Asia was derived from the

Assyrian word, Asu. Asu

referred to the spot in the
horizon where Assyrians
saw the sunrise every
morning.
 The opposite place where
they saw the sunset every
evening was designated as
Ereb, the etymology of the
word Europe.
It is from these two words where the terms Europe
and Asia came from. Since global geographical
knowledge at the dawn of civilization was limited,
Europe and Asia were perceived as two different
Islands. This was reinforced when Asians and
Europeans learned about the vastness of Asia
when travels to and from these places became
frequent. The exposure moreover to the social and
cultural differences between Asians and
Europeans strengthened this belief.
 The view of Asia and Europe as two different
continents is perpetuated at present. Thus, the
world is commonly divided into seven
continents; namely North America, South
America, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, Asia, and
Europe. It is worthy to note, however, that given
the simple definition of continent as an
independent huge land formation, Asia and
Europe can be considered as one unified
continent.
 A number of more updated and
accurate projections of the world have
been created since World War II. The
key to understanding the real status of
Asia as geographical region is to look
at a continent as a huge land mass
completely or partially surrounded by
bodies of water with adjoining islands.
 It is the condition and feature of Asia
and Europe that makes it difficult to
consider them as two different
continents as they are attached to each
other along the following geographical
features from north to south: The Ural
Mountains, Caspian Sea, Caucasus
Mountains, Black Sea, and Aegean Sea.
 These features were
used traditionally to
separate them from each
other as two different
continents.
 COUNTRIES ▪ Iraq Arabia
UNDER WEST ▪ Israel ▪ Syria
ASIA:
▪ Jordan ▪ Turkey
▪ Armenia ▪ Kuwait ▪ United
▪ Azerbaijan ▪ Lebanon Arab
▪ Bahrain ▪ Oman Emirates
▪ Cyprus ▪ Qatar ▪ Yemen
▪ Georgia ▪ Saudi
 The areas named by the Europeans as Asia
Minor, Near East, and Middle East are
designated collectively as West Asia centered on
the Area called the Fertile Crescent. It is the
crescent-shaped fertile land, much of which is
now part of Iraq. It starts from the shores of the
Persian Gulf (Kuwait) extending to the country of
Syria in the northwest and southwards to the
countries of Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan.
 From the Fertile Crescent, the region
protrudes into four directions. First is the
Anatolian Plateau, west of the region’s
center. The southern part, Turkey, is
inhabited mainly by the Muslim Turks.
Included in this area are the three
countries located along the Caucasus
Mountains, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan,
and Georgia.
The second protruding portion located in the
south of the Fertile Crescent is the Arabian
Peninsula – the heartland of the region and
home to the rest of the dar-ul-Islam, or the
Islamic World. It is where Muhammad, the
founder of the Islam was from, and where
Mecca, the holiest place for Muslims, is
located. Much of it, at present, is part of the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
It is also Asia’s link to the African continent. The
southwestern part is occupied by Yemen while
the southeastern and eastern shores of the
peninsula are the location of the countries
Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and the tiny
islet country of Bahrain. These countries serve
as launching pads from the past and up to the
present for trade and missions from the West
Asian region to South and Southeast Asia.
 Another protruding portion is the Iranian
Plateau located east of West Asia’s center.
This is the region occupied by Iran, which
was known as Persia in ancient times, and
Afghanistan, the region’s link with Asia’s
northern interiors. Thus, the United
Nations geographical region classification
considers it part of South Asia.
 COUNTRIES Republic
UNDER CENTRAL
▪ Tajikistan
ASIA:
▪ Turkmenistan
▪ Kazakhstan
▪ Uzbekistan
▪ Kyrgyztan or
Kyrgz
 Located north of the Iranian Plateau
is Central Asia. Traditionally, it is
called Turkestan. It includes countries
that used to be part of the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and
Uzbekistan.
 COUNTRIES ▪ India
UNDER SOUTH ▪ Maldives
ASIA:
▪ Nepal
▪ Afghanistan
▪ Pakistan
▪ Bangladesh
▪ Sri Lanka
▪ Bhutan
 South Asia, also called the Indian
subcontinent, is surrounded by natural
barriers and is culturally relatively
monolithic until the modern period. It is
bounded by the Himalayan Mountains
in the north; by the Arabian Sea in the
west; by the Indian Ocean in the south;
and the Bay of Bengal in the east.
 The diamond-shaped country with the
largest land mass in South Asia is India.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are located on
the northwest; Nepal and Bhutan on the
Himalayas up north; Bangladesh on the
northeast; and in the south, the small
island country of Sri Lanka (formerly
Ceylon) and the archipelagic country of
Maldives.
Pakistan and Bangladesh used
to be part of India until they
decided to fight and declare
their independence after WWII
due to their predominantly
Muslim inhabitants.
COUNTRIES UNDER ▪ Philippines
SOUTHEAST ASIA:
▪ Singapore
▪ Brunei ▪ Thailand
▪ Cambodia ▪ Timor-Leste
▪ Indonesia ▪ Vietnam
▪ Laos
▪ Malaysia
▪ Myanmar
 East of India is the Southeast Asian
Region. It is divided into two parts:
mainland/peninsula and maritime
Southeast Asia. In the mainland are the
countries of Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia,
Laos, Vietnam, and the peninsular half of
Malaysia. On the southern tip of the
peninsula is the island-country of
Singapore.
