The southernmost part of Asia. See what "Asia" is in other dictionaries

Asia got its name from ancient Greek mythology. Once upon a time, Asia (Asia) was the daughter of the titan god Oceanid, who became the wife of Prometheus. The ancient Greeks borrowed the word “Asia” from the Assyrians, who called it the place where the Sun rises. Therefore, the Greeks began to call the territory that lies east of Greece Asia.

IN modern Asia states are at different levels of development. If Bangladesh and Afghanistan are firmly stuck in the Middle Ages, then South Korea, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan are developed economies.

Geography of Asia

Asia is the largest continent on Earth. Its total area is more than 43.4 million square meters. km (this is 30% of the Earth's territory). Asia is considered part of the Eurasian Peninsula.

In the west, the border of Asia runs along the Ural Mountains. In the north, Asia is washed by the waters of the Arctic Ocean, in the east by the Pacific Ocean (East China, Bering, Okhotsk, South China, Japan and Yellow Seas), and in the south by the waters of the Indian Ocean (Arabian Sea).

In addition, the shores of Asia are also washed by the waters of the Red and Mediterranean Seas.

Since Asia occupies a huge territory, it is clear that the climate on this continent is very diverse. In Western and Eastern Siberia the climate is continental, in Central and Central Asia - desert and semi-desert, in Eastern, Southern, and Southeast Asia - monsoonal (monsoon season - June-October), in some regions equatorial, and in the far north - Arctic.

Among the Asian rivers, one should, of course, name the Yangtze (6300 km), Yellow River (5464 km), Ob (5410 km), Mekong (4500 km), Amur (4440 km), Lena (4400) and Yenisei (4092 km ).

The five largest lakes in Asia include the following: Aral Sea, Baikal, Balkhash, Tonle Sap and Issyk-Kul.

A significant part of Asia is mountains. It is in Asia that the Himalayas, Pamirs, Hindu Kush, Altai and Sayan Mountains are located. The largest mountain in Asia is Everest (Qomolungma), its height is 8,848 meters.

Numerous deserts await travelers in Asia, among which, perhaps, we should highlight the Gobi, Taklamakan, Karakum and deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. In total, there are more than 20 deserts in Asia.

Population of Asia

On this moment Asia's population already exceeds 4.3 billion people. This is about 60% of the total population of the Earth. At the same time, the annual population growth in Asia is about 2%.

Almost the entire population of Asia belongs to the Mongoloid race, which, in turn, is divided into small races - North Asian, Arctic, South Asian and Far Eastern. In Iraq, southern Iran and northern India, the Indo-Mediterranean race predominates. In addition, there are many other races in Asia, such as Caucasian and Negroid.

Asian countries

There are 55 states wholly or partially located on the territory of Asia (5 of them are so-called unrecognized republics). The largest Asian country is China (its territory covers 9,596,960 sq. km), and the smallest is the Maldives (300 sq. km).

In terms of population, China (1.39 billion people) is ahead of all countries in the world. Other Asian countries have fewer people: India has 1.1 billion people, Indonesia has 230 million people, and Bangladesh has 134 million people.

Regions of Asia

The territory of Asia is so large that politicians, journalists or scientists sometimes divide it into the Middle East, Western Asia and the Far East. However, geographically it is more correct to divide Asia into 5 regions:

• East Asia (China, Japan, South and North Korea and Mongolia);
• Western Asia (Armenia, Lebanon, Syria, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Yemen, Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Turkey);
• Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, East Timor, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Myanmar);
• South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Afghanistan, Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka);
• Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan).

Asian cities are the most populous in the entire world. The largest of all Asian cities is Bombay (India), whose population is already more than 12.2 million people. Other major cities in Asia are Seoul, Jakarta, Karachi, Manila, Delhi, Shanghai, Tokyo, Beijing and Tehran.

Asia is the largest part of the world in terms of area (43.4 million km², including adjacent islands) and population (4.2 billion people or 60.5% of the total population of the Earth).

