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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 kilometres, 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 civilisations. 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. 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.

Since the concept of Asia derives from the term for the eastern region from a European perspective, Asia is the remaining vast area of Eurasia minus Europe. Therefore, Asia is a region where various independent cultures coexist rather than sharing a single culture, and the boundary between Europe is somewhat arbitrary and has moved since its first conception in classical antiquity. The division of Eurasia into two continents reflects East–West cultural differences, some of which vary on a spectrum. (Full article...)

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St. Michael's Cathedral (German: Kathedrale St. Michael; Chinese: 圣弥爱尔大教堂; pinyin: Shèng Mí'ài'ěr Dàjiàotáng), also called the Zhejiang Road Catholic Church (Chinese: 浙江路天主教堂), is a Catholic church in Qingdao (Tsingtao), Shandong Province, China, and is the seat of the bishop of the Diocese of Qingdao (Tsingtao). It is located in the oldest part of Qingdao, at 15 Zhejiang Road, on the east side of Zhongshan Road in Shinan District. Built by German missionaries, the cathedral stands at the top of a hill in the center of the old German-built part of the city. It is the largest example of Romanesque Revival architecture in the province, resembling a German cathedral of the 12th century.

St. Michael's Cathedral is the product of a strong German presence in Shandong Province in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the mid-19th century the European powers forcibly opened China to foreign trade. The Divine Word Missionaries built a church in the Jiaozhou Bay concession in Shandong in 1902, and in 1934 erected the cathedral, which remained nominally under their administration until 1964. In 1942 it came under the control of the Japanese Army, returning to Chinese control when the Japanese left Qingdao in 1945. In the early 1950s, all foreign missionaries, including the Bishop of Qingdao, were either imprisoned or expelled from China, and during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) the cathedral was defaced and abandoned. In 1981, it was repaired by the government and reopened for services, and in 1992 it was listed as a Provincial Historic Building by the government of Shandong Province. (Full article...)

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Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeast and east. Occupying 652,864 square kilometers (252,072 sq mi) of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. Kabul is the country's capital and largest city. Afghanistan's population is estimated to be between 36–50 million.

Human habitation in Afghanistan dates to the Middle Paleolithic era. Popularly referred to as the graveyard of empires, the land has witnessed numerous military campaigns, including those by the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Maurya Empire, Arab Muslims, the Mongols, the British, the Soviet Union, and a US-led coalition. Afghanistan also served as the source from which the Greco-Bactrians and the Mughals, among others, rose to form major empires. Because of the various conquests and periods in both the Iranian and Indian cultural spheres, the area was a center for Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and later Islam. The modern state of Afghanistan began with the Durrani Afghan Empire in the 18th century, although Dost Mohammad Khan is sometimes considered to be the founder of the first modern Afghan state. Afghanistan became a buffer state in the Great Game between the British Empire and the Russian Empire. From India, the British attempted to subjugate Afghanistan but were repelled in the First Anglo-Afghan War; the Second Anglo-Afghan War saw a British victory. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, Afghanistan became free of foreign political hegemony, and emerged as the independent Kingdom of Afghanistan in 1926. This monarchy lasted almost half a century, until Zahir Shah was overthrown in 1973, following which the Republic of Afghanistan was established. (Full article...)

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Jinnah in 1945

Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pakistan on 14 August 1947 and then as Pakistan's first governor-general until his death.

