Continents
Asia
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The largest and most populous continent, stretching from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Indian Ocean in the south, and from the Mediterranean and Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It holds the Earth's highest point, the summit of Mount Everest in the Himalayas, and its lowest land exposure, the shore of the Dead Sea. Asia is conventionally divided from Europe along the Ural Mountains and the Caucasus, a boundary drawn by convention rather than by any single physical barrier.
Facts
Area (sq km)National Geographic Atlas of the World figure; the Europe/Asia boundary is conventional, not physical, so the true dividing line between the two continents own areas is itself a matter of convention. Population2021 estimate, Wikipedia infobox (1st most populous continent). Highest Point Highest Elevation (m)8,848.86 m per the 2020 joint Nepal-China survey; stored here as the nearest whole meter. Lowest Point Country CountFive of the 49 (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey) are transcontinental, also counted partly in Europe. Tectonic Plate ContextEurasian Plate (with the Arabian and Indian Plates adjoining to the south, and the North American Plate underlying easternmost Siberia) 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Asia directly: "the west and south, and is joined to Asia at the Sinai Peninsula."
Cairo, Cities This source names Asia directly: "Sinai land route toward the Levant and Asia beyond."
This source names Europe directly: "Asia is conventionally divided from Europe along the Ural Mountains and the Caucasus, a boundary drawn by convention rather than by any single physical barrier."
During glacial periods of the late Pleistocene, falling sea levels exposed Beringia, a land bridge across the present Bering Strait joining Siberia and Alaska. It existed intermittently until around 11,000 years ago, when rising seas submerged it and separated the two continents, closing the route early humans and animals had used to cross between them.
This source names Asia directly: "southern Europe, the Levant coast of Asia, and the Maghreb and Egyptian coast of North Africa."
This source names The Mediterranean directly: "Indian Ocean in the south, and from the Mediterranean and Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east."
This source names Asia directly: "southern Europe, the Levant coast of Asia and the North African coast, and connected to the Atlantic Ocean only through the narrow Strait of Gibraltar."
Home To
Russia is transcontinental; most of its land area, from the Urals to the Bering Strait, lies in Asia.
The Caucasus, Regions Why this is disputed. Geographers disagree which continent the Caucasus belongs to. This atlas places it on Asia by the Greater Caucasus watershed convention, the same convention that puts Mount Elbrus in Europe by an alternative reading; other conventions (the Kuma-Manych Depression, or the Kura and Rioni rivers) draw the line differently. See the linked open question and dissent.
Sources
1. Asia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationGeography section, country subdivision countQuote, Geography section, country subdivision count
Asia is subdivided into 49 countries, five of them (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey) are transcontinental countries lying partly in Europe.
1. Asia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationDefinition section, plate descriptionQuote, Definition section, plate description
Almost all of Europe and a major part of Asia sit atop the Eurasian Plate, adjoined on the south by the Arabian and Indian Plate and with the easternmost part of Siberia (east of the Chersky Range) on the North American Plate.
1. Asia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction, continent overviewQuote, Introduction, continent overview
Asia is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population.
1. Asia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead paragraph, opening sentencesQuote, Lead paragraph, opening sentences
Asia 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.
1. Asia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationInfobox, AreaQuote, Infobox, Area
44,579,000 km2 (17,212,000 sq mi)
1. Asia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationInfobox, Population (2021 estimate)Quote, Infobox, Population (2021 estimate)
4,694,576,167 (2021; 1st)
1. Asia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: The Pacific Ocean, Opening section, bordering oceansQuote, Associated With: The Pacific Ocean, Opening section, bordering oceans
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.
1. Asia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: The Indian Ocean, Opening section, bordering oceansQuote, Associated With: The Indian Ocean, Opening section, bordering oceans
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.
1. Asia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: The Arctic Ocean, Opening section, bordering oceansQuote, Associated With: The Arctic Ocean, Opening section, bordering oceans
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.
1. Asia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Central Asia, Geography section, Main regions subsectionQuote, Associated With: Central Asia, Geography section, Main regions subsection
North Asia (Siberia), Central Asia, West Asia (the Middle East or Near East and part of the Caucasus), South Asia (Indian subcontinent), East Asia (Far East), Southeast Asia (East Indies and Indochina).