Geographical position

It is located in the eastern part of the Eurasian continent, in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, bordering Europe along the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, Africa along the Suez Canal, and America along the Bering Strait. Washed by the waters of the Pacific, Arctic and Indian oceans, inland seas belonging to the basin Atlantic Ocean. The coastline is slightly indented; the following large peninsulas are distinguished: Hindustan, Arabian, Kamchatka, Chukotka, Taimyr.

Main geographical characteristics

3/4 of the Asian territory is occupied by mountains and plateaus (Himalayas, Pamirs, Tien Shan, Greater Caucasus, Altai, Sayans), the rest is occupied by plains (West Siberian, North Siberian, Kolyma, Great China, etc.). On the territory of Kamchatka, the islands of East Asia and the Malaysian coast there is a large number of active, active volcanoes. The highest point in Asia and the world is Chomolungma in the Himalayas (8848 m), the lowest is 400 meters below sea level (Dead Sea).

Asia can safely be called a part of the world where great waters flow. The basin of the Arctic Ocean includes the Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei, Irtysh, Lena, Indigirka, Kolyma, the Pacific Ocean - Anadyr, Amur, Yellow River, Yangtze, Mekong, the Indian Ocean - Brahmaputra, Ganges and Indus, the internal basin of the Caspian, Aral seas and lakes Balkhash - Amu Darya, Syr Darya, Kura. The largest sea-lake are the Caspian and Aral, tectonic lakes are Baikal, Issyk-Kul, Van, Rezaye, Lake Teletskoye, salt lakes are Balkhash, Kukunor, Tuz.

The territory of Asia lies in almost all climatic zones, the northern regions are the Arctic zone, the southern ones are the equatorial zone, the main part is influenced by a sharply continental climate, which is characterized by cold winters with low temperatures and hot, dry summers. Precipitation mainly falls in summer time year, only in the Middle and Near East - in winter.

For distribution natural areas characterized by latitudinal zoning: the northern regions - tundra, then taiga, a zone of mixed forests and forest-steppe, a zone of steppes with a fertile layer of black soil, a zone of deserts and semi-deserts (Gobi, Taklamakan, Karakum, deserts of the Arabian Peninsula), which are separated by the Himalayas from the southern tropical and subtropical zone, Southeast Asia lies in the equatorial rainforest zone.

Asian countries

Asia is home to 48 sovereign states, 3 officially unrecognized republics (Waziristan, Nagorno-Karabakh, Shan State), 6 dependent territories (in the Indian and Pacific Oceans) - a total of 55 countries. Some countries are partially located in Asia (Russia, Türkiye, Kazakhstan, Yemen, Egypt and Indonesia). The largest countries in Asia are Russia, China, India, Kazakhstan, the smallest are the Comoros Islands, Singapore, Bahrain, and the Maldives.

Depending on the geographical location, cultural and regional characteristics, it is customary to divide Asia into East, West, Central, South and South-East.

List of Asian countries

Major Asian countries:

(with detailed description)

Nature

Nature, plants and animals of Asia

The diversity of natural zones and climatic zones determines the diversity and uniqueness of both the flora and fauna of Asia; a huge number of very diverse landscapes allows a wide variety of representatives of the plant and animal kingdom to live here...

Northern Asia, located in the zone of the Arctic desert and tundra, is characterized by poor vegetation: mosses, lichens, dwarf birches. Then the tundra gives way to taiga, where huge pines, spruces, larches, fir, and Siberian cedars grow. The taiga in the Amur region is followed by a zone of mixed forests (Korean cedar, white fir, Olga larch, Sayan spruce, Mongolian oak, Manchurian walnut, greenbark and bearded maple), which is adjacent to broad-leaved forests (maple, linden, elm, ash, walnut) , in the south turning into steppes with fertile black soils.

In Central Asia, the steppes, where feather grass, chamomile, tokonog, wormwood, and various herbs grow, are replaced by semi-deserts and deserts; the vegetation here is poor and is represented by various salt-loving and sand-loving plants: wormwood, saxaul, tamarisk, juzgun, ephedra. The subtropical zone in the west of the Mediterranean climate zone is characterized by the growth of evergreen hard-leaved forests and shrubs (maquis, pistachios, olives, juniper, myrtle, cypress, oak, maple), and the Pacific coast - monsoon mixed forests (camphor laurel, myrtle, camellia, podocarpus, cunningamia, evergreen oak species, camphor laurel, Japanese pine, cypress, cryptomeria, thuja, bamboo, gardenia, magnolia, azalea). In the equatorial forest zone there are a large number of palm trees (about 300 species), tree ferns, bamboo, and pandanus. In addition to the laws of latitudinal zonation, the vegetation of mountainous regions is subject to the principles of altitudinal zonation. At the foot of the mountains grow conifers and mixed forests, on the peaks there are lush alpine meadows.