 Scattered east of the Malay Peninsula are the
maritime Southeast Asian countries namely the
Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and
parts of Malaysia in the island of Borneo, namely
Sarawak and Sabah. On the eastern side of the
Indonesian archipelago is the newly-established
country of Timor-Leste (East Timor). The western
part of the island of Papua New Guinea, which is
called Irian Jaya (now West Papua), is Indonesian
territory.
COUNTRIES UNDER ▪ Taiwan*
EAST ASIA:
▪ China
▪ Japan
▪ Mongolia
▪ North Korea
▪ South Korea
 Of all the regions of Asia, this is the
most monolithic in terms of cultural
development and at the same time the
most isolated from the rest. This is the
reason why the countries located here
are more or less similar in many ways.
What accounts for the isolation are the
natural barriers on almost all sides.
In the east is the Pacific Ocean, in the south
is the South China Sea part of which
Filipinos now call the West Philippine Sea,
and in the west are the deserts of Sinkiang
and the Himalayan Mountain Range. It is
only in the north that China in particular
was threatened by outside forces coming
from the mountainous areas of Manchuria
and Siberia.
BIGGEST REGION
BUT NOT A
COUNTRY
 North Asia refers to what is
collectively called Siberia which is
located in the northern part of the
Asiarope continent. It is sparsely
populated due to the extremely cold
temperature that makes the land unfit
for human habitation and agriculture.
Due to its large size
and varied physical
features, Asia has
varied climates.
 North Asia has cold to
temperate climate with
four seasons from the
northernmost mountains
to the Himalayas.
 In the archipelagos of the Arctic
Ocean southward to the northern
shorelines of Siberia, a polar
climate prevails. It is characterized
by high pressure, low temperatures,
and low rainfall. The absence of the
sun lasts for half a year.
 The south central portion of Siberia is
where the coldest temperatures could be
experienced outside of Antarctica. This
explains the scarcity of people, animals,
plants, and hence, the absence of human
development. In recent times, however,
with the help of modern technology,
human habitation became possible there.
What was the
video all
about?
What is the name of
the place where
people living in a
cold area?
 Meanwhile, in the northeast of
Asia, drastic changes in
temperature can be experienced.
Nevertheless, this is more
habitable compared to the
shorelines of Siberia in the north.
Central Asia, on the other
hand, is cold and dry. It is
an elevated area but is too
far from any big body of
water that could create
moisture.
 Cold deserts and dry grasslands
are found from the Caspian
Depression eastward to the Tien
Shan Plateau in Sinkiang and up to
the mountains of Mongolia and the
Gobi Desert in North Central
China.
People here lead a nomadic
lifestyle and conduct a
pastoral economy of
herding horses and other
mountain animals.
In the north are the steppes and
elevated dry grasslands. With
moderate rainfall, this area is
able to sustain grasslands that
serve as pastures for animal-
raising and animal-breeding
activities.
In the majestic group of mountains
bordering South and Central Asia,
the Himalayas, the climate is cold
and snowy. All year-round the
mountaintops are with ice that
accumulate into glaciers which
slide down to the valleys.
 Its melted snow brings water that
flows through the rivers and into the
north Indian plains. Water flows
down, carries with it nutrients that
fertilize the soil along the river
banks, and sustains agriculture in
the Indo-Gangetic Plains.
The Indo-Gangetic Plains is
the world's largest alluvial
plains.
Alluvial Plains - a level or
gently sloping flat
The southern part of the
Indian subcontinent is
separated from the
north by the Deccan
Plateau.
 The Ghat Mountains on both sides of
the plateau add to the isolating effect
of this middle region of India. This
physical barrier is partly responsible
for the long-standing regional division
in the cultural and societal
development of India as a unified
nation.
DECCAN PLATEAU
The highest temperature in Asia
is felt in the Arabian Peninsula.
During summer, the temperature
reaches an average of 86
degrees Fahrenheit or 30
degrees Celcius.
 The peninsula is characterized by
sandy soil and deserts. Due to the
intensity of heat especially in the
middle of the day, mirages or water-
like images can be seen on the
surface of the desert. This is actually
brought about by the sun's refraction
upon the atmosphere of the desert.
 Rub' al Khali, one of the world's
largest sand deserts, covers the
southern portion of the Arabian
Peninsula in Saudi Arabia, parts
of Oman, the United Arab
Emirates, and Yemen.
 There are, however, a few places where
pockets of water surrounded by plants are
found in some areas of deserts. These are
called oases (oasis), which are remnants
of larger bodies of water that used to dot
the Arabian Peninsula in earlier times.
These have since dried up except for the
lowest points that have become oases.
 In the Anatolian Plateau at the
northern border of West Asia, the
hot climate emanating from the
Arabian Peninsula is countered by
the moderate climate of its higher
altitude and its proximity to the
Mediterranean Sea.
