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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 its boundary with 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...)

Featured article

The Song dynasty at its greatest extent in 1111

The Song dynasty (/sʊŋ/ SUUNG) was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song often came into conflict with the contemporaneous Liao, Western Xia, and Jin dynasties in northern China. After retreating to southern China following attacks by the Jin dynasty, the Song was eventually conquered by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty.

The dynasty's history is divided into two periods: during the Northern Song (北宋; 960–1127), the capital was in the northern city of Bianjing (now Kaifeng) and the dynasty controlled most of what is now East China. The Southern Song (南宋; 1127–1279) comprised the period following the loss of control over the northern half of Song territory to the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in the Jin–Song wars. At that time, the Song court retreated south of the Yangtze and established its capital at Lin'an (now Hangzhou). Although the Song dynasty had lost control of the traditional Chinese heartlands around the Yellow River, the Southern Song Empire contained a large population and productive agricultural land, sustaining a robust economy. In 1234, the Jin dynasty was conquered by the Mongols, who took control of northern China, maintaining uneasy relations with the Southern Song. Möngke Khan, the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, died in 1259 while besieging the mountain castle Diaoyucheng in Chongqing. His younger brother Kublai Khan was proclaimed the new Great Khan and in 1271 founded the Yuan dynasty. After two decades of sporadic warfare, Kublai Khan's armies conquered the Song dynasty in 1279 after defeating the Southern Song in the Battle of Yamen, and reunited China under the Yuan dynasty. (Full article...)

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Selected Country

Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about 2,150,000 km² (830,000 sq mi), making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the largest in the Middle East, and the twelfth-largest in the world. It is bordered by the Red Sea to the west; Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait to the north; the Arabian Gulf, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the east; Oman to the southeast; and Yemen to the south. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northwest separates Saudi Arabia from Egypt and Israel. Saudi Arabia is the only country with a coastline along both the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, and most of its terrain consists of arid desert, lowland, steppe, and mountains. The capital and largest city is Riyadh; other major cities include Jeddah and the two holiest cities in Islam, Mecca and Medina. With a population of 33.7 million, Saudi Arabia is the sixth most populous country in the Arab world.

Pre-Islamic Arabia, the territory that constitutes modern-day Saudi Arabia, was the site of several ancient cultures and civilizations; the archaeological study of the prehistory of Saudi Arabia has identified some of the earliest traces of human activity outside Africa. Islam emerged in what is now Saudi Arabia in the early seventh century. Islamic prophet Muhammad united the population of the Arabian Peninsula and created a single Islamic religious polity. Following his death in 632, his followers expanded Muslim rule beyond Arabia, conquering territories in North Africa, Central, South Asia and Iberia within decades. Arab dynasties originating from modern-day Saudi Arabia founded the Rashidun (632–661), Umayyad (661–750), Abbasid (750–1517), and Fatimid (909–1171) caliphates, as well as numerous other Muslim states in Asia, Africa, and Europe. (Full article...)

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Featured biography

Soegijapranata in 1960

Albertus Soegijapranata SJ (Indonesian: [alˈbərtʊs suˈɡijapraˈnata]; Perfected Spelling: Albertus Sugiyapranata; 25 November 1896 – 22 July 1963), better known by his birth name Soegija, was a Jesuit priest who became the Apostolic Vicar of Semarang and later its archbishop. He was the first native Indonesian bishop and known for his pro-nationalistic stance, often expressed as "100% Catholic 100% Indonesian".

