Asia

Asia's 44,000,000 square kilometers makes it the largest continent in the world. This huge continent covers one third of the world's land area and has the largest population of the earth. More than half of the people of the world (3 of every 5 human beings) live in Asia.

Often Asia is spoken of as the "continent of extremes." The world's highest mountains, Mount Everest, is in Asia, and so is the lowest body of water on the earth -- the Dead Sea.

There are also "extremes" in Asia's climate. Temperatures can rise as high as 49 C (120 F) in the southwestern regions, and they can drop as low as -70 C (-90 F) in northern Siberia.

Asia is divided into five sub-continents: North Asia, Far East, Middle East, Middle South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Some geographers include Europe as part of Asia and consider it one big continent called "Eurasia," meaning Europe and Asia. Europe occupies the west and Asia is the larger eastern region. Eurasia stretches halfway around the world -- from the Atlantic's eastern shores to the Pacific's western shores. To the north lies the Arctic Ocean and directly south is the Indian Ocean.