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Asia (/ˈeɪʒə/ ^ⓘ AY-zhə, UK also /ˈeɪʃə/ AY-shə) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometers, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the human population, was the site of many of the first civilizations. Its 4.7 billion people constitute roughly 60% of the world's population.

Asia shares the landmass of Eurasia with Europe, and of Afro-Eurasia with both Europe and Africa. In general terms, 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. The border of Asia with Europe is a historical and cultural construct, as there is no clear physical and geographical separation between them. It is somewhat arbitrary and has moved since its first conception in classical antiquity. The division of Eurasia into two continents reflects East–West cultural, linguistic, and ethnic differences, some of which vary on a spectrum rather than with a sharp dividing line. A commonly accepted division places Asia to the east of the Suez Canal separating it from Africa; and to the east of the Turkish Straits, the Ural Mountains and Ural River, and to the south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black seas, separating it from Europe.

China and India traded places as the largest economies in the world from 1 to 1800 CE. China was a major economic power for much of recorded history, with the highest GDP per capita until 1500. The Silk Road became the main east–west trading route in the Asian hinterlands while the Straits of Malacca stood as a major sea route. Asia has exhibited economic dynamism as well as robust population growth during the 20th century, but overall population growth has since fallen. Asia was the birthplace of most of the world's mainstream religions including Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Jainism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, as well as many other religions. (Full article...)

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Featured article

Temples and pagodas in Bagan

Bagan (Burmese: ပုဂံ; MLCTS: pu.gam, IPA: [bəɡàɰ̃]; formerly Pagan) is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that would later constitute Myanmar. During the kingdom's height between the 11th and 13th centuries, more than 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which the remains of over 2200 temples and pagodas survive.

The Bagan Archaeological Zone is a main attraction for the country's nascent tourism industry. (Full article...)

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Selected Country

Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma (the official name until 1989), is a country in Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has a population of about 55 million. It is bordered by Bangladesh and India to its northwest, China to its northeast, Laos and Thailand to its east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to its south and southwest. The country's capital city is Naypyidaw, and its largest city is Yangon (formerly Rangoon).

Early civilisations in the area included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Myanmar and the Mon kingdoms in Lower Myanmar. In the 9th century, the Bamar people entered the upper Irrawaddy valley, and following the establishment of the Pagan Kingdom in the 1050s, the Burmese language, culture, and Theravada Buddhism slowly became dominant in the country. The Pagan Kingdom fell to Mongol invasions, and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo dynasty, the country became the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia for a short period. The early 19th-century Konbaung dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Manipur and Assam as well. The British East India Company seized control of the administration of Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century, and the country became a British colony. After a brief Japanese occupation, Myanmar was reconquered by the Allies. On 4 January 1948, Myanmar declared independence under the terms of the Burma Independence Act 1947. (Full article...)

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Featured biography

There are no contemporaneous portraits of Du Fu; this is a later artist's impression.

Du Fu (Chinese: 杜甫; Wade–Giles: Tu Fu; 712–770) was a Chinese poet and politician during the Tang dynasty. Together with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai, Du is often considered one of the greatest Chinese poets. His greatest ambition was to serve his country as a successful civil servant, but Du proved unable to make the necessary accommodations. His life, like all of China, was devastated by the An Lushan Rebellion of 755, and his last 15 years were a time of almost constant unrest.

