Asia location extent political and physical features

Location of Asia
Asia is the largest continent in the world.It is located between the latitudes 10° south and 81° north
and between the longitudes 26° east and 170° west. Asia is bordered by the Arctic Ocean in the
north, the Pacific Ocean in the east, the Indian Ocean in the south and by both the Ural Mountains
and the Caspian Sea in the west.

The major physical divisions of Asian continent are :

 The Northern Lowlands

 The Central Mountains
 The Central and Southern Plateaus
 The Peninsulas, the Deserts
 The Great River Plains and
 The Island Groups

The Northern Lowlands

The Northern Lowlands also known as the Great Siberian Plain, it is the largest lowland in the world.
The oldest and the deepest lake in the world Lake Baikal is located here. To the south of the
plains there is are the Central Mountains, mountain knots and mountain ranges are found here. A
mountain knot is a junction of two or more mountain ranges.

The two main mountain knots in Asia are the Pamir Knot and the Armenian Knot.

 The Pamir Knot

The Pamir Knot is the junction of five mountain ranges they are the Sulaiman, the Hindu Kush, the
Kunlun, the Karakoram and the Himalayan ranges. Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world in
the Himalayan range.

 The Armenian Knot

The Pamir Knot is connected to the Armenian Knot by the Elburz and the Zagros Ranges that
originate in the Armenian Knot.The Tien Shan and the Altai are other mountain ranges in Asia.

Plateaus of Asia
A plateau is a high plain with a flat top and steep sides.
This flat area between The Himalayas and the Kunlun ranges is the Plateau of Tibet.It is also called
the roof of the world, it is the world’s highest plateau.
Other plateaus of Asia are

 The Plateau of Iran lies to the west of the Pamir Knot.

 The Plateau of Asia Minor is on west of the Armenian Knot.
 The Plateau of Arabia
 The Deccan Plateau
 The Yunnan Plateau.
Peninsula
The Deccan plateau region is also a peninsula. A peninsula is a mass of land surrounded by water,
but attached to the mainland.

The major peninsulas of Arabia, India and Malay are in southern Asia. The Kamchatka peninsula lies
in north-eastern Asia.

River plains of Asia

The five major river plains in Asia are the Euphrates and Tigris Plains, the Indus Valley Plains, the
Ganga–Brahmaputra Plains, the Irrawaddy and Mekong Plains, and the Huang-Ho and Yangtze
Kiang Plains.

As Ancient civilizations developed around these fertile river valleys these river valleys are called
‘cradles of human civilizations.

Deserts of Asia
Asia has some big deserts such as the Gobi, the Takla Makan, the Thar, the Kara-kum and the Rub-
al-Khali Deserts.

Islands of Asia
Asia also has a cluster of islands, also called an archipelago.An archipelago sometimes called an
island group or island chain, which are formed close to each other in large clusters.
Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Andaman and Nicobar are some examples of archipelagos.