The fauna of Asia is rich and diverse. The territory of Western Asia has favorable conditions for living antelopes, roe deer, goats, foxes, as well as a huge number of rodents, inhabitants of the lowlands - wild boars, pheasants, geese, tigers and leopards. The northern regions, located mainly in Russia, in North-Eastern Siberia and the tundra, are inhabited by wolves, moose, bears, gophers, arctic foxes, deer, lynxes, and wolverines. The taiga is inhabited by ermine, arctic fox, squirrels, chipmunks, sable, ram, and white hare. In the arid regions of Central Asia live gophers, snakes, jerboas, birds of prey, in South Asia - elephants, buffaloes, wild boars, lemurs, pangolins, wolves, leopards, snakes, peacocks, flamingos, in East Asia - moose, bears, Ussuri tigers and wolves, ibises, mandarin ducks, owls, antelopes, mountain sheep, giant salamanders that live on the islands, a variety of snakes and frogs, and a large number of birds.

Climatic conditions

Seasons, weather and climate of Asian countries

The peculiarities of climatic conditions in Asia are formed under the influence of such factors as the large extent of the Eurasian continent both from north to south and from west to east, a large number of mountain barriers and low-lying depressions that affect the amount of solar radiation and atmospheric air circulation...

Most of Asia is located in a sharply continental climate zone, the eastern part is influenced by the marine atmospheric masses of the Pacific Ocean, the north is subject to the invasion of Arctic air masses, tropical and equatorial air masses predominate in the south, their penetration into the interior of the continent is prevented by mountain ranges stretching from the west to the East. Precipitation is distributed unevenly: from 22,900 mm per year in the Indian town of Cherrapunji in 1861 (considered the wettest place on our planet), to 200-100 mm per year in the desert regions of Central and Central Asia.

Peoples of Asia: culture and traditions

In terms of population, Asia ranks first in the world, with 4.2 billion people living here, which is 60.5% of all humanity on the planet, and three times after Africa in terms of population growth. In Asian countries, the population is represented by representatives of all three races: Mongoloid, Caucasoid and Negroid, ethnic composition It is distinguished by diversity and diversity; several thousand peoples live here, speaking more than five hundred languages...

Among the language groups, the most common are:

• Sino-Tibetan. Represented by the largest ethnic group in the world - the Han (Chinese, China's population is 1.4 billion people, every fifth person in the world is Chinese);
• Indo-European. Settled throughout the Indian subcontinent, these are Hindustanis, Biharis, Marathas (India), Bengalis (India and Bangladesh), Punjabis (Pakistan);
• Austronesian. They live in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Philippines) - Javanese, Bisayas, Sundas;
• Dravidian. These are the Telugu, Kannar and Malayali peoples (South India, Sri Lanka, some areas of Pakistan);
• Austroasiatic. The largest representatives are Viet, Lao, Siamese (Indochina, South China):
• Altai. Turkic peoples, divided into two isolated groups: in the west - Turks, Iranian Azerbaijanis, Afghan Uzbeks, in the east - the peoples of Western China (Uyghurs). Also included in this language group are the Manchus and Mongols of Northern China and Mongolia;
• Semito-Hamitic. These are the Arabs of the western part of the continent (west of Iran and south of Turkey) and the Jews (Israel).

Also, nationalities such as the Japanese and Koreans are classified into a separate group called isolates, this is the name given to populations of people who, for various reasons, including geographic location, found themselves isolated from the outside world.

