Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's
total surface area (or 29.4% of its land area) and it contains more than 60% of the
world's current human population.
Chiefly in the eastern and northern hemispheres, Asia is traditionally defined as part of
the landmass of Africa-Eurasia – with the western portion of the latter occupied by
Europe – lying east of the Suez Canal, east of the Ural Mountains, and south of the
Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Seas. It is bounded to the east by the
Pacific Ocean, to the south by the Indian Ocean, and to the north by the Arctic Ocean.
Given its size and diversity, Asia – a toponym dating back to classical antiquity – is
more a cultural concept incorporating a number of regions and peoples than a
homogeneous, physical entity.

Population Population
Name of region and Area
(1 July 2002 density Capital
territory, with flag (km²)
est.) (per km²)
Central Asia:
Kazakhstan 2,346,927 13,472,593 5.7 Astana
Kyrgyzstan 198,500 4,822,166 24.3 Bishkek
Tajikistan 143,100 6,719,567 47.0 Dushanbe
Turkmenistan 488,100 4,688,963 9.6 Ashgabat
Uzbekistan 447,400 25,563,441 57.1 Tashkent
Eastern Asia:
People's Republic
9,584,492 1,384,303,705 134.0 Beijing
of China
Hong Kong (PRC) 1,092 7,303,334 6,688.0 Hong Kong
Japan 377,835 126,974,628 336.1 Tokyo
Macau (PRC) 25 461,833 18,473.3 —
Mongolia 1,565,000 2,694,432 1.7 Ulaanbaatar
North Korea 120,540 22,224,195 184.4 Pyongyang
South Korea 98,480 48,324,000 490.7 Seoul
Republic of China
35,980 22,548,009 626.7 Taipei
(Taiwan)
Northern Africa:
Egypt 63,556 1,378,159 21.7 Cairo
Northern Asia:
Russia 13,115,200 39,129,729 3.0 Moscow
Southeastern Asia:
Bandar Seri
Brunei 5,770 350,898 60.8
Begawan
Cambodia 181,040 12,775,324 70.6 Phnom Penh
Indonesia 1,419,588 227,026,560 159.9 Jakarta
Laos 236,800 5,777,180 24.4 Vientiane
Malaysia 329,750 22,662,365 68.7 Kuala Lumpur
Myanmar (Burma) 678,500 42,238,224 62.3 Naypyidaw
Philippines 300,000 84,525,639 281.8 Manila
Singapore 693 4,452,732 6,425.3 Singapore
Thailand 514,000 62,354,402 121.3 Bangkok
Timor-Leste (East
15,007 952,618 63.5 Dili
Timor)
Vietnam 329,560 81,098,416 246.1 Hanoi
Southern Asia:
Afghanistan 647,500 27,755,775 42.9 Kabul
Bangladesh 144,000 133,376,684 926.2 Dhaka
Bhutan 47,000 672,425 14.3 Thimphu
India 3,287,590 1,045,845,226 318.2 New Delhi
Iran 1,648,000 68,467,413 41.5 Tehran
Maldives 300 320,165 1,067.2 Malé

Nepal 140,800 25,873,917 183.8 Kathmandu

Pakistan 803,940 147,663,429 183.7 Islamabad
Sri Lanka 65,610 19,576,783 298.4 Colombo
Western Asia:
Armenia 29,800 3,330,099 111.7 Yerevan
Azerbaijan 46,870 3,845,127 82.0 Baku
Bahrain 665 656,397 987.1 Manama
Cyprus 9,250 775,927 83.9 Nicosia
Gaza 363 1,203,591 3,315.7 Gaza
Georgia 20,460 2,032,004 99.3 Tbilisi
Iraq 437,072 24,001,816 54.9 Baghdad
 Israel 20,770 6,029,529 290.3 Jerusalem
Jordan 92,300 5,307,470 57.5 Amman
Kuwait 17,820 2,111,561 118.5 Kuwait City
Lebanon 10,400 3,677,780 353.6 Beirut
Oman 212,460 2,713,462 12.8 Muscat
Qatar 11,437 793,341 69.4 Doha
Saudi Arabia 1,960,582 23,513,330 12.0 Riyadh
Syria 185,180 17,155,814 92.6 Damascus
Turkey 756,768 57,855,068 76.5 Ankara
United Arab
82,880 2,445,989 29.5 Abu Dhabi
Emirates
West Bank 5,860 2,303,660 393.1 —
Yemen 527,970 18,701,257 35.4 Sanaá
Total 43,810,582 3,902,404,193 89.07