1. Asia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: East Asia, Geography section, Main regions subsectionQuote, Associated With: East Asia, Geography section, Main regions subsection
North Asia (Siberia), Central Asia, West Asia (the Middle East or Near East and part of the Caucasus), South Asia (Indian subcontinent), East Asia (Far East), Southeast Asia (East Indies and Indochina).
1. Asia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: South Asia, Geography section, Main regions subsectionQuote, Associated With: South Asia, Geography section, Main regions subsection
North Asia (Siberia), Central Asia, West Asia (the Middle East or Near East and part of the Caucasus), South Asia (Indian subcontinent), East Asia (Far East), Southeast Asia (East Indies and Indochina).
1. Asia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Southeast Asia, Geography section, Main regions subsectionQuote, Associated With: Southeast Asia, Geography section, Main regions subsection
North Asia (Siberia), Central Asia, West Asia (the Middle East or Near East and part of the Caucasus), South Asia (Indian subcontinent), East Asia (Far East), Southeast Asia (East Indies and Indochina).
1. Asia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Siberia, Geography section, Main regions subsectionQuote, Associated With: Siberia, Geography section, Main regions subsection
North Asia (Siberia), Central Asia, West Asia (the Middle East or Near East and part of the Caucasus), South Asia (Indian subcontinent), East Asia (Far East), Southeast Asia (East Indies and Indochina).
1. Asia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: The Middle East, Geography section, Main regions subsectionQuote, Associated With: The Middle East, Geography section, Main regions subsection
North Asia (Siberia), Central Asia, West Asia (the Middle East or Near East and part of the Caucasus), South Asia (Indian subcontinent), East Asia (Far East), Southeast Asia (East Indies and Indochina).
1. Asia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: The Caucasus, Geography section, Main regions subsectionQuote, Associated With: The Caucasus, Geography section, Main regions subsection
North Asia (Siberia), Central Asia, West Asia (the Middle East or Near East and part of the Caucasus), South Asia (Indian subcontinent), East Asia (Far East), Southeast Asia (East Indies and Indochina).
2. Mount Everest (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundationopening paragraph, summit statusQuote, opening paragraph, summit status
Mount Everest...is the highest mountain on Earth above sea level.
2. Mount Everest (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundationopening paragraph, 2020 survey elevationQuote, opening paragraph, 2020 survey elevation
8,848.86 m (29,031 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
3. Dead Sea (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationInfobox, surface elevationQuote, Infobox, surface elevation
Surface elevation: -439.78 m (-1,443 ft) (2025) ... making its shores the lowest land-based elevation on Earth
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Home To: South Asia, South AsiaView the Source National Geographic Atlas of the World
National Geographic Society, 2019
National Geographic Atlas of the World
National Geographic Society, 2019World continents area table
The World Factbook
The World Factbook
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationHome To: The Pacific OceanView the Source United States Geological Survey
United States Geological SurveyAssociated With: North AmericaView the Source New Delhi (Wikipedia)
Dissenting Readings (2 dissenting readings)
In Category: Continents
Treating Asia as a continent separate from Europe is a convention, not a physical necessity: Europe and Asia share one uninterrupted landmass with no continuous water or tectonic boundary between them, only the historically drawn line along the Ural Mountains and Caucasus. Six-continent geography curricula, taught across Russia, much of Eastern Europe, Japan and elsewhere, combine the two into a single continent, Eurasia, and this atlas own description of Asia already notes the boundary is conventional rather than physical.
A dissenting reading, from Geography curricula of Russia, Eastern Europe, Japan and other six-continent-model traditionsEncyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Home To: The Caucasus
A widely used convention draws the Europe-Asia line along the Greater Caucasus watershed itself rather than around the whole range, which places Ciscaucasus (the northern slope, including southern Russia's Caucasus republics) in Europe and counts Mount Elbrus, on that northern slope, as the highest point in Europe rather than in Asia. Other sources instead draw the line at the Kuma-Manych Depression well north of the mountains, or along the Kura and Rioni rivers south of them, so the region's continental placement genuinely depends on which convention is followed rather than on any single physical boundary.
A dissenting reading, from a reviewerCaucasus (Wikipedia), Wikimedia Foundation
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the largest continent?
Asia, both by land area and by population.
Asia is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population, covering more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30 percent of Earth's total land area, and home to roughly 4.7 billion people, about 60 percent of the world's population.
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