Soegija was born in Surakarta, Dutch East Indies, to a Muslim courtier and his wife. The family moved to nearby Yogyakarta when Soegija was still young; there he began his education. Known as a bright child, around 1909 he was asked by Father Frans van Lith to enter Xaverius College, a Jesuit school in Muntilan, where Soegija slowly became interested in Catholicism. He was baptised on 24 December 1910. After graduating from Xaverius in 1915 and spending a year as a teacher there, Soegija spent two years at the on-site seminary before going to the Netherlands in 1919. He began his two-year novitiate with the Society of Jesus in September 1920 in Grave, and finished his juniorate there in 1923. After three years studying philosophy at Berchmann College in Oudenbosch, he was sent back to Muntilan as a teacher for a further two years. In 1928, he returned to the Netherlands to study theology at Maastricht, where he was ordained by Bishop of Roermond Laurentius Schrijnen on 15 August 1931; Soegija then added the word "pranata" to the back of his name. He was then sent back to the Indies to preach and became a parochial vicar at the parish in Kidul Loji, Yogyakarta, and in 1934 he was given his own parish in Bintaran. There he focused on creating a sense of Catholicism within the native community, emphasising the need for strong bonds between Catholic families. Soegijapranata was consecrated as the vicar apostolic of the newly established Apostolic Vicariate of Semarang in 1940. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Indonesian Balinese cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 2Byzantine and Sasanian Empires in 600 AD (from History of Asia)
Image 3Map of Marco Polo's travels (from History of Asia)
Image 4Balhae in the north, Later Silla in the south. (from History of Asia)
Image 5The Taj Mahal, Agra, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 6Daian-ji temple at Nara, Japan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 7Korean 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 8Chicken tikka, a well-known dish across the globe, reflects the South Asian cooking style. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 9Some 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 10Political map of the world in 1860 (from History of Asia)
Image 11Expansion of the Delhi Sultanate (from History of Asia)
Image 12The early Muslim conquests, 622–750 (from History of Asia)
Image 13The Great Wave off Kanagawa, c. 1830 by Hokusai, an example of art flourishing in the Edo Period (from History of Asia)
Image 14East Asian cultural sphere (from Culture of Asia)
Image 15The Han dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 16Philippine cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 17The Russian Znamensky Cathedral in Tyumen built in 1768 (from Culture of Asia)
Image 18Projected shares of global GDP by region to 2050 (from Asian Century)
Image 19Hinduism 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 20Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (from History of Asia)
Image 21Sculpture of Prince Shōtoku (from History of Asia)
Image 22The Battle of Chinkiang of the First Opium War (from History of Asia)
Image 23Map of the Qing Empire in 1832 (from History of Asia)
Image 24Angkor Wat, Khmer Empire (from Culture of Asia)
Image 25Here a Jesuit, Adam Schall von Bell (1592–1666), is dressed as an official of the Chinese Department of Astronomy. (from History of Asia)
Image 26The Hindu-Buddhist temple of Angkor Wat. (from History of Asia)
Image 27The Grand Mosque in Kuwait City, one of the largest mosques in the region (from Culture of Asia)
Image 28The Song dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 1200 (from History of Asia)
Image 29Political cartoon depicting the Afghan Emir Sher Ali with the rival "friends" the Russian Bear and British Lion (1878) (from History of Asia)
Image 30The Silk Road in Asia (from History of Asia)
Image 31A Confucian ritual ceremony in Jeju, South Korea (from Culture of Asia)
Image 32India's middle-class population of 300 million is growing at an annual rate of 5%. Shown here is the skyline in South Mumbai. (from Asian Century)
Image 33Battle of Talas between Tang dynasty and Abbasid Caliphate c. 751 (from History of Asia)
Image 34Borobudur, a Buddhist temple in Indonesia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 35The Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan, which was the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010 (from Asian Century)
Image 36The Mughal ambassador Khan’Alam in 1618 negotiating with Shah Abbas the Great of Iran. (from History of Asia)
Image 37Robert Clive and Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, 1757 by Francis Hayman (from History of Asia)
Image 38The First Persian Empire at its greatest extent, c. 500 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 39The Qing conquest of the Ming and expansion of the empire (from History of Asia)
Image 40Gyeonghoeru of Gyeongbokgung, the Joseon dynasty's royal palace. (from History of Asia)
Image 41Deoksugung, the palace where Emperor Gojong established the Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 42Tang dynasty Chinese poet Li Bai, in a 13th-century depiction by Liang Kai (from Culture of Asia)
Image 43Đại Việt, Champa, Angkor Empire and their neighbours, late 13th century (from History of Asia)
Image 44The 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 45Expansion of the Mongol Empire 1206–1294 (from History of Asia)
Image 46Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jeruslam (from Culture of Asia)
Image 47Gojong (1852–1919), the 26th king of Joseon dynasty and the first emperor of Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 48A view of the Fort St George in 18th-century Madras. (from History of Asia)
Image 49A stone image of the Buddha (from Culture of Asia)
Image 50Invasions, destruction and possible population movements during the Late Bronze Age collapse, beginning c. 1200 BC (from History of Asia)

