25 September 2014. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 4Chicken tikka, a well-known dish across the globe, reflects the South Asian cooking style. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 5Map of Marco Polo's travels (from History of Asia)
Image 6Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jeruslam (from Culture of Asia)
Image 7Machiya in Heian period (from History of Asia)
Image 8Battle of Talas between Tang dynasty and Abbasid Caliphate c. 751 (from History of Asia)
Image 9The Qing Empire in 1832. (from History of Asia)
Image 10The Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan, which was the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010 (from Asian Century)
Image 11The global contribution to world's GDP by major economies from 1 AD to 2003 AD according to Angus Maddison's estimates. Before 18th century, China and India were the two largest economies by GDP output. (from Asian Century)
Image 12The Silk Road in Asia (from History of Asia)
Image 13Political map of Asia in 1860 (from History of Asia)
Image 14Here a Jesuit, Adam Schall von Bell (1592–1666), is dressed as an official of the Chinese Department of Astronomy. (from History of Asia)
Image 15The Russian Znamensky Cathedral in Tyumen built in 1768 (from Culture of Asia)
Image 16Angkor Wat, Khmer Empire (from Culture of Asia)
Image 17Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine in Jerusalem. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 18Gojong (1852–1919), the 26th king of Joseon dynasty and the first emperor of Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 19Some henges at Göbekli Tepe in Turkey were erected as far back as 9600 BC, predating those of Stonehenge, by over seven millennia. (from History of Asia)
Image 20Invasions, destruction and possible population movements during the Late Bronze Age collapse, beginning c. 1200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 21The Mughal ambassador Khan’Alam in 1618 negotiating with Shah Abbas the Great of Iran. (from History of Asia)
Image 22The Taj Mahal, Agra, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 23Korean peninsula in 476 AD. There are three kingdoms and Gaya Union in the picture. This picture shows the heyday of Goguryeo (from History of Asia)
Image 24Population concentration and boundaries of the Western Zhou dynasty in China (from History of Asia)
Image 25The Grand Mosque in Kuwait City, one of the largest mosques in the region (from Culture of Asia)
Image 26The First Persian Empire at its greatest extent, c. 500 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 27Balhae in the north, Later Silla in the south (from History of Asia)
Image 28A stone image of the Buddha (from Culture of Asia)
Image 29Projected GDP of 7 largest economies in 2050 (from Asian Century)
Image 30Sun temple at Konarka, Odisha, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 31Philippine cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 32the Goryeo ware, which shows splendid culture of Goryeo in mediaeval Korea. (from History of Asia)
Image 33India's middle-class population of 300 million is growing at an annual rate of 5%. Shown here is an upmarket area in South Mumbai. (from Asian Century)
Image 34Language families in South Asia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 35East Asian cultural sphere (from Culture of Asia)
Image 36Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (from History of Asia)
Image 37The Song dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 1200 (from History of Asia)
Image 38Deoksugung, the palace where Emperor Gojong established Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 39Tang dynasty Chinese poet Li Bai, in a 13th-century depiction by Liang Kai (from Culture of Asia)
Image 40The Delhi Sultanate. (from History of Asia)
Image 41The third Inter-Korean Summit, which was held in 2018, between South Korean president Moon Jae-in and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un. It was a historical event that symbolized the peace of Asia. (from History of Asia)
Image 42The Great Wave off Kanagawa, c. 1830 by Hokusai, an example of art flourishing in the Edo Period (from History of Asia)
Image 43Map of Asia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 44Hinduism expansion in Asia, from its heartland in Indian Subcontinent, to the rest of Asia, especially Southeast Asia, started circa 1st century marked with the establishment of early Hindu settlements and polities in Southeast Asia. (from History of Asia)
Image 45Detail of Chinese silk from the 4th century BCE. The characteristic trade of silk through the Silk Road connected various regions from China, India, Central Asia, and the Middle East to Europe and Africa. (from History of Asia)
Image 46Indonesian Balinese cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 47Traditional Rajasthani garments from Jaipur, Rajasthan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 48A typical example of Dravidian architecture (from Culture of Asia)
Image 49The Han dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 50Borobudur, a Buddhist temple in Indonesia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 51Byzantine and Sassanian Empires in 600 AD (from History of Asia)
Image 52Ancient ziggurat, Iraq (from Culture of Asia)
Image 53Daian-ji temple at Nara, Japan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 54The Qing conquest of the Ming and expansion of the empire (from History of Asia)
Image 55Robert Clive and Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, 1757 by Francis Hayman (from History of Asia)
Image 56Projected shares of global GDP by region to 2050 (from Asian Century)
Image 57A Confucian ritual ceremony in Jeju, South Korea (from Culture of Asia)
Image 58Sculpture of Prince Shōtoku (from History of Asia)
Image 59Detail of the Dragon Throne used by the Qianlong Emperor of China, Forbidden City, Qing dynasty. Artifact circulating in U.S. museums on loan from Beijing (from Culture of Asia)
Image 60Map of Asia for early 20th century (from History of Asia)
Image 61Map of Vietnam showing the conquest of the south (the Nam tiến, 1069–1757). (from History of Asia)
Image 62Badshahi Mosque built under the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Lahore, Pakistan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 63The Hindu-Buddhist temple of Angkor Wat. (from History of Asia)
Image 64Đại Việt, Champa, Angkor Empire and their neighbours, late 13th century (from History of Asia)
Image 65British troops taking Zhenjiang from Qing troops (from History of Asia)
Image 66The early Muslim conquests, 622–750 (from History of Asia)
Image 67Political cartoon depicting the Afghan Emir Sher Ali with the rival "friends" the Russian Bear and British Lion (1878) (from History of Asia)
Image 68Gyeonghoeru of Gyeongbokgung, the Joseon dynasty's royal palace. (from History of Asia)
Image 69Kabsa also called Majboos, famous in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates (from Culture of Asia)

