Team+Asia

= __ The Awesome Asia Headquarters! __ =   By: Calista C., Amy G., Rebecca Y., and Kathleen S.  Welcome to the Awesome Asia Headquarters, where you will learn all about the wonderful continent of Asia. Did you know, that Asia is the largest, most populated Continent in World? It lies entirely in the northern hemisphere - with the exception of a few islands extending to the south hemisphere. Asia is the birthplace of many ancient civilizations. Bounded in the East by the Pacific, South by the Indian, and North by the Arctic, Asia stretches over 48 countries and is home to over 60% of the world's population! Come explore this fascinating continent with us through our Asia Geography info and games! = **Simple Facts About Asia:** =


 * ** Population (Approximate): 3,335,672,00 **
 * ** Density: 193.5 per square mile **
 * ** Literacy: 65.5% **
 * ** Birth Rate: 27 people a year per 1,000 people **
 * ** Growth Rate: 1.8% **
 * ** Some of the Main Languages: Chinese, Hindi, Bengali, Japanese, Punjabi, Javanese, Korean **
 * ** Main Religions: Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity **
 * ** Largest Cities: Seoul, Bombay, Jakarta, Tokyo, Shanghai **

= **Asian Countries and Sub-regions:** =

Since the 18th Century, Asia has been separated into six sub-regions. There are Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia, Southeast Asia, West Asia, and South Asia. __ ** Key ** __ Blue - North Asia Pink - Central Asia Green - West Asia Red - South Asia Yellow - East Asia Orange - Southeast Asia

North Asia includes:
 * The Asian part of the Russian Federation (Siberia)

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Central Asia includes:
 * Kazakhstan
 * Uzbekistan
 * Tajikistan
 * Turkmenistan
 * Kyrgyzstan
 * Afghanistan
 * Mongolia
 * The western regions of China

West Asia (Southwest Asia)
West Asia (Southwest Asia) includes:
 * Armenia
 * Azerbaijan
 * Bahrain
 * Cyprus
 * Georgia
 * Iraq
 * Israel
 * Jordan
 * Kuwait
 * Lebanon
 * The Palestinian Territories
 * Oman
 * Qatar
 * Saudi Arabia
 * Syria
 * Turkey
 * United Arab Emirates
 * Yemen

South Asia Includes:
 * Afghanistan
 * Pakistan
 * India
 * Maldives
 * Sri Lanka
 * Nepal
 * Bhutan
 * Bangladesh
 * Iran

East Asia includes:
 * China
 * Hong Kong
 * Macao
 * North Korea
 * South Korea
 * Japan
 * Mongolia

Southeast Asia
(Southeast Asia has been included with East Asia on some occasions)

Mainland Southeast Asia includes:

 * Myanmar (Burma)
 * Thailand
 * Laos
 * Cambodia
 * Vietnam
 * Malaysia

Maritime Southeast Asia includes:


 * Brunei
 * The Philippines
 * Singapore
 * Indonesia
 * Timor-Leste

 F l a g s of A s i a n C o u n t r i e s :

= ** Physical Asia: ** =

Asia has many different physical features. Come take a look them with us!

** The Plains :** Asia has more land under plains and any other geographic feature. These plains can be broadly divided into the river valleys and the coastal plains. Asia has some of the greatest river valleys that have been the cradle of civilizations. The major ones are the Yangtze, Huang Ho, Mekong, Irrawaddy, Ganga, Brahmaputra, Indus, Tigris and Euphrates, Ob, Yenisey, Lena, etc. to name a few.

**The Desert:** Asia also has some of the world's greatest deserts. That includes both blazing hot and freezing cold deserts. A couple of these deserts would be the Syrian, Garagum, Oyzlkum, Gobi, and Thar.

**The Mountains:** Asia is home to the mightiest of mountain ranges, radiating from the Pamir knot and spreading across the large Continent of Asia. Some of them are, the Caucasus, Tian Shan, Hindukush, Elbruz Mountains, and the tallest of them all, the Himalayas.

**The Plateaus:** The highest plateau of the world, the Tibetan Plateau lies in Asia. Other prominent plateaus are Anatolian Plateau, Arabian Plateau, Iranian Plateau and the Deccan Plateau.

= ** History: ** =

Asia's history's something everyone's got to know about. Travel through time with us as we skim across the main events of Asia's fascinating History.