Born at Wazir Mansion in Karachi, Jinnah was trained as a barrister at Lincoln's Inn in London, England. Upon his return to India, he enrolled at the Bombay High Court, and took an interest in national politics, which eventually replaced his legal practice. Jinnah rose to prominence in the Indian National Congress in the first two decades of the 20th century. In these early years of his political career, Jinnah advocated Hindu–Muslim unity, helping to shape the 1916 Lucknow Pact between the Congress and the All-India Muslim League, in which Jinnah had also become prominent. Jinnah became a key leader in the All-India Home Rule League, and proposed a fourteen-point constitutional reform plan to safeguard the political rights of Muslims in the Indian subcontinent. In 1920, however, Jinnah resigned from the Congress when it agreed to follow a campaign of satyagraha, which he regarded as political anarchy. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Borobudur, a Buddhist temple in Indonesia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 2The Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan, which was the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010 (from Asian Century)
Image 3Map of Asia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 4Political cartoon depicting the Afghan Emir Sher Ali with the rival "friends" the Russian Bear and British Lion (1878) (from History of Asia)
Image 5The Great Wave off Kanagawa, c. 1830 by Hokusai, an example of art flourishing in the Edo Period (from History of Asia)
Image 6Angkor Wat, Khmer Empire (from Culture of Asia)
Image 7Battle of Talas between Tang dynasty and Abbasid Caliphate c. 751 (from History of Asia)
Image 8Indonesian Balinese cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 9Detail 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 10Byzantine and Sassanian Empires in 600 AD (from History of Asia)
Image 11Traditional Rajasthani garments from Jaipur, Rajasthan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 12Here a Jesuit, Adam Schall von Bell (1592–1666), is dressed as an official of the Chinese Department of Astronomy. (from History of Asia)
Image 13Sculpture of Prince Shōtoku (from History of Asia)
Image 14Some 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 15Gojong (1852–1919), the 26th king of Joseon dynasty and the first emperor of Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 16The Qing Empire in 1832. (from History of Asia)
Image 17Daian-ji temple at Nara, Japan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 18Sun temple at Konarka, Odisha, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 19The Hindu-Buddhist temple of Angkor Wat. (from History of Asia)
Image 20Hinduism 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 21Kabsa also called Majboos, famous in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates (from Culture of Asia)
Image 22The Grand Mosque in Kuwait City, one of the largest mosques in the region (from Culture of Asia)
Image 23Machiya in Heian period (from History of Asia)
Image 24Chicken tikka, a well-known dish across the globe, reflects the South Asian cooking style. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 25British troops taking Zhenjiang from Qing troops (from History of Asia)
Image 26The Qing conquest of the Ming and expansion of the empire (from History of Asia)
Image 27East Asian cultural sphere (from Culture of Asia)
Image 28Gyeonghoeru of Gyeongbokgung, the Joseon dynasty's royal palace. (from History of Asia)
Image 29The Russian Znamensky Cathedral in Tyumen built in 1768 (from Culture of Asia)
Image 30Ancient ziggurat, Iraq (from Culture of Asia)
Image 31Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine in Jerusalem. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 32Badshahi Mosque built under the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Lahore, Pakistan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 33The 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 34Language families in South Asia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 35The 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 36The early Muslim conquests, 622–750 (from History of Asia)
Image 37A view of the Fort St George in 18th-century Madras. (from History of Asia)
Image 38The 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 39The First Persian Empire at its greatest extent, c. 500 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 40Political map of Asia in 1860 (from History of Asia)
Image 41Deoksugung, the palace where Emperor Gojong established Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 42Robert Clive and Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, 1757 by Francis Hayman (from History of Asia)
Image 43India'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 44Đại Việt, Champa, Angkor Empire and their neighbours, late 13th century (from History of Asia)
Image 45Projected shares of global GDP by region to 2050 (from Asian Century)
Image 46Population concentration and boundaries of the Western Zhou dynasty in China (from History of Asia)
Image 47The Mughal ambassador Khan’Alam in 1618 negotiating with Shah Abbas the Great of Iran. (from History of Asia)
Image 48Detail 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 49Invasions, destruction and possible population movements during the Late Bronze Age collapse, beginning c. 1200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 50Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jeruslam (from Culture of Asia)
Image 51Balhae in the north, Later Silla in the south (from History of Asia)
Image 52The Delhi Sultanate. (from History of Asia)
Image 53Map of Vietnam showing the conquest of the south (the Nam tiến, 1069–1757). (from History of Asia)
Image 54A typical example of Dravidian architecture (from Culture of Asia)
Image 55A Confucian ritual ceremony in Jeju, South Korea (from Culture of Asia)
Image 56The Song dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 1200 (from History of Asia)
Image 57the Goryeo ware, which shows splendid culture of Goryeo in mediaeval Korea. (from History of Asia)
Image 58The Silk Road in Asia (from History of Asia)
Image 59Map of Asia for early 20th century (from History of Asia)
Image 60Philippine cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 61Tang dynasty Chinese poet Li Bai, in a 13th-century depiction by Liang Kai (from Culture of Asia)
Image 62The Han dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 63Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (from History of Asia)
Image 64Map of Marco Polo's travels (from History of Asia)
Image 65The Great Wall of China at Jinshanling (from Culture of Asia)
Image 66Korean 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 67Eunpyeong Hanok Village in Seoul, South Korea (from Culture of Asia)
Image 68The Taj Mahal, Agra, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 69A stone image of the Buddha (from Culture of Asia)

