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One fact about the article is that india isnt doing anything about the monsoons to india.They are just not prepared.

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One fact about Monsoon Asia is that 500,000 lightning strikes each monsoon season. Also the only state in the U.S that experiences monsoon season is Arizona. They get about 32% of their rainfall during the time.

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A fact that I thought was cool is about the authorities getting charged with letting the big monsoon storms go to waste.

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The article was good and i learned that it has 50 years woth of rain water in one year and that the authorities get charged forletting rain water go to waste

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Asia is the largest of the would,s continents, covering approximatley 30 percent of the Earth’s land area.

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One cool fact I learned about Monsoon Asia is that the word monsoon is from a Arabic word

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A cool fact is that Asia covers a vast area that reaches almost halfway round the Earth from East to West.

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The article I read was "Interesting facts about Monsoon Asia". I learned that Monsoon Asia has over 500,000 lightning strikes a year.

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I had no idea Arizona got monsoons.

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In the article about the facts of monsoon Asia i learned that many people get payed less or loose their jobs because it is hard to keep a job in monsoon season, also the monsoon season ends around the 30th of september.

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The article that I read was

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One fact about Monsoon Asia is that there are over 500,000 lightning strikes

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In the article about interesting facts about monsoon Asia, farmers that make low income though out the year have many finacial problems when all of their crops get wiped out by the heavy rain. The farmers are allowed to buy insurance to give them some finical protection for the unsure weather that will come. Another fact is that even in USA we recieves part of monsoon weather in states such as Arizona.

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From the article I read, "Monsoon Asia Nature", I learned that Asia reaches halfway around the earth, and that Asia was created about 55 million years ago when the Indian tectonic plate collided with the main body of Asia. I also learned that bears and golden eagles are found on both Asia and Europe.

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One fact that I learend about Monsoon Asia from reading the artical "Monsoon Asia Culture" is the different, unique kinds of pottery and art they make there, for instance glazed porcelain. Also the ink and silk paintings were interesting and the fact that they were made by early Taoits is cool.

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One fact that I learned about Monsoon Asia is that A monsoon is a seasonal change in the direction of the prevailing, or strongest winds of a region. I can relate to this because when I lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming it was always windy. It was non-stop and it got really got annoying. So I can make an connection to this windy region by from where I lived before I moved to Colorado. (I read Monsoon Asia Seasons)

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A thing i learned about Monsoon Asia is that a lot of people have died in the past mouths cause of all the weather that is going on in some parts of Monsoon Asia! The weather gets really bad there.

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A cool fact about Monsoon Asia is that during monsoon time over 500,000 lightning strikes happen. It is better to stay indoors during that time.

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If the  Bangali River over flows every year why would farmers replant crops in the same place that get damaged/destroyed by the river

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in the article Monsoon Asia:Political History a fact that was cool was  it talk about its unique cultures.

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i read the article on the devistating floods i found that It makes these annual disasters all the more tragic that for most of the year both countries have little rain and so when the get the big amount of rain it messes up everything because they wont be prepaired. Also both the Indian and Pakistani governments have repeatedly failed to act on lessons from the past on how to manage their yearly monsoon drenching.

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Monsoon Facts give you the detail information about the hard raining in some countries in the world. Around 50 million years ago, monsoon in Asia was always linked with the uplift of the Tibetian Plateau. It was occurred after the collision between Asia and Indian sub continent. Here are the facts about monsoon for you:

Monsoon Facts 1: definition

Many people always linked monsoon with the heavy rain. Actually it is associated with the strong winds blowing from the cold area to the hot areas.

Monsoon Facts 2: lighting strikes

You have to be careful with monsoon. During a monsoon time, there are around 500,000 lightning strikes. It is better for you to stay inside the house to keep you safe.

Monsoon Facts 3: word

Many people believe that the word monsoon was take from the Arabic word, mausim. The meaning of mausim is a shift in the season or wind.

Monsoon Facts 4: benefits of monsoon

Even though the harsh monsoon is linked with death and accident, many areas in the world lay the life of the human beings, plants and animal from the monsoon. The monsoon rain is very important so that the creatures in the world will never experience any draught. Some parts which have no monsoon experience famine and drought which lead to the death of human being, plants and animals.

Monsoon Facts 5: India

The country in the world which experiences the most dramatic monsoon is India. If you are in India during the monsoon time, you should never be surprised when you find a mouse on the back of a frog. The mice do it to save the body from the flooding water. Get more facts about India here.