Etymology
The word Asia entered English, via Latin, from Ancient Greek Ασία. This name is first
attested in Herodotus (about 440 BC), where it refers to Anatolia; or, for the purposes of
describing the Persian Wars, to the Persian Empire, in contrast to Greece and Egypt.
Herodotus comments that he is puzzled as to why three women's names are used to
describe one land mass (Europa, Asia and Libya, referring to Africa), stating that most
Greeks assumed that Asia was named after the wife of Prometheus but that the Lydians
say it was named after Asias, son of Cotys who passed the name on to a tribe in Sardis.

Even before Herodotus, Homer knew of a Trojan ally named Asios, son of Hyrtacus, a
ruler over several towns, and elsewhere he describes a marsh as ασιος (Iliad 2, 461).
The Greek term may be derived from Assuwa, a 14th century BC confederation of
states in Western Anatolia. Hittite assu- = "good" is probably an element in that name.
Alternatively, the ultimate etymology of the term may be from the Akkadian word
(w)aû(m), which means "to go out" or "to ascend", referring to the direction of the sun
at sunrise in the Middle East, and also likely connected with the Phoenician word asa
meaning east. This may be contrasted to a similar etymology proposed for Europe, as
being from Semitic erēbu "to enter" or "set" (of the sun). However, this etymology is
considered doubtful, because it does not explain how the term "Asia" first came to be
associated with Anatolia, which is west of the Semitic-speaking areas, unless they refer
to the viewpoint of a Phoenician sailor sailing through the straits between the
Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea.
Geography
Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia, comprising approximately fifty countries.
It has an area, including islands, of roughly 49,694,700 km². Asia is joined to Africa by
the Isthmus of Suez and to Europe by a long border generally following the Ural
Mountains.
Asia is the largest and most populous region or continent, depending on the definition.
It is traditionally defined as part of the landmass of Africa-Eurasia lying east of the Suez
Canal, east of the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains and the
Caspian and Black Seas. About 60% of the world's human population lives in Asia.

• Definition and boundaries

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, but
during the Middle Ages was notably due to Isidore of Sevilla. The demarcation between
Asia and Africa (to the southwest) is the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea. The
boundary between Asia and Europe is commonly considered to run through the
Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, the Black Sea, the Caucasus
Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the Ural River to its source, and the Ural Mountains to the
Kara Sea near Kara, Russia. While this interpretation of tripartite continents (i.e., of
Asia, Europe, and Africa) remains common in modernity, discovery of the extent of
Africa and Asia have made this definition somewhat anachronistic. This is especially
true in the case of Asia, which would have several regions that would be considered
distinct landmasses if these criteria were used (for example, Southern Asia and Eastern
Asia).
In the far northeast of Asia, Siberia is separated from North America by the Bering
Strait. Asia is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean (specifically, from west to east,
the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, and Bay of Bengal); on the east by the waters of the
Pacific (including, counterclockwise, the South China Sea, East China Sea, Yellow Sea,
Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, and Bering Sea); and on the north by the Arctic Ocean.
Australia (or Oceania) is situated to the southeast.
Generally, geologists and physical geographers do not consider Asia and Europe to be
separate continents. Physiographically, Asia is the major eastern constituent of the
continent of Eurasia – with Europe being a northwestern peninsula of the landmass – or
of Africa-Eurasia: geologically, Asia, Europe, and Africa comprise a single continuous
landmass (save the Suez Canal) and share a common continental shelf. Almost all of
Europe and most of Asia sit atop the Eurasian Plate, adjoined on the south by the
Arabian and Indian Plates, and with much of Siberia situated on the North American
Plate.
In geography, there are two schools of thought. One school follows historical
convention and treats Europe and Asia as different continents, categorizing subregions
within them for more detailed analysis. The other school equates the word "continent"
with a geographical region when referring to Europe, and use the term "region" to
describe Asia in terms of physiography. Since, in linguistic terms, "continent" implies a
distinct landmass, it is becoming increasingly common to substitute the term "region"
for "continent" to avoid the problem of disambiguation altogether.
Given the scope and diversity of the landmass, it is sometimes not even clear exactly
what "Asia" consists of. Some definitions exclude Turkey, the Middle East, Central
Asia and Russia while only considering the Far East, Southeast Asia and the Indian
Subcontinent to compose Asia. The term is sometimes used more strictly in reference to
the Asia-Pacific region, which does not include the Middle East or Russia, but does
include islands in the Pacific Ocean — a number of which may also be considered part
of Australasia or Oceania although Pacific Islanders are commonly not considered
Asian.

