Splendor of Asia

The world's largest continent is Asia. Because the population inhabited the continent of Asia can be more when compared with those in other continents.
Because when viewed by the data three most populated countries in the world is on the Asian continent such as China, India, Indonesia and even our own country. The Asian continent is filled with various cultures, tribes and races.
The origin of its history began in China, Mesopotamia and the valley contained Hoindustan ancient civilizations. Although many obstacles and barriers as well as any limitations they have, but pretty awesome with the results of their copyright on the existing civilization.

Starting from Turkey 
At the start of the Neolithic Asian continent has made ​​human habitation at the time immemorial ago. Much of recorded history in the future. Of diverse kinds of history that has been around since the first one in Turkey there is a legacy that is a temple building that was built nearly 10,000 years ago.
At the time of the Neolithic man in her life where she lived the nomads always moving and to meet their daily food is by hunting for animals that are around him live. As with the present age, the first residence in the caves in a naturally occurring form of the house is not that what it is today.
But as time went on around thousands of years later there are people or people in ancient times has been able to cultivate a variety of existing resources. If the first meet all the needs and requirements with hunting activities, nowadays this ancient man using bronze as their material in making various kinds of tools.
Nascent culture of the past with the activities that make a variety of tools made ​​of bronze. So do not be surprised at that time called the bronze age.

Birth of the Kingdom
By stage to stage in the course of human life now has four fixed for their use as a place to live, no longer nomadic. With the various existing tools are slowly but surely they do the processing on the nature and begin farming activities such as farming. Since then, the colonies began to appear and set up various kingdoms here.
At this age were born some of them the Achaemenid empire in Persia (600 BC-400 BC) Greek territory covers, Turkey, to the valley of Hindus in India and most of central Asia. The popular king Alexander the Great (400 BC).
While in the West Asia dominated by Roman Dynasty, Dynasty Selucid, the Parthian dynasty, and the Sassanian dynasty. These kingdoms civilization influenced by the Silk Road linking China, Central Asia, to Europe. Called the Silk Road because the Chinese silk trade to the West Asia and Europe use this pathway. Automatic Chinese and European culture did influence parts of Asia. Cultural change then occurs when the Silk Road began to be abandoned and the traders use the sea route. Spread of the influence of one nation to another nation occurs sooner.
India's strong Hindu and Buddhist culture, began to spread the teachings of the continent to the East and Southeast. They are also the spread of Islam to the western part of the continent of Southeast Asia. While European nations are known as ocean adventurer, began making its influence on the continent nation.

Emergence Countries
Number of countries in the continent are currently more than 40 countries. These countries are more born after the arrival of Europeans, because previously there was not a country but a continent of small kingdoms. The Europeans who colonized parts of this continent, have contributed greatly to the founding countries of the continent.
For example, Indonesian, who was born after independence from the Netherlands. Or Malaysia, India, and Singapore, a former British colony. Philippines also born after freedom from the hands of the Portuguese. In the modern era, partly Asian country of birth because of European influence. Call it the countries of the former Soviet Union, namely Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Currently, the countries in the continent has become one of the world's great strengths. Previously, only the polar world is divided into two, namely the U.S. and Europe. Meanwhile, Asia, Africa and Latin America, more often the underdog. Just look at the United Nations, there is no country outside the United States and Europe who have special rights in the Security Council.
But now, Asia can no longer be underestimated. The greatness of China's trade with the Strip silk was once famous, now back stretch and become one of the world's economic power. While Japan and Korea, were able to compete with European and American advanced technology.

Asia can be divided into 6 sub-continent:
1. Central Asia - Uzbekistan Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
2. East Asia - China, Japan, Mongolia, Taiwan, North and South Korea.
3. North Asia - Russia.
4. Indian Subcontinent - India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
5. Southeast Asia - Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar [Burma], the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
6. Southwest Asia - Middle East including Turkey, Iran, Cyprus, Israel, and Lebanon.

