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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 estimated 4.8 billion people in 2025 constituted approximately 59% 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 or geographical separation between them. A commonly accepted division places Asia east of the Suez Canal, which separates it from Africa; and east of the Turkish Straits, the Ural Mountains, and the Ural River, and south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Seas, which separate 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...)

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Featured article

1915 interpretation of Rus' Varangians and their longships in Gardariki, by Nicholas Roerich

The Caspian expeditions of the Rus' were military raids undertaken by the Rus' between the late 9th century and c. 1041 on the Caspian Sea shores, of what are nowadays Iran, Dagestan, and Azerbaijan. Initially, the Rus' appeared in Serkland in the 9th century travelling as merchants along the Volga trade route, selling furs, honey, and slaves. The first small-scale Viking raids took place in the late 9th and early 10th century. The Rus' undertook the first large-scale expedition in 913; having arrived on 500 ships, they pillaged in the Gorgan region, in the territory of present-day Iran, and more to the west, in Gilan and Mazandaran, taking slaves and goods. On their return, the northern raiders were attacked and defeated by the Khazars in the Volga Delta, and those who escaped were killed by the local tribes in the middle Volga.

During their next expedition in 943, the Rus' captured Bardha'a, the capital of Arran, in the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan. The Rus' stayed there for several months, killing many inhabitants of the city and amassing substantial plunder. It was only an outbreak of dysentery among the Rus' that forced them to depart with their spoils. Sviatoslav, prince of Kiev, commanded the next attack, which destroyed the Khazar state in 965. Sviatoslav's campaign established the Rus's hold on the north-south trade routes, helping to alter the demographics of the region. Raids continued through the time period with the last Scandinavian attempt to reestablish the route to the Caspian Sea taking place in c. 1041 by Ingvar the Far-Travelled. (Full article...)

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Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south. Yerevan is the capital, largest city and financial center.

The Armenian highlands have been home to the Hayasa-Azzi, Shupria, and Nairi peoples. By at least 600 BC, an archaic form of Proto-Armenian, an Indo-European language, had diffused into the Armenian highlands. The first Armenian state of Urartu was established in 860 BC, and by the 6th century BC it was replaced by the Satrapy of Armenia. The Kingdom of Armenia reached its height under Tigranes the Great in the 1st century BC and in AD 301 became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion. Armenia still recognises the Armenian Apostolic Church, the world's oldest national church, as the country's primary religious establishment. The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires around the early 5th century. Under the Bagratuni dynasty, the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia was restored in the 9th century before falling in 1045. Cilician Armenia, an Armenian principality and later a kingdom, was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between the 11th and 14th centuries. (Full article...)

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Featured biography

Akhter Hameed Khan (Urdu: اختر حمید خان, pronounced [ˈəxt̪ər ɦəˈmiːd̪ xaːn]; 15 July 1914 – 9 October 1999) was a Pakistani-Bangladeshi development practitioner and social scientist. He promoted participatory rural development in West Pakistan, East Pakistan and other developing countries, and widely advocated community participation in development. His particular contribution was the establishment of a comprehensive project for rural development, the Comilla Model (1959). It earned him the Ramon Magsaysay Award from the Philippines and an honorary Doctorate of law from Michigan State University.