 The highland is the source of
water of the two rivers that flow
down to the Fertile Crescent - the
Tigris and Euphrates. In early
times, these rivers sustained
Mesopotamia, one of the earliest
civilizations in the world.
The most important and
famous of this section is
Mesopotamia which
means the "land between
the two rivers."
 The lowest point on earth
which is 418 meters below sea
level is located in this region,
the Dead Sea. It is located
between the West Bank, Israel,
and Jordan.
 In the subcontinent of India, the primary
climate is tropical. The Hindustan Plain along
the Bay of Bengal, southeast India, and Sri
Lanka experience the monsoons that bring
considerable amounts of rainfall during
certain months of the year. But at certain
months, droughts have been experienced
especially in locations away from the bodies
of water or deeper into the mainland.
 Monsoon refers to the seasonal winds
that affect South, Southeast, and East
Asia. It refers to the shifting wind
patterns in the Indian Ocean and the
Arabian Sea that brings heavy rainfall to
the Asian landmass and countries
located along the Pacific Ocean. It is a
two-way directional wind pattern.
 Generally, the climate in Southeast
Asia is tropical which is hot and
humid all year round with an annual
rainfall of 60 to 80 ft. or 1,500 to 2,000
mm. It has a wet and dry season. The
warm temperature increases in
intensity as one nears the equatorial
zone.
 However, the nearby Indian
Ocean, Bay of Bengal, West
Philippine Sea, and the
immense Pacific Ocean bring
enough moisture to temper the
heat.
The monsoon become heavily
destructive when it coincides
with the typhoons which is
also known as tropical
cyclones that develop in the
Pacific Ocean.
Countries along the typhoon belt
like the Philippines, China, and
Japan suffer from the effects of
the strong winds, tornadoes,
storm surges, and tsunamis
brought about by such weather
disturbances.
On the other hand, the tropical
climate has its advantages. The
monsoon rains in Southeast
Asia sustain agriculture, the
tropical forests, and the
diversity of plants and animals.
 The major rivers in Southeast Asia
include the Mekong River in Vietnam, the
Irrawaddy, and the Salween in Myanmar
and Thailand, the Menam Chao Phraya in
Thailand, and a few others. Mekong River
is the longest river in Southeast Asia
with a length of more than 4,000
kilometers.
MEKONG RIVER IN
VIETNAM
SALWEEN IN MYANMAR
AND THAILAND
MENAM CHAO PHRAYA IN
THAILAND
 The South China Sea located
between the mainland and
maritime Southeast Asia with its
extensive coral reefs is one of the
richest breeding grounds for a
wide variety of fish and other
marine products.
 Subtropical climate with some
monsoon rains prevails
throughout the coastal regions of
southern China. This makes it
suitable for agriculture and
comfortable for human
habitation.
As one moves northward, a moderate to
colder climate is felt in eastern China
and in Japan. Proximity to the Pacific
Ocean makes the air moist and brings
some rain during typhoon months. The
air in the Korean peninsula especially
it's northern part is much cooler, being
closer to Siberia and the Arctic.
 North China is blessed with a
highly fertile soil called loess.
Loess is wind-laid alluvium made
up of fine sand and silt cemented
with calcium carbonate. It is
highly porous and easily
cultivated.
LOESS IN NORTH CHINA
 Loess from Siberia are
windblown to the plains of
northern China and redeposited
in rivers that carry the particles
along its track and are eventually
deposited in the valleys as rivers
inundate.
Two big deserts cover a wide expanse of
northern China and southern Mongolia,
the Gobi Desert and the Taklamakan
Desert. The Gobi Desert is the largest
desert in Asia, it extends from northern
China to Mongolia. Unlike the Arabian
Desert, it is a cold desert, which means
that it often sees snowfall.
 Two major rivers
dominate the lives of the
Chinese - the Yangtze
and the Huang He or
Yellow River.
 The Yangtze is one of the longest
rivers in the world covering one-fifth
of the land area of the People's
Republic of China. It constitutes a
major transportation route to and
from different parts of the country
after canals have been dug to direct
its flow.
 The Huang He, on the other
hand, is called China's cradle
of civilization because its
basin, the Wei Valley, was the
place where the earliest
Chinese civilization started.
Japan is an archipelago with a small
land area, much of which is
mountainous. It is made up of four big
islands namely Kyushu, Shikoku,
Honshu, and Hokkaido and thousands
of small islets. Honshu is the biggest
island and is the seat of the national
government.
 Landforms in Japan are steep
and rugged. The highest and most
beautiful peak is Mount Fuji
(Fujisan) at a height of 12,388
feet. Japan has 265 volcanoes
with more or less 20 of them
considered active.
Earthquakes and tsunamis
emanating from the North
Pacific Ocean often hit the
country as it is located in
the earthquake belt.
 North Korea is composed of
mountains and uplands separated by
narrow valleys. The highest point is
Baekdu Mountain which is a volcanic
mountain near the Chinese border.
The Hamgyong Range is located in the
extreme northeastern part of the
peninsula.
 South Korea occupies the
southern tip of the peninsula. With
a limited land resource and with
plains located mostly along the
seashore, like Japan, it
concentrated on its
manufacturing industry.