Contents a A _ 8 10 12 14 16 18 Where is Asia Countries Early civilizations Regions Climates Wildlife Natural landmarks Human made landmarks Industries Settlements Sports Culture Food and drink Further information Glossary Index 20 22 24 26 28 30 31 32
ASIA Where is Asia Asia is the largest continent in the world Its giant landmass borders Africa and Europe to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east where the continent is made up of thousands of islands Landmass Asia covers just under one third of all the land on Earth ASIA Europe In Pacific Ocean Indian D Ocean Africa Locating Asia We can describe the position of Asia in relation to the areas of land and water that surround it as well as by using the points on a compass Asia is east of Europe Asia is northeast of Africa Asia is north of the Indian Ocean Asia is west of the Pacific Ocean
Making the continent even larger Continents are divided by natural features such as mountain ranges or seas Some geographers define a continent as being made up of one mass of land and therefore view Asia and Europe as a single continent called Eurasia AFRO EURASIA EURASIA Africa is connected to Asia by land so some geographers have referred to it as a supercontinent called Afro Eurasia or Eurafrasia Early map The oldest known world map is from Asia and dates from around 600 B C E It only shows a few territories all within Asia It was made in Babylon now part of modern day Iraq which the map places in the center of the world Mountains F Habban Urartu Babylon But Yakin Elam Ocean Mountains Urai Assyria Babylon a Der Elam The map is a symbolic map of the world rather than a realistic interpretation It mentions mythical creatures that connect the world to the heavens This modern day map shows the actual locations of the ancient places from the 600 B CE
