CBSE Class 8 Geography Chapter 6 Asia: The Largest Continent
Asia is the largest continent in the world — more than four times the size of Europe, larger than North and South America put together, and nearly half the size of Africa.
- In terms of population, Asia is the most populous continent, housing 60 per cent ofthe world population within its borders.
- Asia has the distinction of being the cradle of some of the world’s earliest known civilisations, such as the Indus Valley, Mesopotamian and Chinese Civilisations.
- It has also been the birthplace of the world’s great religions, including Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism, Taoism and Zoroastrianism.
- Asia is also home to several languages. Most of the Asian countries have more than one language that is natively spoken.
For example:
More than 415 languages are spoken in India, more than 600 in Indonesia, and more than 100 in the Philippines.
CBSE Class 8 Geography Chapter 6 Asia: Location And Extent
The continent of Asia is situated entirely in the Northern Hemisphere except some of the islands of Indonesia. It is bound by oceans on three sides — the Arctic Ocean in the north, the Indian Ocean in the south and the Pacific Ocean in the east.
- Asia forms a huge quadrangle covering an area of little over 44 million sq. km, which is about one-third of the world’s total land surface.
- Its north-to-south extent ranges from 80°N to 10°S latitudes and the west-to-east extent from 24°4′ E to 169°40’ W longitudes.
- Asia crosses the 180° median and its eastern end touches the 170° median in the western hemisphere.
- Asia is separated from Europe on the western side by the Ural Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, and the Strait of Dardanelles.
- The Isthmus of Suez separates it from Africa, while the Bering Strait separates it from North America.
Asia: A Continent of Contrasts
- In terms of relief and topography, Asia has a huge range of contrasts to offer. That is why it is also called the ‘Continent of Extremes’.
- Asia has the distinction of having both the world’s highest mountain peak, Mt. Everest in the Himalayas, and the deepest land depression, the Dead Sea, lying between Israel and Jordan.
- Asia is land of extreme temperatures, with the highest recorded temperature of 54°C at Tirat Zvi, Israel in 1942 and the lowest recorded temperature of-67.8°C at Verkhoyansk in Russia in 1933.
- Asia has areas of both the highest rainfall in Meghalaya (India) and the least rainfall in the desert areas.
- Asia has diverse vegetation ranging from thick evergreen equatorial forests to xerophytic plants (cacti) and lichens, and mosses.
- Asia is home to the countries with the highest as well as lowest densities of population in the world. & Asia has the largest lake(Caspian Sea) and the deepest lake(the Baikal lake).
CBSE Class 8 Geography Chapter 6 Asia: Political Divisions
- The countries of Asia are usually grouped into the following five main categories:
- South Asia, which includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
- East Asia, which includes China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan.
- Southwest Asia, which includes Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Turkey.
- Southeast Asia, which includes Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
- Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
- Central Asia, which includes Siberiaand the Russian republics in Asia — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
- Russia and Turkiye are the two countries that lie in both Asia and Europe.
CBSE Class 8 Geography Chapter 6 Asia: Physical Features
Asia is a land of the widest variations in physical features ranging from the high mountains, vast plateaus, rivers, and coastal plains to the fertile river valleys. O
Based on these physical features, Asia can be grouped into the following physical divisions:
- The Northern Lowlands
- The Central Highlands
- The Southern Plateaus
- The River Valleys
- The Islands
The Northern Lowlands
The Northern Lowlands lie in the upper part of Asia bordering the Arctic Ocean in the north. They extend from Ural mountains in the west to the Lena river in the east.
The Northern Lowlands can be divided into two distinct regions:
1. Siberian Plain:
The Siberian Plain is one of the largest lowlands in the world. It extends over 3,200 km eastwards from the Urals to the Yenisey River.
- This lowland has been formed by the silt brought by the rivers originating from the highlands of Central Asia, namely, Ob, Lena, and Yenisey.
- These rivers flow from south to north and drain into the Arctic Ocean.
- Due to severe of, these rivers get blocked and cannot reach the ocean.
- The blocked river water then spreads over a large part of this flat plain and forms swamps and marshes.
2. Turanian Plain:
- The Turanian Plain is formed by the two Asian rivers, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, which fall into the Aral Sea.
- It covers the region of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan.
- Since the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea are inland seas, they form a region of inland drainage.
The Central Highlands
To the south of the Northern Lowlands lies an extensive belt of mountains and plateaus that runs from west to east. The centre of this belt is the Pamir Knotor Pamir Plateau from which a number of mountain ranges radiate into different directions.
- Towards the northeast of the Pamirs lie the
- Tien Shan mountain range.
