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Kerman
Shiraz
Esfahan
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Aden
Herat
Mashhad
Kandahar
Samarqand
Istanbul
Adana
Ural’sk Omsk
Chelyabinsk
Yekaterinburg
Tomsk
Novosibirsk
Semipalatinsk
Karachi Hyderabad
Mumbai
(Bombay)
Bhopal
Indore
Nagpur
Ahmadabad
Chennai
(Madras)
Hyderabad
Coimbatore
Bangalore
Quetta Lahore
Jaipur
Almaty
Varanasi Patna
Lucknow
Pune
Jaffna
Delhi
Basra
Tabriz
TEHRAN
BAGHDAD
BEIRUT
NICOSIA
DAMASCUS
RIYADH
MUSCAT
SANA
ABU DHABI
MANAMA
KUWAIT CITY
DOHA
KABUL
BISHKEK
DUSHANBE
TASHKENT
ANKARA
T'BILISI
BAKU
YEREVAN
NEW DELHI
ISLAMABAD
KATHMANDU
COLOMBO
ASTANA
ASHGABAT
JERUSALEM
AMMAN
MALÉ
JEDDA
TURKEY
AFGHANISTAN
KYRGYZSTAN
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ISRAEL
KUWAIT
YEMEN
MALDIVES
m
260 People and Places
Asia is the world’s biggest continent and covers
almost a third of the Earth’s land surface. The
landscape includes the frozen tundra in the north,
the baking deserts of the Middle East, a vast
coniferous forest, and the Himalayas – the world’s highest mountains.
Large areas of Asia are uninhabitable, but there are the Steppes –
huge grassy plains – and fertile valleys beside the Indus, the Mekong,
and other mighty rivers. In the southeast of the region, there are
thousands of tiny, volcanic islands, many of which are covered by
tropical rainforests. Two-thirds of the world’s population lives in
Asia, reflecting a great variety of cultures, lifestyles, and religions.
2 MOUNT EVEREST, HIMALAYAS
Standing tall at 8,850 m (29,035 ft),
Mount Everest is the world’s highest peak.
It lies in the Himalayas, a mountain range
that forms a natural barrier between the
Indian subcontinent and northern Asia.
1 FLOATING MARKET, BANGKOK, THAILAND
Flat-bottomed boats, called sampans, are still
used to transport fruit and vegetables from the
countryside into the city of Bangkok, where they
form a floating market. The Thai capital is built
on a river and its streets were once canals.
VOLCANIC ERUPTION,
LUZON, PHILIPPINES 3
The biggest-ever eruption of
Mount Pinatubo in 1991
brought destruction to the
island of Luzon in the
Philippines. Families rescued
their belongings and escaped
their homes before they were
buried by ash and rocks.
SIBERIAN TIGER 1
The rare Siberian tiger, the
largest and most powerful
of all the big cats, lives in
mountain forests in eastern
Russia. Up to 400 tigers are
thought to remain in the
wild and they are
rigorously protected.
Asia
Fresh produce is
brought in from
outlying farmsAsia