Asia has been in many wars and has a bloody history. A little after 2500 BC one of the most ancient civilizations that we know of was in Asia. This civilization is known to us as Sumeria. Sumeria, like so many other ancient civilizations built started out as seperate city-states. They built great temples, and had mighty armies. A powerful ruler named Sargon united this great empire. After Sargon's death, Sumeria fell apart. In the 13th-16th century another Empire began to form called China. Today, China takes up a large amount of Asia. They conquered and built a huge empire. The Chinese even produced a whole new way of life. The Chinese were mighty in battle and built the great wall of China to defend them from the warring tribes that lived north of them. The Great Wall is a massive structure, snaking through the hills of northern China. In fact, the Great Wall is so large that it is the only man-made structure visible from space. In the 20th century there has been much turmoil in Asia. Asia has been through the Gulf War, the Vietnam War, and World War II. During WWII, the Japanese were allied with the Germans. This made them enemies with the USA. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, and that marked the official start of WWII. The Japanese went through terrible trouble, however, because the US retaliated by twice bombing Japan with an atomic bomb. This bomb was devastating to Japan, leveling cities and killing many people, so Japan surrendered. In fact, even years later, the Atom sickness killed many people who were not even alive when the bomb struck. When Japan surrendered, WWII was finally at an end.

Another thing that Asia has gone through in the 20th century is Communism. Russia was formerly the USSR, and Communist, and parts of China still are communist. North Korea is also a Communist nation. Today though, many people in Asia live normal lives by American standards. Asian children go to school, while their parents go to work. They eat foods that may be strange to us, but they dress like you or I would, and they have the same types of thoughts and feelings. Though some of their customs may be different, their basic lives are much like ours.

= Landforms/Scenery: =

**The Himalayas**
The beautiful Himalayas is the world's tallest mountain range, towering at more than five miles above sea level! This mountain range extends along the northern frontiers of Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Burma. The word, "Himalaya" means "home of snow" after the tallest peaks of the stunning mountains, which are always capped with heaps of snow. The Himalayas include the wonders of the world famous Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, raising up to a good 8,796 meters above sea level! It is home to powerful winds, extremely cold temperatures, and a lack of oxygen. Within India, the Himalayas have been divided into three longitudinal belts, named the Outer Himalayas, the Lesser Himalayas, and the Greater Himalayas - sometimes collectively called the Great Himalayan Range. All of them are home to towering mountains of snow, ice, and rock. The Lesser Himalayas, ranging from 1,500 to 5,000 meters in height, are located in northwestern India. The Outer Himalayas, averaging from 900 - 1,200 meters in elevation, is located entirely on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. Lastly, and most impressively, is the Greater Himalayas. They have an average of 6,000 meters in altitude and contains the three tallest mountains in the world: Mount Everest has a height of 8,796 meters, K2 (also known as Mount Godwin-Austen, and in China, as Qogir Feng) has a height of 8,611, and Kanchenjunga which has a height of 8,598 meters.

Tibetan Plateau
Known as "the roof of the world", it is the world's highest plateau, at approximately 14,800 feet. At about four times the size of France, it covers roughly 2.5 million square kilometers. The Tibetan Plateau is located in Central Asia, covering a lot of Qinghai, the Tibet Autonomous Region, and small parts of Sichuan, Gansu, Yunnan (which is in China), and Ladka (which is in India). It is surrounded by many massive well-known mountain ranges. Bordered in the North are the Kunlun Mountains, which is home to some burning volcanoes. The Quilian Range embraces the Northeast side of the massive plateau, while the West border is home to the Karakoram range. This amazing plateau is also home to some important rivers in Asia, like the Yangtze, Salween, and Mekong rivers. Did you know that this amazing landform is home to the mighty Himalayas and the two highest mountains in the world, Mt. Everest and Mt. K2? The Tibetan Plateau is home to some nomadic cultures. They raise livestock instead of crops since crops would be impossible to grow in the high altitudes and in the cold climates. However, since the climate is freezing and the air pressure is very low, it isn't a very good place for people to live, as it is one of the most remote, barren places on Earth. The plateau is home to some amazing glaciers that feed some of today's most important mountain rivers. The melted ice from the glaciers run into the rivers, feeding them. However, because of global warming, the temperatures on the plateau are rising, making the glaciers melt. If the glaciers melt completely, there will be no more water feeding rivers. Then, in a matter of time, the rivers that fit our needs might die away, leaving us wrecked, so it is important that we try to prevent global warming. It is important we take care of our environment, so things like dying rivers could be prevented, and we could preserve some of our amazing landforms like the Tibetan Plateau.

Badain Jaran Desert
Home to the world's highest sand dunes, the Badain Jaran Desert is a hot, barren desert in China that covers parts of Gansu, Ningxia, and Inner Mongolia and covers 19,000 square miles. However, unlike most deserts, they have over 100 spring-fed lakes that are between the dunes. Some of the water is fresh, while others are very salty.

= Interesting Pictures: =









= **Thank you so much for learning about Asia with us and we hope to see** = = **you again soon!** = = ﻿  = = =

**__Links to Awesome Games on Asia's Geography:__** [|Asian Bodies of Water]

[|Asian Geographic Regions]

[|Monsoon Asia Map Game]

[|Asia Countries Game]

[|Asia Map Puzzle]

[|Asia Map Game]

**Resources/References for this Page:** [|Geography of Asia - Wikipedia]

[|Asia (wikipedia)]

[|Himalayas and Mountains in India]

[|The Himalayas]

[|Tibetan Plateau]

[|Asia]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badain_Jaran_Desert