Asia territory. Regions of Asia. Major countries of Asia

Asia is the largest part of the world. However, not everyone knows its exact location. Let us dwell on where Asia is located.

Location and borders of Asia

Most of Asia is located in the northern and eastern hemispheres. And its total area is 43.4 million km² with a population of 4.2 billion people. It has borders with Africa (connected by the Isthmus of Suez). Therefore, one of the parts of Egypt is located in Asia. Asia is separated from North America by the Bering Strait. The border with Europe runs along the Emba River, the Caspian, Black and Marmara Seas, the Ural Mountains and the Bosphorus and Dardanelles.

Moreover, the geopolitical border of this continent is slightly different from the natural one. So, it runs along the eastern borders of the Kurgan, Sverdlovsk and Arkhangelsk regions, Komi, Russia and Kazakhstan. Whereas in the Caucasus, its geopolitical border coincides with the Russian-Georgian and Russian-Azerbaijani borders.

It is noteworthy that Asia is washed by four oceans at once - the Pacific, Indian, Arctic, as well as the Atlantic seas. Also, this continent has areas of internal flow - Lake Balkhash, the basins of the Aral and Caspian seas and others.

Here are the coordinates of the extreme points of Asia:

• South —103 ° 30 ′ E
• North - 104 ° 18 ′ E
• West - 26 ° 04 ′ E
• East - 169 ° 40 ′ W

Features, climate and fossils of Asia

It is important to know that there are several huge platforms at the base of this continent:

• Siberian;
• Chinese;
• Arabian;
• Indian.

Moreover, ¾ part of Asia is occupied by plateaus and mountains. Whereas permafrost covers 10 million square meters. km. mainland, and in the east there are several active volcanoes.

The coast of Asia is poorly dissected. The following peninsulas can be distinguished:

• Taimyr;
• Korean;
• Hindustan;
• Austrian and others.

Surprisingly, almost all types of climate are present in Asia - from equatorial (southeast) to arctic (north). In the eastern part of Asia, the monsoon climate prevails, while in the central and western parts it is semi-desert.

Asia is rich in minerals. On its territory there are:

• oil;
• coal;
• iron ore;
• tungsten;
• silver;
• gold;
• mercury and others.

Asia is the largest part of the world on the largest continent - Eurasia. The countries of Asia include the scattering of islands in its southern part. The mainland lies in the northern and eastern hemispheres. It is separated from America by the Bering Strait, and from Africa by the Suez Canal. Interestingly, Egypt belongs to both Asia and Africa.

This part of the world is washed by the waters of several seas (Mediterranean, Black, Aegean, Marmara and Azov) and three oceans (Pacific, Indian and Arctic). All types of climate are represented in the vast territories of Asia - from arctic to equatorial. The landscapes are also varied - tundra in the Far North, taiga in Siberia, steppes and deserts in the central part, and mountain ranges. In the west, Asia is flanked by the Ural Mountains. The Himalayas are the highest mountain system in the world, and Everest is the highest mountain in Asia.

There are 54 countries on its territory, in whole or in part and of varying degrees of development. For example Japan, Singapore and South Korea are among the most highly developed countries in the world, and Afghanistan and Bangladesh are among the backward ones. North Korea stuck in communism. This heading presents

ASIA (part of the world) ASIA (part of the world)

