Asia (i/ˈeɪʒə/ or /ˈeɪʃə/) is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the

eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area (or 30% of its land
area) and with approximately 4.3 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.
During the 20th century Asia's population nearly quadrupled.[3]

Asia is defined as comprising the eastwards 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 and Black Seas.[4][5] 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.

Given its size and diversity, Asia – a toponym dating back to classical antiquity – "is more a cultural
concept" incorporating diverse regions and peoples than a homogeneous physical entity.[6] Asia differs
very widely among and within its regions with regard to ethnic groups, cultures, environments,
economics, historical ties and government systems.

Asia has the second largest nominal GDP of all continents, after Europe, but the largest when measured
in purchasing power parity. As of 2011, the largest economies in Asia are China, Japan, India, South
Korea and Indonesia. Based on Global Office Locations 2011, Asia dominated the office locations with 4
of top 5 were in Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, London and Shanghai. Around 68 percent of
international firms have office in Hong Kong.[

Asia is the largest continent in the world by a considerable margin, and it is rich in natural resources,
such as petroleum, forests, fish, water, rice, copper and silver. Manufacturing in Asia has traditionally
been strongest in East and Southeast Asia, particularly in the China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, India,
the Philippines, and Singapore. Japan and South Korea continue to dominate in the area of multinational
corporations, but increasingly the PRC and India are making significant inroads. Many companies from
Europe, North America, South Korea and Japan have operations in Asia's developing countries to take
advantage of its abundant supply of cheap labour and relatively developed infrastructure

Languages

Main article: Languages of Asia

Asia is home to several language families and many language isolates. Most Asian countries have more
than one language that is natively spoken. For instance, according to Ethnologue, more than 600
languages are spoken in Indonesia, more than 800 languages spoken in India, and more than 100 are
spoken in the Philippines. China has many languages and dialects in different provinces