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With one of the longest of the histories in the world, Asia has proudly hosted some of the oldest of world’s civilizations. The notable ones of these ancient cultures of the Asian Continent included the empires of Assyria, Babylonia, Sumeria, Media, and Persia. Also, the civilizations of Islam flourished in the South West Asia. The East Asia was a home to some of the greatest of the world’s civilizations that evolved in India, China, and Japan. The period that followed witnessed the flourishing of great empires founded by the nomadic tribes like Huns, Mongols, and Turks in the north and central Asia. These establishments gave rise to a significant volume of migration in the western direction. The period between the 13th and 14th centuries witnessed the glorious peak of the military-state organizations of these tribes. Famous European travelers like Marco Polo have given authentic and valuable historical accounts having visited the courts of Mongols.

In the year 1498, Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer reached the Indian sub-continent by sea. His arrival marked the beginning of the European colonization and imperialism in Asia. Asia Russian Cossacks crossed Siberia in the north Asia and reached the Pacific by 1640s. 17th century saw the establishments of the English, French, Dutch, and Portuguese trading companies. All along the coasts of India, South East Asia, and China, there were strong trade competitions between the different European colonizers, ultimately giving way to the control of Asian lands by European powers. The European powers enjoyed an advantageous position over the Asian countries on account of their technological edge brought about by the industrial revolution. This fact enabled them establish and exercise their political control over the Indian sub-continent, eventually extending it over the South West and South East Asia. The pressure given by the European powers opened up China and Japan to Trade. However, the World War I brought about a significant change in the region by weakening the stature of Europe in Asia. Eventually, the Wilson doctrine of self-determination inspired a series of nationalist and revolutionary movements in the region.

Asia was heavily hit by the World War II and the conflicts that followed the war. During this time, the focus of conflict in international affairs shifted from Europe to Asia. It was during this time that several decolonization processes were seen in Asia associated with a number of wars and highly unstable scenarios. Some of the historical incidents of these times in Asia were the Arab-Israeli Wars, the Korean War, and the emergence of Communist governments in China, North Korea, and North Vietnam. Through the Central Treaty Organization and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization [SEATO], the Western powers built up military alliances during 1950s in order to counter the domination threat posed by the Soviet and China. But, the Sino-Soviet rift that followed brought down the possibility of a joint Communist effort in Asia.

Towards the end of World War II the United States, Britain, France, and the Netherlands still remained the major forces in the Asian region. However, the postwar period saw the nations like India, Japan, China, Indonesia, and many others seeking independent roles in the international scenario. During the 1960s and 1970s the British decided to withdraw “east of Suez”. The U.S was defeated in the Vietnam War. These instances foreshadowed a range of new power alignments in Asia. At this juncture, China started growing in its strength and the Soviet was very keen to expand its relations with India and the countries of Middle East. This scenario gave rise to a perception that the unstable situation in the Asian region was due to the contest that sprang up between pro-Communist and anti-Communist powers.

During 1970s and 1980s, there were also other powers shaping in Asia. There was a dramatic escalation of population in several countries that gave way to poverty, poor health conditions, widespread unemployment and degeneration of environmentally sensitive areas. Countries with powerful military forces like Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, China, Vietnam, and Indonesia started invading the neighboring countries engaging in low-level wars among themselves. The oil embargo crises of 1973–74 and 1979 led by the Middle East and the economic strength of Japan nearly shook the earlier world economic order dominated by the U.S and the Europe.

The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. This event was partly caused by its failed Afghan invasion. This condition helped in the evaporation of the cold war polarization bringing about the emergence of a new group of independent counties in Central Asia. 1990s saw China emerging as the rapidly developing economic giant. However, the booming economies of South East Asia suffered a serious setback during late 1990s. Economic collapse in Indonesia gave way to the downfall of Suharto. This also marked the beginning of enhanced democracy besides growing demands for independence or autonomy, especially in East Timor, Aceh, and Papua. The years of 1990s also witnessed the gradual unfolding of peace between several countries that involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The Southeast regions of Asia experience a moist climate. However, the most parts of the interiors are dry. Western sections of the Asian continent report some of the largest day-to-day temperature ranges found on the earth. The dominant weather condition in the southern and eastern sections of the continent is monsoon circulation caused by the Himalayan Mountains. This factor forces the formation of a thermal low that draws in a significant amount of moisture during the summer season. Southwestern sections of Asia rather remain hot. In the Northern Hemisphere, Siberia is one of the coldest places. This region functions as the main source of arctic air masses for North America. To the northeast of the Philippines and south of Japan lies the highly active place on the earth for tropical cyclone activity.