Featured picture

Tbilisi Sioni Cathedral

Credit: Diego Delso

Ceiling of the Sioni Cathedral, a Georgian Orthodox cathedral in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia. The cathedral is situated in historic Sionis Kucha (Sioni Street) in downtown Tbilisi. It was initially built in the 6th and 7th centuries. Since then, it has been destroyed by foreign invaders and reconstructed several times. The current church is based on a 13th-century version with some changes from the 17th to 19th centuries. The Sioni Cathedral was the main Georgian Orthodox Cathedral and the seat of Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia until the Holy Trinity Cathedral was consecrated in 2004..

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Did you know...

... that little has been known of the exact whereabouts of Iranian communist leader Ashraf Dehghani since she escaped prison in 1973?
... that The Hooded Man is an iconic photograph of the Iraq War, known as a symbol of torture at Abu Ghraib prison?
... that El Salvador was the first country to recognize Manchukuo, apart from Japan?
... that Dov Noy founded the Israel Folktale Archives, which have collected around 25,000 Jewish folk tales?
... that tokoyama (traditional Japanese hairdressers) working in kabuki are divided into specialties named after the floors of the Kabuki-za?
... that due to a 2024 heat wave in Southeast Asia, heat indices in the Philippines rose to dangerous levels, as high as 51 °C (124 °F)?
... that 32 former members of the city council of Bogor, Indonesia, were convicted of corruption in 2010, including 3 who were still serving?
... that the first Catholic synod in China was held in 1803 near Chungkingchow in Sichuan Province?
... that the horse Sardar was gifted to Jacqueline Kennedy during her 1962 goodwill tour of Pakistan?
... that although fossils of the extinct mammal Asiavorator were first found in 1922, the genus was not named until 73 years later, in 1995?

Updated: 21:05, 25 January 2025

In the news

25 January 2025 – Israel–Hamas war: Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis; Hamas frees four Israeli hostages including Naama Levy in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners including 121 people serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis. The exchange is part of the ceasefire deal. (AP)
25 January 2025 – Islam and blasphemy: A Pakistani court sentences four people to death for blasphemy, allegedly because they posted sacrilegious material on social media about Islamic religious figures and the Quran. (Al Arabiya)
24 January 2025 – Israel–Hamas war: Hamas confirms that an Israeli airstrike last summer killed Rawhi Mushtaha, according to Israel "head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip", along with Sameh al-Siraj, who held the security portfolio in Hamas's political bureau, and Sami Odeh, the head of Hamas's "general security mechanism". (Al Sharq AlAwsat)
24 January 2025 – Saudi Arabia–United States relations: Saudi Arabia announces that it will invest US$600 billion in the United States economy. (Al Arabiya)
24 January 2025 –: The U.S. State Department freezes nearly all foreign aid except military aid to Israel and Egypt, as well as emergency food programs. (Global News)

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Major Religions in Asia

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Central Asia and Caucasus

Indian Subcontinent

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Selected panorama

Credit: David Iliff

The night skyline of Hong Kong, Victoria Harbour and Kowloon, as seen from Victoria Peak, the tallest mountain on Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong is located on China's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders Guangdong province in the north and faces the South China Sea in the east, west and south. It has a population of 6.9 million people, and is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.