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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

Monks following Pradakshina at Borobudur

Borobudur, also transcribed Barabudur (Indonesian: Candi Borobudur, Javanese: ꦕꦤ꧀ꦝꦶꦧꦫꦧꦸꦝꦸꦂ, romanized: Candhi Barabudhur), is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Magelang Regency, near the town of Muntilan, northwest of the city of Yogyakarta, in Central Java, Indonesia.

Constructed of gray andesite-like stone, the temple consists of nine stacked platforms, six square and three circular, topped by a central dome. It is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and originally 504 Buddha statues. The central dome is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues, each seated inside a perforated stupa. The monument guides pilgrims through an extensive system of stairways and corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the walls and the balustrades. Borobudur has one of the world's most extensive collections of Buddhist reliefs. (Full article...)

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Selected Country

Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is its capital and most populous city with a population of 1.24 million people. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east and is narrowly separated from Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan by Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor. It has a population of more than 10.9 million people.

The territory was previously home to cultures of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, including the Oxus civilisation in west, with the Indo-Iranians arriving during the Andronovo culture. Parts of country were part of the Sogdian and Bactrian civilisations, and was ruled by those including the Achaemenids, Alexander the Great, the Greco-Bactrians, the Kushans, the Kidarites and Hephthalites, the First Turkic Khaganate, the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, the Samanid Empire, the Kara-Khanids, Seljuks, Khwarazmians, the Mongols, Timurids and Khanate of Bukhara. The region was later conquered by the Russian Empire, before becoming part of the Soviet Union. Within the Soviet Union, the country's borders were drawn when it was part of Uzbekistan as an autonomous republic before becoming a constituent republic of the Soviet Union on 5 December 1929. (Full article...)

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Featured biography

Kapoor Khan in 2023

Kareena Kapoor Khan (pronounced [kəˈriːna kəˈpuːr xɑːn]; née Kapoor; born 21 September 1980) is an Indian actress. She has been known her leading roles in Hindi cinema since 2000. Kapoor is the recipient of several awards, including six Filmfare Awards, and as of 2024, is one of Hindi cinema's highest-paid actresses.

Born into the Kapoor family, she is the daughter of actors Babita and Randhir Kapoor, and the younger sister of actress Karisma Kapoor. After making her acting debut in 2000 in Refugee, Kapoor established herself the following year with several roles, including in the top-grossing drama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. This was followed by a series of commercial failures and negative reviews for her repetitive roles. An against-type performance as a sex worker in the 2004 drama Chameli marked a turning point in her career. She earned critical recognition for her portrayal of a riot victim in the 2004 drama Dev and a character based on Desdemona in the 2006 crime film Omkara. Her performance as a loquacious woman in the romantic comedy Jab We Met (2007) earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. (Full article...)

List of Featured biographies

General images

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

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

Featured picture

Sentō

Credit: Torii Kiyonaga

Onna yu ("Bathhouse Women"), a late-eighteenth century Japanese woodblock print in the ukiyo-e style, depicting women at a sentō, or Japanese public bath house. Commercial bath houses in Japan date to at least 1266 and became especially popular immediately after World War II, due to the devastation caused by the war.

Did you know...

... that Israel's destruction of trees and farmland in Gaza has been described as an ecocide?
... that many Jehovah's Witnesses in Singapore have been imprisoned for refusing to serve in the military?
... that the Joint Operations Command was created based on lessons learned from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami?
... that the Mseilha Fort is strategically located to overlook the crossing of the Jaouz River near Ras ash-Shaq'a, a promontory in Lebanon?
... that a "bat ensnared by a plant" was discovered in the garden of the Palestine Museum of Natural History?
... that medicine dean Sjahriar Rasad was accused of being involved in a conspiracy to assassinate Indonesian president Sukarno?
... that the statue of Trần Hưng Đạo in Mê Linh Square was erected by the South Vietnamese Navy, who regarded him as a patron saint?
... that Korean science fiction has evolved into distinct North and South branches since the first work appeared in 1929?
... that the 1926 film Lonely Orchid was adapted from a British novel via a Chinese translation of a Japanese translation?
... that Tural, the setting of the expansion pack Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, is inspired by Latin America and Southeast Asia?

Updated: 1:05, 17 March 2026

In the news

16 March 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis: 2026 Iran war; 2026 Iranian strikes on the United Arab Emirates; Iran launches drone attacks on the United Arab Emirates, killing a Palestinian man in Abu Dhabi and forcing the temporary closure of Dubai International Airport. (The Telegraph); The Israeli Air Force strikes the Iranian Space Research Center in central Tehran and completely destroys it, saying that it was being used for potential space warfare activities against Israeli satellites. (Iran Wire); Kata'ib Hezbollah senior commander Abu Ali al-Askari is killed in a airstrike in Baghdad, Iraq. (Jerusalem Post); Hezbollah–Israel conflict

More current events...

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Major Religions in Asia

Middle East (West Asia)

Central Asia

Indian Subcontinent

Southeast Asia

East Asia

Selected panorama

A panoramic view of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, the site of the first atomic bomb to be used in warfare on August 6, 1945, during the final stages of World War II. Over 70,000 people were killed immediately, and another 70,000 suffered fatal injuries from the radiation, after the U.S. Army Air Force bomber Enola Gay dropped the bomb, codenamed "Little Boy". The Genbaku ("A-bomb") Dome (center) was directly beneath the blast, but managed to survive mostly intact.

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