ASIA (part of the world) ASIA (part of the world)

ASIA, the largest part of the world (approx. 43.4 million sq. km), together with Europe forms the continent of Eurasia. The border between Asia and Europe is usually drawn along the Urals (the ridge or its eastern foot, the Emba, Kuma, Manych rivers, along the axial watershed of the Greater Caucasus, the Caspian, Azov, Black and Marmara seas, the Bosphorus and Dardanelles). Asia is connected to Africa by the Isthmus of Suez, from the North. America is separated by the Bering Strait. The North is washed. The Arctic, Pacific and Indian oceans and their marginal seas, as well as the inland seas of the Atlantic approx. Area of ​​the islands of St. 2 million km 2. The average height is 950 m, the highest is 8848 m (Mt. Chomolungma, the highest point on Earth). Mountains and plateaus occupy approx. 3/4 ter. Main mountain systems: Himalayas, Karakorum, Pamir, Tien Shan, Hindu Kush, Kunlun, Greater Caucasus, Altai, Sayan Mountains, Verkhoyansky and Chersky ridges. Large highlands: Tibetan, Iranian, Armenian, Asia Minor, Stanovoe, Koryak. Plateaus: Central Siberian, Arabian Peninsula, Deccan. The largest plains are: West Siberian, Turanian, Great Chinese, Indo-Gangetic, Mesopotamian. In Kamchatka, the Vostochny Islands. Asia and Malay arch. many active volcanoes, strong seismicity.
The climate ranges from arctic in the north and sharply continental temperate in the east. Siberia to the equatorial on the islands of Indonesia. In the East and Yuzh. Asia has a monsoon climate, on the Central plains, Wed. and Zap. Asia - desert and semi-desert. In the highest mountains of Sr. and Center. In Asia, in the Himalayas, and on the Arctic islands, glaciation has developed (118.4 thousand km 2). Significant territories, mainly in the North. and Vost. Siberia (approx. 11 million km 2), occupied by permafrost. Main rivers: Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei, Lena (basin of the Northern Arctic region, covered with ice most of the year); Amur, Yellow River, Yangtze (the longest in Asia, 5800 km), Xijiang, Mekong (bass of the Pacific region); Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Shatt al-Arab (bass Indian ca.). The area of ​​internal drainage is large (basins of the Caspian and Aral seas, many areas of Central Asia and the Middle East). Large lakes: Baikal, Balkhash, Issyk-Kul, Van, Urmia, Khanka, Kukunor, Poyanghu, Dongtinghu, Taihu, Tonle Sap.
On the Arctic islands and along the Northern coast. Arctic approx. Arctic deserts and tundras stretch, framed in the south by a narrow strip of forest-tundra, to the south - taiga (mainly dark coniferous in the west and light coniferous in the east), giving way to the south with mixed and broad-leaved forests, forest-steppes and steppes. Semi-deserts and deserts are especially well expressed on the Arabian Peninsula (Nefud, Rub al-Khali), in the interior regions of the Iranian Plateau (Dasht-e-Lut, Dasht-Kevir, etc.), in Wed. and Center. Asia (Karakum, Kyzylkum, Gobi, Taklamakan), in the South. Asia (Thar). In the subtropics of the West. Asia - Mediterranean vegetation; in East Asia - monsoon mixed and deciduous forests. In the tropical latitudes of the East. and Yuzh. Asia - monsoon deciduous forests and savannas, on the windward slopes of the mountains - evergreen forests. In equatorial latitudes (mainly in Indonesia) multi-tiered swamp forests - hylea (cm. GILEIA) . In Asia - most of Russian Federation, as well as Azerbaijan, Armenia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bhutan, Vietnam, Georgia, part of Egypt, Israel, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, most of Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Qatar, Cyprus, Kyrgyzstan, China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories (West Bank and Gaza Strip), Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, most of Turkey, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Japan. Population of Asia St. 3.2 billion people (1990).* * *
ASIA
History of the study
First stage
Limited information about the geography of Asia was known to the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia. Campaigns of Alexander the Great (cm. Alexander the Great) (4th century BC), trade between Egypt and India, the presence of a trade route (“ silk road» (cm. SILK ROAD) ) from China to Western Asia contributed to the gradual accumulation of information about Asia. However, deeper knowledge about this part of the land was obtained later.
