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

The $38 gap in Asia is a canyon.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026

Balenciaga plans to expand the women’s collection and strengthen its leather goods category, while broadening its geographical presence beyond Asia, where it performs well.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

The research team includes scientists from institutions across the United States, Europe, and Asia, including MIT, NASA, NOAA, and several universities and research centers.

From Science Daily • Apr. 16, 2026

Asia is especially vulnerable to energy supply disruptions stemming from blockades of the Strait of Hormuz, as nearly 90% of the oil and gas passing through the key waterway is bound for the region.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

While the New World and Australia did not harbor native epidemic diseases awaiting Europeans, tropical Asia, Africa, Indonesia, and New Guinea certainly did.

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