Asia is the largest part of the world. Together with Europe it makes one continent Eurasia. With the surface of the Caspian Sea, the area of Asia is 44.4 million sq km, which makes 30 % of the dry land of the Earth.

Asia is washed by the Pacific Ocean in the east and by the Indian Ocean in the south. A lot of seas also wash Asia. There are many peninsulas in Asia. The biggest of them are Arabian, Hindustan, Indochina, Korea, Kamchatka and Malacca. The largest gulfs are the Persian Bay and the Bay of Bengal.

The climate here differs from the arctic in the north to the tropical in the south.

There are many islands around Asia. They are Sakhalin, Kalimantan, Java, Sumatra, Sri-Lanka, the Philippine Islands, the Japanese Islands.

Here you can find the highest point in the world – Everest (8 848 m) and the deepest point in the world – the Dead Sea (0405 m below the sea level). The wettest place in the world is the basin of the Brahmaputra River and the driest place is Arabian Peninsula.

There are many natural zones in Asia from arctic deserts to wet equatorial forests.

A lot of plants grow on the territory of Asia. Among them you can find oaks, pines, larches, cedars and yews(тис).

A lot of different animals live in Asia.

Among the biggest and the most graceful animals of Asia you can see tigers. Tigers can live in different climate. They live alone. Females have 2, 3 or 4 cubs at a time. They feed their babies for a year. When little tigers are 6 months old, they hunt with their mother. tigers like to swim very much.

Leopards are very quiet animals. They hunt only in the dark. The grown up male weights over 60 kilos. A female usually has 4 or 6 cubs at a time, but can have more. Black panthers are the same leopards but of dark colour. They also have spots, but you can’t see them on the dark skin of an animal.

One of the Asian cats is lynx. Unlike other cats it has short tail as it doesn’t need it long. Lynx hunts sitting quietly in the tree and waiting for the prey. They hunt deer or roes, but can also eat domestic animals as sheep or goats. A female has 2 or 4 cubs at a time. Little lynxes stay with their mother for 10 months and then walk away. Lynxes live alone.

Panda or a bamboo bear lives in the mountains of South- Eastern China and in Western Tibet. The bear eats fresh branches and leaves of bamboo trees, but it can also hunt small rodents for a change. A female usually has 1 or 2 babies at a time. Nowadays there are only some hundreds of bears in the world.

Different kinds of monkeys live in the forests of Asia. Among them you can see chimpanzees, Japanese macaques, orangutans and gorillas.

The population of Asia is million people, which makes 60% of the world population. Like Europe, it has four regions.

The countries of South- West Asia are: Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates.

The countries of South Asia are Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri-Lanka.

The countries of East and Central Asia are Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Mongolia, China, North Korea, South Korea and Japan.

The countries of South-East Asia are Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Brunei.