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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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Front side of the main complex

Angkor Wat (/ˌæŋkɔːr ˈwɒt/; Khmer: អង្គរវត្ត, "City/Capital of Temples") is a Hindu-Buddhist temple complex in Cambodia. Located on a site measuring 162.6 hectares (1,626,000 m²; 402 acres) within the ancient Khmer capital city of Angkor, it was originally constructed in 1150 CE as a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Vishnu. It was later gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the century.

Angkor Wat was built at the behest of the Khmer king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura (present-day Angkor), the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain and the later galleried temple. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology and is surrounded by a moat more than 5 km (3.1 mi). Enclosed within an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west with scholars divided as to the significance of this. (Full article...)

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Cyprus (/ˈsaɪprəs/ ^ⓘ), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It is geographically a part of West Asia, but its cultural ties and geopolitics are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the third largest and third-most populous island in the Mediterranean. It is located southeast of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel and north of Egypt. Its capital and largest city is Nicosia. Cyprus also shares land borders with Akrotiri and Dhekelia, a dependent territory of the United Kingdom. The northeast portion of the island is de facto governed by the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Cyprus was first settled by hunter-gatherers around 13,000 years ago, with farming settlements emerging a few thousand years later. During the late Bronze Age, Cyprus, known in contemporary sources as Alashiya, developed an urbanised society closely connected to the wider Mediterranean world. Cyprus experienced waves of settlement by Mycenaean Greeks at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. It was subsequently occupied by several major powers, including the empires of the Assyrians, Egyptians and Persians, from whom the island was seized in 333 BC by Alexander the Great. Subsequent rule by Ptolemaic Egypt, the Classical and Eastern Roman Empire, Arab caliphates for a short period, the French Lusignan dynasty and the Venetians was followed by over three centuries of Ottoman rule between 1571 and 1878 (de jure until 1914). Cyprus was placed under the United Kingdom's administration based on the Cyprus Convention in 1878 and was formally annexed by the UK in 1914. (Full article...)

