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A 1916 physical map of Asia by Tarr and McMurry. 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.
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area (or 30% of its land area) and with approximately 4.655 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population .
Asia (/ ˈ eɪ ʒ ə / ⓘ AY-zhə, UK also / ˈ eɪ ʃ ə / AY-shə) is the largest continent [note 1] [10] [11] in the world by both land area and population. [11] It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, [note 2] about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area.
Asia and Europe are considered separate continents for historical reasons; the division between the two goes back to the early Greek geographers. In the modern sense of the term "continent", Eurasia is more readily identifiable as a "continent", and Europe has occasionally been described as a subcontinent of Eurasia. [68]
Below is a list of countries in Asia by area. [1] Russia is the largest country in Asia and the world, even after excluding its European portion. The Maldives is the smallest country in Asia.
This is a list of articles giving brief summaries of each country in Asia. The transcontinental countries situated in both Asia and Europe are also shown. Outline of Abkhazia [ 1 ]
Blue = Central Asia; Yellow = East Asia (China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan) Brown = West Asia/Middle East; Green = South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan) Red = South East Asia (10 ASEAN countries + East Timor) Date: 5 May 2007 (original upload date) Source: Own work based on the blank world map: Author
In medieval T and O maps, Asia makes for half the world's landmass, with Africa and Europe accounting for a quarter each. With the High Middle Ages, Southwest and Central Asia receive better resolution in Muslim geography, and the 11th century map by Mahmud al-Kashgari is the first world map drawn from a Central Asian point of view.