• 'Asian' as a demonym
The demonym 'Asian' often refers to a category of people from a subregion of Asia
instead of being used as a mere adjective for anyone from the (Asian) continent. In
British English, 'Asian' usually refers to South Asian, but may also refer to other Asian
groups. In the United States, 'Asian American' is usually taken to mean East Asian
Americans due to the historical and cultural influences of China and Japan on the U.S.
up to the 1960s and in preference to the terms 'Oriental' and 'Asiatic'; however, the term
is increasingly taken to include Southeast Asian Americans and South Asian Americans
due to the increasing demographics of these groups.

History

The history of Asia can be seen as the distinct histories of several peripheral coastal
regions: East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East, linked by the interior mass of the
Central Asian steppes.
The coastal periphery was home to some of the world's earliest known civilizations,
each of them developing around fertile river valleys. The civilizations in Mesopotamia,
the Indus Valley, and the Yangtze shared many similarities. These civilizations may
well have exchanged technologies and ideas such as mathematics and the wheel. Other
innovations, such as writing, seem to have been developed individually in each area.
Cities, states, and empires developed in these lowlands.

The central steppe region had long been inhabited by horse-mounted nomads who could
reach all areas of Asia from the steppes. The earliest postulated expansion out of the
steppe is that of the Indo-Europeans, who spread their languages into the Middle East,
India, and the borders of China, where the Tocharians resided. The northernmost part of
Asia, including much of Siberia, was largely inaccessible to the steppe nomads, owing
to the dense forests, climate, and tundra. These areas remained very sparsely populated.
The center and the peripheries were mostly kept separated by mountains and deserts.
The Caucasus and Himalaya mountains and the Karakum and Gobi deserts formed
barriers that the steppe horsemen could cross only with difficulty. While the urban city
dwellers were more advanced technologically and socially, in many cases they could do
little in a military aspect to defend against the mounted hordes of the steppe. However,
the lowlands did not have enough open grasslands to support a large horsebound force;
for this and other reasons, the nomads who conquered states in China, India, and the
Middle East often found themselves adapting to the local, more affluent societies.

• History of the Middle East

The earliest civilizations in the region now known as the Middle East were established
in the lands around the Tigris and Euphrates, known as Mesopotamia, as well as in
Ancient Egypt. The Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Israelites and others
built important states. From about 500 BC onward, several empires dominated the
region, beginning with the Persian Empire of Achaemenids, followed by the
Macedonian empire founded by Alexander the Great, and successor kingdoms such as
Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid state in Syria.

