亚洲

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亚洲(Asia)

世界上最大的一洲。被北冰洋、太平洋、印度洋包围。西於欧洲接壤，由北至南分别是乌拉山、里海、黑海、爱琴海、地中海地区、苏伊士运河和红海。包含斯里兰卡、台湾、印尼群岛、菲律宾和日本的岛屿则构成亚洲的一部分。面积44,614,000平方公里。人口约3,499,626,000（1996，不包含俄罗斯亚洲部分和前苏联中亚各国）。山脉和高原占优势，最高的山脉位於中亚地区。地球上陆地最高点（埃佛勒斯峰〔Mount Everest〕）和最低点（死海）都在亚洲。戈壁和塔尔沙漠是本洲二个最大的沙漠区。其水文学主要以世界上数条最长的河流为主，包括幼发拉底河、底格里斯河、印度河、恒河、长江（扬子江）、黄河、鄂毕河、叶尼塞河、勒那河。里海、咸海和死海是主要的咸水湖。可耕地占全洲陆地面积15%以上。亚洲主要语群和语言有汉藏诸语言（Sino-Tibetan languages）、印度-雅利安诸语言（Indo-Aryan Languages）、日语、南岛诸语言（Austronesian language）、南亚诸语言、闪米特诸语言和朝鲜语。东亚有三个主要民族：中国人、日本人和朝鲜人。印度次大陆包含许多不同的种族，所使用的语言大部分属印欧诸语言印度-雅利安诸语言。由於受到中国和前苏联的影响，中国北方官话和俄罗斯语被广泛使用。所有世界主要宗教和数百个小宗教都发源於亚洲。发源於南亚的印度教是世界最古老的宗教，耆那教和佛教分别於西元前6世纪和西元前5世纪出现。南亚是犹太教及其支系、基督教和伊斯兰教的摇篮。道教（Taoism）和儒家学说均起源於西元前6世纪或5世纪，两者对中国人和源出於中国的文化有深刻的影响。亚洲各国贫富差异悬殊。日本、新加坡和阿拉伯石油产国，这些国家日常生活水准高；其他如孟加拉、缅甸等国则非常贫穷；介於二者之间的是俄罗斯、中国和印度。亚洲文化可说是中国、伊斯兰教、印度、欧洲（包括俄罗斯）和中亚五种势力互相影响的结果。中国对东亚影响深远，因它是儒家学说、中国文字和文化的发源地。印度的影响是经由印度教和佛教传播的，影响了西藏、印度尼西亚、柬埔寨和中亚等地区。伊斯兰教的传布从其发源地阿拉伯，在中东、西南亚及其他地区显得重要，阿拉伯字母的使用亦随之传至这些地区。直立人（Homo erectus）约在一百万年前从非洲迁徙之亚洲东部。约西元前3500～3000年底格里斯河和幼发拉底河流域就已经使用文字（参阅Mesopotamia）。印度河文明及叙利亚北部的发展始於西元前2500年左右。中国城市文明始於商朝（Shang dynasty，传统上为西元前1766～西元前1122年）和周朝（Zhou dynasty，约西元前1122～西元前221年）。操印欧语系的民族（如雅利安人）在西元前1700年左右入侵印度西部後发展出吠陀文化。一连串的帝国和包括亚历山大大帝在内的非凡领导者，将他们的政治影响力传播到军事力量所及之处。13世纪，元太祖和他的蒙古人继承者把亚洲都纳入其统治之下。14世纪时，帖木儿征服中亚大部分地区。15世纪穆斯林突厥人摧毁了东罗马帝国，19世纪欧洲帝国主义开始取代了亚洲的帝国主义。俄国沙皇势力推展到太平洋沿岸，英国取得印度的控制权，法国进入中南半岛，荷兰占领东印度，西班牙和後来的美国统治菲律宾。第二次世界大战後，欧洲帝国主义由於他们在亚洲殖民地的独立而相继消失。接着亚洲分成亲西方、亲共产党和不结盟几个集团。

English version：

Asia

Largest continent on earth. It is bounded by the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean; the western boundary, with Europe, runs roughly north-south along the eastern Ural Mtns.; the Caspian, Black, Aegean, and Mediterranean seas; the Suez Canal; and the Red Sea. The islands of Sri Lanka and Taiwan and the archipelagoes of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan also form part of Asia. Area: 17,139,445 sq mi (44,391,162 sq km). Population, excluding Asian Russia and the countries of former Soviet Central Asia (1996 est.): 3,499,626,000. Mountains and plateaus predominate on the continent, with the highest mountains located in Central Asia. Asia's elevations include the earth's highest (Mount Everest) and the lowest (the Dead Sea). The largest of its many desert regions are the Thar and Gobi deserts. Its hydrology is dominated by some of the longest rivers in the world, including the Euphrates, Tigris, Indus, Ganges, Chang (Yangtze), Huang (Yellow), Ob, Yenisey, and Lena. The Caspian, Aral, and Dead seas are major saltwater lakes. More than 15% of Asia's landmass is arable. Asia's principal language groups and languages include Sino-Tibetan, Indo-Aryan, Japanese, Austronesian, Austroasiatic, Semitic, and Korean. East Asia contains three main ethnic groups: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. The Indian subcontinent contains a vast diversity of peoples, most of whom speak languages from the Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-European family. Because of the influence of China and the former Soviet Union, Mandarin and Russian are widespread. Asia is the birthplace of all the world's major religions and hundreds of minor ones. Hinduism is the oldest religion to have originated in southern Asia; Jainism and Buddhism emerged in the 6th and 5th century BC, respectively. South Asia was the cradle of Judaism and its offshoots, Christianity and Islam. Taoism and Confucianism, both of which originated in the 6th or 5th century BC, have profoundly influenced Chinese and Chinese-driven culture. Asia is marked by great disparities in wealth, both between and within its countries. A few countries, notably Japan, Singapore, and the oil-rich nations of Arabia, have achieved high standards of living; others, such as Bangladesh and Myanmar, are very poor. Between these two extremes lie Russia, China, and India. Asia's culture is the result of the interaction of five main influences: Chinese, Indian, Islamic, European (including Russia), and Central Asian. China has had great influence in East Asia as the source of Confucianism, a style of art, and the Chinese script. Indian influence has been expressed through Hinduism and Buddhism, affecting Tibet, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Central Asia. Islam spread from its original Arabian home to become important in the Middle East, South Asia, and elsewhere, accompanied by the use of the Arabic alphabet. Homo erectus hominids migrated from Africa to East Asia at least 1 million years ago. One of the earliest civilizations to use writing developed in the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys c. 3500-3000 BC (see Mesopotamia). Civilization in the Indus valley and in northern Syria followed c. 2500 BC. Chinese urban civilization began with the Shang dynasty (traditionally, 1766-1122 BC) and continued under the Zhou (1122-221 BC). Indo-European-speaking peoples (Aryans) began to invade India from the west c. 1700 BC and developed the Vedic culture. A succession of empires and charismatic rulers, including Alexander the Great, spread their political mantles as far as military power could carry them. In the 13th century AD, Genghis Khan and his Mongol successors united much of Asia under their rule. In the 14th century Timur conquered much of Central Asia. Muslim Turks destroyed the remnants of the Byzantine empire in the 15th century. In the 19th century, European imperialism began to replace Asian imperialism. Czarist Russia pushed to the Pacific Ocean, the British gained control of India, the French moved into Indochina, the Dutch occupied the East Indies, and the Spanish and later the U.S. ruled the Philippines. After World War II, European imperialism largely vanished as former colonies gained independence. Asia has subsequently divided into pro-Western, communist, and nonaligned groups.

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