ASIA, the largest part of the world (approx. 43.4 million sq. Km), together with Europe, forms the continent of Eurasia. The border between Asia and Europe is usually drawn along the Urals (the ridge or its eastern foot, the Emba, Kuma, Manych rivers, along the axial watershed of the B. Caucasus, the Caspian, Azov, Black and Mramorny seas, the Bosphorus and Dardanelles). Asia is connected with Africa by the Isthmus of Suez, from the North. America is separated by the Bering Strait. Washed away North. The Arctic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and their marginal seas, as well as the inland seas of the Atlantic approx. The area of \u200b\u200bthe islands of St. 2 million km 2. The average height is 950 m, the highest is 8848 m (Chomolungma, the highest point of the Earth). Mountains and plateaus cover approx. 3/4 Territory The main mountain systems are the Himalayas, Karakorum, Pamir, Tien Shan, Hindu Kush, Kunlun, B. Caucasus, Altai, Sayany, Verkhoyansk and Chersky ridges. Large highlands: Tibetan, Iranian, Armenian, Asia Minor, Stanovoe, Koryak. Plateau: Central Siberian, Arabian Peninsula, Deccan. The largest plains are: West Siberian, Turanian, Great Chinese, Indo-Gangetic, Mesopotamian. In Kamchatka, Vost. Asia and Malay arch. many active volcanoes, strong seismicity.
The climate is from arctic in the north and sharply continental temperate in the East. Siberia to equatorial on the islands of Indonesia. In Vost. and Yuzh. Asia has a monsoon climate, on the Central plains, Wed. and Zap. Asia is desert and semi-desert. In the highest mountains Cf. and Center. Asia, in the Himalayas, on the Arctic islands, glaciation is developed (118.4 thousand km 2). Significant territories, mainly in the North. and Vost. Siberia (approx. 11 million km 2), occupied by permafrost. The main rivers: Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei, Lena (basin of the North Arctic approx., most years covered in ice); Amur, Yellow River, Yangtze (the longest in Asia, 5800 km), Xijiang, Mekong (bass. Quiet approx.); Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Ayeyarwaddy, Salween, Shatt al-Arab (bass Indian approx.). The area of \u200b\u200binternal flow is large (the basins of the Caspian and Aral seas, many regions of Central Asia and the Middle East). Large lakes: Baikal, Balkhash, Issyk-Kul, Van, Urmia, Khanka, Kukunor, Poyanghu, Dongtinghu, Taihu, Tonle Sap.
On the islands of the Arctic and along the coast of the North. Arctic approx. the arctic deserts and tundra stretch, framed in the south by a narrow strip of forest-tundra, to the south - taiga (mainly dark coniferous in the west and light coniferous in the east), giving way to the south by mixed and deciduous forests, forest-steppe and steppes. Semi-deserts and deserts are especially well expressed on the Arabian Peninsula (Nefud, Rub al-Khali), in the interior regions of the Iranian highlands (Deshte-Lut, Deshte-Kevir, etc.), in Wed. and Center. Asia (Karakum, Kyzylkum, Gobi, Takla-Makan), in the South. Asia (Tar). In the subtropics of Zap. Asia - Mediterranean vegetation; in Vost. Asia - monsoon mixed and broadleaf forests... In the tropical latitudes Vost. and Yuzh. Asia - monsoon deciduous forests and savannas, on the windward slopes of the mountains - evergreen forests. In equatorial latitudes (mainly in Indonesia), multi-tiered swampy forests - gilei (cm. GILEA)... In Asia, most Russian Federation, as well as Azerbaijan, Armenia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bhutan, Vietnam, Georgia, part of Egypt, Israel, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, most of Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Qatar, Cyprus, Kyrgyzstan, China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian territories (West Bank and Gaza Strip), Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, most of Turkey, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Japan. Population of Asia St. 3.2 billion people (1990) * * *
ASIA
Research history
First stage
Limited information on the geography of Asia was known to the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia. The campaigns of Alexander the Great (cm. Alexander the Great) (4th century BC), trade between Egypt and India, the presence of a trade route ("silk road" (cm. SILK ROAD)) from China to Western Asia contributed to the gradual accumulation of information about Asia. However, deeper knowledge about this part of the land was gained later.
Second stage (7-17 centuries) Study of Asia by scientists and travelers of the East
In the 7th century. Buddhist monk Xuanzang (cm. XUAN-ZANG), wandering in Central and Central Asia, India, presented information on geography, ethnography and history of the countries he saw in one of his main works "Notes on Western countries", completed in 648. Arab traveler and geographer Ibn Khordadbeh (9-10 centuries) described the provinces of Asia Minor. Biruni (cm. BIRUNI) compiled a work about India, Masoudi (cm. MASUDI) gave a geographical and historical description of Muslim countries, India, China, Palestine, Ceylon. In the 9-11 centuries. various regions of Central and Western Asia studied Mukadassi (cm. MUKADDASI), Ibn Sina (cm. IBN SINA), Ibn Fadlan (cm. IBN FADLAN) and Ibn Rusta. Arab traveler Idrisi (cm. IDRISI) (12th century), who lived most of his life in Sicily, in a consolidated geographical work described Asia Minor, which he visited. In the 14th century. Ibn Battuta ( cm. ), who visited many Asian countries, wrote a great work in which he gave a very colorful and vivid description of these countries, including information about minerals.