- A belt extends eastward from the Pamirs to form the Kunlun Mountains.
- The most southerly of the mountain belts lying towards the southeast of the Pamirs is the Karakoram range and the Himalayas.
- To the west of the Pamir knot, lies the Hindu Kush mountains. The Hindu Kush mountains join the Armenian knot near the Caspian Sea under the name of Elburz mountains in Iran.
- The Sulaiman range lies south of the Pamir knot along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- The famous Khyber Pass linking Pakistan with Afghanistan lies in this mountain range.
In the northeastern part of the Central Highlands, lies a broken chain of ancient fold mountains. These include the Altai, the Yablonovy, and the Stanovoy mountain ranges. In between these ranges lies Tarim Basin, which is a desert.
Numerous plateaus and basins are located within or along the margins of these mountain ranges. These plateaus are called intermontane plateaus.
- The highest of these is the Tibetan Plateau, which has an average height of more than 4,000 m.
- It is also known as the ‘Roofofthe world’. It is bordered by some of the world’s highest mountains, including the Himalayas on the south, the Karakoram on the northwest and the Kunlun on the north.
- To the north of Tibet lies the three important Chinese basins — the Qaidan, the Tarim and the Dzungarian.
- Towards the northeast of the Tibetan Plateau lies the Gobi Desert. The other intermontane plateaus are the plateaus of Mongolia, Iran, Anatolia (Asia Minor).
- The Gobi desert in Mongolia and Tarim Basin (China), the plateaus of Central Asia are also intermontane plateaus.
The Southern Plateaus
To the south of the central Highlands are situated Plateau of Tibet To the south of the Central Highlands are situated a few plateaus, made of very old rocks.
The three notable plateaus are:
- The Plateau of Arabia lies in the southwest corner of Asia. It is a dry desert with no rivers and scarcity of habitable land.
- The Plateau of Peninsular India is the largest and the oldest of all the physiographic divisions of India.
- Its northwest limit is marked by the Aravalli range, and its northern extreme has the raised Bundelkhand plateau.
- At its western and eastern ends are the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, respectively.
- The Plateau of Peninsular India is cut by a number of east flowing rivers like Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri.
- The Plateau of Shan and Yunnan lies in Myanmar and China, respectively.
- The Shan plateau is located between Pegu Yoma and Arakan Yoma in the eastern part of Myanmar.
- The Salween River flows through the plateau.
- The Yunnan plateau, located in the Yunnan province of China, is separated from the fertile Szechuan basin by a range of mountains.
The River Valleys
A number of river valleys have been formed by the alluvium brought down by the rivers, which originate from the snow-covered mountains and plateaus in the Central Highlands.
- These river valleys have been the birthplace of many ancient civilisations like the Harappan, the Mesopotamian, and the Chinese.
- It is within these river valleys that most ofthe Asians live.
Some ofthe important river valleys are:
The Indo-Gangetic Plains,
- Located in the Indian subcontinent between the Himalayas and the Deccan Plateau, constitute important river valley plains.
- It includes the lowlands ofthe three major rivers — the Ganga, the Brahmaputra, and the Indus, together with their tributaries.
- Occupying parts of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, they are one of the world’s most intensively cultivated and densely populated regions.
The Plain of Tigris and Euphrates:
- Iraq is formed by the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. These rivers flow southeastwards across the country and then drain into the Persian Gulf.
- It is one of the major regions where wheat, barley, tobacco, and cotton are grown.
China:
The Great Plain of China is formed by the Hwang-Ho and Yangtze Kiang rivers in eastern China.
Manchurian Plain:
The Manchurian Plain is formed by the Amur River and its tributaries in the northern part of China.
Mekong:
The Valley of Irrawaddy, the Salween, and the Mekong in Southeast Asia. The Central basin between the Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers around Mandalay in Myanmar is important for wheat and cotton cultivation
The Island Groups
- A number ofislands occupy the east and southeast of the mainland of Asia. Most of these islands are mountainous and are surrounded by narrow coastal plains.
- Some of these islands are located on the Pacific Ring of Fire and are earthquake-prone. Some islands also have active and dormant volcanoes.
The three major groups of islands include Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines.
- Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea, and Russia. It is an archipelago (a cluster of islands) of 6,852 islands.
- The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, together accounting for 97% of Japan’s land area. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 17,508 islands,s whereasthe Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands.
Towards the east of the mainland of India lie the Andaman and Nicobar islands on the Bay of Bengal ,and towards the west lie the Lakshadweep island on the Arabian Sea. Sri Lanka is an island nation separated from India by the Palk Strait.