8/6/2019 SS2 - About Asia Reviewer

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ABOUT ASIA

Population: 3,335,672,000

Density: 193.5 per square mile

Literacy: 65.5%

Birth Rate: 27 people a year

per 1,000 people

Death Rate: 9.25 people a year

per 1,000 people

Growth Rate: 1.8%

Main Languages: Chinese,

Hindi, Bengali, Japanese,

Punjabi, Javanese, Korean

Principal Religions: Hinduism,

Islam, Buddhism, Christianity,

Shintoism, Taoism,

Zoroastrianism

Largest Cities: Seoul, Bombay,

Jakarta, Tokyo, Shanghai

Basic Facts:

y Asia is the world'slargest and most

populous continent.

y It hosts 60% of theworld's current human

population.

y The wealth ofAsia differsvery widely among and

within its regions, due to

its vast size and huge

range of different ethnic

groups, cultures,

environments, historical

ties and government

systems.

y Asia is traditionallydefined as part of the

landmass of Eurasia

with the western portion

of the latter occupied by

Europelocated to the

east of the Suez Canal,

east of 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.

y Asia is the largest andmost culturally diverse of

the continents in the

seven-continent system,

and does not exactly

match with conventional

Asian cultural

boundaries.

y The term "Asia" isoriginally a concept

exclusively of Western

civilization.

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y The word Asia originatedfrom the Greek word

, first attributed to

Herodotus (about 440

BC) in reference to

Anatolia or in

describing the Persian

Warsto the Persian

Empire, in contrast to

Greece and Egypt.

Asia is divided into the

following:

y Central Asiay Eastern Asiay Northern Asiay Western Asiay South-eastern Asiay Southern Asia

Political Geography:

y Azerbaijan, Georgia,and Turkey are often

considered to

be transcontinental

countries.

y Indonesia is oftenconsidered a

transcontinental country.

y Russia is considered atranscontinental country

with territory in Eastern

Europe and Northern

Asia.

y The island of Cyprus islocated on the Anatolian

plate, but is a member of

European organizations

such as the Council of

Europe and the European

Union. Armenia is

similarly located fully

within Asia, but is a

member of the Council of

Europe.

y Geography is the studyof the physical features

of the earth.

y Five themes sum up theimpact of geography on

history:

o Location- Exact Location- Relative Location

o Place- Physical Features- Human

Characteristics

o Human-environment

interaction

o Region