The continent of Asia is one of the continents of the world. It has the status of being the largest continent with respect to the level of population as well as the land area. Of the total surface area of the world, almost nine percent is covered by the continent of Asia. In other words around twenty nine percent of the total land area of the world is covered by Asia. More than sixty percent of the total human population of the world is situated in this continent. Asia is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean in the east, the south, and the north respectively. The size and the diversity of Asia is so extensive, that instead of being just a physical entity, it has become a cultural concept including a large number of different peoples and regions.

There are a number of geographers who don not consider the fact that Europe and Asia are two separate and different continents. The reason for this belief is the fact that there is not an actual physical separator in between the two continents which divides them into two separate entities. The same continental shelf is shared by Africa, Europe and Asia as well as all three having the same continuous land mass.

Among all the other continents, the Gross Domestic Product of Asia ranks third. It only comes after North America and Europe. But the Purchasing Power Parity of the continent ranks first among all the other continents. China had the largest national economy of Asia with respect to the Gross Domestic Product in the year 2007. The other countries which came after China were India, Japan, and South Korea. The highest rate of economic growth has been enjoyed by South Korea since the 1960s. One of the nicknames given to South Korea is Asian Tiger.