Asia is perhaps the most motley and many-sided part of the world. A tremendous variety of landscapes and climatic conditions, diverse peoples, religions and cultures, various ways of life. Sometimes even the neighboring countries of Asia are very different from each other. What subregions are distinguished in overseas Asia? What states are included in them and how are they special?
Geography of foreign Asia. Brief description of the macroregion
Overseas Asia is the largest region of the planet, within which about 80% of the world's population lives. It is interesting that he retains primacy in the number of inhabitants in the world throughout the entire period of the existence of human civilization. By area, the region is second only to Africa.
A detailed, exploded description of foreign Asia will be considered later. It should be noted right away that within this particular part of the world agriculture was born, it was here that many important scientific discoveries and inventions were made.
The term "foreign Asia" itself was entrenched in everyday life in Soviet times. Today it is actively used only in post-Soviet countries.
Asian countries are very different in their area. There are giant states (China and India), as well as very tiny countries (for example, Lebanon or Bahrain). The borders between Asian states often go along well-defined natural boundaries.
What subregions of foreign Asia stand out by modern geographers? Read about it in the next section of the article.
Subregions of foreign Asia: countries and features
As mentioned above, Asia is an extremely heterogeneous part of the world. Based on cultural, historical, as well as geographical features, the following subregions of foreign Asia are distinguished: South-West, South, Southeast, Central (or Middle), as well as East Asia.
Southwest Asia includes 20 states, these are:
- Turkey.
- Armenia.
- Georgia.
- Azerbaijan.
- Cyprus.
- Saudi Arabia.
- Israel.
- Lebanon.
- Jordan.
- Palestine (territory with undefined status).
- Iraq.
- Iran.
- Kuwait.
- Syria.
- Qatar.
- Bahrain.
- UAE
- Oman.
- Yemen.
- Afghanistan.
The economies of many of these countries are unstable in the extraction and export of oil and petroleum products to the world market. In some states of South-West Asia, other sectors of the economy are also quite well developed (for example, tourism in the UAE).
South Asia is a subregion that includes only seven countries. These include:
- India.
- Pakistan.
- Nepal.
- Butane.
- Bangladesh
- Sri Lanka.
- Maldives.
The main specialization of most of these states is agriculture. Thus, Azerbaijan is a major supplier of cotton to the world market, Sri Lanka - tea, etc. In India, heavy industry and science are well developed.
Southeast Asia includes 11 countries, such as:
- Myanmar
- Laos.
- Vietnam.
- Thailand.
- Cambodia.
- Malaysia.
- Brunei.
- Indonesia.
- Singapore.
- Philippines.
- East Timor.
Sugarcane, rubber, tea and coffee plantations are a typical landscape of this subregion. Of great importance for the economy of these states is sea transport, which is very developed here.
East Asia is Asia’s largest sub-region. It includes the following countries:
- China.
- Mongolia.
- Japan.
- Korea (South).
- DPRK
Finally, the Central Asia subregion consists of five former republics of the USSR, these are:
- Kazakhstan.
- Uzbekistan
- Kyrgyzstan.
- Turkmenistan
- Tajikistan.
After the collapse of the empire, these countries inherited advanced engineering, chemical and other industries.
It should be noted that the division into these subregions of foreign Asia in the domestic geographical literature is considered generally accepted. The demographic, religious, and some other aspects (features) of these subregions will be discussed later.
Features of population reproduction in different subregions of Asia
Foreign Asia has been and remains the main focus of the population explosion on our planet. Although the rate of natural growth here in the past two decades has declined markedly.
The largest natural population growth is characteristic of Southwest Asia. Here its indicators are more than two times higher than the global ones. So, in Iraq, one woman produces four children on average, five in Yemen, and seven in Afghanistan. The birth rates in East Asia, in particular in China, where demographic policies have been successfully implemented in recent decades, have declined significantly. Japan is at all close to zero natural growth.
Features of the religious composition of the population of foreign Asia
It was within Asia that all three world religions originated. These are Islam, Christianity and Buddhism. Muslims profess about 800 million inhabitants of overseas Asia. In many countries of the region, this religion is dominant and fixed at the state level. This is especially true of the states of South-West Asia. It is here, in Saudi Arabia, that the main shrine of all Muslims is located - the city of Mecca.
There are fewer Buddhists in foreign Asia than Muslims - about 550 million people. Christianity in the region is weak and limited. There are only two states where most of the population considers themselves Christians - these are Cyprus and the Philippines.
Various national and regional religions spread very widely in Asia. These include, first of all, Confucianism, Hinduism, Shintoism, Sikhism.
Conflicts and hot spots within overseas Asia
Unfortunately, the territory of foreign Asia is covered by a rather dense network of military conflicts and hot spots. On the territory of Syria and Iraq, the so-called “Islamic State” (ISIS) has been formed - the largest terrorist organization in the modern world. The sphere of her criminal activity has long gone beyond not only the Arab world, but also throughout Asia.
For more than half a century, the conflict between Israel and Palestine has been going on. The problem of Kurdistan, an integral ethnic region that historically has been “torn” between several modern states, remains unresolved. The tiny island of Cyprus, in fact, is divided into two parts - Greek (recognized by the international community) and Turkish (not recognized by almost anyone).
Many other hot and potentially dangerous spots are scattered throughout the rest of overseas Asia. This is Kashmir, the island of Sri Lanka, East Timor, the South Philippines, Taiwan and other territories. The situation on the border between North and South Korea remains alarming and tense.
Finally…
Now you know what subregions of foreign Asia exist. These are Southeast, South, Southeast, Central (Middle) and East Asia. The latter is a leader both in terms of area and population in Asia. But in terms of the number of states, the sub-region of South-West Asia is in the lead.