Featured picture

History of coffee

Credit: Keystone View Company

The earliest credible evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the late 15th century, by Sufi Imam Muhammad Ibn Said Al Dhabhani who is known to have imported goods from Ethiopia to Yemen. From the Arabian peninsula its use spread across the globe. The picture shows Palestinian women grinding coffee beans.

Did you know...

... that the "Dragon Cartel", a cooperation of Chinese triads and Mexican cartels, poach fish maw in the Gulf of California and smuggle it to China?
... that people in parts of India, North America, and Africa marry tree trunks?
... that the murder of a gay man in Afghanistan forced his brother to flee to Turkey and his boyfriend to go into hiding due to harassment from the Taliban?
... that a 14th-century biography retells the travels of a monk who was possibly "the first traveller from China to the Atlantic"?
... that the Tochigi–Gunma–Saitama border is a rare example of a prefectural tripoint in Japan located on flat land?
... that Filipino politician Miriam Defensor Santiago is known as the "Iron Lady of Asia"?
... that in Vladivostok, the Korean enclave Shinhanchon served as a hub of the Korean independence movement?
... that Alan Choe was tasked with developing Queenstown, Singapore's first satellite town, after its British architects left the country in the mid-1950s?
... that a cyber attack on a FIFA insider, traced to the Indian cyber-espionage company Appin, was part of Qatar's campaign to protect its 2022 World Cup hosting rights?
... that, after an attempt to sell the Tokamak de Varennes to Iran failed, it became a display at the Canada Science and Technology Museum?

Updated: 1:05, 30 August 2026

In the news

30 August 2026 –: The body of the last missing individual aboard a boat capsized on Thursday on Mapanuepe Lake in San Marcelino, Zambales, Philippines, is recovered, concluding search operations with the final death toll at nine. (Philippine Daily Inquirer); The Korean Central News Agency reports that general No Kwang-chol has been dismissed as defence minister of North Korea, with Korean People's Army General Political Bureau director Kim Song-gi replacing him. (AFP via CNA) (NK News)
29 August 2026 – Gaza war: Israel strikes the Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital in the Deir al-Balah area of the Gaza Strip in Palestine, killing three people, in violation of the October 2025 ceasefire. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) state that they targeted a Hamas commander who "was hiding within the compound" of the hospital. (MENA via The New Arab)
29 August 2026 – 2026 Nepal floods: The death toll from flash floods in Nepal rises to 669, with more than 2,400 people reported missing. (NBC News)
28 August 2026 – Gaza war: Israeli incursions in the West Bank during the Gaza war; The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says that they have killed three Palestinian militants, including Islamic Jihad (PIJ) senior member Qais Bitawi, in a drone strike in the Israel-occupied West Bank city of Jenin. The PIJ also confirms Bitawi's death. (Reuters) (The Times of Israel)

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Major Religions in Asia

Middle East (West Asia)

Central Asia

Indian Subcontinent

Southeast Asia

East Asia

Selected panorama

150pxA panoramic view of the Hong Kong skyline just after sunset

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.