Asia is the world’s largest continent by land area, covering roughly 44.6 million square kilometres. It occupies the eastern part of the Eurasian landmass and extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Indian Ocean in the south.
The continent contains an extraordinary range of environments, including Siberian forests, Arabian deserts, tropical Southeast Asian islands and the Himalayan mountains. It is also the most populous continent, with more than half of the world’s people living in Asia.
The boundary between Europe and Asia is a geographic convention rather than a universally natural divide. Commonly used boundaries include the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus and the Black Sea. Africa is the second-largest continent, while North America ranks third by area.