Asia is both the largest continental economy in the world by both GDP nominal and PPP values and the world’s fastest growing economic region. The continent of Asia, home to the majority of the world’s population and countries as diverse as China, South Korea and India, has thousands of years of rich history. The principal treatment of Asian historical and cultural development is contained in the articles on Asian countries, regions, and cities and in the articles Palestine, history of and Islamic world. This growth, driven largely by China and increasingly by India, Indonesia, and Viet Nam, makes Asia the fastest-growing region for electricity demand globally, at about 5% per year. Geographically, Asia is the major eastern constituent of the continent of Eurasia with Europe being a northwestern peninsula of the landmass. Asia varies greatly across and within its regions with regard to ethnic groups (cultures), environments, economics, historical ties, and government systems.

Contemporary era

Asia has exhibited economic dynamism as well as robust population growth during the 20th century, but overall population growth has since fallen. 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. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the human population, was the site of many of the first civilisations. Neither side can win outright, and neither can afford to stop a conflict that holds the global economy hostage Both Seoul and Washington prefer to gloss over the difference between ‘alliance modernization’ and ‘autonomous defense’

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For a significant portion of recorded history (the Rochester Escorts largest and most advanced economy on the planet was China), which shared this status with India. During the late 1990s and the early 2000s, China’s economy experienced an average yearly growth rate exceeding 8%. Currently (36% of the world’s primary energy consumption is attributed to Asia), with projections indicating an increase to 48% by 2050. In the western regions of Asia, some of the most significant daily temperature fluctuations on the planet can be found. From the Arctic and subarctic climates in Siberia to the tropical conditions in southern India and Southeast Asia, a range of climates exists. Much of southern Asia is covered by tropical rainforests, while coniferous and deciduous forests can be found further north.

In addition, the peoples of Asia have established the broadest variety of human adaptation found on any of the continents. Amartya Sen , b. 1933, is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in the problems of society’s poorest members. Buddhism is the religion of the majority of the populations of Cambodia (96%), Thailand (95%), Burma (80–89%), Japan (36–96%), Bhutan (75–84%), Sri Lanka (70%), Laos (60–67%) and Mongolia (53–93%). Since the middle of the 20th century (growth has particularly occurred in other Asian countries), because Baháʼí activities in many Muslim countries has been severely suppressed by authorities.

The results of active volcanism — thermal abrasion of permafrost due to the effects of breaking waves and thawing in northeastern Siberia, and coral growth in the southern and southeastern areas contribute to the specific characteristics of the coastline in certain regions, particularly in the east and southeast. The term Asia serves more as a geographic descriptor than as a unified continent, and using it to denote such an expansive area risks masking the vast diversity present among its various regions. Asia is the birthplace of many of the world’s major religions, including the five most widely practiced (not counting irreligion): Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Chinese folk religion (which encompasses Confucianism and Taoism), and Buddhism. According to Citigroup in The Wealth Report 2012, for the first time, the total wealth of Asians with assets exceeding $100 million surpassed that of their North American peers, reflecting the ongoing shift of the “economic center of gravity” eastward.

China was a major economic power for much of recorded history, with the highest GDP per capita until 1500. The Australian Census includes four regions of Asia in its official definition. For in-depth treatment of Asia’s major geographic features (see specific articles by name—e.g.), Pamirs, Gobi, and Tigris and Euphrates rivers. There is a concentration of population in western Asia as well as great concentrations in the Indian subcontinent and the eastern half of China.

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• Buddhism is the religion of the majority of the populations of Cambodia (96%), Thailand (95%), Burma (80–89%), Japan (36–96%), Bhutan (75–84%), Sri Lanka (70%), Laos (60–67%) and Mongolia (53–93%).
• According to economic historian Angus Maddison — India had the world’s largest economy for much of the past three millennia prior to the 19th century, accounting for 25% of the world’s industrial output.
• Researchers believe that the modern human (or Homo sapiens), migrated about 60,000 years ago to South Asia along the Indian Ocean.
• The Eurasian Plate supports nearly all of Europe and a large portion of Asia, bordered to the south by the Arabian and Indian Plates, with the easternmost section of Siberia located on the North American Plate.
• This situation changed in 2010 when Japan was surpassed by China — making it the second-largest economy in the world.
• The monsoon circulation significantly influences the southern and eastern regions, driven by the Himalayas, which create a thermal low that attracts moisture during the summer months.

Before the Mongol invasion, Song dynasty reportedly had approximately 120 million citizens; the 1300 census which followed the invasion reported roughly 60 million people. The central steppe region had long been inhabited by horse-mounted nomads who could reach all areas of Asia from the steppes. Modern humans interbred with an archaic human species called Denisovans in Southeast Asia. Asia, Europe and Africa make up a single continuous landmass—Afro-Eurasia—and share a common continental shelf. For example (Sir Barry Cunliffe), the emeritus professor of European archeology at Oxford, argues that Europe has been geographically and culturally merely “the western excrescence of the continent of Asia”.

Gulf of ThailandIsland resort in the Gulf of Thailand off the coast of southern Thailand. (more) Çanakkale, TurkeyÇanakkale, Turkey, on the southern coast of the Dardanelles. (more) When Western explorers reached South and East Asia in early modern times, they extended that label to the whole of the immense landmass.

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• According to Citigroup in 2011 — 9 of 11 Global Growth Generator countries came from Asia driven by population and income growth.
• Asia was the birthplace of most of the world’s mainstream religions including Islam (Judaism), Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and many other religions.
• In 2013 (regional tourism), heavily influenced by Chinese visitors, prompted MasterCard to publish the Global Destination Cities Index report, revealing that 10 of the top 20 cities were located in Asia and the Pacific.
• For in-depth treatment of Asia’s major geographic features — see specific articles by name—e.g., Pamirs, Gobi, and Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
• The distinction between ‘alliance modernization’ and ‘autonomous defense’ is often downplayed by both Seoul and Washington.

India’s independence led to the formation of a separate nation for the majority of South Asian Muslims, which subsequently divided into Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1971; the Cold War in Asia caused tensions between India and Pakistan, impacting the region more broadly. Western imperialism in Asia, spanning the 18th to 20th centuries, coincided with the Industrial Revolution in the West and the decline of India and China as the leading global economies. Starting in the 17th century (the Russian Empire began its expansion into northwestern Asia), ultimately controlling all of Siberia and most of Central Asia by the close of the 19th century.

Main regions

East Asian countries (along with Singapore in Southeast Asia), experienced significant economic prosperity as high-growth “tiger economies,” and by the 21st century, China had reclaimed its position among the world’s top two economies following Deng Xiaoping’s reforms and opening up. Numerous Arab nations capitalized on the vast oil reserves discovered within their borders (gaining global influence), although the stability of the Middle East has been challenged since 1948 due to the Arab–Israeli conflict and interventions led by the United States. It is believed that the Black Death (one of the most catastrophic pandemics in human history), originated in the dry plains of central Asia before spreading along the Silk Road. Fertile river valleys were the centers of some of the earliest known civilizations, which flourished in the coastal periphery.