In the 1980s he started a bottom-up community development initiative of Orangi Pilot Project, based in the outskirts of Karachi, which became a model of participatory development initiatives. He also directed many programmes, from microcredit to self-finance and from housing provision to family planning, for rural communities and urban slums. It earned him international recognition and high honours in Pakistan. Khan was fluent in at least seven languages and dialects. Apart from many scholarly books and articles, he also published a collection of poems and travelogues in Urdu. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (from History of Asia)
Image 2The 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 3Expansion of the Mongol Empire 1206–1294 (from History of Asia)
Image 4The Mughal ambassador Khan’Alam in 1618 negotiating with Shah Abbas the Great of Iran. (from History of Asia)
Image 5Invasions, destruction and possible population movements during the Late Bronze Age collapse, beginning c. 1200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 6Sculpture of Prince Shōtoku (from History of Asia)
Image 7Byzantine and Sasanian Empires in 600 AD (from History of Asia)
Image 8The Qing conquest of the Ming and expansion of the empire (from History of Asia)
Image 9the Goryeo ware, which shows splendid culture of Goryeo in mediaeval Korea. (from History of Asia)
Image 10Badshahi Mosque built under the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Lahore, Pakistan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 11Traditional Rajasthani garments from Jaipur, Rajasthan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 12The Great Wave off Kanagawa, c. 1830 by Hokusai, an example of art flourishing in the Edo Period (from History of Asia)
Image 13The 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 14Daian-ji temple at Nara, Japan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 15Chicken tikka, a well-known dish across the globe, reflects the South Asian cooking style. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 16East Asian cultural sphere (from Culture of Asia)
Image 17The early Muslim conquests, 622–750 (from History of Asia)
Image 18Robert Clive and Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, 1757 by Francis Hayman (from History of Asia)
Image 19Gojong (1852–1919), the 26th king of Joseon dynasty and the first emperor of Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 20Projected shares of global GDP by region to 2050 (from Asian Century)
Image 21Đại Việt, Champa, Angkor Empire and their neighbours, late 13th century (from History of Asia)
Image 22The 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 23Expansion of the Delhi Sultanate (from History of Asia)
Image 24Language families in South Asia (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 26Map of the Qing Empire in 1832 (from History of Asia)
Image 27Deoksugung, the palace where Emperor Gojong established the Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 28The Taj Mahal, Agra, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 29The Grand Mosque in Kuwait City, one of the largest mosques in the region (from Culture of Asia)
Image 30Kabsa also called Majboos, famous in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates (from Culture of Asia)
Image 31Indonesian Balinese cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 32Philippine cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 33The Silk Road in Asia (from History of Asia)
Image 34The First Persian Empire at its greatest extent, c. 500 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 35Map of Asia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 36Sun temple at Konarka, Odisha, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 37Korean 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 38Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jeruslam (from Culture of Asia)
Image 39The Han dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 40Ancient ziggurat, Iraq (from Culture of Asia)
Image 41Hinduism 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 42The Battle of Chinkiang of the First Opium War (from History of Asia)
Image 43Population concentration and boundaries of the Western Zhou dynasty in China (from History of Asia)
Image 44Detail 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 45Machiya in Heian period (from History of Asia)
Image 46Some 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 47Angkor Wat, Khmer Empire (from Culture of Asia)
Image 48A stone image of the Buddha (from Culture of Asia)
Image 49Tang dynasty Chinese poet Li Bai, in a 13th-century depiction by Liang Kai (from Culture of Asia)
Image 50The Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan, which was the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010 (from Asian Century)

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Featured picture

Masada

Credit: Photograph: Andrew Shiva

An aerial view of Masada, an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel. Found atop an isolated rock plateau, it overlooks the Dead Sea. The first fortifications on the mountain were built by Alexander Jannaeus, and significantly strengthened by the Roman client king Herod between 37 and 31 BCE. During the First Jewish–Roman War of 66–73 CE, the fortress was besieged, falling only after the 960 Sicarii defending it committed mass suicide. Masada is among the more popular tourist attractions in Israel, and in 2001 it was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Did you know...

... that, after an attempt to sell the Tokamak de Varennes to Iran failed, it became a display at the Canada Science and Technology Museum?
... that in 2023, Chinese Coast Guardsman Wang Xiaolong was officially declared a Martyr?
... that Korean science fiction has evolved into distinct North and South branches since the first work appeared in 1929?
... that a former Indonesian ambassador was spared by Khmer Rouge forces after repeatedly shouting "Indonesia"?
... that Karl Malte von Heinz designed the Vatican, Pakistani, Yugoslav and Thai diplomatic missions in India?
... that an Indiana radio station's first studio building featured wasps, bird nests, and crickets that were audible on the air?
... that Indonesian mystic Mbah Suro reportedly consumed only coffee and cigarettes for two years?
... that the female founder of a dervish group in Afghanistan was forced to flee the country in 2021?
... that Indonesian legislator Alifuddin pushed for the passage of an anti-LGBT "Family Resilience" law in response to the publicization of an incest-fantasy Facebook group?
... that after losing a Shanghai mansion to the Empire of Japan in World War II, British hotelier Victor Sassoon abandoned repossession plans following a communist takeover?

Updated: 16:05, 26 October 2026

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In the news

27 October 2026 – 2026 Israeli legislative election: Israelis vote to elect the 120 members of the Knesset. (Reuters) (BBC)
26 October 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis: Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip; Israel launches an airstrike against a tent for displaced people in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, killing four Palestinians, including a child, and wounding many more. (Al Jazeera); The Israel Defense Forces says that they have killed four Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants in the Gaza Strip over the weekend. (The Jerusalem Post); Egypt–Saudi Arabia relations, Houthi–Saudi conflict, Yemeni civil war; Egypt's parliament authorizes President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to provide military support to Saudi Arabia if requested amid Houthi attacks in Saudi territory. (AFP via France 24)

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Related portals

Major Religions in Asia

Middle East (West Asia)

Central Asia

Indian Subcontinent

Southeast Asia

East Asia

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Selected panorama

Credit: Guillaume Piolle

Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire.

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