In the 1st century BC, the expanding Roman Republic absorbed the whole Eastern
Mediterranean area (which included much of the Middle East) and under the Roman
Empire the region was united with most of Europe and North Africa in a single political
and economic unit. This unity facilitated the spread of Christianity, and by the 5th
century, much of the Middle East was Christian. The rule of Rome was succeeded in the
4th century AD by that of Constantinople, which led to the creation of a Greek-
speaking, Christian Empire, known to historians as the Byzantine Empire, which ruled
from the Balkans to the Euphrates. Further east, the Persian Empire was revived by the
Parthians and later the Sassanids.

- The contemporary Middle East

By the 1990s, many western commentators (and some Middle Eastern ones) saw the
Middle East as not just a zone of conflict, but also a zone of backwardness. The rapid
spread of political democracy and the development of market economies in Eastern
Europe, Latin America, East Asia and parts of Africa passed the Middle East by. In the
whole region, only Israel, Turkey and to some extent Lebanon were democracies. Other
countries had legislative bodies, but these had little power, and in the Gulf states the
majority of the population could not vote anyway, as they were guest workers and not
citizens.
In most Middle Eastern countries, the growth of market economies was inhibited by
political restrictions, corruption and cronyism, overspending on arms and prestige
projects, and overdependence on oil revenues. The successful economies in the region
were those which combined oil wealth with low populations, such as Qatar, Bahrain and
the United Arab Emirates. In these states, the ruling emirs allowed a certain degree of
political and social liberalization, yet without giving up any of their own power.
Lebanon, after a prolonged civil war in the 1980s, also rebuilt a fairly successful
economy.
By the end of the 1990s, the Middle East as a whole was falling behind not only Europe,
but also behind India, China and other rapidly developing market economies, in terms
of production, trade, education, communications and virtually every other criterion of
economic and social progress. The assertion that, if oil was subtracted, the total exports
of the whole Arab world were less than those of Finland was frequently quoted. The
theories of authors such as David Pryce-Jones, that the Arabs were trapped in a "cycle
of backwardness" from which their culture would not allow them to escape, were
widely accepted in the west.

In the opening years of the 21st century all these factors combined to raise the Middle
East conflict to a new height, and to spread its consequences across the globe. The
failure of the attempt by Bill Clinton to broker a peace deal between Israel and the
Palestinians at Camp David in 2000, led directly to the election of Ariel Sharon as
Prime Minister of Israel and to the Al-Aqsa Intifada, characterised by suicide bombing
of Israeli civilian targets. This was the first major outbreak of violence since the Oslo
Peace Accords of 1993.
At the same time, the failures of most of the Arab regimes and the bankruptcy of secular
Arab radicalism led a section of educated Arabs (and other Muslims) to embrace
Islamism, promoted both by the Shi'a clerics of Iran and by the powerful Wahhabist sect
of Saudi Arabia. Many of the militant Islamists gained military training while fighting
against the forces of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
One of these was a wealthy Saudi Arabian, Osama bin Laden. After fighting against the
Soviets in Afghanistan, he formed the al-Qaida organization, which was responsible for
the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, the USS Cole bombing and the September 11, 2001
attacks on the United States. The September 11 attacks led the administration of U.S.
President George W. Bush to launch an invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 to overthrow
the Taliban regime, which was harbouring Bin Laden and his organisation. The U.S.
and its allies described this operation as part of a global "War on Terrorism."
The U.S. and Britain also became convinced that Saddam Hussein was reconstituting
Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program, in violation of the agreements it had given
at the end of the Persian Gulf War. During 2002 the administration, led by Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, developed a plan to invade Iraq, remove Saddam from
power, and turn Iraq into a democratic state with a free-market economy, which, they
hoped, would serve as a model for the rest of the Middle East. When the U.S. and its
principal allies, Britain, Italy, Spain and Australia, could not secure United Nations
approval for the execution of the numerous United Nations resolutions, they launched
an invasion of Iraq, overthrowing Saddam with no great difficulty in April 2003.
The advent of a new western army of occupation in a Middle Eastern capital marked a
turning point in the history of the region. If the U.S. succeeded in transforming Iraq into
a prosperous and stable democratic state, the consequences for the region might be
great. The consequences of failure would also be very far-reaching. Political progress in
Iraq was slower than expected, and was complicated by an ongoing Iraq insurgency, but
successful elections were held in January 2005 and power transferred to a Shia-
dominated elected government.