In Asia, the southwestern regions are hot, while the northeast regions are the coldest. The highest of temperatures reported so far on the Asian continent was recorded as 53.9 °C (129.0 °F) experienced by Tirat Tsvi, Israel on June 21, 1942. The west-central region of Asia experiences the instances of largest diurnal temperature ranges of the world. The lowest of the temperatures ever measured in Asia was −68 °C (−90 °F) recorded on February 7, 1892 and February 6, 1933 at Verkhoyansk and Oymyakon, respectively. Both these places are located in the Sakha Republic of Russia.

The dry region made of deserts stretching between the Gobi Desert in Mongolia west-southwest through Pakistan and Iran into Saudi Arabia report the lowest rainfall. There is a good amount of rainfall across the southern portion of Asia from India east and northeast across the Philippines and southern China into Japan. This is caused by the monsoon winds drawing in a heavy amount of moisture especially from the Indian Ocean into this region. The monsoon condition can stretch till the 40th parallel in East Asia during the month of August before it moves towards the south. Its movement towards the polar region is given momentum by the commencing of summer monsoon caused by the development of a thermal low over the warmest part of Asia.. One of the wettest places on the earth is Cherrapunji, located in Shillong of India on the southern slopes of the Eastern Himalayas. The average rainfall recorded here is 11,430 mm (450 in). Interestingly, the highest annual rainfall was noted in this place as 22,987 mm (904.9 in) in the year 1861. Turkey and central Russia experience the lowest rainfall in Asia.

The term Asian people or Asiatic people can have multiple meanings referring to people who have descended from a portion of Asia's population. With the Asian continent covering about 29.4% of the Earth's total land area, the continent is a house to about 3.879 billion people. This figure is about 56% of the world’s total population. The combined population of China and India is alone estimated as about 2.5 billion. The average population density of Asia is also the highest of all the continents on the earth and is recorded as 203 people per square mile.

Asia displays a great degree of ethnic variety. The people of Central Asia have Turkic, Iranian, Mongolic and Russian origin. The ethnicities of East Asian people are derived from a number of Chinese ethnic groups, Sino-Tibetan people, Japanese people and Koreans. The ethnic groups of Northern Asia are a number of indigenous people of Russia, Siberia, Finno-Ugric and Tungusic. Some of the important ethnic groups of South Asia are that of Indian, Pakistanic, Dravidians, Indo-Aryans, and Munda people. The various ethnic groups of Southeast Asia are the people of Austronesia, Tai, various ethnic groups of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines and Vietnam. In the West Asia, the different ethnic groups are the Arabs, Caucasians, ethnic minorities of Iran and Iraq; Semites, Iranian people, Turkmen and Turks.

Population, Culture, and Economy Factors of climate and topography govern the distribution of Asia's huge population. The areas of highest population density are those served by monsoons and adorned by the fertile alluvial plains. Some of these regions include the Gangetic plains of India and the Chang (Yangtze) and northern plains of China in addition to the smaller alluvial plains of Japan, and the highly fertile volcanic soils of the Malay Archipelago region. The industrialized regions of the nations including Japan, Korea, and Taiwan have experienced the highest extent of urbanization. However, the huge urban centers are found scatted throughout the Asian continent.

Not less than about two thirds of Asia's total indigenous population is made of the Mongolic stock. Major religions practiced in Asia include Hinduism widely found in India; Theravada Buddhism widely practiced in the countries of Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos; Lamaism, or Tibetan Buddhism found in the countries of Mongolia, Tibet and China; East Asian Buddhism seen in China and Korea, Confucianism, shamanism, Taoism, Shinto, Islam that is widely practiced in Southwest and South Asia , West Central Asia and Indonesia and the Catholicism of the Philippines, East Timor, and Vietnam.

The Asian economy is primarily agricultural. On account of the extremities in climate and topography, only less than 10% of Asia is cultivated. The staple food of most of the Asian countries is rice, which is cultivated for the local consumption in countries including China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Japan. Countries with smaller populations like Thailand, Vietnam, and Pakistan export rice to countries around the globe. The other important crops grown in Asia are wheat, soybeans, peanuts, sugarcane, cotton, jute, silk, rubber, tea, and coconuts. Asia has also seen a great amount of industrialization in the regions where there are extensive power facilities, skilled labor, developed transport, and easy access to raw materials. Some of the distinguished industrial sectors in Asia include Japan, China, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, and Israel. On account of their most successful industrialization, the four countries of Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong are called as “Four Little Dragons”. In addition, the economies of Thailand, Indonesia, and South China are also greatly developing owing to the investments by Japan in industrial plants and because of cheap indigenous labor. The highly industrialized counties like Japan, India, China, and Russia have also seen a significant development of railroads. Mineral exports are vital to the growth of economy in many Asian countries. Some of the notable mineral exports by Asia include petroleum, tin, manganese, chromites, tungsten, antimony, coal, and oil.