Asia is the world’s largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the Eastern and Northern Hemispheres. It shares the continental landmass of Eurasia with Europe and the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area of 44,579,000 square kilometers (17,212,000 square miles), about 30% of Earth’s total land area and 8.7% of the 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 and sees continued Mount Everest, Asia’s highest mountain peak; Largest desert in Asia – The Gobi Desert; Lake Baikal is both deepest lake in Asia & oldest lake in the world; Longest river in Asia – The Yangtze River (6,300 km).
The climate in Asia ranges from arctic cold in Siberia to tropical heat in Indonesia. Precipitation varies widely as well, from annual monsoons to almost no rainfall at all. There are also great differences in elevation—from sea level to over 8000 m (26 246 ft) above it—and relief features such as mountains, plateaus and plains. Despite these huge variations, much of Asia experiences similar weather patterns due largely to its vast size. For example, winter temperatures tend to be colder inland than along coastlines, while summertime is generally hotter inland than along coasts. Tornadoes are rare but do occur occasionally throughout much of temperate Asia., Earthquakes are also a relatively common natural disaster throughout much of Asia