"peoples of the vast region. Central Asia is sometimes referred to as Turkestan. There are several places that claim to be the geographic center of Asia, for example Kyzyl, the capital of Tuva in the Russian Federation, and a village north of Ürümqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region of China. Central Asia is an extremely large region of varied geography, including high passes and mountains (Tian Shan), vast deserts (Kyzyl Kum, Taklamakan), and especially treeless, grassy steppes. The vast steppe areas of Central Asia are considered together with the steppes of Eastern Europe as a homogeneous geographical zone known"
"Northeast Asia Terms such as Northeast Asia, North East Asia, or Northeastern Asia refer to a subregion of Asia: the northeastern landmass and islands, bordering the Pacific Ocean. It includes, paradoxically, the core countries of East Asia (see map). The term Northeast Asia was popularized during the 1930s by the American historian and political scientist Robert Kerner. Under Kerner's definition, ""Northeast Asia"" included the Mongolian Plateau, the Manchurian Plain, the Korean Peninsula, and the mountainous regions of the Russian Far East, stretching from Lake Baikal in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. The definition of Northeast Asia"
"with temperatures between summer and winter. It is also a mountainous area. Northeast Asia Terms such as Northeast Asia, North East Asia, or Northeastern Asia refer to a subregion of Asia: the northeastern landmass and islands, bordering the Pacific Ocean. It includes, paradoxically, the core countries of East Asia (see map). The term Northeast Asia was popularized during the 1930s by the American historian and political scientist Robert Kerner. Under Kerner's definition, ""Northeast Asia"" included the Mongolian Plateau, the Manchurian Plain, the Korean Peninsula, and the mountainous regions of the Russian Far East, stretching from Lake Baikal in the west"
"North Asia North Asia or Northern Asia (Northwestern Asia or Northwest Asia; ), () sometimes known as Siberia or Eurasia, is partly a subregion of Asia, consisting of the Russian regions of Siberia, Ural and the Russian Far East – an area east of the Ural Mountains. The region is sometimes also referred to as Asian Russia (as opposed to the smaller but more densely populated European Russia to the west). North Asia is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by Eastern Europe, to the south by Central and East Asia, and to the east"
"High-mountain Asia High-mountain Asia is a high geographic region that includes the Asian mountain ranges surrounding the Tibetan Plateau. The region is the ""world's largest reservoir of perennial glaciers and snow outside of the Earth's polar ice sheets"". These headwaters support more than 1 billion people, and changes in the mountains affect ""ecosystem services, agriculture, energy and livelihood"" for the surrounding areas. NASA has a High Mountain Asia Team (HiMAT) to study the area. High-mountain Asia (HMA) extends from the Himalayas in the south and east to the Hindu Kush in the west and Tien Shan in the north. Karakoram,"
"peaks of Asia from the European Alps. Greater Ranges The Greater Ranges comprise the high mountain ranges of Asia: The UIAA gives a broader definition of the Greater Ranges than the traditional one. With the increasing popularity of global travel and adventure sports, this definition is now somewhat more popular than the original. In addition to the ranges listed above, the ranges also comprise: All of these ranges have peaks over , and most have peaks over . The Greater Ranges contain all of the world's peaks higher than . The term was popular amongst alpinists in the Victorian period"
"Asia"" is sometimes used to refer to a wide geographical area covering ten Southeast Asian countries in ASEAN, Greater China, Japan and Korea. However, in this context, the term ""Far East"" is used by the Europeans to cover ASEAN countries and the countries in East Asia. However, being a Eurocentric term, Far East describes the region's geographical position in relation to Europe rather than its location within Asia. Alternatively, the term ""Asia Pacific Region"" is often used in describing East Asia, Southeast Asia as well as Oceania. Observers preferring a broader definition of ""East Asia"" often use the term Northeast"
"Indo-Gangetic Plain The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the Indus-Ganga Plain and the North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain encompassing Northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, including most of northern and eastern India, the eastern parts of Pakistan, virtually all of Bangladesh and southern plains of Nepal. The region is named after the Indus and the Ganges rivers and encompasses a number of large urban areas. The plain is bound on the north by the Himalayas, which feed its numerous rivers and are the source of the fertile alluvium deposited across the region by the two river systems."