Monsoon Facts 6: 'Return of the Westerlies'

'Return of the Westerlies' is the name of the Monsoon system in the European continent. Monsoon also happens in some parts of USA such as New Mexico, Southwest Texas, and Arizona. It usually occurs from 15th June to 30th September.

Monsoon Facts 7: the end of monsoon

Most monsoon systems end on 30th September

Monsoon Facts 8: violent thunderstorm

The weather hazards will be occurred during the heavy monsoons. You have to be careful with a violent thunderstorm, wildfires, dust storm, lightning, extreme heat, downburst winds and flash flood.

Monsoon Facts 9: Arizona

One part of US which receives monsoon is Arizona. During the monsoon time, the area has 32 percent of the total yearly rainfall.

Monsoon Facts 10: farmers in India

When the monsoon comes, the farmers in India have low income. The heavy rain and winds wipe out all crops. Therefore, some farmers buy insurance to cover the unsure weather in the country.

In 2005, the monsoon in India killed 1,100 people. At that time, it was so strong. What do you think on facts about monsoon?

tags: Monsoon, Monsoon Facts

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Monsoon Facts give you the detail information about the hard raining in some countries in the world. Around 50 million years ago, monsoon in Asia was always linked with the uplift of the Tibetian Plateau. It was occurred after the collision between Asia and Indian sub continent.

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Monsoon Asia Population, Culture and Economy

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Monsoon Asia Population, Culture and Economy

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Asia Minor, great peninsula, c.250,000 sq mi (647,500 sq km), extreme W Asia, generally coterminous with Asian Turkey, also called Anatolia. It is washed by the Black Sea in the north, the Mediterranean Sea in the south, and the Aegean Sea in the west. The Black and Aegean seas are linked by the Sea of Marmara and the two straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. Near the southern coast of Asia Minor are the Taurus Mts. the rest of the peninsula is occupied by the Anatolian plateau, which is crossed by numerous mountains interspersed with lakes. In ancient times most Eastern and Western civilizations intersected in Asia Minor, for it was connected with Mesopotamia by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and with Greece by the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. The Hittites established the first major civilization in Asia Minor about 1800 BC Beginning in the 8th cent. BC Greek colonies were established on the coast lands, and the Greeks thus came into contact with Lydia, Phrygia, and Troy. The conquest (6th cent. BC) of Asia Minor by the Persians led to the Persian Wars. Alexander the Great incorporated the region into his empire, and after his death it was divided into small states ruled by various Diadochi (rulers). It was reunified (2d cent. BC) by the Romans. After AD 395 the country was re-Hellenized and became part of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine Empire . It was prosperous until the early part of the 6th cent. when it was successively invaded by the Persians (616-26), Arabs (668), Seljuk Turks (1061), and Mongols (1243). The Mongols obliterated almost all traces of Hellenic civilization. Asia Minor was then gradually (13th-15th cent.) conquered by the Ottoman Turks. It remained part of the Ottoman Empire until the establishment of the Republic of Turkey after World War I.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Turkey Physical Geography

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great peninsula, c.250,000 sq mi (647,500 sq km), extreme W Asia, generally coterminous with Asian Turkey, also called Anatolia. It is washed by the Black Sea in the north, the Mediterranean Sea in the south, and the Aegean Sea in the west. The Black

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This year, India's monsoon season was four days late. Four long, stressful, anxious days.

Finally, on June 5th, India's Meteorological Department made the announcement all had been waiting for: the monsoons were here.

The monsoon is vital to India, this year even more so than usual, given recent fears about the country's economy.

But the monsoon also affects other economies in the region, and, frankly, the entire world.

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Why The Monsoon Is The Biggest Factor In The South Asian Economy

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This year, India's monsoon season was four days late. Four long, stressful, anxious days. Finally, on June 5th, India's Meteorological Department made the announcement all had been waiting for: the monsoons were here. The monsoon is vital to India, this year even more so than usual, given recent fears about the country's economy.

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After yet another devastating flood, experts say that what Pakistan and India need to do is build more dams and reservoirs.

It makes these annual disasters all the more tragic that for most of the year both countries have little rain.

Yet after leaving more than 450 dead and a swathe of destruction on both sides of the border, much of the water dumped on the Kashmir and Punjab regions in the past 10 days will now be wasted.

Critics say both the Indian and Pakistani governments have repeatedly failed to act on lessons from the past on how to manage their yearly monsoon drenching, even as flood catastrophes become more frequent.

While the two governments are now being battered by complaints over the relief effort, more important in the long-term, water specialists say, is building a better system to capture each new deluge.

