Asia is surrounded by oceans except in the northwest and constitutes the Eurasia landmass, of which Asia constitutes four-fifths. There is no clearly defined continuous border with Europe, but the Ural Mountains are an indisputable border. Between these and the Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan’s western border is usually considered a border. Another border to the west is the Great Caucasus, and along the Suez Canal, Asia borders Africa.
In the north, Asia borders the Arctic Ocean, in the east to the Pacific, in the south to the Indian Ocean, and in the southwest to the Mediterranean, the Aegean, the Black Sea and the Red Sea. Several large and numerous small islands in the Indian Ocean, the Pacific and the Arctic Ocean belong to Asia.
Asia’s and Earth’s highest mountain is Mount Everest, 8848 meters above sea level, on the border between Nepal and China (Tibet). Asia’s lowest point is on the shores of the Dead Sea, 395 meters below sea level. The longest river is Chang Jiang (Yangtzekiang) in China, 6,301 kilometers, and the largest lake is the Caspian Sea, 371,000 square kilometers, with beaches in Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan.
Biggest Asian countries by area
The area of the Asian continent is some 44.5 million square kilometers, contributing to nearly one-third of all land area of our planet. Again, China is the biggest country while Maldives is the smallest one.
| Rank | Country Name | Land Area (km²) | Density |
| 1 | China | 9,326,410 | 149.88 |
| 2 | India | 2,973,190 | 453.61 |
| 3 | Kazakhstan | 2,699,700 | 6.85 |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia | 2,149,690 | 15.54 |
| 5 | Indonesia | 1,811,569 | 147.98 |
| 6 | Mongolia | 1,553,556 | 2.10 |
| 7 | Iran | 1,531,595 | 53.89 |
| 8 | Pakistan | 881,912 | 232.51 |
| 9 | Turkey | 769,632 | 106.55 |
| 10 | Burma | 653,508 | 83.15 |
| 11 | Afghanistan | 652,230 | 49.41 |
| 12 | Yemen | 527,968 | 55.23 |
| 13 | Thailand | 510,890 | 129.92 |
| 14 | Turkmenistan | 469,930 | 12.64 |
| 15 | Iraq | 437,367 | 89.46 |
| 16 | Uzbekistan | 425,400 | 78.90 |
| 17 | Japan | 364,543 | 346.19 |
| 18 | Malaysia | 329,613 | 99.42 |
| 19 | Vietnam | 310,070 | 307.52 |
| 20 | Oman | 309,500 | 14.97 |
| 21 | Philippines | 298,170 | 361.57 |
| 22 | Laos | 230,800 | 30.86 |
| 23 | Kyrgyzstan | 191,801 | 33.31 |
| 24 | Syria | 183,630 | 92.96 |
| 25 | Cambodia | 176,515 | 92.28 |
| 26 | Nepal | 143,351 | 206.55 |
| 27 | Tajikistan | 141,510 | 63.11 |
| 28 | Bangladesh | 130,168 | 1,281.05 |
| 29 | North Korea | 120,538 | 211.14 |
| 30 | South Korea | 99,909 | 518.58 |
| 31 | Jordan | 88,802 | 117.57 |
| 32 | Azerbaijan | 86,100 | 115.93 |
| 33 | United Arab Emirates | 83,600 | 116.87 |
| 34 | Georgia | 69,700 | 53.42 |
| 35 | Sri Lanka | 62,732 | 345.44 |
| 36 | Bhutan | 38,394 | 19.32 |
| 37 | Armenia | 28,342 | 104.51 |
| 38 | Israel | 20,330 | 444.93 |
| 39 | Kuwait | 17,818 | 248.07 |
| 40 | Timor-Leste | 14,919 | 92.98 |
| 41 | Qatar | 11,586 | 236.53 |
| 42 | Lebanon | 10,230 | 670.16 |
| 43 | Cyprus | 9,241 | 93.52 |
| 44 | Palestine | 5,640 | 882.39 |
| 45 | Brunei | 5,265 | 84.02 |
| 46 | Bahrain | 767 | 2,012.11 |
| 47 | Singapore | 687 | 8,207.70 |
| 48 | Maldives | 298 | 1,268.80 |