"northern desert-bay are clothed with scanty grass, and spring thus turns the region for a short time into grasslands. The history of Western Asia may be described as an age-long struggle between the mountain peoples of the north and the desert wanderers of these grasslands—a struggle which is still going on—for the possession of the Fertile Crescent, the shores of the desert-bay. There is no name, either geographical or political, which includes all of this great semicircle (see map, p. 100). Hence we are obliged to coin a term and call it the Fertile Crescent. In current usage, the Fertile"
"South Asia South Asia or Southern Asia, is a term used to represent the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan SAARC countries and, for some authorities, adjoining countries to the west and east. Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian Plate, which rises above sea level as Nepal and northern parts of India situated south of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush. South Asia is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean and on land (clockwise, from west) by West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. The current territories of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,"
"lowlands, the Putorana Plateau, the Anabar Plateau, the Tunguska Plateau, and the Angara Plateau; and the Lena–Vilyuy Basin. Western Siberia is usually regarded as the Northwest Asia, Kazakhstan also sometimes included there. But Northwest Asia sometimes refers to Caucasus or nearby provinces. The geomorphology of Asia in general is imperfectly known, although the deposits and mountain ranges are well known. To compensate for new sea floor having been created in the Siberian basin, the whole of the Asian Plate has pivoted about a point in the New Siberian Islands, causing compression in the Verkhoyansk mountains, which were formed along the"
"Northeast China Plain The Northeast China Plain (), also known as the Manchurian Plain, is located in Northeast China. It lies between the Greater and Lesser Khingan and Changbai mountains. Covering 350,000 km, it is China's largest plain, with an elevation of lower than 200 meters. The Songhua, Nen, and Liao rivers run through its vast and fertile land. The Manchurian plain of Asia is the other name of Amur valley. This plain includes Songnan Plain in north, Liaohe Plain in the south and Shanjiang Plain in the northeast. It is suitable for mechanized farming, and huge areas are planted"
"Greater Ranges The Greater Ranges comprise the high mountain ranges of Asia: The UIAA gives a broader definition of the Greater Ranges than the traditional one. With the increasing popularity of global travel and adventure sports, this definition is now somewhat more popular than the original. In addition to the ranges listed above, the ranges also comprise: All of these ranges have peaks over , and most have peaks over . The Greater Ranges contain all of the world's peaks higher than . The term was popular amongst alpinists in the Victorian period and was used to distinguished the high"
"ethnic groups that live in the region and make a significant portion are ethnic Germans and they number about 400,000. In 1875, Chambers reported the population of Northern Asia to be 8 million. Between 1801 and 1914 an estimated 7 million settlers moved from European Russia to Siberia, 85% during the quarter-century before World War I. North Asia North Asia or Northern Asia (Northwestern Asia or Northwest Asia; ), () sometimes known as Siberia or Eurasia, is partly a subregion of Asia, consisting of the Russian regions of Siberia, Ural and the Russian Far East – an area east of"
"Tartary Tartary (Latin: ""Tartaria"") or Great Tartary (Latin: ""Tartaria Magna"") was a historical region in northern and central Asia stretching eastwards from the Caspian Sea and from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, inhabited mostly by Turkic peoples. The vast country spanned much of the Pontic-Caspian steppe, Volga-Urals, the Caucasus, Siberia, Central Asia, Mongolia, and Manchuria. Tartary was often divided into sections with prefixes denoting the name of the ruling power or the geographical location. Thus, western Siberia was ""Muscovite"" or ""Russian Tartary"", Xinjiang and Mongolia were ""Chinese"" or ""Cathay Tartary"", western Central Asia (later Russian Central Asia) was"
"also one of the major political centers and has significant influence on the international affairs. By the end of the 1990s, Northeast Asia had a share of 12% of global energy consumption, with a strong trend. By 2030 the strong economic growth in the region is expected to double or triple this share. In biogeography, Northeast Asia generally refers to roughly the area spanning Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Northeast China, and the Russian Far East between Lake Baikal in Central Siberia and the Pacific Ocean. Northeast Asia is mainly covered with temperate forest and grassland. There is a vast contrast"
"Near East The Near East is a geographical term that roughly encompasses Western Asia. Despite having varying definitions within different academic circles, the term was originally applied to the maximum extent of the Ottoman Empire. The term has fallen into disuse in English and has been replaced by the terms ""Middle East"" and ""West Asia"", the former of which may include Egypt, and the latter strictly Southwest Asia, including the Transcaucasus. According to the National Geographic Society, the terms ""Near East"" and ""Middle East"" denote the same territories and are ""generally accepted as comprising the countries of the Arabian Peninsula,"
