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The Continent of Asia

The Continent of Asia, the largest of the great natural divisions of the globe, contains one-third of all the dry land known, and extends from the Arctic circle to the equator, and over 165° of long. Asia is regarded as the birthplace of mankind; it was the cradle of civilization, of the arts and sciences, and of all the great religious movements which have extended over the world.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. - Asia is bounded by the Arctic Ocean on the N., the Pacific on the E., the Indian Ocean on the S., and the Red Sea, the Isthmus of Suez, the Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas, the Caucasus, and the Ural Mountains on the W. The division between the Asiatic and Australian Islands of the Malayan Archipelago has never been agreed upon thoroughly, but "Wallace's line," which includes in Asia all W. of the Straits of Macassar and the 120th parallel of E. long., and gives to the Australian System the Celebes, New Guinea, and all S. and E. of the imaginary line drawn, is warranted by the modifications noticeable in both animals and plants when the line is crossed. The islands of Japan, though separated from the mainland by a wide stretch of sea, are as much a part of Asia as Great Britain and Ireland are of Europe, and including these it may be said that Asia extends from lat. 78° N. to 10º S., and from long. 26º E. to 190º E.; or, in other words, 170° W. from Greenwich. The N. coast line lies within the Arctic circle, principally between lat. 70° and 75° N., the most northerly projection being Cape Sievero-Vostochnii. On the E. and S. the coast is extremely irregular. The peninsulas of Kamchatka and Corea, and the deep indentations of the Sea of Okhotsk, the Yellow Sea, and the Gulfs of Tonquin and Siam, mark the E. line. On the S. the immense peninsulas of Cambodia, Hindostan, and Arabia descend to about the 10th parallel of N. lat., and and the Malay peninsula to within 2º of the equator. The Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea which bound India on either side extend N. almost to the tropic of Cancer, while the Persian Gulf and Red Sea reach the 30th parallel of N. lat. The most W. point of Asia is Cape Baba in Asia Minor; the most E., Cape Vostochnii at the entrance of Behring's Straits; and the extreme S. point of the Continent proper, at Cape Romania near Singapore. The chief island groups are those of the E. and S.-E. Saghalin Island and the Kurile group; the 4 irregular islands which form the greater part of the Japanese Empire; the Lutchu, or Loo-Choo, chain and Formosa, off the Chinese coast; and the Philippines, to the E. of Anam, are Asiatic beyond doubt. As to exactly where the dividing line should be drawn in the Eastern Archipelago geographers differ, but, as before stated, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo are usually considered as Asiatic. Ceylon, S.-E. of Hindostan; the Laccadive and Maldive groups in the Arabian Sea; the Nicobar and Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal, and Cyprus and the islands of the Archipelago in the Mediterranean, complete the list of the larger islands. The entire coast line is variously estimated at from 33,000 to 35,800 m. There are 4 great mountain systems-the Altai, the Armenian, the Himalaya, and the Hindoo-Koosh. The first of these occupies the geographical center of the continent, and separates the great N. plain of Siberia from the Mongolian and Mantchoorian steppes. Its general trend is N.-E. and S.-W. The Khin Gan, Yablonoi, and Stanovoi ranges, though inferior in grandeur to the others, are yet well-defined systems, and extend in the order given from Chinese Tartary N. to the utmost limits of Kamchatka. The Himalayas contain the highest known peaks, and guard the frontier of Hindostan from lat. 95° Ε. to their junction with the Hindoo-Koosh in Kabul. Along the whole of this range the peaks rise far beyond the snow limit, and few of the passes are at a lower elevation than 15,000 ft. above the ocean. In the midst of these mountains, and towering above all others, rise Mount Everest, 29,000 ft.; Kunchain-Junga, 28,150 ft.; and Dhawalagiri, 26,826 ft. -the three highest mountains in the world. Midway between the Himalayas and the Altai chain, the Kuen-lun and the Nan-Shan mountains extend through Chinese Tibet, and form the S. boundary of the Great Sandy Desert. The Hindoo-Koosh with its projections occupies Afghanistan, and throws out spurs to the Altai range on the N., and to the shores of the Caspian on the W. The Armenian group in Asia Minor and Northern Persia lies in parallel ranges between the Black, Caspian, and the Mediterranean Seas. The Caucasus, an isolated range of moderate height, runs N.-W. from the Caspian to the Black Sea, and the Ural Mountains extend N. and S. from lat. 50° N. to the Sea of Kara, and mark the dividing line between European and Asiatic Russia.