Pop. density 87/km2 (225/sq mi)D e m o ny m A s i a n

C o u nt r i e s 4 9 ( a n d 5 d i s p u te d ) ( l i s t o f co u nt r i e s )

ASIAArea 44,579,000 km2

(17,212,000 sq mi)Populati on 4,164,252,000

• Asia is the Earth'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 and comprises 30% of its land area. With approximately 4.3 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population. Like most of the world, Asia has a high growth rate in the modern era. For instance, during the 20th century, Asia's population nearly quadrupled, as did the world population.

• The boundaries of Asia are culturally determined, as there is no clear geographical separation between it and Europe, which together form one continuous landmass called Eurasia. The most commonly accepted boundaries place Asia to the east of the Suez Canal, the Ural River, and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains (or the Kuma–Manych Depression) and the Caspian and Black Seas.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 Don River became unsatisfactory to northern Europeans when Peter the Great, king of the Tsardom of Russia, defeating rival claims of Sweden and the Ottoman Empire to the eastern lands, and armed resistance by the tribes of Siberia, synthesized a new Russian Empire extending to the Ural Mountains and beyond, founded in 1721. The major geographical theorist of the empire was actually a former Swedish prisoner-of-war, taken at the Battle of Poltava in 1709 and assigned to Tobolsk, where he associated with Peter's Siberian official, Vasily Tatishchev, and was allowed freedom to conduct geographical and anthropological studies in preparation for a future book

• In Sweden, five years after Peter's death, in 1730 Philip Johan von Strahlenberg published a new atlas proposing the Urals as the border of Asia. The Russians were enthusiastic about the concept, which allowed them to keep their European identity in geography. Tatishchev announced that he had proposed the idea to von Strahlenberg. The latter had suggested the Emba River as the lower boundary. Over the next century various proposals were made until the Ural River prevailed in the mid-19th century. The border had been moved perforce from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea into which the Ural River projects. In the maps of the period, Transcaucasia was counted as Asian. The incorporation of most of that region into the Soviet Union tended to push views of the border to the south. Asian cultures had no say in this system of determining the imaginary boundaries separating them from Europe.

• Fast Facts• Population:3,033,000• Capital: Yerevan; 1,079,000• Area:29,743 square

kilometers (11,484 square miles)

• Language: Armenian, Russian• Religion: Armenian Apostolic• Currency: Dram• Life Expectancy:72• GDP per Capita: U.S. $3,600• Literacy Percent:99

Smallest of the former Soviet republics,

Armenia lies landlocked and earthquake ridden in rugged mountains. In

A.D. 301, Armenia became the first

Christian nation; today it is almost surrounded

by Islamic nations. During World War I the Ottoman Turks brutally forced out Armenians, causing a diaspora to

foreign havens.ECONOMY:Industry: Metal-cutting machine tools, forging-pressing machines, electric motors, tiresAgriculture: Fruit (especially grapes), vegetables; livestockExports: Diamonds, mineral products, foodstuffs, energy

• Fast Facts• Population:29,929,000• Capital: Kabul; 2,956,000• Area:652,090 square kilometers

(251,773 square miles)• Language: Pashtu, Afghan

Persian (Dari), Uzbek, Turkmen, 30 minor language.

• Religion: Sunni and Shiite Muslim

• Currency: Afghani• Life Expectancy:46• GDP per Capital: U.S. $700• Literacy Percent:36

Since Alexander the Great, invading

armies and peaceful migrations have

brought in diverse peoples to this Central Asian crossroads. As a result, Afghanistan is

a country of ethnic minorities: Pashtun

(38 percent), Tajik (25 percent), Hazara (19 percent), and Uzbek

(6 percent). The towering Hindu Kush range dominates and divides Afghanistan.

ECONOMYIndustry: Small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoesAgriculture: Opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; woolExports: Opium, fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton

• Fast Facts• Population:8,388,000• Capital:Baku; 1,816,000• Area:86,600 square kilometers

(33,436 square miles)• Language:Azerbaijani, Russian• Religion:Muslim, Russian

Orthodox• Currency:Azerbaijani manat• Life Expectancy:72• GDP per Capita:U.S. $3,700• Literacy Percent:97

South of Russia, Azerbaijan is on the

west coast of the Caspian Sea; the

Caucasus Mountains define the

northwestern border of this republic.

South and west of Baku, the oil-rich capital, there are

extensive lowlands, often below sea

level. To the west, separated from the

main part of the country by Armenia, is the autonomous region of Naxçivan with about 300,000

people.

ECONOMYIndustry: Petroleum and natural gas, petroleum products, oilfield equipment, steelAgriculture: Cotton, grain, rice, grapes; cattleExports: Oil and gas, machinery, cotton, foodstuffs

• Fast Facts• Population:731,000• Capital: Manama; 139,000• Area:717 square kilometers

(277 square miles)• Language: Arabic, English,

Farsi, Urdu• Religion: Shiite and Sunni

Muslim• Currency: Bahraini dinar• Life Expectancy:74• GDP per Capita: U.S.

$15,100• Literacy Percent:89

Bahrain consists of 33 islands in the

Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf). The islands are mostly

desert, and most of the population lives in or near Manama, the capital. Since the 1930s the oil

industry has replaced pearl

diving, and Bahrain has become a financial and

communications hub.

ECONOMYIndustry: Petroleum processing and refining, aluminum smelting, offshore banking, ship repairing, tourismaAgriculture: Fruit, vegetables; poultry; shrimpExports: Petroleum and petroleum products, aluminum, textiles

• Fast Facts• Population:69,515,000• Capital: Tehran; 7,352,000• Area:1,648,000 square kilometers

(636,296 square miles)• Language: Persian, Turkic,

Kurdish, various local dialects• Religion: Shiite and Sunni Muslim• Currency: Iranian Rial• Life Expectancy:69• GDP per Capita: U.S. $6,800• Literacy Percent:79

Iran is a southwest Asian country of mountains and

deserts. Eastern Iran is dominated by a high

plateau, with large salt flats and vast sand

deserts. The plateau is surrounded by even higher mountains,

including the Zagros to the west and the Elburz to

the north. Farming and settlement are largely

concentrated in the narrow plains or valleys in the west or north, where

there is more rainfall. Iran's huge oil reserves lie

in the southwest, along the Persian Gulf.

ECONOMYIndustry: Petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement and other construction materialsAgriculture: Wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets; dairy products; caviarExports: Petroleum, carpets, fruits and nuts, iron and steel, chemicals