Although initially he was little-known to other writers, his works came to be hugely influential in both Chinese and Japanese literary culture. Of his poetic writing, nearly fifteen hundred poems have been preserved over the ages. He has been called the "Poet-Historian" and the "Poet-Sage" by Chinese critics, while the range of his work has allowed him to be introduced to Western readers as "the Chinese Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Shakespeare, Milton, Burns, Wordsworth, Béranger, Hugo or Baudelaire". (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various Asia-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Invasions, destruction and possible population movements during the Late Bronze Age collapse, beginning c. 1200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 2The Russian Znamensky Cathedral in Tyumen built in 1768 (from Culture of Asia)
Image 3Indonesian Balinese cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 4A typical example of Dravidian architecture (from Culture of Asia)
Image 5Projected GDP of 7 largest economies in 2050 (from Asian Century)
Image 6Byzantine and Sassanian Empires in 600 AD (from History of Asia)
Image 7The First Persian Empire at its greatest extent, c. 500 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 8Korean peninsula in 476 AD. There are three kingdoms and Gaya Union in the picture. This picture shows the heyday of Goguryeo (from History of Asia)
Image 9Đại Việt, Champa, Angkor Empire and their neighbours, late 13th century (from History of Asia)
Image 10The Delhi Sultanate. (from History of Asia)
Image 11Language families in South Asia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 12Some henges at Göbekli Tepe in Turkey were erected as far back as 9600 BC, predating those of Stonehenge, by over seven millennia. (from History of Asia)
Image 13Kabsa also called Majboos, famous in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates (from Culture of Asia)
Image 14Angkor Wat, Khmer Empire (from Culture of Asia)
Image 15The Grand Mosque in Kuwait City, one of the largest mosques in the region (from Culture of Asia)
Image 16Philippine cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 17East Asian cultural sphere (from Culture of Asia)
Image 18The Mughal ambassador Khan’Alam in 1618 negotiating with Shah Abbas the Great of Iran. (from History of Asia)
Image 19Political cartoon depicting the Afghan Emir Sher Ali with the rival "friends" the Russian Bear and British Lion (1878) (from History of Asia)
Image 20Sun temple at Konarka, Odisha, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 21the Goryeo ware, which shows splendid culture of Goryeo in mediaeval Korea. (from History of Asia)
Image 22The third Inter-Korean Summit, which was held in 2018, between South Korean president Moon Jae-in and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un. It was a historical event that symbolized the peace of Asia. (from History of Asia)
Image 23A view of the Fort St George in 18th-century Madras. (from History of Asia)
Image 24Population concentration and boundaries of the Western Zhou dynasty in China (from History of Asia)
Image 25The Qing Empire in 1832. (from History of Asia)
Image 26Gyeonghoeru of Gyeongbokgung, the Joseon dynasty's royal palace. (from History of Asia)
Image 27Borobudur, a Buddhist temple in Indonesia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 28The global contribution to world's GDP by major economies from 1 AD to 2003 AD according to Angus Maddison's estimates. Before 18th century, China and India were the two largest economies by GDP output. (from Asian Century)
Image 29Battle of Talas between Tang dynasty and Abbasid Caliphate c. 751 (from History of Asia)
Image 30Gojong (1852–1919), the 26th king of Joseon dynasty and the first emperor of Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 31Detail of Chinese silk from the 4th century BCE. The characteristic trade of silk through the Silk Road connected various regions from China, India, Central Asia, and the Middle East to Europe and Africa. (from History of Asia)
Image 32Sculpture of Prince Shōtoku (from History of Asia)
Image 33Map of Asia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 34Political map of Asia in 1860 (from History of Asia)
Image 35Machiya in Heian period (from History of Asia)
Image 36The early Muslim conquests, 622–750 (from History of Asia)
Image 37The Silk Road in Asia (from History of Asia)
Image 38A Confucian ritual ceremony in Jeju, South Korea (from Culture of Asia)
Image 39The Syriac Orthodox Saint Ahoadamah Church was a 7th-century church building in the city of Tikrit, one of the oldest in the world until its destruction by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on 25 September 2014. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 40A stone image of the Buddha (from Culture of Asia)
Image 41Map of Marco Polo's travels (from History of Asia)
Image 42The Great Wave off Kanagawa, c. 1830 by Hokusai, an example of art flourishing in the Edo Period (from History of Asia)
Image 43Badshahi Mosque built under the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Lahore, Pakistan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 44Tang dynasty Chinese poet Li Bai, in a 13th-century depiction by Liang Kai (from Culture of Asia)
Image 45Projected shares of global GDP by region to 2050 (from Asian Century)
Image 46The Hindu-Buddhist temple of Angkor Wat. (from History of Asia)
Image 47Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine in Jerusalem. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 48Robert Clive and Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, 1757 by Francis Hayman (from History of Asia)
Image 49Balhae in the north, Later Silla in the south (from History of Asia)
Image 50The Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan, which was the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010 (from Asian Century)
Image 51The Great Wall of China at Jinshanling (from Culture of Asia)
Image 52Chicken tikka, a well-known dish across the globe, reflects the South Asian cooking style. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 53The Song dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 1200 (from History of Asia)
Image 54Here a Jesuit, Adam Schall von Bell (1592–1666), is dressed as an official of the Chinese Department of Astronomy. (from History of Asia)
Image 55Daian-ji temple at Nara, Japan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 56Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (from History of Asia)
Image 57Map of Asia for early 20th century (from History of Asia)
Image 58Traditional Rajasthani garments from Jaipur, Rajasthan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 59Deoksugung, the palace where Emperor Gojong established Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 60Ancient ziggurat, Iraq (from Culture of Asia)
Image 61The Qing conquest of the Ming and expansion of the empire (from History of Asia)
Image 62Detail of the Dragon Throne used by the Qianlong Emperor of China, Forbidden City, Qing dynasty. Artifact circulating in U.S. museums on loan from Beijing (from Culture of Asia)
Image 63The Taj Mahal, Agra, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 64India's middle-class population of 300 million is growing at an annual rate of 5%. Shown here is an upmarket area in South Mumbai. (from Asian Century)
Image 65Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jeruslam (from Culture of Asia)
Image 66Hinduism expansion in Asia, from its heartland in Indian Subcontinent, to the rest of Asia, especially Southeast Asia, started circa 1st century marked with the establishment of early Hindu settlements and polities in Southeast Asia. (from History of Asia)
Image 67British troops taking Zhenjiang from Qing troops (from History of Asia)
Image 68The Han dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 69Map of Vietnam showing the conquest of the south (the Nam tiến, 1069–1757). (from History of Asia)

