Asia is the abbreviation of Asia Asia: Asia Asia (ancient Greek etymology: α σ α; Latin: Asia; ; French: Asie；; English: Asia, referred to as Asia for short, is the largest, widest latitude, farthest east-west distance and most populous of the seven continents. It accounts for 8.6% of the total area of the earth (or 29.4% of the total land area). The total population is about 4 billion, accounting for 60% of the world population. The west of Africa-Eurasia is Europe. The dividing line between Asia and Africa is the Suez Canal. East of Suez Canal is Asia. The dividing lines between Asia and Europe are the Turkish Strait, the Urals, the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. To the east of the Urals and the Great Caucasus Mountains, and to the south of the Caspian and Black Seas is Asia. The mainland starts from Cape Jerzhnev in the Bering Strait in the east (west longitude169 40', north latitude 60 5') and reaches Nusa Tenggara Islands in the south (east longitude103 30', south latitude1kloc-0/7') and west. In ancient times, people living along the Mediterranean called the place east of the Mediterranean "Asia", which means "the place where the sun rises in the east". Asia is bordered by the Pacific Ocean in the east, the Arctic Ocean in the north, the Indian Ocean in the south, the Atlantic Ocean in the west, the Urals Mountains, ural river, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, the Black Sea and the Turkish Strait (Bosphorus and Da Daniil Strait) in the west, Africa in the southwest and North America in the northeast. Interpretation of the name of the continent: in ancient Phoenician, it means "the place where the sun rises in the east", which is contrary to the European "the place where the sun sets in the west". Race: yellow people account for more than 3/5 of the population of the whole continent, followed by white people and few blacks. Language: It belongs to Sino-Tibetan language family, South Asian language family, Altai language family, Korean language family, Japanese language family, Malay-Polynesian language family, Dravidian language family, Semite-Hermite language family and Indo-European language family. Religion: Asia is the birthplace of Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. Climate: The Asian continent spans three climatic zones: cold, warm and hot. The main characteristics of climate are: complex and diverse climate types, obvious monsoon climate, wide influence range and wide distribution of temperate continental climate. The only climate in Asia is temperate maritime climate. Natural resources: there are many kinds of minerals with large reserves, and the reserves of oil, iron and tin rank first in all continents; The total forest area accounts for about 13% of the total forest area in the world. The annual output of exploitable hydropower resources can reach 2.6 trillion kWh, accounting for 27% of the world's exploitable hydropower resources. The area of coastal fishing grounds accounts for about 40% of the total area of coastal fishing grounds in the world. The Himalayas is the highest mountain range in the world, with more than 50 peaks over 7000 meters above sea level. Mount Everest, the main peak of the Himalayas, is the highest peak in the world, with an altitude of 8844.43 meters. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the highest plateau in the world, with an average elevation of over 4,500 meters. It is called "the roof of the world". West Siberian Plain-the largest plain in Asia, covering an area of 2.6 million square kilometers. The Caspian Sea is the largest lake or saltwater lake in the world, covering an area of about 370,000 square kilometers. Lake Baikal-the deepest freshwater lake in the world with the largest storage capacity, with the deepest depth of1620m and the storage capacity of 23,000 cubic kilometers. Dead Sea-The surface of the lake is 400 meters below sea level, which is the lowest land point in the world. Due to the high salt content in the lake, no other living things can survive except bacteria. Arabian Peninsula-the largest peninsula in the world, covering an area of about 3 million square kilometers. Malay Archipelago is the largest archipelago in the world, scattered in the vast sea area between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, including more than 20,000 islands, covering an area of 2.43 million square kilometers. Natural Environment The coastline of the Asian continent is long and tortuous, with a coastline of 69,900 kilometers. It is the longest coastline in the world. Coastal types are complex. There are many peninsulas and islands, and it is the largest continent on the peninsula. Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world (with an area of about 3 million square kilometers). Kalimantan island is the third largest island in the world. The general feature of Asia's topography is that the surface fluctuates greatly, with mountains in the middle, and mountains, plateaus and hills account for about 3/4 of the whole continent. The average elevation of the whole continent is 950 meters, which is the highest in the world except Antarctica. The whole continent is roughly centered on the Pamirs, and a series of tall mountains extend in all directions, the highest of which is the Himalayas. There are many vast plateaus and basins between high mountains. Beyond mountains and plateaus, there are vast plains. There are many famous peaks in Asia. The peaks above 8000 meters above sea level in the world are all distributed in the Karakorum Mountains and the Himalayas, among which Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, is 8844.43 meters above sea level. Asia has the lowest depressions and lakes in the world-the Dead Sea (the lake is 3 9 2 meters below the Mediterranean), and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is called the "roof of the world". Asia has the most volcanoes in the world. The islands around the eastern edge have the most volcanoes in the world. Earthquakes are frequent in eastern coastal islands, Central Asia and northern West Asia. Many great rivers in Asia originate from the central mountains and flow into the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and Arctic Ocean respectively. The internal flow areas are mainly distributed in Central Asia and West Asia. The longest river in Asia is the Yangtze River, which is 6397 kilometers long. Followed by the Yellow River, 5464 kilometers long; The Mekong River is 4500 kilometers long. The longest inland river is Volga River (the longest in the world) (3,690 kilometers), followed by Amu Darya River and Tarim River (2 179 kilometers). Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in Asia and the deepest lake in the world. Asia spans cold, warm and hot areas, and its basic climate characteristics are strong continental climate, typical monsoon climate and complex climate types. The northern coastal areas have a cold tundra climate. Most of Siberia has a temperate coniferous forest climate. The mid-latitude area adjacent to the Pacific Ocean in the east belongs to the Asian topographic monsoon climate, and it transits to the subtropical forest climate in the south. Southeast Asia and South Asia belong to tropical rain forest climate and tropical monsoon climate, and most of them near the equator belong to tropical rain forest climate. Most parts of Central Asia and West Asia have desert and grassland climate. The Mediterranean coast of West Asia has a subtropical Mediterranean climate. The extreme minimum temperatures in Yeyansk and Oymyakon in eastern Siberia reached -7 1 Celsius, which is the lowest temperature in the northern hemisphere. There are 1 reasons for the complex and diverse climate types in Asia. There are many latitudes in the north and south, and the heat conditions are quite different. 2. The east-west span has many longitudes, and the precipitation conditions are quite different. 3. The terrain is complex, the terrain types are diverse, and the height difference is large. The islands in Asia are mainly concentrated in the southeast sea. There are tens of thousands of islands with a total area of 3.2 million square kilometers, including six big islands (kalimantan island, Sumatra, Guinea, Sulawesi, Java and Honshu) with an area of over 654.38 million square kilometers. Asia is the continent with the largest concentration of major rivers in the world, with 58 rivers exceeding 1000 km in length, of which 5 rivers exceed 4,000 km (Yangtze River, Yellow River, Mekong River, Irtysh River (ob river) and Heilongjiang). Geographical region East Asia refers to East Asia. Include China, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia and Japan. The area is about 1 1.7 million square kilometers. The population exceeds 65.438+0.3 billion. The terrain is high in the west and low in the east, and it is divided into four levels. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is known as the "roof of the world" in the southwest of China, with an average elevation of more than 4,000 meters. The southeast half is monsoon region, which belongs to temperate broad-leaved forest climate and subtropical forest climate; Northwest China belongs to continental temperate grassland with desert climate; Southwest is a mountainous plateau climate. 65438+ 10 May-June, the eastern coast was affected by typhoon. Coal, iron, petroleum, copper, antimony, tungsten, molybdenum, gold, magnesite and graphite are the most abundant mineral resources. East Asia is the origin of cultivated plants such as rice, yam, millet, buckwheat, soybean, ramie, tea, tung tree, lacquer tree, citrus, longan, litchi 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 rice production, and soybeans account for 20%. The output of cotton, peanuts, corn, sugarcane, sesame, rapeseed and silk occupies an important position in the world. Southeast Asia refers to the southeast 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 about 4.48 million square kilometers. The population exceeds 450 million. Geographically, it includes Indochina Peninsula and Malay Archipelago. It is one of the regions with the most volcanoes in the world. The islands and the southern part of the peninsula have a tropical rainforest climate, while the mountains in the northern part of the peninsula have a subtropical forest climate. The main minerals are tin, oil, natural gas, coal, nickel, bauxite, tungsten, chromium and gold. Southeast Asia is the origin of tropical cultivated plants such as lemon, jute, clove, cardamom, pepper, banana, betel nut, pineapple