Much of the water that has inundated Pakistan's Punjab in this latest disaster came via rivers which originate in the Indian Himalayas, where there has been even more rain.

'Water jihad' accusations

The surge was so big the Pakistani authorities resorted to dynamiting river dykes to divert the flow from urban areas, but thereby flooding farming areas and displacing tens of thousands of people.

Some in Pakistan have attacked India for not controlling this surge, the more extreme even accusing it of a "water jihad" against its long-time rival.

But Ahmer Bilal Soofi, a Pakistani lawyer who specialises in water issues, says his country is as much to blame for the way it has managed the rivers inside its borders, in particular by failing to build more dams to control and store water.

Mr Soofi's words carry weight because he advises Pakistani officials on the Indus Water Commission, a cross-border body set up after the two states signed a water-sharing treaty in 1960.

The two sides last met just days before this latest flooding crisis, ironically to discuss Pakistani objections to plans for a new Indian dam project.

But it is perhaps one sign of hope in their turbulent relationship that the treaty has held and they keep meeting.

Better drainage needed

However, experts say India has been just as complacent with water on its own territory.

There too, the authorities are charged with letting the big monsoon storms go to waste, and as Indians know only too well, there is a chronic shortfall in electricity production, which more hydropower schemes could help solve.

Better drainage is also needed and more control of building in flood-prone areas, especially in towns and cities. But "urban India is mindless about drainage" fumes Sunita Narain, a Delhi-based environmentalist. "Storm water drains are either clogged, full of garbage and sewage, or just do not exist."

But the signs are that these extreme weather events are becoming more common and more unpredictable - which many scientists believe is because of climate change.

The rains that just engulfed India and Pakistan came much later than usual, when most thought the annual monsoon was over.

Similarly, an estimated 5,000 people died in India after being caught by flash floods in June, well before the heavy rains usually start.

In 2010, the river Indus burst its banks over much of central Pakistan killing more than 2,000 people. Several hundred have died in floods every year since.

After the 2010 disaster, Pakistan set up a judicial investigation which came up with a host of recommendations to avoid a repeat.

"But nothing has happened since," says a Pakistani water expert who participated in the 2010 investigation, but asked not to be named.

"After each disaster," he says, "we just go back to sleep again."

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Pakistan-India monsoon floods: Averting future disasters - BBC News

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After yet another devastating flood, experts say that what Pakistan and India need to do is build more dams and reservoirs. It makes these annual disasters all the more tragic that for most of the year both countries have little rain.

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Throughout Asia, recent weather emergencies have killed hundreds of people, forced thousands of families from their homes and severely damaged food production capacity, raising the possibility of food shortages. The countries facing the most serious crises are highlighted in a recently released FAO Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS)

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Culture of Monsoon Asia
Art
pottery
jade
calligraphy
bronze weapons and vessels
porcelain
fine china
ink and silk paintings
monumental ink landscape
blue and white porcelain
Dotaku bells
Buddhism
Korean ceramics
Glazed Porcelain
During the T'ang Dynasty, the Chinese developed a cobalt blue glaze.
Shortly after, the Koreans created a unique celadon glaze and made ceramics with delicate inlays.
Ink and Silk Paintings
The early paintings were influenced by the Taoists, who believed that mountains were the doorway to heaven. As the technique became more popular, artists branched and depicted everyday life, mythological figures, animals, landscapes, and women.
Anime and Manga
Music
Chinese Instruments
Erhu is a spike fiddle also call a
Southern Fiddle it dated
back from the Tang dynasty
about 1000 years.
Guzheng have 18-23 or more strings also its like a movable bridge. It was
invented back in the Qin Dynasty (897-221 BC).

Sheng is pipes with a reed
mouth piece it dated back in
the 1100 BC, also the from Han era.
Korean Instrument
Drum Buk used animal skin as the cover and its dated back in the Three
Kingdoms of Korea
(57BC-668AD)
Taiwanese Bands
Fahrenheit and S.H.E is very popular among Asia they are from the same company. Lately there been bunch of bands.
South Korean Bands
If you go to South Korea you
will see these bands everywhere. Big Bang,Girl Generation and B1A4 have reach the tops of
the music charts. They also are known as
K-Pop.
Lungshan Temple

Changdeokung Palace
The Great Wave
from a series of 36 paintings of Mount Fuji
Japanese
Portrait of Beauty
depicts the standard of beauty
concept was new
Korean
first to paint daily life of commoners
shows prosperity of economy
Chinese
Kinakuji (Golden Pavilion) Temple