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Featured picture

Yeddi Gumbaz mausoleum

Credit: Diego Delso

View of one of the Yeddi Gumbez Mausoleums at dusk in Şamaxı, Azerbaijan. The cemetery dates from 1810 and was built for a family of Mustafa khan – the last khan of Shamakhi.

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Did you know...

... that although he was a former Indonesian prime minister, Soekiman Wirjosandjojo was not arrested during a political purge as he was considered a non-threat?
... that Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, India's second Muslim president, was also the second Indian president to die in office?
... that the Empire of Japan turned a Korean royal cemetery at what is now Hyochang Park into a golf course?
... that Levantine Arabic is often written in Hebrew characters online by Bedouin, Arab Christians, and Druze in Israel?
... that Ein Samiya, which provides the water for Taybeh, the first beer brewed in Palestine, was depopulated in 2023 after harassment by neighboring Israeli settlers?
... that the popularity of "10 Minutes" by Korean singer Lee Hyori led to 2003 being dubbed the "year of Hyori" by domestic media?
... that Sun Haiyan is the first Chinese ambassador to Singapore who was not a member of the Foreign Ministry of China?
... that University of Nebraska alumnus M. Khalid Roashan helped draft the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan?
... that the Pakistani film Shehr e Tabassum was the first animated cyberpunk film to be made by an Urdu development team?
... that the Te'omim Cave in Israel was home to a Bronze Age alabaster quarry, a refuge cave during the Jewish–Roman wars, and a possible center for necromantic activity in late antiquity?

Updated: 6:33, 14 February 2024

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In the news

30 July 2024 – Israel–Hezbollah conflict: 2024 Haret Hreik airstrike; Israel launches a missile attack on southern Beirut, killing at least three civilians and injuring 74 others. (Al Jazeera); An Israeli civilian is killed by a rocket fired from Lebanon. (Asharq Al Awsat)
30 July 2024 – Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency: The Turkish defense ministry says that it targeted Kurdish militants in northern Iraq with air strikes, killing 13 people. (Reuters)
30 July 2024 –: Unidentified gunmen opened fire on a bulletproof vehicle carrying local staff working for a United Nations development agency in northwest Pakistan, but no casualties are reported. (Times of India)
30 July 2024 – 2024 Pacific typhoon season: The death toll from torrential rains and floods caused by remnants of Typhoon Gaemi in Hunan, China, increases to 22. (Yahoo Canada)