Land of Extremes

Imagine mountains that seem to touch the sky and long rivers that wind through rich farmland. Imagine lush tropical rain forests full of unusual animals and huge cities teeming with millions of people. Imagine all of this and you’ll have an idea of what Asia is like.
LAND OF EXTREMES
Asia is a land of extremes. It’s the biggest of the seven continents. In fact, it covers about 30 percent of all the world’s land. Asia is so big it touches Europe in the west and nearly reaches North America in the east!
In northern Asia are the vast frozen lands of Siberia. In the south are the damp tropical forests of Malaysia and Indonesia. Asia has large, crowded cities like Mumbai (Bombay), India. It has huge, empty inland deserts like the Gobi in China. Seven of the ten longest rivers in the world flow through Asia.
Asia has the world’s highest point at Mount Everest in Nepal. It has the lowest point, too. That’s near the Dead Sea, in an area of southwest Asia called the Middle East.
At any given moment there are places in Asia that are very hot and others that are very cold. There are places that are dry as a bone and others that are rainy and wet.
CRADLE OF CIVILIZATIONS
In the Middle East, archaeologists have found traces of the world’s oldest known cities. The oldest is Jericho. It’s a city in the West Bank between Israel and Jordan. Jericho dates back more than 8,000 years.
The Middle East is often called the “cradle of civilization.” It was here, in Mesopotamia (now Iraq), that people first began to settle into communities and grow grains. That was over 10,000 years ago. Both China and India are also home to other great early civilizations.
MANY RELIGIONS
Did you know the world’s five biggest religions began in Asia? The Middle East is the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. India is the ancient home of Hinduism and Buddhism.
All of these religions are still practiced by millions of people in Asia. Sometimes they are the source of great conflict between Asian societies.
PEOPLE AND MORE PEOPLE
Asia has lots of people. Nearly 4 billion of them! About three of every five people in the world live in the 48 countries of Asia. China and India are the two most populated countries in the world, each with over 1 billion people.
To understand everyone in Asia you would have to learn more than 1,000 languages. Can you imagine 1,000 languages? What could they all possibly sound like?
POVERTY AND WEALTH
Many of Asia’s people are very poor. But many others are very rich. In countries such as Afghanistan, India, China, and Bangladesh, millions of people live without electricity or even clean water. In places like Japan and South Korea, millions of people live in wealthy towns and cities. They create, make, and use much of the world’s new technology.
Rich and poor and old and new. That’s Asia for you: a land of extremes.

Elephant Quick Facts

Class-Mammalia
Order-Proboscidea
Family-Elephantidae
Genus/Species-Elephas maximus (Asian)
Loxodonta africana (African)
Loxodonta cyclotis (African)
Names- male: bull
female: cow
young: calf
group: herd
Conservation Concerns-Endangered due to illegal hunting and habitat destruction.
Range-Asian elephants inhabit small areas of India, Sri Lanka, China, and Southeast Asia.
African elephants are found in Africa south of the Sahara.
Habitat-Forests, savannas, river valleys, and marshes.
Size-Asian elephants weigh up to 5000 kg (11,000 lb) and stand about 3 m (10 ft) tall.
African elephants weigh up to 7000 kg (15,400 lb) and stand up to 4 m (13 ft) tall.
Females are typically smaller than males.
Feeding Habits-Elephants are herbivores; they eat grasses, bark, roots, leaves, and fruit. They consume from 200 to 300 kg (440 to 660 lb) of food, and up to 150 liters (40 gallons) of water daily.
Offspring-Female elephants usually give birth to one calf after a gestation period of 20 to 22 months.
Life Span-About 60 years.
Did You Know-The two fingerlike projections at the tip of the elephant’s trunk are facile enough to pick a blade of grass.
Although an elephant’s skin is 2-4 cm (0.8-1.6 in) thick, it is very sensitive.
Elephants communicate in frequencies below human perception.
Tusks are actually an elephant’s second set of upper incisor teeth, and continue to grow throughout the elephant’s life.
An elephant’s ears help it stay cool; as it flaps its ears, heat dissipates through abundant blood vessels.