World Geography - ASIA

World Geography 

ASIA 

 

Asia – World Geography

Asia is the world largest continent, having an area of 44,444,100 sq km.

It covers 8.8% of the Earth’s total surface area with a population of 4.4 billion which is 60 % of the world’s total population.

It is a continent of contrast in relief, temperature, vegetation and people also.

Asia is to the east of the Suez Canal, the Ural River, and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Seas.

 

 

 

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 earth’s highest and lowest places are both in Asia:

• The highest place on earth: Mount Everest
• The lowest place on earth: Dead Seashore

Only some of the Indonesian group of Islands is located to the south of equator in the Southern Hemisphere.

North-South Extent : 6,440 km East-West Extent : 9,650 km

 

 

Interesting Geographical facts about Asia

Asia is the largest continent and occupies about 30% of the total area of the Earth. It has extremely diverse geographic features as well as climates. Climates range from arctic and subarctic in Siberia to tropical in southern India and Southeast Asia.

Interesting geographical fact about Asia

1. It is located primarily in the Eastern and Northern Hemispheres.

2. The Equator, Tropic of Cancer and Arctic Circle passes through it.

3. It is surrounded by the Indian Ocean in the south; Arctic Ocean in the north; the Pacific Ocean in the east; Ural Mountains, Caspian Sea, Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea in the west.

4.  It is separated from Africa by the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

5.  It is separated from North America by Bering Strait.

6. Important Peninsulas: Arabian Peninsula, Indo-Chinese Peninsula and Deccan Peninsula.

7. Arabian Peninsula is the largest Peninsula in the World.

8.  Important Island groups: Andaman and Nicobar, Indonesia, Philippines and Japan.

9. The deepest trench of the world: Mariana Trench lies in the Pacific Ocean near Philippines.

10. Pamir Plateau is known as ‘Roof of the World’ situated in the Central Asia.

 

 

Regional Divisions of Asia

Asia can be divided into six physiographic divisions:

1.   Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

2.   Eastern Asia: China, Hong Kong, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Macau, Mongolia, Taiwan

3.   Northern Asia: Russia

4.   South-eastern Asia: Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam.

5.   Southern Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.

6.   Western Asia: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, State of Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

 

Major Physical Divisions of Asia

1. The Northern Lowlands
2. The Central Mountains
3. The Central and Southern Plateaus
4. The Peninsulas
5. Deserts
6. The Great River Plains
7. Island Groups

1. The Northern Lowlands

The Northern Lowlands are the extensive plain areas that comprise of several patches of lowlands of this large continent.

The major lowlands are:

A.   Great Siberian plain

·         It extends between the Ural Mountains in the west and the river Lena in the east. It is the largest lowland in the world covering an area of 1,200,000 square miles approx.

B.   Manchurian Plain

• It is the area adjoining Amur river and its tributaries of the northern part of China with an area of 135,000 square miles approx.

C.   Great Plains of China

• It is contributed by two major rivers of China, Hwang Ho and Yangtze river which covers an area of 158,000 square miles approx.

D.  Tigris-Euphrates plains

E.   Ganga plains

F.   Irrawaddy plains

2. The Central Mountains

Ø  These are the prominent and extensive mountain ranges that cover the parts of Central Asia.

Ø  They consist of Pamir and Tian Shan ranges and extending across portions of Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Continued------ Major Physical Divisions of Asia 1.    The Northern Lowlands 2.    The Central Mountains 3.    The Central and Southern Plateaus 4.    The Peninsulas 5.    Deserts 6.    The Great River Plains 7.    Island Groups

Ø  These mountain ranges are designated as biodiversity hot spots by Conservation International which covers several mountains and alpine eco-regions of Central Asia.

Ø  It encompasses several habitat types, including mountain grasslands and shrub lands, temperate coniferous forests, and alpine tundra.

Ø  A mountain knot is a junction of two or more mountain ranges. The two main mountain knots in Asia are:

1.    The Pamir Knot is the junction of five mountain ranges they are the Sulaiman, the Hindu Kush, the Kunlun, the Karakoram, and the Himalayan ranges. Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world in the Himalayan range.

2.    The Armenian Knot is connected to the Pamir Knot by the Elburz and the Zagros Ranges that originate in the Armenian Knot. The Tien Shan and the Altai are other mountain ranges in Asia.

Peaks of Asia

Ø Mount Everest (8848 m), Nepal-Tibet, China border

Ø K2 (8,61,1 m), Pakistan-China

Ø Kangchenjunga (8,586 m), Nepal-Sikkim (India).