Interesting Facts About Asia 
1. Asia extending the limits of the Suez Canal and the Ural Mountains in the west, to the south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Sea. Also to the south is the Indian Ocean, the Arctic Ocean to the North Pacific Ocean and the Far East.
2. Asia is the largest continent and regional or famous, depending on what the limit is. Traditionally defined as the part of the mass of the continent of Africa-Eurasia stretches located in the east the Suez Canal, the Ural Mountains and south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. Approximately 60% of the world population lives in Asia, which is 2% of them occupy most of the north and inland as (Siberia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, western Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan), which 98% live in most other waste. 
3. Three of the four best in the world economy is in Asia are China, Japan and India. They are the numbers 2, 3 and 4, respectively. However, Japan has less than one tenth the population of China or India. However, Asian economies as the continents of North America and Europe. 
4. Asia has a population of more than 4 billion people or more than 60% of the world population. It's a lot of people standing side by side holding hands would reach around the world at the equator more than 100 times. 
5. Asia three dominant financial center is Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. 
6. Asia is 5,300 miles wide. 
7. Asia is the largest continent with land and human population. Asian region is larger than the land area of ​​the moon.
8. The dominant religion in Asia are Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism / Taoism and Islam.8. Most eastern point of Asia Tanjung Chelyuskin in Siberia. 
9. Asia is home to the highest point (Mount Everest 8,848 m) and the lowest (Dead Sea-395m) in the Earth. 
10. More than half of the population of Asia is in the two countries in Asia, China (1.3 billion) and India (1.1 billion). India is expected to surpass China in about 20 years or more. 
11. Asia is home to the birth of the human species and civilization. Somewhere near where the Tigris and Euphrates meet. 

So, we should be proud to be part of Asia: D

Created by : Calvina  

Religions

Buddhist monks in Thailand.

Almost all Asian religions have philosophical character and Asian philosophical traditions cover a large spectrum of philosophical thoughts and writings. Indian philosophy includes Hindu philosophy and Buddhist philosophy. They include elements of nonmaterial pursuits, whereas another school of thought from India, Cārvāka, preached the enjoyment of material world. As of 2012, Hinduism has around 1.1 billion adherents. The faith represents around 25% of asia's population and is the second largest religion in asia. However, it is mostly concentrated in south asia. Islam is the largest religion in Asia. Christianity is also present in most Asian countries.

Asian mythology is complex and diverse. The story of the Great Flood for example, as presented to Christians in the Old Testament, is first found in Mesopotamian mythology, in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Hindu mythology tells about an Avatar of the God Vishnu in the form of a fish who warned Manu of a terrible flood. In ancient Chinese mythology, Shan Hai Jing, the Chinese ruler Da Yu, had to spend 10 years to control a deluge which swept out most of ancient China and was aided by the goddess Nüwa who literally fixed the broken sky through which huge rains were pouring.

[edit]Abrahamic

Pilgrims in the annual Hajj at the Kaabah inMecca.

The Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Baha'i Faith originated in West Asia. Judaism, the oldest of the Abrahamic faiths, is practiced primarily in Israel (the birthplace and historical homeland of the Jewish people, whose Jewish population today consists equally of those Israelites who remained in Asia/North Africa and those who returned from exile in the European diaspora),^[40]though small communities exist in other countries, such as the Bene Israel in India. In the Philippines and East Timor, Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion; it was introduced by the Spaniards and the Portuguese, respectively. In Armenia, Cyprus,Georgia and Russia, Eastern Orthodoxy is the predominant religion. Various Christian denominations have adherents in portions of the Middle East, as well as China and India. The world's largest Muslim community (within the bounds of one nation) is in Indonesia. South Asia (mainly Pakistan, India and Bangladesh) holds 30% of Muslims. There are also significant Muslim populations in China, Iran, Malaysia, southern Philippines (Mindanao), Russia and most of West Asia and Central Asia. The Bahá'í Faith originated in Asia, in Iran (Persia), and spread from there to the Ottoman Empire, Central Asia, India, and Burma during the lifetime of Bahá'u'lláh. Since the middle of the 20th century, growth has particularly occurred in other Asian countries, because the Bahá'í Faith's activities in many Muslim countries has been severely suppressed by authorities.

[edit]Dharmic and Taoist

Hindus believe that taking a dip in the holy water of the Ganges removes all past sins.

The religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated in India, South Asia. In East Asia, particularly in China and Japan,Confucianism, Taoism and Zen Buddhism took shape.

Over 80% of the populations of both India and Nepal adhere to Hinduism, alongside significant communities in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Bali. Many overseas Indians in countries such as Burma, Singapore and Malaysia also adhere to Hinduism.