Second stage (7th-17th centuries) Exploration of Asia by scientists and travelers of the East
In the 7th century. Buddhist monk Xuanzang (cm. XUAN-ZANG) , who wandered through Central and Central Asia, India, presented information on the geography, ethnography and history of the countries he saw in one of his main works, “Notes on the Western Countries,” completed in 648. Arab traveler and geographer Ibn Khordadbeh (9-10 centuries) described the provinces of Western Asia. Biruni (cm. BIRUNI) compiled a work on India, Masudi (cm. MASOUDI) gave a geographical and historical description of Muslim countries, India, China, Palestine, Ceylon. In the 9th-11th centuries. various regions of Central and Western Asia studied Mukadassi (cm. MUQADDASI) , Ibn Sina (cm. IBN SINA) , Ibn Fadlan (cm. IBN FADLAN) and Ibn Rusta. Arab traveler Idrisi (cm. IDRISI) (12th century), who lived most of his life in Sicily, described Asia Minor, which he visited, in a consolidated geographical work. In the 14th century Ibn Battuta ( cm.), who visited many Asian countries, wrote a large work in which he gave a very colorful and vivid description of these countries, including information about minerals.
European exploration of Asia
In the 12th-13th centuries. Europeans who committed Crusades, collect information about the countries of Central and South Asia. In 1253-1255 Flemish traveler, monk Rubruk (cm. RUBROOK Willem) , undertook a diplomatic trip to Mongolia. Report on this most significant (before M. Polo (cm. POLO Marco) ) on a European's journey to Asia contained valuable information on the geography of Central Asia (in particular, it indicated that the Caspian Sea is not a sea, but a lake). A significant contribution to the development of ideas about Asia was made by the traveler M. Polo (1271-1295), who lived in China for about 17 years. “The Book” (1298), recorded from his words in a Genoese prison, where he was sent during the war between Venice and Genoa, first introduced Europeans to Persia, Armenia, China, India, etc. It was a reference book for such great navigators as Columbus (cm. COLUMBUS Christopher) , Vasco da Gama (cm. GAMA Vasco yes) , Magellan (cm. MAGELLAN Fernand) and others. The Venetian merchant and traveler M. Conti, who traveled around India in 1424, visiting the islands of Ceylon, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, on behalf of the Pope in 1444, dictated a report on this journey. In 1468-1474 Russian merchant Afanasy Nikitin (cm. NIKITIN Afanasy) took a trip to India. His travel notes, containing many-sided observations, were published under the title “Walking across the Three Seas.”
In the middle of the 15th century. Europeans began to look for sea routes to Asia. Portuguese sailors reached India in 1497-1499 (Vasco da Gama), visited Malacca, Macau, the Philippines, and Japan. In the second half of the 16th-17th centuries. The Dutch, British, and Spaniards continued to penetrate into the countries of South Asia. In 1618-1619, the Siberian Cossack I. Petlin visited Mongolia and China, plotted the route on a map, and outlined what he saw in a book translated into English, French and other languages. One of the first Europeans to visit Japan in 1690-1692 was the German naturalist and doctor E. Kaempfer, who collected extensive material about the nature, history and life of the people. His book, published in 1728 in London, has long served as the main source of information about Japan.
Exploration of Asia by Russian explorers
During this period, the greatest contribution to the study of the northern regions of Asia, where Europeans did not penetrate, was made by Russian explorers (cm. EARTHPAPERS) . By the end of the 16th century, after Ermak’s campaign (cm. ERMAK Timofeevich) , became in general outline Western Siberia is known. In 1639 I. Yu. Moskvitin (cm. MOSKVITIN Ivan Yurievich) with a detachment of Cossacks reached the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. In 1632-1638, a detachment led by E. P. Khabarov (cm. KHABAROV Erofey Pavlovich) studied the Lena River basin. In 1649-1653 he crossed the Stanovoy Ridge, traveled to the Amur region, and was the first to draw up a map of it. In 1643-1646, a detachment of V. D. Poyarkov passed along the Lena, Aldan, Zeya and Amur rivers (cm. POYARKOV Vasily Danilovich) , who also presented drawings of the routes traveled and collected valuable information about the Far East. In 1648, the expedition of S. I. Dezhnev (cm. DEZHNEV Semyon Ivanovich) circled the Chukotka Peninsula and discovered the strait separating Asia from America, and the cape, which is the extreme northeastern point of Asia. Siberian Cossack V.V. Atlasov (cm. ATLASOV Vladimir Vasilievich) in 1697-1699 he traveled through Kamchatka, reached the Northern Kuril Islands and compiled a description (“skask”) of the discovered lands.