Ø Lhotse (8,516 m), Nepal-Tibet, China

Ø Makalu (8,462 m), Nepal-Tibet, China

Ø Cho Oyu (8,201 m), Nepal

Continued------ Major Physical Divisions of Asia 1.    The Northern Lowlands 2.    The Central Mountains 3.    The Central and Southern Plateaus 4.    The Peninsulas 5.    Deserts 6.    The Great River Plains 7.    Island Groups

Ø  

Mountains-Ranges

3. The Central and Southern Plateaus

Plateaus are the land areas having a relatively that surface considerably raised above adjoining land on at least one side, and often cut by deep canyon.

Major Plateaus of Asian Continent –

Plateau	Location	Types
Ladakh	Between Karakoram and Himalaya mountain ranges	Intermontane
Tibet	Between Kulun and Himalayan Mountain range	Intermontane
Yunan	Situated on the southeast of the Tibet Plateau and separated from Szechuan Basin extensive fertile land by the range of Mountains	Piedmont
Pamir	Well connected to the range of mountains such as The Himalayas with the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, and the Hindu Kush ranges on all sides	Intermontane
Armenian	Present in between Caspian and the Black Sea	Piedmont
Iranian	Present in between Zagros Mountains, Caspian Sea, Turkmen-Khorasan Mountain Range	Piedmont
Mongolian	Surrounded by the Greater KHinggan Mountains in the east, the Yin Mountains to the south, the Altai Mountains to the west, and the Sayan and Khentii mountains to the north	Intermontane
Shan	Stretched in the Pegu Yoma and Arkan Yoma in the eastern part of Myanmar,	Intermontane
Deccan	Extended in between the Western Ghats in the west and the Eastern Ghats in the east of Indian Subcontinent, it almost touches the southern tip of India and in north covered by the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges	Intermontane
Anatolian	Enclosed between Pontic mountain ranges in the South and Taurus in the southwest	Volcanic

 

Intermontane Plateaus Ø  The plateaus which are bordering the mountain ranges (generally fold mountains) or are partly or fully enclosed within them are the intermontane plateaus. Ø  The word ‘intermontane’ means ‘between mountains’. Ø  Intermontane plateaus are the highest in the world. Ø  They have nearly horizontal rock layers which are raised to very heights by vertical movements of the earth. Ø  Examples: The Plateau of Tibet is an example of the intermontane plateau which is surrounded by the fold mountains like the Himalayas, the Karakoram, the Kunlun and the Tien Shan. Piedmont Plateaus Ø  Plateaus which is situated at the foot of a mountain and is locked on the other side by a plain or a sea/ ocean is called as a piedmont plateau. Ø  The word ‘piedmont’ means ‘foot of a mountain’. Ø  They are also called as Plateaus of denudation as the areas once were high to the level of mountains, have now been reduced to the foot level of the mountain by various agents of erosion. Ø  Examples: The Malwa Plateau is an example of piedmont plateau.

 

4. Peninsulas

A peninsula is a mass of land surrounded by water but attached to the mainland. The Deccan plateau region is also a peninsula. The major peninsulas of Arabia, India, and Malay are in southern Asia. The Kamchatka peninsula lies in northeastern Asia.

5. Deserts

Asia has some big deserts such as the Gobi, the Takla Makan, the Thar, the Kara-Kum, and the Rub-al-Khali Deserts.

The Rub’ al Khali desert, considered the world’s largest sand sea, covers an area larger than France across Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

6. (a) Islands of Asia

Asia also has a cluster of islands, also called an archipelago. An archipelago sometimes called an island group or island chain, which is formed close to each other in large clusters. Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Andaman, and Nicobar are some examples of archipelagos.

6. (b) Drainage of Asia

The drainage of Asia consists of mighty oceans, extensive seas, lengthy rivers, and their tributaries and distributaries, major lakes, etc.

Oceans: Asian continent is surrounded by three major ocean from three sides such as

A.   The Pacific Ocean – It covers the eastern part of Asia where major rivers of eastern Asia drain, such as Menam Mekong, Xi Jiang, Chang Xiang, Huang Ho, and Amur.

B.   The Indian Ocean – It covers the southern part of Asia and the major rivers that flow into the Indian Ocean are Tigris, Euprates, the Indus, the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween.

C.   The Arctic Ocean – It covers the Noth east part of Asia and consists of three major rivers such as Ob, Yenisey, and Lena.

Seas:

As the continent is covered by sea from its three sides, It has also characterized by the long stretch of bay and gulf.

Major seas contributing to Asian Drainage are Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Banda Sea, Barents Sea, Bering Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, East Siberian Sea, Java Sea, Kara Sea, Laccadive Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk. The South China Sea and the Yellow Sea.