The world’s largest and most populated continent, Asia makes up nearly 30 percent of our planet’s total land mass. Asia is the most culturally diverse continent on earth and home to nearly 60 percent of the human population. Asia has many types of climates and geographic features giving it a diverse set of ecological habitats. Asia has arctic and subarctic climates in Siberia, arid deserts in Mongolia and Arabia, temperate steppes and plains in much of Russia, coniferous and deciduous forests in China and India and tropical rainforests throughout Southern Asia. Two of the largest deserts in the world, the Arabian and Gobi Deserts, are found in Asia. The tallest mountain range in the world, the Himalayas Mountains, and the third longest river in the world, China’s Yangtze River, are both found in Asia.

Asian National Parks

Asia is rich in wildlife including the tiger, several species of leopard, six species of bear, two species of rhinoceros, the Asian elephant, the orangutan, the gibbon, the king cobra, several species of python, the Komodo dragon, several species of fresh water seals, and thousands of species of birds and fish. For a detailed list of bird species see the Birds of Asia – Checklist.