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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 1India'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 2The Great Wall of China at Jinshanling (from Culture of Asia)
Image 3Map of Marco Polo's travels (from History of Asia)
Image 4The Hindu-Buddhist temple of Angkor Wat. (from History of Asia)
Image 5Detail 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 6Projected shares of global GDP by region to 2050 (from Asian Century)
Image 7A Confucian ritual ceremony in Jeju, South Korea (from Culture of Asia)
Image 8Hinduism 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 9Gyeonghoeru of Gyeongbokgung, the Joseon dynasty's royal palace. (from History of Asia)
Image 10Gojong (1852–1919), the 26th king of Joseon dynasty and the first emperor of Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 11Battle of Talas between Tang dynasty and Abbasid Caliphate c. 751 (from History of Asia)
Image 12Philippine cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 13Map of Asia for early 20th century (from History of Asia)
Image 14Map of Asia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 15Some 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 16Korean 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 17The Delhi Sultanate. (from History of Asia)
Image 18The Silk Road in Asia (from History of Asia)
Image 19The Mughal ambassador Khan’Alam in 1618 negotiating with Shah Abbas the Great of Iran. (from History of Asia)
Image 20Borobudur, a Buddhist temple in Indonesia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 21Deoksugung, the palace where Emperor Gojong established Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 22Map of Vietnam showing the conquest of the south (the Nam tiến, 1069–1757). (from History of Asia)
Image 23East Asian cultural sphere (from Culture of Asia)
Image 24Tang dynasty Chinese poet Li Bai, in a 13th-century depiction by Liang Kai (from Culture of Asia)
Image 25Badshahi Mosque built under the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Lahore, Pakistan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 26The Taj Mahal, Agra, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 27Ancient ziggurat, Iraq (from Culture of Asia)
Image 28Byzantine and Sassanian Empires in 600 AD (from History of Asia)
Image 29Sun temple at Konarka, Odisha, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 30Political map of Asia in 1860 (from History of Asia)
Image 31Here a Jesuit, Adam Schall von Bell (1592–1666), is dressed as an official of the Chinese Department of Astronomy. (from History of Asia)
Image 32Robert Clive and Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, 1757 by Francis Hayman (from History of Asia)
Image 33A typical example of Dravidian architecture (from Culture of Asia)
Image 34Language families in South Asia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 35Daian-ji temple at Nara, Japan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 36Kabsa also called Majboos, famous in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates (from Culture of Asia)
Image 37Đại Việt, Champa, Angkor Empire and their neighbours, late 13th century (from History of Asia)
Image 38the Goryeo ware, which shows splendid culture of Goryeo in mediaeval Korea. (from History of Asia)
Image 39Eunpyeong Hanok Village in Seoul, South Korea (from Culture of Asia)
Image 40Traditional Rajasthani garments from Jaipur, Rajasthan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 41The Qing Empire in 1832. (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 43Invasions, destruction and possible population movements during the Late Bronze Age collapse, beginning c. 1200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 44The Han dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 45British troops taking Zhenjiang from Qing troops (from History of Asia)
Image 46The Grand Mosque in Kuwait City, one of the largest mosques in the region (from Culture of Asia)
Image 47The Russian Znamensky Cathedral in Tyumen built in 1768 (from Culture of Asia)
Image 48The 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 49The 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 50Political cartoon depicting the Afghan Emir Sher Ali with the rival "friends" the Russian Bear and British Lion (1878) (from History of Asia)
Image 51Sculpture of Prince Shōtoku (from History of Asia)
Image 52Angkor Wat, Khmer Empire (from Culture of Asia)
Image 53A stone image of the Buddha (from Culture of Asia)
Image 54The 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 55Detail 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 56Population concentration and boundaries of the Western Zhou dynasty in China (from History of Asia)
Image 57Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jeruslam (from Culture of Asia)
Image 58Balhae in the north, Later Silla in the south (from History of Asia)
Image 59The Qing conquest of the Ming and expansion of the empire (from History of Asia)
Image 60A view of the Fort St George in 18th-century Madras. (from History of Asia)
Image 61The Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan, which was the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010 (from Asian Century)
Image 62Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine in Jerusalem. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 63The early Muslim conquests, 622–750 (from History of Asia)
Image 64The First Persian Empire at its greatest extent, c. 500 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 65The Song dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 1200 (from History of Asia)
Image 66Indonesian Balinese cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 67Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (from History of Asia)
Image 68Chicken tikka, a well-known dish across the globe, reflects the South Asian cooking style. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 69Machiya in Heian period (from History of Asia)

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Featured picture

Seaweed farming

Credit: Jean-Marie Hullot

A farmer harvests seaweed growing on a rope, on the small island of Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia. Wooden posts demarcate the bay into rectangular plots that are owned by different families. Seaweed farming is a fairly simple process: Attached plants are placed in the sea and allowed to grow naturally, with little human intervention.

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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 Ein Samiya, which provides the water for Taybeh, the first beer brewed in Palestine, was depopulated in 2023 after genocide and displacement by 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 Mughâret Umm et-Tûeimîn Caves in Filistin (or Palestine) 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

12 December 2024 – Syrian civil war: Israel and the Syrian civil war; 2024 Israeli invasion of Syria; Syrian residents of Umm Batna in Quneitra Governorate are displaced from their homes after Israeli military forces moved in nearby. (SOHR); Syrian transitional government; The transitional government announces that the constitution and parliament will be suspended during the three-month transitional period. (Al Arabiya)
12 December 2024 – Islamic State–Taliban conflict: The Islamic State – Khorasan Province claims responsibility for yesterday's suicide bombing in Kabul which killed Afghanistan's acting Minister of Refugee and Repatriation Khalil Haqqani and many others. (AP)

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Related portals

Major Religions in Asia

Middle East

Central Asia and Caucasus

Indian Subcontinent

Southeast Asia

East Asia

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Selected panorama

Credit: Rangan Datta Wiki

The Buriganga River flows past the southwest outskirts of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Its average depth is 7.6 metres (25 ft) and its maximum depth is 18 metres (58 ft).

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