By 2005, also, George W. Bush's Road map for peace between Israel and the
Palestinians has been stalled, although this situation began to change with Yasser
Arafat's death in 2004. In response, Israel moved towards a unilateral solution, pushing
ahead with the Israeli West Bank barrier to protect Israel from Palestinian suicide
bombers and proposed unliteral withdrawal from Gaza. The barrier if completed would
amount to a de facto annexation of areas of the West Bank by Israel. In 2006 a new
conflict erupted between Israel and Hezbollah Shi’a militia in southern Lebanon, further
setting back any prospects for peace.

Politics
The Politics of Asia are extremely varied as would be expected of such a large
landmass and a diverse population. Constitutional monarchies, absolute monarchies,
one-party states, federal states, dependent territories, liberal democracies and military
dictatorships are all factors in the region, as well as various forms of independence
movements.
Civilisation has a long history throughout Asia and it probably involved politics right
from the start although some of the earliest discernable political structures arose in
Mesopotamia with the advent of writing offering details of these politics. A large and
well organised civil service the like of which arose in China is also a necessary adjunct
to politics. Much of the political climate in Asia today is affected by colonialism and
imperialism of the past with some states retaining close links with their former colonial
governors while others involved in bitter independence struggles the consequences of
which continue to be felt.
The situation today is still mixed, with hostilities in parts of Asia such as the continuing
tensions over Kashmir and between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of
China. There are also moves towards greater co-operation and communication within
the region with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) a notable example.

• International alliances

- ASEN
ASEAN (pronounced AH-SEE-AHN) or the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations is a geo-political and economic organization of 10 countries located in
Southeast Asia, which was formed on August 8, 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand as a display of solidarity against communist
expansion in Vietnam and insurgency within their own borders. Its aims include the
accelaration of economic growth, social progress, cultural development among its
members, and the promotion of regional peace.
In 2005, the bloc had a combined GDP (Nominal/PPP) of about USD$884
billion/$2.755 trillion growing at an average rate of around 4% per annum. Economies
of its members are diverse, although its major products include electronics, petroleum,
and wood.
Collectively, members states are culturally diverse. About 240 million Muslims live in
the bloc, mostly in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Buddhism constitutes the main
religion of mainland Southeast Asia and there are about 170 million Buddhists in
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Roman Catholicism is
predominant in the Philippines.

- Commonwealth of Independent States

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) (Russian: Содружество
Независимых Государств (СНГ) - Sodruzhestvo Nezavisimykh Gosudarstv) is the
international organization, or alliance, consisting of 11 former Soviet Republics:
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia,
Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan discontinued permanent
membership as of August 26, 2005 and is now an associate member.

The creation of CIS signalled the dissolution of the Soviet Union and, according to
leaders of Russia, its purpose was to "allow a civilized divorce" between the Soviet
Republics. However, many observers perceive the CIS as a geopolitical tool, allowing
Russia to maintain its influence over the formerly Soviet republics. Since its formation,
the member-states of CIS have signed a large number of documents concerning
integration and cooperation on matters of economics, defense and foreign policy.
The CIS is not a confederation. Two of the Post-Soviet states in 1997 formed the Union
of Russia and Belarus, a loose confederal grouping at present which has the stated
intention of re-forming a USSR-like federation at some unspecified future date.

- Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is an economic forum for a
group of Pacific Rim countries to discuss matters on regional economy, cooperation,
trade and investment. Ministers from the member economies meet on a continual basis
throughout the year. The activities are coordinated by the APEC Secretariat based in
Singapore.

The organization conducts the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting, an annual summit
attended by the heads of government of all APEC members except Chinese Taipei,
which is represented by a ministerial-level official. The location of the summit rotates
annually among the member economies, and a famous tradition involves the attending
leaders dressing in a national costume of the host member.

