ABSTRACT
No other continent yields the extensive cultural and ethnic diversity of Asia. Certain regions are generally thought of as “Asia,” even by the geographically illiterate. Most people, when asked to identify an Asian locale, would name China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Korea (East Asia), or perhaps Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, or Malaysia (Southeast Asia). But many people are unaware that Asia also consists of three-quarters of the former Soviet Union (Russian Asia), Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Asian Turkey (the Middle East), and India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka (the Indian subcontinent). Racially, linguistically, economically, and psychosocially, the Asian people are highly heterogeneous.
