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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 kilometres, 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 civilisations. 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. 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.

Since the concept of Asia derives from the term for the eastern region from a European perspective, Asia is the remaining vast area of Eurasia minus Europe. Therefore, Asia is a region where various independent cultures coexist rather than sharing a single culture, and the boundary between Europe is somewhat arbitrary and has moved since its first conception in classical antiquity. The division of Eurasia into two continents reflects East–West cultural differences, some of which vary on a spectrum. (Full article...)

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Temples and pagodas in Bagan

Bagan (Burmese: ပုဂံ; MLCTS: pu.gam, IPA: [bəɡàɰ̃]; formerly Pagan) is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that would later constitute Myanmar. During the kingdom's height between the 11th and 13th centuries, more than 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which the remains of over 2200 temples and pagodas survive.

The Bagan Archaeological Zone is a main attraction for the country's nascent tourism industry. (Full article...)

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Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also rendered as Burma (the official English form until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has a population of about 55 million. It is bordered by India and Bangladesh to its northwest, China to its northeast, Laos and Thailand to its east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to its south and southwest. The country's capital city is Naypyidaw, and its largest city is Yangon (formerly Rangoon).

Early civilisations in the area included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Myanmar and the Mon kingdoms in Lower Myanmar. In the 9th century, the Bamar people entered the upper Irrawaddy valley, and following the establishment of the Pagan Kingdom in the 1050s, the Burmese language, culture, and Theravada Buddhism slowly became dominant in the country. The Pagan Kingdom fell to Mongol invasions, and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo dynasty, the country became the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia for a short period. The early 19th-century Konbaung dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Assam, the Lushai Hills, and Manipur as well. The British East India Company seized control of the administration of Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century, and the country became a British colony. After a brief Japanese occupation, Myanmar was reconquered by the Allies. On 4 January 1948, Myanmar declared independence under the terms of the Burma Independence Act 1947. (Full article...)

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Du Fu (Chinese: 杜甫; pinyin: Dù Fǔ; Wade–Giles: Tu Fu; 712–770) was a Chinese poet and politician during the Tang dynasty. Together with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai, Du is often considered one of the greatest Chinese poets. His greatest ambition was to serve his country as a successful civil servant, but Du proved unable to make the necessary accommodations. His life, like all of China, was devastated by the An Lushan rebellion of 755, and his last 15 years were a time of almost constant unrest.

Although initially he was little-known to other writers, his works came to be hugely influential in both Chinese and Japanese literary culture. Of his poetic writing, nearly fifteen hundred poems have been preserved over the ages. He has been called the "Poet-Historian" and the "Poet-Sage" by Chinese critics, while the range of his work has allowed him to be introduced to Western readers as "the Chinese Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Shakespeare, Milton, Burns, Wordsworth, Béranger, Hugo or Baudelaire". (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1The Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan, which was the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010 (from Asian Century)
Image 2East Asian cultural sphere (from Culture of Asia)
Image 3The Hindu-Buddhist temple of Angkor Wat. (from History of Asia)
Image 4Map of Asia for early 20th century (from History of Asia)
Image 5Đại Việt, Champa, Angkor Empire and their neighbours, late 13th century (from History of Asia)
Image 6Map of Vietnam showing the conquest of the south (the Nam tiến, 1069–1757). (from History of Asia)
Image 7Balhae in the north, Later Silla in the south (from History of Asia)
Image 8British troops taking Zhenjiang from Qing troops (from History of Asia)
Image 9the Goryeo ware, which shows splendid culture of Goryeo in mediaeval Korea. (from History of Asia)
Image 10Indonesian Balinese cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 11The 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 12Daian-ji temple at Nara, Japan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 13The 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 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 15Gyeonghoeru of Gyeongbokgung, the Joseon dynasty's royal palace. (from History of Asia)
Image 16Invasions, destruction and possible population movements during the Late Bronze Age collapse, beginning c. 1200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 17Chicken tikka, a well-known dish across the globe, reflects the South Asian cooking style. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 18Political map of Asia in 1860 (from History of Asia)
Image 19Badshahi Mosque built under the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Lahore, Pakistan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 20The Taj Mahal, Agra, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 21Battle of Talas between Tang dynasty and Abbasid Caliphate c. 751 (from History of Asia)
Image 22The 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 23Ancient ziggurat, Iraq (from Culture of Asia)
Image 24Language families in South Asia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 25Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine in Jerusalem. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 26The Silk Road in Asia (from History of Asia)
Image 27Gojong (1852–1919), the 26th king of Joseon dynasty and the first emperor of Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 28Some 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 29Byzantine and Sassanian Empires in 600 AD (from History of Asia)
Image 30The Great Wave off Kanagawa, c. 1830 by Hokusai, an example of art flourishing in the Edo Period (from History of Asia)
Image 31India'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 32The Grand Mosque in Kuwait City, one of the largest mosques in the region (from Culture of Asia)
Image 33Detail 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 34Detail 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 35Robert Clive and Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, 1757 by Francis Hayman (from History of Asia)
Image 36Machiya in Heian period (from History of Asia)
Image 37Borobudur, a Buddhist temple in Indonesia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 38Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (from History of Asia)
Image 39Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jeruslam (from Culture of Asia)
Image 40Kabsa also called Majboos, famous in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates (from Culture of Asia)
Image 41Sun temple at Konarka, Odisha, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 42The Delhi Sultanate. (from History of Asia)
Image 43A Confucian ritual ceremony in Jeju, South Korea (from Culture of Asia)
Image 44Angkor Wat, Khmer Empire (from Culture of Asia)
Image 45Philippine cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 46Deoksugung, the palace where Emperor Gojong established Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 47A stone image of the Buddha (from Culture of Asia)
Image 48The First Persian Empire at its greatest extent, c. 500 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 49Tang dynasty Chinese poet Li Bai, in a 13th-century depiction by Liang Kai (from Culture of Asia)
Image 50Political cartoon depicting the Afghan Emir Sher Ali with the rival "friends" the Russian Bear and British Lion (1878) (from History of Asia)
Image 51The early Muslim conquests, 622–750 (from History of Asia)
Image 52Map of Asia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 53Population concentration and boundaries of the Western Zhou dynasty in China (from History of Asia)
Image 54The Han dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 55Sculpture of Prince Shōtoku (from History of Asia)
Image 56The Song dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 1200 (from History of Asia)
Image 57Projected shares of global GDP by region to 2050 (from Asian Century)
Image 58Korean 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 59Traditional Rajasthani garments from Jaipur, Rajasthan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 60The Qing Empire in 1832. (from History of Asia)
Image 61The Qing conquest of the Ming and expansion of the empire (from History of Asia)
Image 62Eunpyeong Hanok Village in Seoul, South Korea (from Culture of Asia)
Image 63A view of the Fort St George in 18th-century Madras. (from History of Asia)
Image 64A typical example of Dravidian architecture (from Culture of Asia)
Image 65The Great Wall of China at Jinshanling (from Culture of Asia)
Image 66Map of Marco Polo's travels (from History of Asia)
Image 67The Mughal ambassador Khan’Alam in 1618 negotiating with Shah Abbas the Great of Iran. (from History of Asia)
Image 68The Russian Znamensky Cathedral in Tyumen built in 1768 (from Culture of Asia)
Image 69Hinduism 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)

