THE ASIAN CONTINENT
1. Asia extends over one-third of the entire world’s land area. It covers 30% of the earth’s surface.
2. With its 44.6 million square kilometres of land mass it is actually larger than the moon.
3. The continent is the most populous of all. The over 4.4 billion people living in Asia make up for roughly 60% of the world’s population. India (1.339 billion in 2017) and China (1.386 billion in 2017) have the highest population.
4. Asia is part of Eurasia and connects to Europe and Africa. In a particular cold winter, when the Bering Sea freezes, it also connects to North America.
5. There are 48 countries in Asia. Three of them, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey have their land in Europe but are still considered part of Asia.
6. Asia can be divided in 6 sub-continents. South West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia, India and South East Asia.
7. Asia has a very diverse climate from the Artic region of Siberia to the topical region of South-East Asia. This is where the most tropical storms occur.
SOME CURIOUS FACTS
8. Thailand is the only country in Asia that has not been colonialised by Europeans.
9. Bangkok is the most visited city in Asia. It tops New York City, London or Paris.
10. In Vietnam it is custom to drink snake wine. A real whole snake gets oozed in rice wine.
11. It is prohibited to get fat in Japan.
12. Japan ranks second for the number of millionaires behind the United States.
13. China produces 45 billion chopsticks every year.
14. In Vietnam, every body celebrates their birthday during New Year. It marks day 1 of the lunar year.
15. In Vietnam and Korea the age of a person is determined by the number of lunar years and not by actual their birth day.
16. There is no Christmas in North Korea. However, celebrations do take place place as it is the birthday of Kim Jong Il’s mother.
17. In India food is eaten with the fingers of the right hand. The left hand is used for other purposes such cleaning after toilet.
18. Due to China’s vast size it should have 5 time zones. However, there is only one i.e. the China Standard Time.
19. The Great Wall of China is among the most famous landmarks in Asia. It can be seen from space.
20. The national game of Afghanistan is goat grabbing.
21. The Gobi desert is the largest in Asia.
AND SOME MORE CURIOUS FACTS
22. It is estimated that some 44 never before contacted tribes live in the jungles of Indonesia.
23. The Yangtze River, with its 6300 kilometres, is the longest of Asia .
24. Due to the high air pollution, it is not uncommon to buy canned fresh air in China.
25. There is a separate Valentine’s day for singles in South Korea.
26. There are over 160 volcanoes in Indonesia.
27. Some 400,00 rickshaws are on the road in Dhaka Bangladesh every day.
28. Japan’s national anthem is only 4 lines long.
29. Indonesia is made up of over 17,000 islands.
30. There are some 2,300 languages recognised in Asia. The most spoken language is Chinese with over 1.39 billion speakers. This is followed by India with over 588 million Hindi-Urdu speakers.
31. Fourteen of the highest mountains are found in Asia. Each one is over 8000 meters high. Ten peaks are located in the Himalaya and four in the Karakoram range.
32. In Hong Kong, there are 2.4 phones per capita compared to North Korea where there are 12.2 cell phones per 100 citizens.
33. The 14th Dalai Lama hails from Tibet.
34. Deforestation is larger in Asia than in the Amazons region. The trees are replaced by palm oil plantations.
35. Oran Utans are found only in Sumatra and Borneo. Due to deforestation they are in danger of extinction.
SOME RECORDS
36. The most populated city in the world is the industrial city Chongqing in China with some 30 million inhabitants. Followed by Shanghai with some 24 million inhabitants.
37. China is number one on the list for having the most natural resources estimated to be worth $23 trillion.
38. Angkor Wat in Cambodia is the largest religious monument in the world.
39. The highest population density of the world is found in Macau (Administrative Region belonging to China) with 21,411 people /m2.
40. The deepest lake in the world is the Caspian Sea. It shares its coastline with Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Iran.
41. Four of the five tallest buildings in the world are located in Asia.
42. Japan has the longest life expectancy with women reaching 87.3 and men 85 years.
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Also check out:
And my post on the Wat Chalon Temple in Phuket
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