Buddhism has a great following in mainland Southeast Asia and East Asia. Buddhism is the religion of the majority of the populations ofCambodia (98%),^[41] Thailand (95%),^[42] Burma (89%),^[43] Japan (84–96%),^[44] Bhutan (75%),^[45] Sri Lanka (69%),^[46] Laos (67%–98%)^[47] and Mongolia (50%).^[48] Large Buddhist populations also exist in Singapore (42.5%),^[49] Taiwan (35.1%–93%),^{[50][51][52][53]}South Korea (23.2%),^[54] Malaysia(19.2%),^[55] Nepal (10.7%),^[56] Vietnam (9.3–80%),^[57] China(8–80%),^[58] North Korea (4.5%–60%),^[59][60][61] Indonesia (<2%);^[62] and small communities in India and Bangladesh. In many Chinese communities, Mahayana Buddhism is easily syncretized with Taoism, thus exact religious statistics is difficult to obtain and may be understated or overstated. The Communist-governed countries of China, Vietnam and North Korea are officially atheist, thus the number of Buddhists and other religious adherents may be under-reported.

Jainism is found mainly in India and in oversea Indian communities such as India and Malaysia. Sikhism is found in Northern India and amongst overseas Indian communities in other parts of Asia, especially Southeast Asia. Confucianism is found predominantly in Mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan and in overseas Chinese populations. Taoism is found mainly in Mainland China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. Taoism is easily syncretized with Mahayana Buddhism for many Chinese, thus exact religious statistics is difficult to obtain and may be understated or overstated.

*Darrell E.F 

Twitter/Instagram : @damnrell

Economy of Asia

Economy

Singapore has one of the busiest ports in the world and is the world's fourth largest foreign exchange trading centre.

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.^[26]

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the economies of the PRC^[27] and India have been growing rapidly, both with an average annual growth rate of more than 8%. Other recent very high growth nations in Asia include Israel, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand,Vietnam, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Cyprus and the Philippines, and mineral-rich nations such as Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran,Brunei, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman.

According to economic historian Angus Maddison in his book The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective, India had the world's largest economy during 0 BCE and 1000 BCE.^[28][29] China was the largest and most advanced economy on earth for much of recorded history,^{[30][31][32][33]} until the British Empire (excluding India) overtook it in the mid-19th century. For several decades in the late twentieth century Japan was the largest economy in Asia and second-largest of any single nation in the world, after surpassing the Soviet Union (measured in net material product) in 1986 and Germany in 1968. (NB: A number of supernational economies are larger, such as the European Union (EU), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or APEC). This ended in 2010 when China overtook Japan to become the world's second largest economy.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Japan's GDP was almost as large (current exchange rate method) as that of the rest of Asia combined.^{[citation needed]} In 1995, Japan's economy nearly equaled that of the USA as the largest economy in the world for a day, after the Japanese currency reached a record high of 79 yen/US$. Economic growth in Asia since World War II to the 1990s had been concentrated in Japan as well as the four regions of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore located in the Pacific Rim, known as theAsian tigers, which have now all received developed country status, having the highest GDP per capita in Asia.^[34]

Mumbai is one of the most populous cities on the continent. The city is an infrastructure and tourism hub, and plays a crucial role in the Economy of India.

It is forecasted that India will overtake Japan in terms of nominal GDP by 2020.^[35] By 2027, according to Goldman Sachs, China will have the largest economy in the world. Several trade blocs exist, with the most developed being the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

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.

According to Citigroup 9 of 11 Global Growth Generators countries came from Asia driven by population and income growth. They are Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Mongolia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.^[36] Asia has four main financial centres: Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai. Call centres and business process outsourcing (BPOs) are becoming major employers in India and the Philippines due to the availability of a large pool of highly skilled, English-speaking workers. The increased use of outsourcing has assisted the rise of India and the China as financial centres. Due to its large and extremely competitive information technology industry, India has become a major hub for outsourcing.

In 2010, Asia had 3.3 million millionaires (people with net worth over US$1 million excluding their homes), slightly below North America with 3.4 million millionaires. Last year Asia had toppled Europe.^[37] Citigroup in The Wealth Report 2012 stated that Asian centa-millionaire overtook North America's wealth for the first time as the world's "economic center of gravity" continued moving east. At the end of 2011, there were 18,000 Asian people mainly in Southeast Asia, China and Japan who have at least $100 million in disposable assets, while North America with 17,000 people and Western Europe with 14,000 people.^[38]

*Darrell E.F

Twitter/Instagram : @damnrell