Stretching from the frozen Arctic to the hot Equator, Asia is by far the world’s largest continent.

• Asia covers 30% of earth’s land area.

• Much of the land is barren, with vast, empty deserts and remote, treeless plains.

​Fresh water lake, world’s deepest(1642m bsl) lake. Found in the north of Mongolia in Russia.

​Saltwater lake, world’s largest lake(378,000km²) surrounded by 5 countries

​Lake Baikal

Caspian Sea

​This endorheic lake was once the world’s 4th largest lake, but is now drying up due to excess irrigation.

​Lake Baikal

Aral Sea

Deserts, defined as areas with less than 250mm rainfall.

• Gobi desert(China and Mongolia) is the largest desert

• Thar desert is a densely populated desert.

• TaklaMakan(China) is the largest sandy desert. Other deserts are Kyzylkum(Uzbekistan) and Karakum(Turkmenistan)

Middle east

It is a transcontinental region, although politically most of the countries are considered to be part of Asia. It is mostly a desert region.

Arabian desert

​An extension of the Sahara desert over the Arabian peninsula(land covered with water on three sides)

The Gobi Desert receives an average of 7 inches(177 mm) of rainfall each year

^{because the Himalaya mountains block rain clouds from reaching the region.} ​

^{The Himalayan mountains form a massive barrier between the heat of India to the south and the cold of Tibet to the north. The range is permanently snow-capped.}

Mountains of Asia

​Himalaya mountains - Form a massive barrier between the heat of India to the south and the cold of Tibet to the north.

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Urals ​- The mountain ranges that form the natural divide between Europe and Asia(Mostly in Russia)

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Natural Hazards

​Typhoon Haiyan - This Cyclone called by a different name in NW Pacific hit the Philippines in 2013. With wind speeds of 230 kmh, it was the strongest storm recorded on land.

​Krakatoa - Loudest sound was heard(4,800 km away) when this volcano erupted in 1883 in Indonesia.

​Sumatra, Indonesia - The Epicenter of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake, which caused a tsunami led to over 300,000 deaths.

Rivers and Plains

Mekong, Yangtze, Ganges, Indus, Ob, Lena etc. They create some large fertile plains - Ex: Indo-gangetic plain, one of the most densely populated place in Asia.

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Yangtze is the longest river​(6300km) running through one country, China.

​River running through India and Bangladesh(2575km) and is considered holy

The vegetation...

In the north there is cold, frozen tundra and dense coniferous forest.

In the south-east, the land is mainly mountainous or covered in tropical rainforest that are teeming with wildlife.

India has mostly deciduous forests, where the leaves fall in different seasons.

​World’s 3rd largest island with the most biodiverse rainforests. Located in Southeast Asia on the Equator.

​Borneo, Indonesia

​https://www.thewildlifediaries.com/borneo-animals-best-places-to-see-borneo-wildlife/

​Some places...

​Verkhoyansk - A town in Russia with world’s greatest temperature range(37C in summer to -67C in winter)

​Singapore - This city-island-nation where much of the land was reclaimed from the sea.

​The Maldives - Smallest country in the world made up of 1200 islands.