What is the largest continent?
Asia is the largest continent, covering about 44.6 million square kilometers, roughly 30 percent of Earth's land. It is also home to about 60 percent of all people.
Asia stretches from Türkiye and the Ural Mountains in the west to Japan and the Pacific in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean to the islands of Indonesia. It includes the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest, and the lowest point on land, the shore of the Dead Sea.
More than 4.5 billion people live in Asia. China and India, the two most populous countries, together account for more than a third of the world's population. Asia also has the largest country, Russia, which spans both Europe and Asia.
Where Asia ends
Europe and Asia share one landmass, often called Eurasia. The usual boundary follows the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains and the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul. Africa is the second-largest continent, and North America is third.
Did You Know?
Asia has about 48 countries. Istanbul is one of the few major cities that lies on two continents, with neighborhoods in both Europe and Asia.