In the 17th century Russian explorers, despite extremely difficult climatic conditions, overcoming vast spaces, discovered almost all of Siberia. This stage ended with the compilation of the first maps of Siberia, made by the Tobolsk governor P. Godunov and his fellow countryman, geographer and cartographer S. Remizov.
Third stage (18th - mid-19th centuries)
During this period, exploration of the north and northeast of the Asian continent by Russian travelers and navigators continued. By decree of Peter I, Kamchatka expeditions were equipped, led by V. Bering (cm. BERING Vitus Jonassen) , assistant was A. Chirikov (cm. CHIRIKOV Alexey Ilyich) . The first expedition (1725-30) passed overland through Siberia to Okhotsk, and then, after the construction of ships, Bering went to sea, rounded the shores of Kamchatka and Chukotka, discovered the island of St. Lawrence and passed through the strait that now bears his name. The Second Kamchatka Expedition (1733-41), also known as the Great Northern Expedition due to the scope of its work, occupies an outstanding place in the history of the study of the Arctic and northern regions of Asia. The Asian shores of the Arctic Ocean were mapped, the Commander, Aleutian and other islands were discovered, and the shores of Alaska were examined. Separate detachments were led by the Laptev brothers (cm. LAPTEV) , V. V. Pronchishchev (cm. PRONCHISHCHEV Vasily Vasilievich) , S. I. Chelyuskin (cm. CHELYUSKIN Semyon Ivanovich)(whose names are immortalized on the geographical map). Missionaries made a great contribution to the study of Central Asia, giving at the beginning of the 18th century. description of China, Mongolia and Tibet. At the end of the 18th century. Russian traveler and naturalist P. S. Pallas (cm. PALLAS Peter Simon) explored Eastern Siberia and Altai. In 1800-05 Y. Sannikov (cm. SANNIKOV Yakov) discovered and described the Stolbovoy and Faddeevsky islands of the Novosibirsk archipelago, suggested the existence of Sannikov land to the north of it (cm. SANNIKOVA LAND) . In 1811 V. M. Golovnin (cm. GOLOVNIN Vasily Mikhailovich) took a trip to Kurile Islands, compiled their inventory and map. During the expedition, he was captured by the Japanese. His memoirs about being in captivity in 1811-1813, containing information about the country and customs of the Japanese, became the first description of Japan in Russian. In 1821-1823 P. F. Anjou (cm. ANZHU Petr Fedorovich) explored the coast of the Arctic Ocean (between the mouths of the Olenek and Indigirka rivers), performing a number of astronomical and geomagnetic observations. F. P. Wrangel (cm. WRANGEL Ferdinand Petrovich) in 1820-1824 he led an expedition to study the northern shores of Eastern Siberia. According to information received from the Chukchi, he determined the position of the island in the Chukchi Sea, which was later named after him. In 1829, at the invitation of the Russian government, A. Humboldt (cm. HUMBOLDT Alexander) took a trip to the Urals, Altai, to the southwestern part of Siberia, to the shores of the Caspian Sea, to the Kyrgyz steppes, the results of which were highlighted in the works “Central Asia” (vol. 1-3, 1843, Russian translation vol. 1., 1915 ) and “Fragments on the Geology and Climatology of Asia” (vol. 1-2, 1831). F. P. Litke (cm. LITKE Fedor Petrovich) during a trip around the world in 1826-29, he explored the eastern coast of Asia and Kamchatka.
Fourth stage (mid 19th - early 20th centuries)