European exploration of Asia
In the 12-13 centuries. Europeans who committed crusades collect information about the countries of Central and South Asia. B 1253-1255 Flemish traveler, monk Rubruk (cm. RUBROOK Willem), undertook a trip to Mongolia for diplomatic purposes. An account of this most significant (before M. Polo (cm. POLO Marco)) the European travels to Asia contained valuable information on the geography of Central Asia (in particular, it indicated that the Caspian Sea is not a sea, but a lake). The traveler M. Polo (1271-1295), who lived in China for about 17 years, made a significant contribution to the development of ideas about Asia. The "Book" (1298), recorded from his words in a Genoese prison, where he ended up during the war between Venice and Genoa, first introduced the Europeans to Persia, Armenia, China, India, etc. She was a reference book for such great navigators as Columbus (cm. COLUMBUS Christopher), Vasco da Gama (cm. GAMA Vasco yes), Magellan (cm. MAGELLAN Fernand) and others. The Venetian merchant and traveler M. Conti, who wandered around India in 1424, visited the islands of Ceylon, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, on behalf of the Pope in 1444 dictated an account of this journey. In 1468-1474 Russian merchant Afanasy Nikitin (cm. NIKITIN Afanasy) took a trip to India. His travel notes, containing many-sided observations, were published under the title "Walking the Three Seas."
In the middle of the 15th century. Europeans began to look for sea routes to Asia. Portuguese sailors reached India in 1497-1499 (Vasco da Gama), visited Malacca, Macau, the Philippines, and Japan. In the second half of the 16th and 17th centuries. the Dutch, the British and the Spaniards continued to penetrate the countries of South Asia. In 1618-1619 the Siberian Cossack I. Petlin visited Mongolia and China, plotted the route on the map, and described what he saw in a book translated into English, French and other languages. One of the first Europeans in 1690-1692 visited Japan by the German naturalist and physician E. Kempfer, who collected extensive material on the nature, history and life of the people. His book, published in 1728 in London, has long served as the main source of information about Japan.
Exploration of Asia by Russian explorers
During this period, the greatest contribution to the study of the northern regions of Asia, where the Europeans did not penetrate, was made by Russian explorers (cm. EXPLORERS)... By the end of the 16th century, after Yermak's campaign (cm. ERMAK Timofeevich), became generally known Western Siberia... In 1639 I. Yu. Moskvitin (cm. MOSKVITIN Ivan Yurievich) with a detachment of Cossacks reached the coast of the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk. In 1632-1638 a detachment led by E.P. Khabarov (cm. KHABAROV Erofei Pavlovich) studied the Lena River basin. In 1649-1653, he crossed the Stanovoy Range, traveled to the Amur region, and was the first to draw up a map of it. In 1643-1646, a detachment of V.D. Poyarkov marched along the rivers Lena, Aldan, Zeya and Amur (cm. POYARKOV Vasily Danilovich), who also presented drawings of the routes traveled and collected valuable information about the Far East. In 1648 the expedition of S.I.Dezhnev (cm. Dezhnev Semyon Ivanovich) circled the Chukchi Peninsula and opened the strait separating Asia from America, and the cape, which is the extreme northeastern point of Asia. Siberian Cossack V.V. Atlasov (cm. ATLASOV Vladimir Vasilievich) in 1697-1699 traveled to Kamchatka, reached the Northern Kuril Islands and made a description ("skask") of the discovered lands.
In the 17th century. Russian explorers, despite extremely difficult climatic conditions, overcoming vast spaces, discovered almost all of Siberia. This stage ended with the compilation of the first maps of Siberia, made by the Tobolsk governor P. Godunov and his compatriot, the geographer and cartographer S. Remizov.
Third stage (18th - mid 19th centuries)
During this period, Russian travelers and navigators continued to explore the north and northeast of the Asian continent. By decree of Peter I, Kamchatka expeditions, led by V. Bering, are equipped (cm. BERING Vitus Ionassen), the assistant was A. Chirikov (cm. CHIRIKOV Alexey Ilyich)... The first expedition (1725-30) passed by land through Siberia to Okhotsk, and then, after the construction of ships, Bering went to sea, rounded the shores of Kamchatka and Chukotka, discovered the island of St. Lawrence and passed the strait, which now bears his name. The Second Kamchatka Expedition (1733-41), also known as the Great Northern Expedition due to the scale of its work, occupies an outstanding place in the history of the study of the Arctic and northern regions of Asia. The Asian shores of the Arctic Ocean were mapped, the Commander, Aleutian and other islands were discovered, and the shores of Alaska were examined. Separate detachments were led by the Laptev brothers (cm. LAPTEV), V. V. Pronchishchev (cm. PRONCHISHCHEV Vasily Vasilievich), S. I. Chelyuskin (cm. CHELYUSKIN Semyon Ivanovich) (whose names are immortalized on the map). A great contribution to the study of Central Asia was made by missionaries who gave in the early 18th century. description of China, Mongolia and Tibet. At the end of the 18th century. Russian traveler and naturalist P. S. Pallas (cm. PALLAS Peter Simon) explored Eastern Siberia and Altai. In 1800-05 Y. Sannikov (cm. SANNIKOV Yakov) discovered and described the Stolbovoy and Faddeevsky islands of the Novosibirsk archipelago, suggested the existence of Sannikov land to the north of it (cm. SANNIKOV LAND)... In 1811 V.M. Golovnin (cm. GOLOVNIN Vasily Mikhailovich) took a trip to the Kuril Islands, made their inventory and map. During the expedition, he was captured by the Japanese. His recollections of being in captivity in 1811-1813, containing information about the country and the customs of the Japanese, became the first description of Japan in Russian. In 1821-1823 P.F. Anjou (cm. ANZHU Petr Fedorovich) explored the coast of the Arctic Ocean (between the mouths of the Olenek and Indigirka rivers), performed a number of astronomical and geomagnetic observations. F. P. Wrangel (cm. WRANGEL Ferdinand Petrovich) in 1820-1824 he headed an expedition to explore the northern shores of Eastern Siberia. According to information received from the Chukchi, in the Chukchi Sea he determined the position of the island, which was later named after him. In 1829 at the invitation of the Russian government A. Humboldt (cm. GUMBOLDT Alexander) took a trip to the Urals, Altai, to the southwestern part of Siberia, to the shores of the Caspian Sea, to the Kyrgyz steppes, the results of which were highlighted in the works "Central Asia" (vols 1-3, 1843, Russian translation v.1., 1915 ) and "Fragments on the geology and climatology of Asia" (vols. 1-2, 1831). F.P. Litke (cm. LITKE Fedor Petrovich) while traveling around the world in 1826-29, he explored the eastern coast of Asia and Kamchatka.
The fourth stage (mid 19th - early 20th centuries)
From the middle of the 19th century. the role of systematic research carried out by scientific institutes, geographical societies and topographic services in England, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan and China is sharply increasing. The number of monographic descriptions of Asia has increased. The Russian Geographical Society, created in 1845, is expanding work in Siberia and the Far East. In 1856-1857 P.P.Semenov-Tyan-Shansky (cm. SEMENOV-TYAN-SHANSKY Petr Petrovich) made a trip to the Tien Shan (gave his first orographic scheme), explored the western spurs of the Zailiyskiy Alatau, the first Europeans to climb the slopes of the Khan Tengri massif. In memory of his achievements in the study of the Tien Shan in 1906, "Tyan-Shansky" was added to his surname. A.P. Fedchenko (cm. FEDCHENKO Alexey Pavlovich) In 1868-1871 he made several trips to Turkestan, the first Russian traveler to visit the Alai Valley, discovered the Trans-Alai Range, explored the lower reaches of the Syr Darya River. In 1872-1876 A.I. Voeikov (cm. VOEYKOV Alexander Ivanovich) visited South and South Asia, China, Japan, India, Central Asia, collecting valuable information about the climate of various regions of Asia. In 1877-1880 I. D. Chersky (cm. CHERSKY Ivan Demidovich) gave a detailed geographical and geological description of the Baikal coast. In 1870-1885, four expeditions were organized to Central Asia under the leadership of N.M. Przhevalsky (cm. PRZHEVALSKY Nikolay Mikhailovich), who discovered many previously unknown remote areas - Kunlun, Nanshan, Tibet, etc. His research was continued by Russian travelers - M. V. Pevtsov (cm. PEVTSOV Mikhail Vasilievich), G. E. Grumm-Grzhimailo (cm. GRUMM-GRZHIMAYLO), G. Ts. Tsybikov (cm. TSYBIKOV Gonbochzhab Tsebekovich)... V. A. Obruchev, who worked a lot in Central Asia, made three expeditions to the Trans-Caspian region (1886-1888), discovered a number of ridges in the Nanshan mountains, the Daursky ridge, etc., explored the Beishan highlands.
In the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Russian scientists (I.V. Mushketov (cm. MUSHKETOV Ivan Vasilievich), L. S. Berg (cm. BERG Lev Semenovich)) continue systematic studies of Asia. Construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway (cm. TRANSSIBERIAN HIGHWAY) also stimulated regular surveys of the adjacent territories.
For the first time the northeastern passage from Europe to the Far East was carried out in 1878-79 by N. Nordenskjold (cm. NORDENSCHELD Nils Adolf Erik), later (1911-1915) this route, only from east to west, was repeated by the expedition of B.A.Vilkitsky (cm. VILKITSKY Boris Andreevich)... During this period, in-depth geographical research by scientists from Asian countries (Japan, China, India, Indonesia) began.
Since the middle of the 20th century. Intensified research in the Russian part of Asia related to the national economic development of a vast territory, regional scientific centers and institutes are being created to carry out work on mapping (including large-scale) and comprehensive study of Siberia and the Far East. Regular sailings along the Northern Sea Route are being established (cm. NORTHERN SEA ROUTE (NSR))... Systematic research is being conducted by international expeditions.

encyclopedic Dictionary. 2009 .