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Featured picture

dougong

Credit: 663highland

A colorful dougong supporting a structure at Sagami Temple, Kasai, Hyōgo, Japan. Dougong is a structural element of interlocking wooden brackets, one of the most important elements in traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean architecture. The use of dougong first appeared in buildings of the late centuries BC and evolved into a structural network that joined pillars and columns to the frame of the roof. The pieces are fit together by joinery alone without glue or fasteners, due to the precision and quality of the carpentry.

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Did you know...

... that more than 150 years of documentary sources at the Central Archives of Gaza City were destroyed during the Israel–Hamas war?
... that The Chinese in America documents how people in California, during the gold rush era, mailed their laundry to Hong Kong for cleaning?
... that Iran's first three-stage satellite carrier, Qaem 100, successfully passed its suborbital test?
... that Hyakuman-kai no "I Love You" is a popular confession song in Japan?
... that Chinese Garden MRT station did not originally have access to the Chinese Garden?
... that Emi Wong, the Hong Kong YouTuber with the most subscribers, used a carpet sweeper to do lunges and bottles of laundry detergent to do squats?
... that the Indonesian pulp and paper industry collectively controls over 10 million hectares of land?
... that the apricot dress of Jacqueline Kennedy kept its shape in India's hot weather?
... that Saparinah Sadli defended one of her former students when Indonesia's State Intelligence Agency challenged her gendered exploration of the New Order regime?
... that Saudi Arabian poet Hamad al-Hajji lost three members of his family during his childhood and later suffered from schizophrenia until he died at the age of 49 after a lung disease?

Updated: 21:05, 6 February 2025

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In the news

6 February 2025 –: Four people are killed after a U.S. military-contracted Beechcraft Super King Air 300 surveillance aircraft crashes in a paddy field in Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur, Philippines. (AP) (ABC News Australia)
6 February 2025 – United States and the International Criminal Court, Executive orders in the second presidency of Donald Trump: U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order imposing sanctions on International Criminal Court officials that assist investigations into U.S. citizens or those of its allies, namely Israel. (NBC News)
5 February 2025 – Second Trump tariffs, China–United States trade war: The United States Postal Service says it is temporarily refusing inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong, but reverses this policy hours later. (The Guardian) (NBC News)
5 February 2025 – Israel and the United Nations: Israel withdraws from the United Nations Human Rights Council, accusing the UN body of "obsessively demonizing" and discriminating against the country. (Ynet News)
5 February 2025 – Impeachment of Sara Duterte, Impeachment in the Philippines: The House of Representatives of the Philippines formally impeaches Vice President Sara Duterte. The Senate is now set to conduct a trial. (ABS-CBN News) (Bloomberg)
4 February 2025 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Gaza war

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Major Religions in Asia

Middle East

Central Asia and Caucasus

Indian Subcontinent

Southeast Asia

East Asia

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Selected panorama

150pxThe view of Nanga Parbat, taken 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from the base camp.

Nanga Parbat is the ninth highest mountain on Earth, the second highest mountain in Pakistan and among the eight-thousanders with a summit elevation of 8,126 meters (26,660 ft).