From the middle of the 19th century. The role of systematic research conducted by scientific institutes, geographical societies and topographic services in England, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan and China is sharply increasing. The number of monographic descriptions of Asia has increased. Russian geographical society, created in 1845, expands its work in Siberia and the Far East. In 1856-1857 P. P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky (cm. SEMENOV-TIAN-SHANSKY Petr Petrovich) traveled to the Tien Shan (gave its first orographic diagram), explored the western spurs of the Trans-Ili Alatau, and was the first European to climb the slopes of the Khan Tengri massif. In memory of his achievements in the study of the Tien Shan, “Tian Shansky” was added to his surname in 1906. A. P. Fedchenko (cm. FEDCHENKO Alexey Pavlovich) in 1868-1871 he made several trips to Turkestan; he was the first Russian traveler to visit the Alai Valley, discover the Trans-Alai Range, and explore the lower reaches of the Syr Darya River. In 1872-1876 A. I. Voeikov (cm. VOEYKOV Alexander Ivanovich) visited South and Western Asia, China, Japan, India, Central Asia, collecting valuable information about the climate of various regions of Asia. In 1877-1880 I. D. Chersky (cm. CHERSKY Ivan Demidovich) gave a detailed geographical and geological description of the coast of Lake Baikal. In 1870-1885 four expeditions were organized in Central Asia under the leadership of N. M. Przhevalsky (cm. PRZHEVALSKY Nikolai Mikhailovich) , who discovered many previously unknown remote areas - Kunlun, Nanshan, Tibet, etc. His research was continued by Russian travelers - M. V. Pevtsov (cm. PEVTSOV Mikhail Vasilievich) , G. E. Grumm-Grzhimailo (cm. GRUMM-GRZHIMAILO) , G. Ts. Tsybikov (cm. TSYBIKOV Gonbochzhab Tsebekovich) . V. A. Obruchev, who worked a lot in Central Asia, made three expeditions to the Trans-Caspian region (1886-1888), discovered a number of ridges in the Nanshan Mountains, the Daursky Range, etc., and explored the Beishan Highlands.
At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. Russian scientists (I.V. Mushketov (cm. MUSHKETOV Ivan Vasilievich) , L. S. Berg (cm. BERG Lev Semenovich)) continue systematic research in Asia. Construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway (cm. TRANS-SIBERIAN HIGHWAY) also stimulated regular exploration of the adjacent territories.
For the first time, the northeastern passage from Europe to the Far East was carried out in 1878-79 by N. Nordenskiöld (cm. NORDENSCHOLD Nils Adolf Erik) , later (1911-1915) this route, only from east to west, was repeated by the expedition of B. A. Vilkitsky (cm. VILKITSKY Boris Andreevich) . During this period, scientists began in-depth geographical research in Asian countries (Japan, China, India, Indonesia).
Since the middle of the 20th century. Research in the Russian part of Asia related to the economic development of a vast territory is intensifying, regional scientific centers and institutes are being created that are conducting work on mapping (including large-scale) and comprehensive study of Siberia and the Far East. Regular voyages along the Northern Sea Route are being established (cm. NORTHERN SEA ROUTE (NSR)) . Systematic research is being carried out by international expeditions.

encyclopedic Dictionary. 2009 .

When I remember my first trip to Asia, my imagination draws images of endless deserted expanses and no less deserted roads, dissolving beyond the horizon in the hot sun air. If you find it difficult to choose the direction of your movement on vacation, then you definitely need to read my story to the end. I'll tell you about what place this largest part of the world is better go.

Asia on the world map

Asia is located in northern hemisphere from the equator eastern- from prime meridian. She is situated on the same continent as Europe, which is called Eurasia. The western "border" of Asia is Ural Mountains. Its southern border runs along the northern end Caspian Sea, and then - along the northern ridgeCaucasus goes to TOErchen Strait. In the east, the shores of Asia are washed Pacific Ocean, in the north - the Arctic. The south of Asia opens into the Indian Ocean, the southwest into the Mediterranean and Red Sea.

Where is the best place to go in Asia?

Asia is so huge that you can find a region in it that will appeal to anyone, even the most capricious tourist. I suggest visiting the following regions of Asia:

Important. Planning a trip to Near East, do not forget to check with the tour operator the route of your movement, accommodation and excursion objects: there are ongoing fighting.