Economy
The economy of Asia comprises more than 4 billion people (60% of the world
population), living in 46 different states. In addition to this, there are six further states
that lie partly in Asia, but are considered to belong to another region economically and
politically.
As in all world regions, the wealth of Asia differs widely between, and within, states.
This is due to its vast size, meaning a huge range of differing cultures, environments,
historical ties and government systems. The largest economies in Asia in terms of
nominal GDP are Japan and China. This demonstrates the huge disparity in wealth in
Asia, with Japan being the world's second largest economy, and Cambodia being one of
the poorest. In terms of Purchasing Power Parity however, the People's Republic of
China has the largest economy in Asia and the second largest in the world, followed by
Japan and India as the world's third and fourth largest economies respectively. South
Korea is also an economic leader and has one of the largest economies in Asia and the
11th largest in the world.
As of 2007, the largest national economy within Asia, in terms of gross domestic
product (PPP), is that of China followed by that of India and Japan. In the late 1990s
and early 2000s, the economies of China and India have been growing rapidly, both
with an average annual growth rate of more than 8%.

However, in terms of exchange rates (nominal GDP), Japan has the largest economy in
Asia and second-largest of any single nation in the world, after surpassing the Soviet
Union (measured in net material product) in 1986 and Germany in 1968. (NB: A
number of supernational economies are larger, such as the EU, NAFTA or APEC).
Economic growth in Asia since World War II to the 1990s had been concentrated in few
countries of the Pacific Rim, and has spread more recently to other regions.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Japan's economy was almost as large as that of the
rest of the continent combined. In 1995, Japan's economy nearly equalled that of the
USA to tie the largest economy in the world for a day, after the Japanese currency
reached a record high of 79 yen. But since then, Japan's currency has corrected and
China has grown to be the second-largest Asian economy, followed by India, in terms
of exchange rates. It is expected that China will surpass Japan in currency terms to have
the largest nominal GDP in Asia within a decade or two. India is expected to overtake
Japan by 2030.

• Natural resources
Asia is the largest continent in the world by a considerable margin, and it is rich in
natural resources, such as petroleum and iron.
High productivity in agriculture, especially of rice, allows high population density of
countries in the warm and humid area. Other main agricultural products include wheat
and chicken.
Forestry is extensive throughout Asia, except in Southwest and Central Asia. Fishing is
a major source of food in Asia, particularly in Japan.

• Manufacturing
Manufacturing in Asia has traditionally been strongest in East and Southeast Asia,
particularly in mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. The
industry varies from manufacturing cheap goods such as toys to high-tech products such
as computers and cars. Many companies from Europe, North America, and Japan have
significant operations in Asia's developing countries to take advantage of its abundant
supply of cheap labour.
One of the major employers in manufacturing in Asia is the textile industry. Much of
the world's supply of clothing and footwear now originates in India and Southeast Asia.

• Financial and other services

Asia has three main financial centres: in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo. Call
centres and business process outsourcing (BPOs) are becoming major employers in
India and the Philippines due to the availability of a large pool of highly-skilled,
English-speaking workers. The rise of the business process outsourcing industry has
seen the rise of India and China as other financial centres. Due its large and extremely
competitive information technology industry, Bangalore is often dubbed as the Silicon
Valley of India.

Culture
The culture of Asia is the artificial aggregate of the cultural heritage of many
nationalities, societies, religions, and ethnic groups in the region, traditionally called a
continent from a Western-centric perspective, of Asia. The region or "continent" is more
commonly divided into more natural geographic and cultural subregions, including the
Caucasus, Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia (the "Indian subcontinent"), North Asia,
Southwest Asia and Southeast Asia. Geographically, Asia is not a distinct continent;
culturally, there has been little unity or common history for many of the cultures and
peoples of Asia.
Asian art, music, and cuisine, as well as literature, are important parts of Asian culture.
Eastern philosophy and religion also plays a major role, with Buddhism, Hinduism,
Taoism, Confucianism, Islam, and Christianity all playing major roles. One of the most
complex parts of Asian culture is the relationship between traditional cultures and the
Western world.