"then British India's Baluchistan province. Modern Iran has a province named Sistan va Baluchistan that borders Pakistan and has Baluchis in an ethnic majority. In 1957 Pakistan signed a frontier agreement with Iran in Rawalpindi according to which the border was officially declared and the two countries haven't had this border as a subject of serious dispute at all. The Northern Areas has five of the world's seventeen highest peaks along with highest range of mountains the Karakoram and Himalayas. It also has such extensive glaciers that it has sometimes been called the ""Third Pole"". The international border-line has been"
"to as North America's ""wind corridor."" Great Plains The Great Plains (sometimes simply ""the Plains"") is the broad expanse of flat land (a plain), much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland, that lies west of the Mississippi River tallgrass prairie in the United States and east of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. and Canada. It embraces: The region is known for supporting extensive cattle ranching and dry farming. The Canadian portion of the Plains is known as the Prairies. It covers much of Alberta and southern Saskatchewan, and a narrow band of southern Manitoba. Despite covering a"
"excrescence of the continent of Asia"". Geographically, Asia is the major eastern constituent of the continent of Eurasia with Europe being a northwestern peninsula of the landmass. Asia, Europe and Africa make up a single continuous landmass – Afro-Eurasia (except for the Suez Canal) – and share a common continental shelf. Almost all of Europe and the better 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. The idea of a place called ""Asia"""
"cease-fire line established at the end of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, or the Line of Control as it later came to be called, were divided into the Northern Areas (72,971 km²) in the north and the Pakistani state of Azad Kashmir (13,297 km²) in the south. The name ""Northern Areas"" was first used by the United Nations to refer to the northern areas of Kashmir. Gilgit Baltistan, which was most recently known as the Northern Areas, presently consists of ten districts, has a population approaching two million, has an area of approximately , and shares borders with China, Afghanistan,"
"Great Plains The Great Plains (sometimes simply ""the Plains"") is the broad expanse of flat land (a plain), much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland, that lies west of the Mississippi River tallgrass prairie in the United States and east of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. and Canada. It embraces: The region is known for supporting extensive cattle ranching and dry farming. The Canadian portion of the Plains is known as the Prairies. It covers much of Alberta and southern Saskatchewan, and a narrow band of southern Manitoba. Despite covering a relatively small geographic area, the Prairies"
"Amsterdam to refer to the huge massif of mainland Southeast Asia that has historically been beyond the control of governments based in the population centers of the lowlands. The massif arose during the Alpine orogeny, when the African, Indian and Cimmerian Plates, and smaller Asian terrains, collided with that of Eurasia. The name is from Zomi, a term for highlander common to several related Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in the India-Bangladesh-Burma border area. The exact boundaries of Zomia differ among scholars: all would include the highlands of north Indochina (north Vietnam and all Laos,) Thailand, the Shan State of northern Burma,"
"importance to the national economy and played an important role in calming the raging floodwaters of 1992, which devastated large areas in the northern highlands and the Punjab plains. Cholistan Desert The Cholistan desert spans an area of 16,000 square kilometers. The name ""Cholistan"" is derived from the Turkish word ""chol,"" meaning ""desert,"" though the desert is locally known as Rohi. The desert hosts an annual jeep rally, which draws many tourists. Indus Valley Desert The Indus Valley Desert is located in the northern area of Pakistan. The desert spans an area of 19,500 square kilometers and is surrounded by"
"Greater Khorasan Khorasan (Middle Persian: ; ""Xorāsān"", ), sometimes called Greater Khorasan, is a historical region lying in northeast of Greater Persia, including part of Central Asia and Afghanistan. The name simply means ""East, Orient"" (literally ""sunrise"") and loosely includes the territory of the Sasanian Empire north-east of Persia proper. Early Islamic usage often regarded everywhere east of so-called Jibal or what was subsequently termed 'Iraq Ajami' (Persian Iraq), as being included in a vast and loosely-defined region of Khorasan, which might even extend to the Indus Valley and Sindh. During the Islamic period, Khorasan along with Persian Iraq were"
"Third Pole The Asian High Mountain region or the ""Hindu Kush - Karakoram - Himalayan"" (HKKH) region spans an area of more than 4.5 million square kilometers (1.7 million square miles) in ten countries, i.e. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The region stores more snow and ice than anywhere else in the world outside the polar regions, giving its name: ’The Third Pole‘. The Third Pole contains the world’s highest mountains, including all 14 peaks above 8,000 meters (5 miles), is the source of 10 major rivers, and forms a formidable global ecological buffer."
