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Asia (/ˈeɪʒə/ ^ⓘ AY-zhə, UK also /ˈeɪʃə/ AY-shə) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometers, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the human population, was the site of many of the first civilizations. Its 4.7 billion people constitute roughly 60% of the world's population.

Asia shares the landmass of Eurasia with Europe, and of Afro-Eurasia with both Europe and Africa. In general terms, 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. The border of Asia with Europe is a historical and cultural construct, as there is no clear physical and geographical separation between them. It is somewhat arbitrary and has moved since its first conception in classical antiquity. The division of Eurasia into two continents reflects East–West cultural, linguistic, and ethnic differences, some of which vary on a spectrum rather than with a sharp dividing line. A commonly accepted division places Asia to the east of the Suez Canal separating it from Africa; and to the east of the Turkish Straits, the Ural Mountains and Ural River, and to the south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black seas, separating it from Europe.

China and India traded places as the largest economies in the world from 1 to 1800 CE. China was a major economic power for much of recorded history, with the highest GDP per capita until 1500. The Silk Road became the main east–west trading route in the Asian hinterlands while the Straits of Malacca stood as a major sea route. Asia has exhibited economic dynamism as well as robust population growth during the 20th century, but overall population growth has since fallen. Asia was the birthplace of most of the world's mainstream religions including Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Jainism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, as well as many other religions. (Full article...)

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Clockwise from top: Mysore Palace, Shivanasamudra Falls, Infosys Multiplex, Brindavan Gardens at Mandya, Somanathapura, Lalitha Mahal, St. Philomena's Cathedral and Chamundeshwari Temple.

Mysore (/maɪˈsɔːr/ ^ⓘ my-SOR), officially Mysuru (Kannada: [ˈmaɪˈsuːɾu] ^ⓘ), is the second-most populous city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the Kingdom of Mysore for almost six centuries (1399 to 1947). Known for its heritage structures, palaces (such as the famous Mysore Palace), and its culture, Mysore has been called the "City of Palaces", the "Heritage City", and the "Cultural Capital of Karnataka". It is one of the cleanest cities in India according to the Swachh Survekshan.

Mysore is situated at the foothills of the Chamundi Hills. At an altitude of 770 m (2,530 ft) above mean sea level, the city of Mysore is geographically located at 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is about 140 km (87.0 mi) southwest of the state's capital, Bangalore, and spreads across an area of 156 km² (60 sq mi)(City + neighbouring census towns). The population of the city combined with its neighbouring towns in its metropolitan area is about 1,288,000 in 2023. (Full article...)

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India, officially the Republic of India (ISO: Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country as of June 2023; and from the time of its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia.

Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago. Their long occupation, initially in varying forms of isolation as hunter-gatherers, has made the region highly diverse, second only to Africa in human genetic diversity. Settled life emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the Indus river basin 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into the Indus Valley Civilisation of the third millennium BCE. Between 2000 BCE and 1500 BCE, Indo-Aryans migrated into India from the northwest, bringing with them Sanskrit, an Indo-European language. Its evidence today is found in the hymns of the Rigveda. Preserved by an oral tradition that was resolutely vigilant, the Rigveda records the dawning of Hinduism in India. The Dravidian languages of India were supplanted in the northern and western regions. By 400 BCE, stratification and exclusion by caste had emerged within Hinduism, and Buddhism and Jainism had arisen, proclaiming social orders unlinked to heredity. Early political consolidations gave rise to the loose-knit Maurya and Gupta Empires based in the Ganges Basin.

Their collective era was suffused with wide-ranging creativity, but also marked by the declining status of women, and the incorporation of untouchability into an organised system of belief. In South India, the Middle kingdoms exported Dravidian-languages scripts and religious cultures to the kingdoms of Southeast Asia. (Full article...)

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A painting of the statue of Tiridates I in the Louvre Museum by Panos Terlemezian

Tiridates I (Parthian: 𐭕𐭉𐭓𐭉𐭃𐭕, Tīridāt; Ancient Greek: Τιριδάτης, Tiridátes) was King of Armenia beginning in 53 AD and the founder of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia. The dates of his birth and death are unknown. His early reign was marked by a brief interruption towards the end of the year 54 and a much longer one from 58 to 63. In an agreement to resolve the Roman–Parthian conflict in and over Armenia, Tiridates I (one of the brothers of Vologases I of Parthia) was crowned king of Armenia by the Roman emperor Nero in 66; in the future, the king of Armenia was to be a Parthian prince, but his appointment required approval from the Romans. Even though this made Armenia a client kingdom, various contemporary Roman sources thought that Nero had de facto ceded Armenia to the Parthian Empire.

