ASIA

Asia is the larges continent of the world.

Area: - 44387000 sq. Km.

Population- 59% of the world population

Extension- From 10degree south to 80 degree north up to the frozen shores of Arctic Ocean.

Boarder- To the east lies Pacific Ocean, to the south lies Indian Ocean and to the north lies Arctic Ocean. The Ural Mountain separates Asia and Europe in the west and Suez Canal and Red sea cut it off from Africa.

Physical features –

(1) Northern Lowlands   (2) Central Mountain Ranges

(3) Southern Plateaus      (4) Great River Valleys          (5) Islands

 Northern Lowlands: The northern lowland lies in the north western part of the continent. It borders on the Arctic Ocean. Since this region is not complete plain it can be described as lowland. The northern lowland consists of great Siberian plain in north and central lowland of Asia in south. The great Siberian plain forms the northern lowland. This is drained by Ob, yenisey, Lena Rivers. These Three great rivers are very long and slow and flow northwards into the artic ocean. The region between Ural Mountain and Yenisey River is almost leveled plain and the region between yenisey and Lena River is an undulating upland. The lowland of central Asia is small area of inland drainage. This is drained by Amu Darya and Syr Darya River. They originate in the mountain of central Asia and drain into Aral Sea, a lake in the heart of Asia. The Caspian Sea and Aral Sea are the two inland seas in Asia.

Central Mountain System: It is a great area of lofty mountains highlands. They form a triangle in the heart of Asia. Most of the mountain of Asia starts from the plateau of Pamir known as Pamir Knot.

Southern plateaus: There are three plateaus built up of hard rocks and rich in valuable mineral deposits. They are the plateau of Arabia, the Deccan plateau of peninsular of India and the plateau of Yunnan and Indo-china.

Great River valleys: They have been formed by rivers and are located between the central mountain ranges and the southern plateaus. These are fertile areas of lowland with vast stretches of alluvial soil. Some of them are- Mesopotamian, Indus valley, Irrawady plain Inde-Gangetic plain etc.

Islands: These are series of island groups; each group situated in a bow shape off the east coast of Asia. Some of them are Andaman and Nicobar, Japan, Sri Lanka, Philippines etc.

14% of the land of Asia is used for agriculture.

Rice: China is the largest producer of rice as it alone produces 36% rice of the world. India is the next greatest producer of rice as it accounts for 20% of the world’s rice. Asia accounts for about 90% of the world production of rice.

Wheat: The major wheat producers of Asia are China and India. Pakistan also produces plenty of wheat. It is also grown in the dry desert of Asia with the help of irrigation.

Jute: It is grown mostly in India and Bangladesh as these two countries contribute about 95% jute of the world. Asia alone produces 96% of world jute.

Cotton: China is the largest producer of cotton in Asia. 36% of world’s cotton comes from Asia.

Sugarcane: India is the leading sugarcane producing country of the world as it alone produces 20% of the sugarcane of the world. Asia produces 38.5% of the sugarcane of the world.

Tea: South East Asia is the largest producer of tea in the world. China was the greatest producer, consumer, and trader of tea for centuries. The major tea producing countries are China, India, Japan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka etc.

Rubber: Malaysia is the largest producer of Rubber as it provides 44% of the world total production. Indonesia is the second largest producer. About 96% of the world’s rubber comes from Asia.