Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

city is famous for its carpet-weaving

industry. It also has glassworks, cotton

mills, and metalworking shops.

The city was founded in 1881 as a Russian

military fort. It was called Ashkhabad.

During much of the 1900s it was

the capital of a republic of the Soviet

Union. An earthquake destroyed much

of the city in 1948, but it was rebuilt. In

1992 Turkmenistan became an independent

country with Ashkhabad as the

capital. The city then adopted the Turkmen

version of its name—Ashgabat.

..More to explore

Oasis • Turkmenistan

A statue of a horseman stands in

front of a monument in downtown

Ashgabat.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Ashgabat 199

 

Asia

The largest and most populated continent

is Asia. It has nearly one third of

the world’s total land area and is home

to more than half Earth’s people.

Land and Climate

Because Asia is so vast and varied, it is

often discussed in terms of six general

regions: Southwest, South, Southeast,

East, North, and Central Asia. Southwest

Asia consists mainly of countries on

or near the Arabian Peninsula, such as

Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and Israel.

Most of Turkey is also included in this

group. (Some of Turkey is considered

part of Europe.) The countries of Southwest

Asia are also part of a region known

as the Middle East. Much of the land in

Southwest Asia is desert.

The main geographic features of South,

Southeast, and East Asia are great

mountains, high plains, and islands.

India and Pakistan are major countries

in South Asia; Indonesia, Malaysia,

Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam

are in Southeast Asia; and China, Japan,

and North and South Korea are in East

Asia.

Northern Asia, also called Siberia, is part

of Russia. (Russia’s Ural Mountains

separate Asia and Europe, so Russia is

partly in Asia and partly in Europe.)

Siberia has mostly frozen plains and

swampy forest. Because of the extreme

cold, few people live there. Most of Central

Asia consists of desert, but in the

north are vast grasslands.

200 Asia BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Asia 201

 

The continent’s largest deserts are the

Gobi and the Takla Makan Desert in

East Asia and the Thar Desert in South

Asia. Many of the world’s highest peaks

are found in the Himalayas of South

Asia. The continent’s other major

mountain ranges include the Hindu

Kush, the Tian Shan, and the Altai, all

in Central Asia. Major Asian rivers

include the Yangtze and Huang He in

China; the Mekong and Irrawaddy in

Southeast Asia; the Ganges in India; and

the Ob in Russia. Some of the world’s

earliest civilizations developed along the

Indus River in India and the Tigris and

Euphrates rivers in Southwest Asia.

The climate of Asia varies greatly. The

continent has some of the hottest and

coldest places on Earth, as well as many

areas in between. Cherrapunji, India, is

one of the world’s wettest places, averaging

nearly 400 inches (1,000 centimeters)

of rain per year. Southwest Asia has

some of the world’s driest deserts. South

and Southeast Asia are hot, wet regions

with two distinctive seasons: a relatively

cool and dry winter and a rainy and hot

summer.

Plants and Animals

Because of the wide variety of climates

and physical features, there are many

types of plants. In northern Siberia

lichens, mosses, and some wildflowers

grow. To the south are evergreen forests

and grasslands. China has the most varied

vegetation of any country in the

world. Palm trees and bamboo grow in

the southern parts of China, South

Korea, and Japan. In South and Southeast

Asia rain forest is the main natural

vegetation, though large areas of trees

have been cut down to make room for

farming. In the mountains of Southwest

Asia there are forests of beech trees, evergreens,

hollies, and creepers.

Asia’s animals are as varied as its plants.

Northern Asia has polar bears, walruses,

moose, and reindeer, while wild camels

roam the Gobi. Asia’s reptiles include

crocodiles, king cobras, and Komodo

dragons. Animals found only in Asia

include the orangutan, giant panda,

Asian elephant, Siberian tiger, Bengal

tiger, and Indian rhinoceros. However,

the population of many animals in Asia

has been reduced because of the destruction

of animal habitats and uncontrolled

hunting.

The Tian Shan Mountains are a

major feature of Central Asia.

202 Asia BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

People

Many different groups of people live in

Asia. Arabs, Jews, Iranians, and Turks

are among the peoples of Southwest

Asia. South Asia is home to Indian

peoples. Southeast Asia’s wide variety of

peoples and cultures has been

influenced by India and China. The

main peoples in East Asia are the

Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans.

Northern Asia includes various Asian

groups, as well as Russians and other

Europeans.

Hundreds of different languages can be

heard throughout the continent. More

than 250 languages are spoken in Indonesia

alone. Some of the most widely

used languages in Asia include Arabic,

which is spoken in parts of Southwest

Asia; Hindi, spoken in India; and Chinese

(Mandarin), spoken in China. Russian,

English, and French are also

spoken.

The world’s major religions—Buddhism,

Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and