In addition to being a king, Tiridates I was also a Zoroastrian priest and was accompanied by other magi on his journey to Rome in 66. In the early 20th century, Franz Cumont speculated that Tiridates was instrumental in the development of Mithraism which ultimately became the main religion of the Roman Army and spread across the whole empire. Furthermore, during his reign, he started reforming the administrative structure of Armenia, a reform which was continued by his successors, and which brought many Iranian customs and offices into it. (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various Asia-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Daian-ji temple at Nara, Japan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 2Kabsa also called Majboos, famous in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates (from Culture of Asia)
Image 3The Qing conquest of the Ming and expansion of the empire (from History of Asia)
Image 4A typical example of Dravidian architecture (from Culture of Asia)
Image 5The Grand Mosque in Kuwait City, one of the largest mosques in the region (from Culture of Asia)
Image 6The Taj Mahal, Agra, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 7the Goryeo ware, which shows splendid culture of Goryeo in mediaeval Korea. (from History of Asia)
Image 8The early Muslim conquests, 622–750 (from History of Asia)
Image 9The Silk Road in Asia (from History of Asia)
Image 10The Delhi Sultanate. (from History of Asia)
Image 11The Russian Znamensky Cathedral in Tyumen built in 1768 (from Culture of Asia)
Image 12The First Persian Empire at its greatest extent, c. 500 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 13The Han dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 14Language families in South Asia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 15Indonesian Balinese cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 16Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (from History of Asia)
Image 17Gojong (1852–1919), the 26th king of Joseon dynasty and the first emperor of Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 18Philippine cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 19Robert Clive and Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, 1757 by Francis Hayman (from History of Asia)
Image 20The Syriac Orthodox Saint Ahoadamah Church was a 7th-century church building in the city of Tikrit, one of the oldest in the world until its destruction by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on 25 September 2014. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 21Political cartoon depicting the Afghan Emir Sher Ali with the rival "friends" the Russian Bear and British Lion (1878) (from History of Asia)
Image 22Byzantine and Sassanian Empires in 600 AD (from History of Asia)
Image 23Badshahi Mosque built under the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Lahore, Pakistan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 24The Qing Empire in 1832. (from History of Asia)
Image 25Traditional Rajasthani garments from Jaipur, Rajasthan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 26Angkor Wat, Khmer Empire (from Culture of Asia)
Image 27Balhae in the north, Later Silla in the south (from History of Asia)
Image 28The Great Wave off Kanagawa, c. 1830 by Hokusai, an example of art flourishing in the Edo Period (from History of Asia)
Image 29Deoksugung, the palace where Emperor Gojong established Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 30Projected shares of global GDP by region to 2050 (from Asian Century)
Image 31Battle of Talas between Tang dynasty and Abbasid Caliphate c. 751 (from History of Asia)
Image 32Here a Jesuit, Adam Schall von Bell (1592–1666), is dressed as an official of the Chinese Department of Astronomy. (from History of Asia)
Image 33A Confucian ritual ceremony in Jeju, South Korea (from Culture of Asia)
Image 34The Great Wall of China at Jinshanling (from Culture of Asia)
Image 35Map of Asia for early 20th century (from History of Asia)
Image 36A view of the Fort St George in 18th-century Madras. (from History of Asia)
Image 37Chicken tikka, a well-known dish across the globe, reflects the South Asian cooking style. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 38Borobudur, a Buddhist temple in Indonesia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 39The Hindu-Buddhist temple of Angkor Wat. (from History of Asia)
Image 40The Mughal ambassador Khan’Alam in 1618 negotiating with Shah Abbas the Great of Iran. (from History of Asia)
Image 41Sculpture of Prince Shōtoku (from History of Asia)
Image 42India's middle-class population of 300 million is growing at an annual rate of 5%. Shown here is an upmarket area in South Mumbai. (from Asian Century)
Image 43Map of Marco Polo's travels (from History of Asia)
Image 44Invasions, destruction and possible population movements during the Late Bronze Age collapse, beginning c. 1200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 45Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine in Jerusalem. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 46Machiya in Heian period (from History of Asia)
Image 47A stone image of the Buddha (from Culture of Asia)
Image 48Map of Vietnam showing the conquest of the south (the Nam tiến, 1069–1757). (from History of Asia)
Image 49Detail of Chinese silk from the 4th century BCE. The characteristic trade of silk through the Silk Road connected various regions from China, India, Central Asia, and the Middle East to Europe and Africa. (from History of Asia)
Image 50Ancient ziggurat, Iraq (from Culture of Asia)
Image 51The Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan, which was the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010 (from Asian Century)
Image 52Some henges at Göbekli Tepe in Turkey were erected as far back as 9600 BC, predating those of Stonehenge, by over seven millennia. (from History of Asia)
Image 53British troops taking Zhenjiang from Qing troops (from History of Asia)
Image 54The third Inter-Korean Summit, which was held in 2018, between South Korean president Moon Jae-in and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un. It was a historical event that symbolized the peace of Asia. (from History of Asia)
Image 55Projected GDP of 7 largest economies in 2050 (from Asian Century)
Image 56Political map of Asia in 1860 (from History of Asia)
Image 57Sun temple at Konarka, Odisha, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 58Tang dynasty Chinese poet Li Bai, in a 13th-century depiction by Liang Kai (from Culture of Asia)
Image 59The global contribution to world's GDP by major economies from 1 AD to 2003 AD according to Angus Maddison's estimates. Before 18th century, China and India were the two largest economies by GDP output. (from Asian Century)
Image 60The Song dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 1200 (from History of Asia)
Image 61Gyeonghoeru of Gyeongbokgung, the Joseon dynasty's royal palace. (from History of Asia)
Image 62Detail of the Dragon Throne used by the Qianlong Emperor of China, Forbidden City, Qing dynasty. Artifact circulating in U.S. museums on loan from Beijing (from Culture of Asia)
Image 63Hinduism expansion in Asia, from its heartland in Indian Subcontinent, to the rest of Asia, especially Southeast Asia, started circa 1st century marked with the establishment of early Hindu settlements and polities in Southeast Asia. (from History of Asia)
Image 64Korean peninsula in 476 AD. There are three kingdoms and Gaya Union in the picture. This picture shows the heyday of Goguryeo (from History of Asia)
Image 65Map of Asia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 66Population concentration and boundaries of the Western Zhou dynasty in China (from History of Asia)
Image 67Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jeruslam (from Culture of Asia)
Image 68Đại Việt, Champa, Angkor Empire and their neighbours, late 13th century (from History of Asia)
Image 69East Asian cultural sphere (from Culture of Asia)

