Geography Of Asia
Asia is the largest continent on Earth. It makes up one-third of the world! Because of how big it is, Asia’s geography is highly diverse.
The Geography of Asia’s Continent
Asia is located in the eastern part of the Eurasian supercontinent. It’s the largest continent on Earth and makes up 60% of the world’s population! To the west of Asia’s part of Eurasia is Europe. Asia is bordered by three oceans – the Pacific, Arctic, and Indian. The continent of Asia is so vast that it contains both Earth’s highest and lowest points – Mount Everest and the Challenger Deep trench, respectively. There are 48 countries in the Asian continent. So you can imagine how diverse the geography, people, floral, and fauna are.
The geography of Asia’s continent has five major physical regions:
• Mountains
• Plateaus
• Plains
• Steppes
• Deserts
• Freshwater Environments
• Saltwater Environments
The Himalayas are a mountain system that separates the Indian subcontinent from the rest of Asia. The mountain system extends for an impressive 2,500 kilometers! Apart from being part of India, the Himalayas are also in Nepal, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and China. The highest mountain summit in the world, Mount Everest, is located here. The whopping 8,850-meter-tall summit passes through the Nepal-China border. The tectonic plate that the subcontinent of India is on is moving. It leads the Himalayas to grow around 5 centimeters every year!
The Tibetan Plateau is “the rooftop of the world” and is considered the most extensive and highest area. It’s about half the size of the United States of America and 5,000 meters above sea level. So for the same reason, the Himalayas are growing, and the Tibetan Plateau is rising too.Top of Form
The Climate, Flora, and Fauna of Asia
As the continent of Asia is so huge, each area has its unique climate, flora, and fauna. For example, China has more species of flowers than North and South America combined! China is known as the “Mother of Gardens” as the country is believed to be the originator of most species of plants. It includes roses, peonies, oranges, cucumber, peaches, and ginger. Wow!
Climate factors across Asia mean that the population is unevenly distributed. There are significant concentrations of people in Western Asia, eastern China, and India. Incredibly, Asia features the majority of climates known on Earth. Here are some of the environments of Asia, with an example country featured:
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Rainforest (The Philippines)
• Grasslands (India)
• Desert (Saudi Arabia)
• Subarctic (Russia)
• Temperate (Japan)
That being said, most Asia experiences what is known as a ‘continental climate.’ It means that the difference in Summer and Winter temperatures is significant. Southern Asia experiences the continent’s hottest weather, for example, Indonesia. On the other hand, Siberia once recorded a spine-tingling −67.8°C!
Speaking of Siberia, Lake Baikal is known as the “Galápagos of Russia.” Can you guess why? Because of how old the lake is, flora and fauna have been able to evolve for millions of years. It is an important study of evolution with an incredible 1,340 species of animals and 570 species of plants. Hundreds of these species are found nowhere else on Earth.
There are six tiger subspecies in Asia alone, including the hardy Siberian Tiger and the majestic Bengal Tiger. Sadly, only about 3,900 tigers remain in the wild in Asia. Of course, the Asian Elephant is distinguished from its African cousin by its small, fan-shaped ears. There are also 16 types of subspecies of bears, including Giant Pandas! These cuddly-looking giants are native to South Central China. Much like tigers, Giant Pandas are very vulnerable. There are only 2,060 in the wild.
Five fun facts about the Geography of Asia’s Continent!
- China borders 14 different countries but only has one timezone. Russia also borders 14 countries but has 11 time zones!
- The Arabian Desert, which spans an unbelievable 900,000 square miles, is only the fourth-largest desert in the world. But don’t worry; the Arabian Desert is still Asia’s most significant.
- Have you heard about Taal Lake in The Philippines? Inside it, you’ll find an island; on the island, you’ll find another lake, and on that lake, you’ll find another tiny island!
- Indonesia is made up of more than 17,000 islands.
- The largest city in Asia, Tokyo (Japan), has a larger population than Canada!
