Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area (or 29.9% of its land area) and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population. Asia is traditionally defined as part of the landmass of Eurasia. It is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the north by the Arctic Ocean. Given its size and diversity, Asia—a toponym dating back to classical antiquity—is more a cultural concept incorporating a number of regions and peoples than a homogeneous physical entity. There are 6 sub regions of Asia: Eastern Asia, Central Asia, Southern Asia, Southeastern Asia, Western Asia and Russia (Asia).

Asia is home to several language families and many language isolates. Most Asian countries have more than one language that is natively spoken. For instance, according to Ethnologue, more than 600 languages are spoken in Indonesia, more than 415 languages spoken in India, and more than 100 are spoken in the Philippines. The People's Republic of China has many languages and dialects in different provinces.

Asia was the birthplace of most of the world's mainstream religions including Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as many other beliefs.