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Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province

Credit: Siripatwongpin

The head of a sandstone Buddha statue nestled in the tree roots beside the minor chapels of Wat Maha That, Phra Nakhon Si, Ayutthaya Province, Thailand. The temple is one of the most tourist and photographic attractions in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ayutthaya, an ancient capital of Siam.

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Did you know...

... that although he was a former Indonesian prime minister, Soekiman Wirjosandjojo was not arrested during a political purge as he was considered a non-threat?
... that Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, India's second Muslim president, was also the second Indian president to die in office?
... that the Empire of Japan turned a Korean royal cemetery at what is now Hyochang Park into a golf course?
... that Levantine Arabic is often written in Hebrew characters online by Bedouin, Arab Christians, and Druze in Israel?
... that Ein Samiya, which provides the water for Taybeh, the first beer brewed in Palestine, was depopulated in 2023 after harassment by neighboring Israeli settlers?
... that the popularity of "10 Minutes" by Korean singer Lee Hyori led to 2003 being dubbed the "year of Hyori" by domestic media?
... that Sun Haiyan is the first Chinese ambassador to Singapore who was not a member of the Foreign Ministry of China?
... that University of Nebraska alumnus M. Khalid Roashan helped draft the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan?
... that the Pakistani film Shehr e Tabassum was the first animated cyberpunk film to be made by an Urdu development team?
... that the Te'omim Cave in Israel was home to a Bronze Age alabaster quarry, a refuge cave during the Jewish–Roman wars, and a possible center for necromantic activity in late antiquity?

Updated: 6:33, 14 February 2024

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In the news

10 July 2024 – Israel–Hamas War: Siege of Gaza City; The Israel Defense Forces orders a complete evacuation of all Palestinians from Gaza City to travel south in advance of a new offensive on Hamas targets. (AP)
10 July 2024 – Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Four security officers and three Pakistani Taliban gunmen are killed during a shootout in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (AP)
10 July 2024 – NATO Washington Summit Declaration, 2024 NATO Washington summit, Foreign relations of China: All 32 NATO member states approve an official announcement classifying China as a “decisive enabler” of Russia's invasion of Ukraine due to its "no-limits" economic and political partnership with Russia. (AP)
10 July 2024 – Russia–Saudi Arabia relations, International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War: Bloomberg reports that Saudi Arabia warned the G7 earlier in 2024 that it would sell off Eurobonds and French bonds if the G7 proceeded with seizing US$280 billion in Russian frozen assets to give to Ukraine. (The Kyiv Independent)
10 July 2024 – Capital punishment in Iraq: The Karkh criminal court in Baghdad, Iraq, sentences the widow of Islamic State caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to death over her ties to IS and for detaining Yazidi women in her house. (Al Arabiya)

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The Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims, and a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and can support their family during their absence.