and Manila hemp, and is rich in rice, rubber, spices, teak, kapok, cinchona cream and tropical fruits. Indonesia has the largest number of volcanoes in the world. Known as "the country of volcanoes". South Asia refers to the south of Asia. Include Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. It covers an area of about 4.37 million square kilometers. The population exceeds 1 100 million. The northern part of this area is the mountainous area at the southern foot of the Himalayas, the southern part of the Indian Peninsula is the Deccan Plateau, and the Indus-Ganges Plain is between the northern mountains and the Deccan Plateau. The northern and central plains basically have subtropical forest climate, Deccan Plateau and northern Sri Lanka have tropical grassland climate, the southwestern tip of Indian Peninsula, southern Sri Lanka and Maldives have tropical rain forest climate, and the Indus Plain has subtropical grassland and desert climate. Iron, manganese and coal are the most abundant mineral resources. South Asia is the origin of cultivated plants such as mango, castor, eggplant, banana, sugarcane and lotus root. Jute and tea production accounts for about 0/2 of the world's total output. The output of rice, peanut, sesame, rapeseed, sugarcane, cotton, rubber, wheat and desiccated coconut also occupies an important position in the world. West Asia is also called Southwest Asia, which means West Asia. Include Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. It covers an area of about 7 million square kilometers. The population exceeds 200 million. Plateau is widely distributed and mountainous in the north. The Mesopotamian plain between the northern mountain plateau and the southern Arabian Peninsula is alluvial by the Euphrates River and the Tigris River. The climate is dry. The desert in the south is vast. The Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea coastal areas and the western mountainous areas belong to the Mediterranean climate, the eastern and inland plateaus belong to the subtropical grassland and desert climate, and most parts of the Arabian Peninsula belong to the tropical desert climate. The reserves and output of oil occupy an important position in the world. West Asia is the origin of cultivated plants such as carrots, melons, onions, spinach, alfalfa and dates, and famous livestock breeds such as Arabian camels, Arabian horses, Angora goats and Angora rabbits. Central Asia refers to Central Asia. In a narrow sense, it only includes all of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and the southern part of Kazakhstan. The southeast of this area is mountainous, with frequent earthquakes and mountainous climate. The rest areas are plains and hills, deserts are widely distributed, and the climate is dry, belonging to temperate and subtropical desert grassland climate. The 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, apples and Karakul sheep. It produces cotton, tobacco, rice, silk, wool, grapes and apples. North Asia refers to Siberia in the Asian part of Russia. The western Siberia plain is in the west, the central Siberia plateau and mountains are in the middle, and the Far East mountains are in the east. The north of the polar circle belongs to the cold tundra climate, and the rest areas belong to the temperate coniferous forest climate. The ice age lasted for more than six months. These minerals are oil, coal, copper, gold and diamonds. Produce wheat, potatoes, flax and wood. [Edit this paragraph] The most central point in Asia, the geographical center of the Asian continent, is located in Baojiacaozi Village, Yongfeng Township, urumqi county, the southern suburb of Urumqi. Geographical coordinates are 43 40' 37 "north latitude and 8719' 52" east longitude. The geographical center of the Asian continent refers to the point in a balanced position within the Asian continent, which is farthest from the coastline around the continent and most continental. Xinjiang Institute of Geography, China Academy of Sciences, after more than two years of calculation and field investigation, determined it as 43 40' 37 "north latitude and 8719' 52" east longitude. Baojiacaozi Village, Yongfeng Township, located on the alluvial fan at the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain, is about 30 kilometers northeast of Urumqi city center, with accessible roads. A 18-meter-high, highly representative "Heart of Asia" symbol tower with typical Asian regional characteristics stands proudly at the "Heart of Asia" point. The terrain in Asia is very undulating, with high terrain in the middle and low terrain around. Rivers originating in the central mountainous areas and plateaus radiate to the surrounding oceans, forming many long outflow rivers. Summary: The topographical features of Asia can be summarized as three points: 1. The ground fluctuates greatly, and the height varies greatly. 2. The average altitude is high, ranking second among all continents in the world. 3. The central part of the mainland is mountainous and surrounded by many plains (middle high and four low). The characteristics of Asian rivers are: because rivers often originate from high mountains, Asian rivers often originate from the middle, which also leads to the radial development of rivers.