• East Asia
East Asia is usually thought to consist of China, Japan, Korea, but may also include
Mongolia and Vietnam. Rarely, it includes the rest of Southeast Asia. The dominant
influence historically has been China, though in modern times, cultural exchange has
flowed more bi-directionally. Major characteristics of this region include shared
Chinese-derived language characteristics, as well as shared religion, especially
Buddhism. There is also a shared social and moral philosophy derived from
Confucianism.

The Chinese Script is generally agreed to be the unifying principle. It was historically
used throughout the region, and is still used to some extent in most countries of the
region. In most cases, the meaning of the characters remain unchanged, but the
pronunciation differs between regions. Even within China, for example, a Cantonese
person and a person from northern China probably cannot hold a conversation, but they
can certainly understand each other by passing notes. The Chinese writing system is the
oldest continuous writing system in the world (but by no means primitive). It was
passed on first to Korea, and was the main writing system there until the end of World
War II, and to Japan, where it now forms a major component of the Japanese writing
system. In Vietnam, classical Chinese (Han Tu) was used during the millennium of
Chinese rule, with the vernacular Chu Nom script replacing it later on. However, this
has now (since the early 20th century) been replaced completely by the Latin Alphabet-
based Quoc Ngu. In these cultures, especially in China, the educational level of person
is traditionally measured by the quality of his or her calligraphy, rather than diction, as
is sometimes the case in the west.

• South Asia
The nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka share an
ethnic background and all have similar cultures. This is largely due to the fact that
before the 1947 partition, India included both Pakistan and Bangladesh in its borders.
The reason they were separated was due to varying religious composition in various
Indian states.
The Indus Valley Civilization began on the Indus River (now in Pakistan). In time,
however, Aryans settled down in the Indian subcontinent from the north. The Aryans
also invaded the island of Sri Lanka and set up the Kingdom of Sinhala. The people
eventually mingled to form a common culture.
Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, the four major world religions founded in
the region that is today's India, are spread throughout the subcontinent. While 80% of
Indians are Hindus and Nepal is a Hindu State, Sri Lanka has a majority of Buddhists.
South Asian culture was influenced somewhat by the arrival of Islam, which based itself
in the northwest of India (now Pakistan), near the borders of Afghanistan.
In 1947, India was split as part of the Partition as a result of the Indian Independence
Movement. This partition was on the basis of religion, although Pakistani people and
Indian people share a common language (Urdu being very similar to Hindi when
spoken). Many Hindus and Sikhs still live in Pakistan while 12% of Bangladesh's
population is Hindu.
Another common feature of these states is the fact that all these countries maintain
interests in the same world sports. India and Pakistan were both strong in Field Hockey
during the 80s while Cricket is by far the most popular sport in India, Pakistan, Sri
Lanka and Bangladesh. With the Indian Cricket Team being one of the earliest
International Cricket Teams to be created (after England, Australia and South Africa).
Despite their religious differences, the way of life is still similar in India and Pakistan,
because of shared history; and Pakistan differs in some ways from the Middle East.
Foods such as chapatis are common in both nations. South Indian foods (from the states
Kerala and Tamil Nadu) can be found in Sri Lanka. Bangladeshi ways of life are similar
to the people in West Bengal, the Indian North-Eastern State.

• Philosophy
Asian philosophical traditions originated in India and China and cover a large spectrum
of philosophical thoughts and writings. Indian philosophy includes Hindu philosophy
and Buddhist philosophy. They include elements of nonmaterial pursuits, whereas
another school of thought from India, Carvaka, preached the enjoyment of material
world.
Taoism was founded by Chinese philosopher Lao Zi, who lived 605-520 B.C.
Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, who lived 563-483 B.C.

