Asia tourist information

Asia is traditionally defined as part of the landmass of Africa-Eurasia – with the western portion of the latter occupied by Europe – lying east of the Suez Canal, east of the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Seas.

Medieval Europeans
Medieval Europeans considered Asia as a continent, a distinct landmass. The European concept of the three continents in the Old World goes back to classical antiquity with the etymology of the word rooted in the ancient Near and Middle East. The demarcation between Asia and is the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea.

The boundary between Asia and Europe is commonly believed to run through the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the Ural River to its source, and the Ural Mountains to the Kara Sea near Kara, Russia. However, modern discovery of the extent of Africa and Asia made this definition rather anachronistic, especially in the case of Asia, which would have several regions that would be considered distinct landmasses if these criteria were used (for example, South Asia and East Asia).

Europe and Asia are One!
Geologists and physical geographers no longer consider Asia and Europe to be separate continents. It is either defined in terms of geological landmasses (physical geography) or tectonic plates (geology). In the former case, Europe is a western peninsula of Eurasia or the Africa-Eurasia landmass. In the latter, Europe and Asia are parts of the Eurasian plate, which excludes the Arabian and Indian tectonic plates.

Some definitions exclude Turkey, the Middle East, or Russia. The term is sometimes used more strictly in reference to the Asia-Pacific region, which does not include the Middle East or Russia, but does include islands in the Pacific Ocean — a number of which may also be considered part of Australasia or Oceania. Asia contains the Indian subcontinent, Arabian subcontinent, as well as a piece of the North American plate in Siberia.

East Asia
East Asia is usually thought to consist of China, Japan, Korea, but may also include Mongolia and Indochina. The dominant influence historically has been China, though in modern times, cultural exchange has flowed more bidirectionally. Major characteristics of this region include shared Chinese-derived language characteristics, as well as shared religion, especially Buddhism. There is also a shared social and moral philosophy derived from Confucianism.

The Chinese writing is generally agreed to be the unifying principle. It was historically used throughout the region, and is still used to a large extent in most countries of the region. In most cases, the meaning of the characters remain unchanged, but the pronunciation differs between regions. Even within China, for example, a Cantonese person and a person from northern China probably cannot hold a converstaion, but they can certainly understand each other by passing notes. The Chinese writing system is the oldest continuous writing system in the world (but by no means primitive).

It was passed on first to Korea, and was the main writing system there until the end of World War II, and to Japan, where it now forms a major component of the Japanese writing system. In those cultures, especially in China, the educational level of person is traditionally measured by the quality of his or her calligraphy, rather than diction, as is sometimes the case in the west.

Though Korea, Japan, and Vietnam are not Chinese speaking regions, their languages have been heavily influenced by Chinese and Chinese writing. Even though their writing systems have changed over time (with limited use of Chinese characters in Korea and none at all in Vietnam]], Chinese is still found in the historical roots of many borrowed words, especially technical terms.

Apart from the unifying influence of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Chinese characters, there is much diversity between the regions.

South Asia
(Indian Subcontinent)
The nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka share an ethnic background and all have similar cultures. This is largely due to the fact that before the 1947 Partition, India included both Pakistan and Bangladesh in its borders. The reason they were separated was due to varying religious composition in various Indian states.

The Indus Valley Civilization began on the Indus River (Now in Pakistan) by a people known as the Dravidians. In time, however, Aryans invaded the South Asian subcontinent from the north, forcing the Dravidians to the South of India. The Aryans also invaded the island of Sri Lanka and set up the Kingdom of Sinhala. The people eventually mingled to form a common culture.

The 4 major World Religions founded in India (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism) are spread throughout the subcontinent. While 80% of Indians are Hindus and Nepal is a Hindu State, Sri Lanka has a majority of Buddhists. South Asian culture was influenced somewhat by the arrival of Islam, which based itself in the North-West of India (now in Pakistan), near the borders of Afghanistan.

In 1947, India was split as part of the Partition as a result of the Indian Independence Movement. This partition was on the basis of religion, although Pakistani people and Indian people share a common language (Urdu being very similar to Hindi when spoken). Many Hindus and Sikhs still live in Pakistan while 12% of Bangladesh's population is Hindu.

Another common feature of these states is the fact that all these countries maintain interests in the same world sports. India and Pakistan were both strong in Field Hockey during the 80s while Cricket is by far the most popular sport in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. With the Indian Cricket Team being one of the earliest International Cricket Teams to be created (after England, Australia and South Africa).

Despite their religious differences, the way of life is still similar in India and Pakistan, because of shared history; and Pakistan differs in some ways from the Middle East. Foods such as chapatis are common in both nations. South Indian foods (from the states Kerala and Tamil Nadu) can be found in Sri Lanka. Bangladeshi ways of life are similar to the people in West Bengal, the Indian North-Eastern State.

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