"the 1970s and 80s. West Siberian Plain The West Siberian Plain, also known as Zapadno-sibirskaya Ravnina, () is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei River in the east, and by the Altay Mountains on the southeast. Much of the plain is poorly drained and consists of some of the world's largest swamps and floodplains. Important cities include Omsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Chelyabinsk. The West Siberian Plain is located east of the Ural Mountains mostly in the territory of Russia. It has been described as the world's"
"and Whites until Soviet Union asserted full control in 1923. The collapse of Soviet Union in 1991 left Russia as the administrator of the region. For geographic and statistical reasons, the UN geoscheme and various other classification schemes will not subdivide countries, and thus place all of Russia in the Europe or Eastern Europe subregion. There are no mountain chains in Northern Asia to prevent air currents from the Arctic flowing down over the plains of Siberia and Turkestan. The plateau and plains of Northern Asia comprise the West Siberian lowlands; the Angara Shield, with the Taimyr Peninsula, the coastal"
"West Siberian Plain The West Siberian Plain, also known as Zapadno-sibirskaya Ravnina, () is a large plain that occupies the western portion of Siberia, between the Ural Mountains in the west and the Yenisei River in the east, and by the Altay Mountains on the southeast. Much of the plain is poorly drained and consists of some of the world's largest swamps and floodplains. Important cities include Omsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Chelyabinsk. The West Siberian Plain is located east of the Ural Mountains mostly in the territory of Russia. It has been described as the world's largest unbroken lowland—more than"
"knowledge of this situation, and its potential implications, outside the immediate vicinity; a special effort is needed to raise awareness of the fragility of the mountain social-ecological system. Third Pole The Asian High Mountain region or the ""Hindu Kush - Karakoram - Himalayan"" (HKKH) region spans an area of more than 4.5 million square kilometers (1.7 million square miles) in ten countries, i.e. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The region stores more snow and ice than anywhere else in the world outside the polar regions, giving its name: ’The Third Pole‘. The Third Pole"
"by the Pacific Ocean and North America. North Asia covers an area of approximately or 8.8% of the earth's land area, or 1.5 times the size of Brazil. It is the largest subregion of Asia by area, but is also the least populated, with an approximate total population of only 33 million people or 0.74% of Asia’s population. North Asia is solely administrated by Russia, and makes up more than 75% of the territory of the country, but only 22% of its population, at a density of 2.5 people per km (6.5 per sq mi). Topographically, the region is dominated"
"Asia Asia () is Earth's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the Eastern and Northern Hemispheres. It shares the continental landmass of Eurasia with the continent of Europe and the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Europe and Africa. Asia covers an area of , about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8.7% of the 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 civilizations. Asia is notable for not only its overall large size and population, but also dense"
"Deserts are defined as areas with an average annual precipitation of less than per year, or as areas where more water is lost by evapotranspiration than falls as precipitation. The northern half of Africa is occupied by the world's most extensive hot, dry region, the Sahara Desert. Some deserts are also occupying much of southern Africa : the Namib and the Kalahari. Across Asia, a large annual rainfall minimum, composed primarily of deserts, stretches from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia west-southwest through western Pakistan (Balochistan) and Iran into the Arabian Desert in Saudi Arabia. Most of Australia is semi-arid or"