During the 20th century, in the two most populous countries of Asia, two dramatically
different political philosophies took shape. Gandhi gave a new meaning to Ahimsa, and
redefined the concepts of nonviolence and nonresistance. During the same period, Mao
Zedong’s communist philosophy was crystallized.

Languages
Asia is home to several language families and many language isolates. Most Asian
countries have more than one language that is natively spoken. For instance, according
to Ethnologue, more than 600 languages are spoken in Indonesia, more than 415
languages spoken in India, and more than 100 are spoken in the Philippines. China has
many languages and dialects in different provinces. Korea, however, is home to only
one language, albeit one with high dialectal diversity.
Religions
The Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith originated
in West Asia. The Dharmic religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism
originated in South Asia. In East Asia, particularly in China and Japan, Confucianism,
Taoism, Zen Buddhism and Shinto took shape. Other religions of Asia include the
Zoroastrianism, Shamanism practiced in Iran and Siberia respectively, and Animism
practiced in the eastern parts of the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia.

Today 30% of Muslims live in the South Asian regions of Pakistan, India and
Bangladesh. The world's largest single Muslim community (within the bounds of one
nation) is in Indonesia. Next, India constitutes the world's second highest number of
Muslims. There are also significant Muslim populations in China, Iran, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Russia and most of West Asia and Central Asia.
In the Philippines and East Timor, Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion; it
was introduced by the Spaniards and the Portuguese, respectively. In Armenia, Eastern
Orthodoxy is the predominant religion. Various Christian denominations have adherents
in portions of the Middle East, as well as China and India.

A large majority of people in the world who practice a religious faith practice one
founded in Asia.
Religions founded in Asia and with a majority of their contemporary adherents in Asia
include:
Bangladesh, India, Pakistan.
Animism: Eastern India, Japan, tribal Philippines.
Bahá'í Faith: slightly more than half of all adherents are in Asia.
Bön: Tibet.
Buddhism: Tibet, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia,
Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, parts of India and parts of
central and eastern Russia (Siberia).

Mahayana Buddhism: Bhutan, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore,

Vietnam, parts of the Philippines.
Theravada Buddhism: Cambodia, parts of China, Chittagong Hill Tracts, West
Bengal, Laos, mainly northern parts of Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka,
Thailand, as well as parts of Vietnam.
Vajrayana Buddhism: Parts of China, Mongolia, Tibet, parts of northern and
eastern India, parts of central, eastern Russia and Siberia.
Daoism: China, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam.
Hinduism: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia Bali, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri
Lanka, Singapore and South Asian immigrants in West Asia.
Islam: Central Asia, South Asia, and Southwest Asia, Maritime Southeast Asia,
Mindanao Philippines, Southern Thailand, Rakhine State Myanmar.

Shia Islam: largely to specific Iran, Azerbaijan, parts of Iraq, Bahrain, parts
of Afghanistan, parts of India, parts of Pakistan.
Sunni Islam: dominant in the rest of the regions mentioned above.

Jainism: India.
Kejawen: Indonesia
Shamanism: Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Siberia.
Shinto: Japan.
Sikhism: India, Malaysia, Hong Kong.
Yezidi : Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey.
Zikri: Pakistan, Iran.

Zoroastrianism: Iran, India, Pakistan.

Religions founded in Asia that have the majority of their contemporary adherents in
other regions include:
Christianity: Armenia, East Timor, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Lebanon,
Malaysia, Pakistan, Palestinian territories, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea,
Syria.
Judaism: slightly fewer than half of its adherents reside in Asia; Israel, India, Iran,
Russia, Syria.

Sources:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/leaflets/biodiversity/page_27_es.html

http://www.janesoceania.com/oceania_language/index.htm

http://www.onestopimmigration-canada.com/canadian_political_system.html

http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/nam/geness.html

http://www.cet.edu/earthinfo/camerica/CApol.html

http://www.cet.edu/earthinfo/camerica/CAeco.html

http://www.wikipedia.org/