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Asia (/ˈeɪʒə/ ^ⓘ AY-zhə, UK also /ˈeɪʃə/ AY-shə) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the human population, was the site of many of the first civilisations. Its 4.7 billion people constitute roughly 60% of the world's population.

Asia shares the landmass of Eurasia with Europe, and of Afro-Eurasia with both Europe and Africa. In general terms, it is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the north by the Arctic Ocean. The border of Asia with Europe is a historical and cultural construct, as there is no clear physical and geographical separation between them. A commonly accepted division places Asia to the east of the Suez Canal separating it from Africa; and to the east of the Turkish straits, the Ural Mountains and Ural River, and to the south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black seas, separating it from Europe.

Since the concept of Asia derives from the term for the eastern region from a European perspective, Asia is the remaining vast area of Eurasia minus Europe. Therefore, Asia is a region where various independent cultures coexist rather than sharing a single culture, and its boundary with Europe is somewhat arbitrary and has moved since its first conception in classical antiquity. The division of Eurasia into two continents reflects East–West cultural differences, some of which vary on a spectrum. (Full article...)

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The Roman–Persian wars, also called the Roman–Iranian wars, took place between the Greco-Roman world and the Iranian world, beginning with the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire in 54 BC and ending with the Byzantine and the Sasanian empires in 628 AD. While the conflict between the two civilizations did involve direct military engagements, a significant role was played by a plethora of vassal kingdoms and allied nomadic tribes, which served as buffer states or proxies for either side. Despite nearly seven centuries of hostility, the Roman–Persian wars had an entirely inconclusive outcome, as both the Byzantines and the Sasanians were attacked by the Rashidun Caliphate as part of the early Muslim conquests. The Rashidun offensives resulted in the collapse of the Sasanian Empire and largely confined the Byzantine Empire to Anatolia and southeastern Europe for the ensuing Arab–Byzantine wars.

Aside from shifts in the north, the Roman–Persian border remained largely stable for the duration of the conflict, albeit subject to an effective tug of war: towns, fortifications, and provinces were continually sacked, captured, destroyed, and traded, but neither side had the logistical strength or manpower to maintain such lengthy campaigns far from their borders, and thus neither could advance too far without risking stretching their frontiers too thin. Both sides did make conquests beyond the border, but in time, the balance was almost always restored. Although initially different in military tactics, the Romans and the Persians gradually adopted from each other, and by the second half of the 6th century, they were similar and evenly matched. (Full article...)

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Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has a population of about 55 million. It is bordered by India and Bangladesh to the northwest, China to the northeast, Laos and Thailand to the east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to the south and southwest. The country's capital city is Naypyidaw, while its largest city is Yangon (formerly Rangoon).

Early civilisations in the area included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Myanmar and the Mon kingdoms in Lower Myanmar. In the 9th century, the Bamar people entered the upper Irrawaddy valley, and following the establishment of the Pagan Kingdom in the 1050s, the Burmese language and culture and Theravada Buddhism slowly became dominant in the country. The Pagan Kingdom fell to Mongol invasions, and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo dynasty, the country became the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia for a short period. The early 19th-century Konbaung dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Assam, the Lushai Hills, and Manipur as well. The British East India Company seized control of the administration of Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century, and the country became a British colony. After a brief Japanese occupation, Myanmar was reconquered by the Allies. In 1948, Myanmar declared independence under the terms of the Burma Independence Act 1947. (Full article...)

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Du Fu (Chinese: 杜甫; pinyin: Dù Fǔ; Wade–Giles: Tu Fu; 712 – 770) was a Chinese poet and politician during the Tang dynasty. Together with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai, Du is often considered one of the greatest Chinese poets of his time. His greatest ambition was to serve his country as a successful civil servant, but Du proved unable to make the necessary accommodations. His life, like all of China, was devastated by the An Lushan rebellion of 755, and his last 15 years were a time of almost constant unrest.

