ASIA AT A GLANCE Except for the Atlantic Ocean , Asia is surrounded by three
OVERVIEW:
The world is approximately 4.6 billion years old. Asia is
considered to be the largest continent in the world. It has
an area of 44, 936, 000 square kilometers (17, 250,000
square miles), almost one third of the world land surface
of the earth.
Theories on the Origin of Asia
A. The Plate Tectonic Theory- the crust of the Earth’s surface
is made up of vast continental and oceanic plates. These
are in constant motion, rubbing and pushing against one
another, moving only small amounts each year.
B. The Continental Drift Theory- In 1912, Alfred Wegener
proposed that throughout most of geologic time there was
only one continental mass, which he named Pangea. At
some time during the Mesozoic Era, Pangea fragmented
and the parts began to drift apart. Westward drift of the
Americas opened the Atlantic Ocean, and the Indian block
drifted across the Equator to join with Asia.
In 1937 the South African Alexander Du Toit modified
Wegener’s Theory by suggesting the existence of two
primordial continents: Laurasia in the North and
Gondwanaland in the South. Gondwanaland included the
present continents of South America, Africa and the Indian
subcontinent. Laurasia included North America, Europe
and Asia.
The Name Asia
The Etymology of the term “ Asia” is derived from the
Akkadian word “Asu” 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.
The Chinese calls it Ashiya , believed to be a transliteration
of the European name introduced by Ricci, an Italian Jesuit
missionary.
The Physical Environment
It was said that there was once a single land mass called
EURASIA (Euro-Asiatic continent) into two parts known to
them, Europe and Asia. These geographers have divided
Asia into three geographical areas: the Near East, Middle
East and the Far East.
The Physical Boundaries of Asia
Asia is bounded in the North by the Arctic Ocean up to the
Bering Sea. In the East is the Pacific Ocean and in the
South by Timor Sea, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. The
Mediterranean Red Sea, Mount Caucasus and the Ural
Mountains bound the Western part of Asia.
Asia has a total land area of 17,000, 000 square miles or
approximately 43, 608,000 square kilometers. Asia alone is
one third of the surface of the Earth.
Water Forms
KAREN F. PEREZ,
MPA
great body of water, the Pacific Ocean in the East, the
Indian Ocean in the South and Arctic Ocean in the North.
Physical Subdivisions
Asia is subdivided into five regions. These regions,
together with their respective countries are:
1. North Asia- composed of Armenia, Azerbaijan , Georgia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia (in Asia) Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
2. Southwest Asia- The countries are: Afghanistan, Bahrain,
Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, the Levant (Syria, Israel, Jordan and
Lebanon), Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey (Asia
Minor), the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
3. South Asia- It includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
4. East Asia- it is composed of China, Japan, Mongolia, North
Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan.
5. Southeast Asia- This region is composed of Brunei,
Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The Economic Environment
Natural Resources include all the gifts of nature. The wide
range of climate in Asia makes possible the growth of a
great variety of forest and agricultural products. In the
temperate regions, typical temperate crops such as wheat,
vines and other fruit trees are raised. In the Southern
regions, such important crops as sugar cane, rice, cotton,
spices, bananas and coconuts are raised in huge
quantities.
Asia is fabulously rich in minerals. Gold, diamonds, rubies
and other precious stones are mined in various countries
in Asia.
The Social Environment
There are three principal races that inhabit the continent
of Asia.
1. The Yellow or Mongolian race- principally found in
Japan, Korea, China, most of Central Asia and the
Indo-China peninsula.
2. The Caucasian or White Race- predominates in
India, Pakistan and most of the countries West
Pakistan.
3. The Brown or Malay Race- prevails in the
Philippines, Indonesia , Malay Peninsula and other
islands in the south sea.