Editing Asia (section)

== Geography ==
{{Main|Geography of Asia}}
{{See also|:Category:Biota of Asia}}
[[File:Himalayas.jpg|thumb|The [[Himalayas|Himalayan]] range is home to some of the planet's highest peaks.]]
Asia is the largest continent on Earth. It covers 9% of the Earth's total surface area (or 30% of its land area), and has the longest coastline, at {{convert|62800|km|mi|0}}. Asia is generally defined as comprising the eastern four-fifths of Eurasia. It is located to the east of the [[Suez Canal]] and the [[Ural Mountains]], and south of the [[Caucasus Mountains]] (or the [[Kuma–Manych Depression]]) and the [[Caspian Sea|Caspian]] and [[Black Sea]]s.<ref name="National Geographic-1999" /><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Asia |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110518/Asia |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] Online |year=2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118141016/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110518/Asia |archive-date=18 November 2008}}</ref> It is bounded on the east by the [[Pacific Ocean]], on the south by the Indian Ocean and on the north by the Arctic Ocean. Asia is subdivided into 49 countries, five of them ([[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Russia]], [[Kazakhstan]] and [[Turkey]]) are [[transcontinental countries]] lying partly in Europe. Geographically, Russia is partly in Asia, but is considered a [[List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Europe|European nation]], both [[Russian culture|culturally]] and politically.

The [[Gobi Desert]] is in Mongolia and the [[Arabian Desert]] stretches across much of the Middle East. The [[Yangtze]] in China is the longest river in the continent. The Himalayas between Nepal and China is the tallest mountain range in the world. [[Tropical rainforest]]s stretch across much of southern Asia and coniferous and [[deciduous]] forests lie farther north.

<gallery>
File:Tundra in Siberia.jpg|[[Siberian]] [[tundra]]
File:Gunung Palung Jungle.jpg|[[Rainforest]] in [[Borneo]]
File:Kerala Backwaters, India.JPG|[[Kerala backwaters]]
File:Naadam rider 2.jpg|Mongolian [[steppe]]
File:1 li jiang guilin yangshuo 2011.jpg|[[South China Karst]]
File:Taman Negara, Malaysia, Panoramic view.jpg|[[Taman Negara]], [[Peninsular Malaysia]]
File:Akkem Valley 2011.jpg|[[Altai Mountains]]
File:Hunza Valley from Eagle Point.jpg|[[Hunza Valley]]
File:Baa atoll islands.JPG|[[Atolls of the Maldives]]
File:Red sand of the Wadi Rum desert.jpg|[[Wadi Rum]] in [[Jordan]]
</gallery>

=== Main regions ===
[[File:Detailed map of Asian regions.png|thumb|upright=1.4|Detailed map of Asian regions]]

There are various approaches to the regional division of Asia. The following subdivision into regions is used, among others, by the [[United Nations Statistics Division]] (UNSD). This division of Asia into regions by the United Nations is done solely for statistical reasons and does not imply any assumption about political or other affiliations of countries and territories.<ref>{{cite web |title=Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use (M49 Standard) |publisher=UN Statistics Division |url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/ |access-date=2 May 2020 |archive-date=30 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830170949/https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/ |url-status=live}} "Geographic Regions" anklicken Zitat: "The assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories by the United Nations."</ref>
* [[North Asia]] ([[Siberia]]){{Notetag|Siberia lies in Asia geographically, but is considered part of Europe culturally and politically.}}
* [[Central Asia]]
* [[West Asia]] (The [[Middle East]] or [[Near East]] and part of the [[Caucasus]])
* [[South Asia]] ([[Indian subcontinent]])
* [[East Asia]] ([[Far East]])
* [[Southeast Asia]] ([[East Indies]] and [[Indochina]])

=== Climate ===
{{Main|Climate of Asia}}
[[File:Koppen-Geiger Map Asia present.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Köppen climate classification|Köppen-Geiger climate classification]] map for Asia<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Beck |first1=Hylke E. |last2=Zimmermann |first2=Niklaus E. |last3=McVicar |first3=Tim R. |last4=Vergopolan |first4=Noemi |last5=Berg |first5=Alexis |last6=Wood |first6=Eric F. |author-link6=Eric Franklin Wood |title=Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution |journal=Scientific Data |date=30 October 2018 |volume=5 |pages=180214 |doi=10.1038/sdata.2018.214 |pmid=30375988 |pmc=6207062 |bibcode=2018NatSD...580214B}}</ref>]]
Asia has extremely diverse climate features. Climates range from [[Arctic]] and [[subarctic]] in Siberia to tropical in southern India and Southeast Asia. It is moist across southeast sections, and dry across much of the interior. Some of the largest daily temperature ranges on Earth occur in western sections of Asia. The [[monsoon]] circulation dominates across southern and eastern sections, due to the presence of the Himalayas forcing the formation of a thermal low which draws in moisture during the summer. Southwestern sections of the continent are hot. Siberia is one of the coldest places in the [[Northern Hemisphere]], and can act as a source of arctic air masses for North America. The most active place on Earth for [[tropical cyclone]] activity lies northeast of the [[Philippines]] and south of Japan.

====Climate change====
{{excerpt|Climate change in Asia}}
{{Clear}}