GROWING ASIA

Modern Asian Art

Asia is the world's largest and most populous and growing continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and comprises 30% of its land area. With approximately 4.3 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.

The original distinction between Europe and Asia was made by the ancient Greeks. They used the Aegean Sea, the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, the Black Sea, the Kerch Strait, and the Sea of Azov as the border between Asia and Europe. 

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The Nile was often used as the border between Asia and Africa (then called Libya), although some Greek geographers suggested the Red Sea would form a better boundary.  

Darius' canal between the Nile and the Red Sea introduced considerable variation in opinion. Under the Roman Empire, the Don River emptying into the Black Sea was the western border of Asia. It was the northernmost navigable point of the European shore.   

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In the 15th century the Red Sea became established as the boundary between Africa and Asia, replacing the Nile. As exploration developed, the border between Asia and Europe had to be redefined, as the borders of the time did not extend to the arctic.

As of 2011, the largest economies in Asia are China, Japan, India, South Korea and Indonesia.   Based on Global Office Locations 2011, Asia dominated the office locations with 4 of top 5 were in Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai. Around 68 percent of international firms have office in Hong Kong.

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The culture of Asia features different kinds of cultural heritage of many nationalities, societies, and ethnic groups in the region, traditionally called a continent from a Western-centric perspective, of Asia. 

The region or "continent" is more commonly divided into more natural geographic and cultural subregions, including Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and West Asia.

Asian art, music, and cuisine, as well as literature, are important parts of Asian culture. 

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Eastern philosophy and religion also plays a major role, with Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam all playing major roles. One of the most complex parts of Asian culture is the relationship between traditional cultures and the Western world.

East Asia is usually thought to consist of China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea and Taiwan. The dominant influence historically has been China, though in modern times, cultural exchange has flowed more bi-directionally.

Modern Asian Art

South Asia comprises the four South Indian states and northern parts of Sri Lanka share a Dravidian culture, due to the prominence of Dravidian languages there. Pakistan is split with its two western regions of Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sharing a greater Iranian heritage and its two eastern provinces of Sindh and Punjab sharing a more Indo-Aryan culture.

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Southeast Asia consists of Mainland Southeast Asia, and Maritime Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is usually thought to include Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines and East Timor. 

As the crossroads of maritime Silk Road trade network since ancient times, the region has been greatly influenced by the cultures and religions of neighboring region of India and China as well as the religions Islam and Christianity from Southwest Asia.  

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West Asia largely corresponds with the term 'Middle East', although some prefer 'West Asia' due to perceived Eurocentrism in the former. 

West Asia consists of Turkey, Syria, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen. The region is the historical birthplace of the Jews, Assyrians, Arabs, Druze, Persians, Turks, and various other ethnic and national groups.

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It is also where the 3 Abrahamic faiths originated: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Central Asia consists of five former Soviet Socialist Republics: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. However, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan are sometimes included. The predominant religion in Central Asia is Islam. Central Asia has a long rich history mainly based on its historic position on the famous Silk Road.

For the most part, North Asia (more widely known as Siberia) is considered to be made up of the Asian part of Russia solely. The geographic region of Siberia was the historical land of the Tatars in the Siberia Khanate. 

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However Russian expansion essentially undermined this and thus today it is under Russian rule. There are roughly 40 million people living in North Asia and the majority is now Ethnic Russians while Indigenous Siberians have become a minority in North Asia.

Ancient Asian Art