Asia

American  

[ey-zhuh, ey-shuh] / ˈeɪ ʒə, ˈeɪ ʃə /

noun

1. a continent bounded by Europe and the Arctic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. About 16,000,000 square miles (41,440,000 square kilometers).

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Asia British  

/ ˈeɪʒə, ˈeɪʃə /

noun

1. the largest of the continents, bordering on the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Mediterranean and Red Seas in the west. It includes the large peninsulas of Asia Minor, India, Arabia, and Indochina and the island groups of Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka); contains the mountain ranges of the Hindu Kush, Himalayas, Pamirs, Tian Shan, Urals, and Caucasus, the great plateaus of India, Iran, and Tibet, vast plains and deserts, and the valleys of many large rivers including the Mekong, Irrawaddy, Indus, Ganges, Tigris, and Euphrates. Pop: 3 917 508 000 (2005 est). Area: 44 391 162 sq km (17 139 445 sq miles)

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Asia Cultural  

1. World's largest continent, joined to Europe to the west, forming Eurasia.

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Site of some of the world's earliest civilizations.

With three-fifths of the world's population, Asia has some of the world's greatest population densities.

Example Sentences

Rajat Agarwal, Asia equity strategist at Société Générale, countered that the market reaction wasn’t that dramatic for oil, as he noted Asian equities, for example, sold off only modestly on Monday.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 13, 2026

Equities fell across Asia, with Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul off at least one percent, while Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei and Jakarta were also down.

From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026

Any reduction in energy flows, even from the trickle Iran was allowing, will be felt by markets and U.S. allies, especially in Asia.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

The move exacerbates global economic damage, with an oil shock already affecting Asia and with Gulf countries facing significant GDP shrinkage.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

As a result, what are now the shallow seas between Asia and the Indonesian islands of Sumatra, Borneo, Java, and Bali became dry land.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond