LearningAboutAsia

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According to Merriam-Webster Asia is the largest continent on Earth. It is bounded by the Arctic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. The western boundary, with Europe, runs roughly north-south along the eastern [|Ural Mountains] ; the Caspian, Black, Aegean, and Mediterranean seas; the Suez Canal; and the Red Sea. The islands of Sri Lanka and Taiwan and the archipelagoes of Indonesia (excluding New Guinea), the Philippines, and Japan also form part of Asia. Area: 17,226,000 sq mi (44,614,000 sq km). Population (2004 est.): 3,879,659,000. Mountains and plateaus predominate on the continent, with the highest mountains located in Central Asia and north of the Indian subcontinent. Terrain features include Earth's highest peak, Mount [|Everest] , at 29,035 ft (8,850 m), and the lowest natural point, the [|Dead Sea] , at 1,312 ft (400 m) below sea level. The largest of Asia's many arid regions are the [|Thar] and [|Gobi]  deserts. It has some of the longest rivers in the world, including the [|Euphrates] , [|Tigris] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Indus] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Ganges] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> (Ganga), <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Yangtze] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> (Chang; the longest river in Asia), <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Huang He] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> (Yellow), <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Ob] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Yenisey] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, and <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Lena] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">. The <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Caspian] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Aral] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, and Dead seas are major saltwater lakes. About one-fifth of Asia's landmass is arable. Its principal language groups include <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Sino-Tibetan] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Indo-Aryan] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Austronesian] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Austroasiatic] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, and <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Semitic] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">; important singular languages include <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Japanese] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> and <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Korean] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">. East Asia contains three main ethnic groups: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. The Indian subcontinent is home to a vast diversity of peoples, most of whom speak languages from the Indo-Aryan subgroup of the <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Indo-European] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> family. Because of the influence of China and the former Soviet Union, the Mandarin Chinese dialect and the Russian language are used widely. Asia is the birthplace of all the world's major religions and hundreds of minor ones. <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Hinduism] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> is the oldest major religion to have originated in southern Asia; <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Jainism] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> and <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Buddhism] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> emerged in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, respectively. Southwest Asia was the cradle of the so-called Abrahamic religions: <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Judaism] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Christianity] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, and <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Islam] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">. <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Daoism] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> and <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Confucianism] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, both of which originated in the 6th or 5th century BC, have profoundly influenced Chinese culture and the cultures of surrounding peoples. Asia is marked by great disparities in wealth. A few countries, notably Japan, Singapore, and the oil-rich countries of the Arabian Peninsula, have attained high standards of living; others, such as Bangladesh and Myanmar, are among the poorest. Between these two extremes lie Russia, China, and India. Asia is a land of great cultural diversity, but there are five main cultural influences: Chinese, Indian, Islamic, European, and Central Asian. China has had great influence in East Asia as the source of Confucianism, artistic styles, and the Chinese writing system. Indian influence has been expressed through Hinduism and Buddhism, affecting the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Central Asia. Islam spread from its original Arabian home to become important in the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, and elsewhere. Members of the earlier human species //<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Homo erectus //<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> migrated from Africa to East Asia at least one million years ago. One of the earliest civilizations to use writing developed in the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys //<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">c. //<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> 3000 BC ( //<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">see // <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Mesopotamia] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">). Civilization in the Indus River valley and in northern Syria followed //<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">c. //<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> mid-3rd millennium BC. Chinese urban civilization began with the <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Shang dynasty] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> ( //<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">c. //<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> 1600–1046 BC) and continued under the <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Zhou dynasty] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> (1046–256 BC). Indo-European-speaking peoples ( <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Aryan] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">s) began to invade India from the west //<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">c. //<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> 2000–1500 BC and developed the <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Vedic religion] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">. A succession of empires and charismatic rulers, including the Macedonian <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Alexander the Great] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">, spread their political control as far as military power could carry them. In the 13th century AD <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Genghis] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Khan and his <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Mongol] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> successors united much of Asia under their rule. In the 14th century the Turkic warlord <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Timur] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> conquered much of Central Asia. Muslim Turks destroyed the remnants of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. In the 19th century European imperialism began to replace Asian imperialism. Tsarist Russia pushed its political control across Asia to the Pacific Ocean, the British gained control of India and Burma (Myanmar), the French dominated eastern Southeast Asia ( //<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">see // <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[|French Indochina] <span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">), the Dutch occupied the East Indies (Indonesia), and the Spanish and later the U.S. ruled the Philippines. After World War II (1939–45), European imperialism steadily disappeared as former colonies gained independence in the second half of the 20th century.


 * Teacher Resources**
 * Elementary Resources
 * Printable Outline Maps for countries of the world
 * [[file:Country-report.ppt]] (PowerPoint template)
 * Asia Map Quiz 7pg. PDF

<span style="color: #023d86; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: -webkit-left;">[|Asia Countries And Capitals] <span style="color: #023d86; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: -webkit-left;">[|Asia Countries And Currencies] <span style="color: #023d86; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: -webkit-left;">[|Map of India Puzzle] <span style="color: #023d86; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: -webkit-left;">[|Map of China Puzzle] <span style="color: #023d86; font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: -webkit-left;">[|Flags of Asia]
 * Student Resources**
 * Learning About Asia for Kids
 * Asia Learning Games
 * Purpose Games for Social Studies
 * Large map of Asia
 * Asia Kids Society
 * Games & Activities
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: -webkit-left;">[|**Asia Geography Games**]
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Identify the country online game
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Identify the country 32 questions
 * Webquest- <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">This WebQuest is designed for students to inquire and research the migration of people from Asia to North America; the first people to inhabit North America.
 * South Asia
 * East Asia
 * Central Asia
 * Capitals
 * Rivers
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Asia Rivers, Lakes, and Seas [|quiz]. Asia Lakes [|quiz]. Asia Seas [|quiz]. Asia Mountain Ranges [|quiz].
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cities

**Videos**

 * Asia for Educators
 * National Geographic Videos China School 3:00 China Desert 1:26
 * 12 video clips
 * Gobi Desert
 * @How Asia has become the wealthiest region 3:13

Learn more about the countries from the continent of Asia. Get all sorts of information on each Asian country including a map, a picture of the flag, population, and much more. Select the country below for more information: [|Armenia] [|Azerbaijan] [|Bangladesh] [|Bhutan] [|China] [|Georgia] [|India] || [|Japan] [|Kazakhstan] [|Korea, North] [|Korea, South] [|Kyrgyzstan] [|Maldives] [|Mongolia] [|Nepal] || [|Pakistan] [|Russia] [|Sri Lanka] [|Tajikistan] [|Turkmenistan] [|Uzbekistan] [|Ukraine] || Note: Go here for [|Southeast Asia] and the[|Middle East]. Both are part of the continent of Asia.
 * [|Afghanistan]