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Featured picture

Nishi people

Credit: Doniv79

The Nisi people principally inhabit the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.They inhabit the Papum Pare, East Kameng and Lower Subansiri, Kurung Kumey, parts of upper Subansiri districts of Arunachal Pradesh, as well as the Darrang District and North Lakhimpur district of Assam.

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Did you know...

... that although he was a former Indonesian prime minister, Soekiman Wirjosandjojo was not arrested during a political purge as he was considered a non-threat?
... that Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, India's second Muslim president, was also the second Indian president to die in office?
... that the Empire of Japan turned a Korean royal cemetery at what is now Hyochang Park into a golf course?
... that Levantine Arabic is often written in Hebrew characters online by Bedouin, Arab Christians, and Druze in Israel?
... that Ein Samiya, which provides the water for Taybeh, the first beer brewed in Palestine, was depopulated in 2023 after harassment by neighboring Israeli settlers?
... that the popularity of "10 Minutes" by Korean singer Lee Hyori led to 2003 being dubbed the "year of Hyori" by domestic media?
... that Sun Haiyan is the first Chinese ambassador to Singapore who was not a member of the Foreign Ministry of China?
... that University of Nebraska alumnus M. Khalid Roashan helped draft the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan?
... that the Pakistani film Shehr e Tabassum was the first animated cyberpunk film to be made by an Urdu development team?
... that the Te'omim Cave in Israel was home to a Bronze Age alabaster quarry, a refuge cave during the Jewish–Roman wars, and a possible center for necromantic activity in late antiquity?

Updated: 6:33, 14 February 2024

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In the news

8 July 2024 –: Thousands of Samsung Electronics workers begin a three-day strike in South Korea over demands for better pay and more annual leave. (Reuters)
8 July 2024 – Peace negotiations in the Russian invasion of Ukraine: 2024 peace missions by Viktor Orbán, China–Hungary relations; Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán makes an unannounced "peace mission" to Beijing, China, to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping following an unannounced meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. (The Hill)
8 July 2024 – India–Russia relations: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Moscow, Russia, for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Al Jazeera)
8 July 2024 – Japan–Philippines relations: Japan and the Philippines sign a Reciprocal Access Agreement which allows the deployment of Japanese forces to the Philippines for military exercises. (AP)
7 July 2024 – Israel–Hamas war: Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip

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Major Religions in Asia

Middle East

Central Asia and Surroundings

Indian Subcontinent

Southeast Asia

East Asia

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Selected panorama

Credit: David Castor

The Taj Mahal (Hindi: ताज महल, from Persian/Urdu: تاج محل "crown of palaces") is a white Marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage." Taj Mahal is the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish and Indian architectural styles.

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