A globe showing where Asia is (green) Asia is the largestcontinent onEarth by area andnumber of people .[ 1] northern hemisphere . Asia is connected toEurope in the west andAfrica on the south.Sometimes Asia and Europe are combined to form a larger continent calledEurasia .[ 2] civilizations began in Asia, for exampleSumer ,China , andIndia . Asia was the birthplace of manyreligions , for exampleHinduism ,Zoroastrianism ,Judaism ,Jainism ,Buddhism ,Confucianism ,Taoism ,Christianity ,Islam , andSikhism . It was also home to some large empires, for example thePersian Empire , theMughal Empire , theMongol Empire , and theMing Empire . It is home to at least 44 countries. Georgia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Greece have territory in both Europe and Asia.
Geographic area of AsiaAsia includes a large amount of land. Covering about 30% of the world's land area, it has more people than any other continent, with about 60% of the world's totalpopulation .[ 3] Arctic in the north to the hot and steamy equatorial lands in the south, Asia contains huge, emptydeserts , as well as some of the world's highest mountains and longest rivers.
Asia is surrounded by theMediterranean Sea , theBlack Sea , theArctic Ocean , thePacific Ocean , and theIndian Ocean . It is separated from Europe by thePontic Mountains and theTurkish Straits . A long, mainly landborder in the west separates Europe and Asia. This line runs north–south down theUral Mountains in Russia, along theUral River to theCaspian Sea , and through theCaucasus Mountains to the Black Sea.
Some countries are in both Europe and Asia, for exampleRussia ,Georgia ,Kazakhstan , andTurkey . TheSinai Peninsula ofEgypt is in western Asia. The rest of the country is in North-EastAfrica .
There are some other countries in Asia with limited recognition. Many countries do not recognize them as separate countries.
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