Although initially he was little-known to other writers, his works came to be hugely influential in both Chinese and Japanese literary culture. Of his poetic writing, nearly fifteen hundred poems have been preserved over the ages. He has been called the "Poet-Historian" and the "Poet-Sage" by Chinese critics, while the range of his work has allowed him to be introduced to Western readers as "the Chinese Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Shakespeare, Milton, Burns, Wordsworth, Béranger, Hugo or Baudelaire". (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various Asia-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Some henges at Göbekli Tepe in Turkey were erected as far back as 9600 BC, predating those of Stonehenge, by over seven millennia. (from History of Asia)
Image 2The Han dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 3Korean peninsula in 476 AD. There are three kingdoms and Gaya Union in the picture. This picture shows the heyday of Goguryeo. (from History of Asia)
Image 4Tang dynasty Chinese poet Li Bai, in a 13th-century depiction by Liang Kai (from Culture of Asia)
Image 5Borobudur, a Buddhist temple in Indonesia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 6The Taj Mahal, Agra, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 7The Battle of Chinkiang of the First Opium War (from History of Asia)
Image 8Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine in Jerusalem. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 9Political map of the world in 1860 (from History of Asia)
Image 10The Mughal ambassador Khan’Alam in 1618 negotiating with Shah Abbas the Great of Iran. (from History of Asia)
Image 11Map of Asia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 12East Asian cultural sphere (from Culture of Asia)
Image 13Invasions, destruction and possible population movements during the Late Bronze Age collapse, beginning c. 1200 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 14Language families in South Asia (from Culture of Asia)
Image 15Indonesian Balinese cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 16The Great Wave off Kanagawa, c. 1830 by Hokusai, an example of art flourishing in the Edo Period (from History of Asia)
Image 17Robert Clive and Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, 1757 by Francis Hayman (from History of Asia)
Image 18Philippine cuisine (from Culture of Asia)
Image 19Gyeonghoeru of Gyeongbokgung, the Joseon dynasty's royal palace. (from History of Asia)
Image 20Gojong (1852–1919), the 26th king of Joseon dynasty and the first emperor of Korean Empire. (from History of Asia)
Image 21Kabsa also called Majboos, famous in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates (from Culture of Asia)
Image 22Balhae in the north, Later Silla in the south. (from History of Asia)
Image 23The Qing conquest of the Ming and expansion of the empire (from History of Asia)
Image 24Machiya in Heian period (from History of Asia)
Image 25The Song dynasty and main polities in Asia c. 1200 (from History of Asia)
Image 26Map of Vietnam showing the conquest of the south (the Nam tiến, 1069–1757). (from History of Asia)
Image 27The third Inter-Korean Summit, which was held in 2018, between South Korean president Moon Jae-in and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un. It was a historical event that symbolized the peace of Asia. (from History of Asia)
Image 28The Syriac Orthodox Saint Ahoadamah Church was a 7th-century church building in the city of Tikrit, one of the oldest in the world until its destruction by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on 25 September 2014. (from Culture of Asia)
Image 29Map of the Qing Empire in 1832 (from History of Asia)
Image 30A stone image of the Buddha (from Culture of Asia)
Image 31Ancient ziggurat, Iraq (from Culture of Asia)
Image 32Expansion of the Delhi Sultanate (from History of Asia)
Image 33Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (from History of Asia)
Image 34Projected shares of global GDP by region to 2050 (from Asian Century)
Image 35The Russian Znamensky Cathedral in Tyumen built in 1768 (from Culture of Asia)
Image 36Population concentration and boundaries of the Western Zhou dynasty in China (from History of Asia)
Image 37The early Muslim conquests, 622–750 (from History of Asia)
Image 38Sun temple at Konarka, Odisha, India (from Culture of Asia)
Image 39Hinduism expansion in Asia, from its heartland in Indian subcontinent, to the rest of Asia, especially Southeast Asia, started circa 1st century marked with the establishment of early Hindu settlements and polities in Southeast Asia. (from History of Asia)
Image 40The global contribution to world's GDP by major economies from 1 AD to 2003 AD according to Angus Maddison's estimates. Before 18th century, China and India were the two largest economies by GDP output. (from Asian Century)
Image 41Đại Việt, Champa, Angkor Empire and their neighbours, late 13th century (from History of Asia)
Image 42The Silk Road in Asia (from History of Asia)
Image 43The First Persian Empire at its greatest extent, c. 500 BC (from History of Asia)
Image 44Map of Marco Polo's travels (from History of Asia)
Image 45Eunpyeong Hanok Village in Seoul, South Korea (from Culture of Asia)
Image 46A typical example of Dravidian architecture (from Culture of Asia)
Image 47Daian-ji temple at Nara, Japan (from Culture of Asia)
Image 48India's middle-class population of 300 million is growing at an annual rate of 5%. Shown here is the skyline in South Mumbai. (from Asian Century)
Image 49Here a Jesuit, Adam Schall von Bell (1592–1666), is dressed as an official of the Chinese Department of Astronomy. (from History of Asia)
Image 50Angkor Wat, Khmer Empire (from Culture of Asia)

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History of coffee

Credit: Keystone View Company

The earliest credible evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the late 15th century, by Sufi Imam Muhammad Ibn Said Al Dhabhani who is known to have imported goods from Ethiopia to Yemen. From the Arabian peninsula its use spread across the globe. The picture shows Palestinian women grinding coffee beans.

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Did you know...

... that Rae Lil Black, who was at one point one of the 20 most popular models on Pornhub, left the adult industry and converted to Islam after visiting Malaysia?
... that to protest changes to the flight route M503, Taiwan cancelled 176 flights between China and Taiwan?
... that having been elected to Indonesia's House of Representatives five times, Muhidin Mohamad Said is its longest-serving incumbent member?
... that Empress Kōken, having resigned the Japanese throne in favor of a relative, shaved her head, became a Buddhist nun, and forced her way back into power?
... that relations were sour from the onset between the Afghan emperor Ahmad Shah Durrani and the Qianlong Emperor of Qing China?
... that the proprietor of the company Samurai Shokai promoted the foreign practice of shaking hands in Japan?
... that the Mseilha Fort is strategically located to overlook the crossing of the Jaouz River near Ras ash-Shaq'a, a promontory in Lebanon?
... that an Indiana university recently argued in court that The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate, a 1914 painting, was too modern for their art collection?
... that Harold C. Hinton was one of the only American academics under McCarthyism to study communist China?
... that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was the first Indian actress to be a juror at the Cannes Film Festival?