Information AboutAsia |
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of Asia.]] Asia is the world's Largest and most populous Continent . It covers 8.6% of the Earth 's total surface area (or 29.4% of its land area) and, with almost 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current Human Population . Chiefly in the Eastern and Northern Hemisphere s, Asia is traditionally defined as part of the Landmass of Africa-Eurasia – with the western portion of the latter occupied by Europe – lying east of the Suez Canal , east of the Ural Mountains , and south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Sea s. It is bounded to the east by the Pacific Ocean , to the south by the Indian Ocean , and to the north by the Arctic Ocean . Given its size and diversity, Asia – a '', '' Asian People ''). ETYMOLOGY The word ''Asia'' originated from the Ancient Greek word "Ασία", first attributed to Herodotus (about 440 BC) in reference to Anatolia or, for the purposes of describing the Persian Wars, to the Persian Empire, in contrast to Greece and Egypt . Herodotus comments that he is puzzled as to why three women's names are used to describe one land mass ( Europa , Asia , and Libya , referring to Africa ), stating that most Greeks assumed that Asia was named after the wife of Prometheus but that the Lydians say it was named after Asias , son of Cotys who passed the name on to a tribe in Sardis. Even before Herodotus, Homer knew of a Trojan ally named Asios and elsewhere he describes a marsh as ασιος (Iliad 2, 461). The Greek term may be derived from Assuwa , a 14th century BC confederation of states in Western Anatolia . Hittite ''assu-'' = "good" is probably an element in that name. Alternatively, the ultimate Etymology of the term may be from the Akkadian word '''', which means "to go outside" or "to ascend", referring to the direction of the Sun at sunrise in the Middle East , and also likely connected with the Phoenician word ''asa'' meaning east. This may be contrasted to a similar etymology proposed for ''Europe'', as being from Akkadian ''erēbu(m)'' "to enter" or "set" (of the sun). However, this etymology is considered doubtful, because it does not explain how the term "Asia" first came to be associated with Anatolia, which is ''west'' of the Semitic-speaking areas, unless they refer to the viewpoint of a Phoenicia n sailor sailing through the straits between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea . It is interesting to note, in Icelandic Saga, ancient '' and all its forms are related to Sanskrit '' Asura '' and Avestan '' Ahura '', the local reflexes of the name of a class of Proto-Indo-European Divine Beings . DEFINITION AND BOUNDARIES Medieval Europeans considered Asia as a continent – a distinct landmass. The European concept of the three continents in the Old World goes back to Classical Antiquity , but during the Middle Ages was notably due to Isidore Of Sevilla (see T And O Map ). The demarcation between Asia and Africa (to the southwest) is the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea . The boundary between Asia and Europe is conventionally considered to run through the Dardanelles , the Sea Of Marmara , the Bosporus , the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the Ural River to its source, and the Ural Mountains to the Kara Sea near Kara, Russia . While this interpretation of tripartite continents (i.e., of Asia, Europe, and Africa) remains common in modernity, discovery of the extent of Africa and Asia have made this definition somewhat anachronistic. This is especially true in the case of Asia, which would have several Regions that would be considered distinct landmasses if these criteria were used (for example, Southern Asia and Eastern Asia ). In the far northeast of Asia, Siberia is separated from North America by the Bering Strait . Asia is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean (specifically, from west to east, the Gulf Of Aden , Arabian Sea , and Bay Of Bengal ); on the east by the waters of the Pacific (including, counterclockwise, the South China Sea , East China Sea , Yellow Sea , Sea Of Japan , Sea Of Okhotsk , and Bering Sea ); and on the north by the Arctic Ocean. Australia (or Oceania ) is to the southeast. Some geographers do not consider Asia and Europe to be separate continents," Asia ." '') and share a common Continental Shelf . Almost all of Europe and most of Asia sit atop the Eurasian Plate , adjoined on the south by the Arabian and Indian Plate s, and with much of Siberia on the North American Plate . In geography, there are two schools of thought. One school follows historical convention and treats Europe and Asia as different continents, categorizing Subregion s within them for more detailed analysis. The other school equates the word "continent" with a geographical Region when referring to Europe, and use the term "region" to describe Asia in terms of physiography. Since, in linguistic terms, "continent" implies a distinct landmass, it is becoming increasingly common to substitute the term "region" for "continent" to avoid the problem of disambiguation altogether. Given the scope and diversity of the landmass, it is sometimes not even clear exactly what "Asia" consists of. Some definitions exclude — a number of which may also be considered part of Australasia or Oceania , although Pacific Islanders are commonly not considered Asian.American Heritage Book of English Usage. Asian. 1996. September 29 , 2006 . 'Asian' as a demonym See also: Geography Of Asia , Countries In Both Asia And Europe , Geographic Criteria For The Definition Of Europe , Orientalism . The - 11-10 . TERRITORIES AND REGIONS
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