Located in Kyoto, Japan
Built in 1397
Served as a villa for retirement for the Shogun Ashikaga
Became a Zen temple after death
Burned down in 1950
Rebuilt based on wealthy Kitayama culture
Each floor was built to resemble a different type of architecture
1st Floor: Shinden style (used in palace buildings during Heian Perid)
2nd Floor: Bukke style (used in samurai residences)
3rd Floor: Chinese Zen Hall style
Top two floor exteriors are covered in gold leaf
The Forbidden City
Shinee is one
of the famous Japanese band also the girl band AKB0048 which is also a anime.
J-Pop
Animation started out as renditions of Oriental folktales or imitations of foreign cartoons. During the war, the Japanese used the technique to create propaganda. After WWII it became individualized and they adopted American-style studios. Tezuka established Japan's first animation studio, and it's popularity sky-rocketed because of his influence.
Pokemon
Naruto
My Neighbor Totoro
Howl's Moving Castle
Kiki's Delivery Service
Hetalia
Located in the heart of Beijing
Was home to 24 emperors of the Qing and Ming Dynasties
Ancient Chinese Astronomers believed that the Purple Star (Polaris) was the center of heaven and the Heavenly Emperor lived in the Purple Palace
It was forbidden to enter without the permission from the emperor
The tiles are tinted yellow because that is the royal color
Dedicated to the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Kuan-in
located in Taipei, Taiwan
important place of worship
Waterfall for cleansing minds

Death Note
Located in South Korea
Palace of prospering value
One of the original grand palaces built during the Joseon Dynasty
Visitors throw coins at statues for good luck.
Head priest's former living quarters
Sekkatei Teahouse added in the Edo period
The Fudo Hall houses the statue of Fudo Myoo, one of the Five Wisdom Kings and protector of Buddhism. The statue was said to be built by one of the most important religious figures in Japanese history, Kobo Dashi.
Popular Regional Sports
Martial Arts
- first appearance when Emperor Huang Di had his troops trained in martial arts
- today's martial arts began in 527 A.D.
- Indian monk taught monks at Shaolin temple 18 Buddhist fists
- evolved into Five Animal Styles of Shaolin

Great Wall of China
One of the 7 wonders of the world
The construction period was 2,000 years from the Warring States Period (476 BC- 221 BC) to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
Not one wall but a system of many walls built my the seven kingdoms who were at war
Qin Dynasty won and then Mongols invaded
Ming Dynasty drove out the Mongols and built the wall to display their power not to keep them out
This was the part that is most visited and still around (because it was built by skilled laborers who used better materials)
In reality they were trading with the Mongols and the Tibetans to obtain horses
The length of the wall is 5,500 miles
More than 1 billion laborers were used to construct the wall
As many as 300,000 laborers died while building it
Many of the dead laborers were built inside the wall
Enka and Karaoke
Enka started way back in ancient Japan. Its about traditional singing also with traditional clothes and performing with a traditional instruments. The songs are almost like opera .
Karaoke begin in
between 1950 between 1960. It became popular
because many people liked to sing so the created the karaoke boxes they also are good for relaxing and having a blast.
A Bit of Gold was played with a Guzheng.
Music
Judo, one of the most famous sports in the world and one of the most known sports in japan and martial arts. it is a combative defensive sport using the opponents force.
japanese sports have taken a western civilization for example baseball.
In this Region since sports are westernizing most of the sports played now are American sports such as Table Tennis ,Basketball, but there are still more traditional sports like Taekwondo.

Qin and Han Dynasty: classical
and conservative
Tang Dynasty: luxurious and glamorous
Song Dynasty: exquisite and delicate
Ming Dynasty: graceful and magnificent
Qing Dynasty: very intricate
Clothing of China
The hanfu is a type of attire that stayed around from the Han Dynasty through the Qing Dynasty. However, the Manchu banned all traditional Han adornments and replaced them with Manchu styles. After the Manchu rule, clothes were westernized.
Clothing did not tie too closely to religion, but the style depended on what the ruler wanted and what materials they had.
Japanese Clothing
Kofun Period
This era created the first silk kimono. These kimonos were white because the Japanese had not developed a dying process.
Nara Period
During the Nara Period, Japan started to branch out from China's influence. Also, new processes for dying were made.
Heian Period
This epoch was the age that the Japanese were greatly inspired by art and beauty. New dye processes were made and their kimonos are said to be the most beautiful in Japan's history.
Edo Period
This era developed "Yuzen dying" which allowed patterns to be made without bleeding on them. Later, rulers and upperclassmen made edicts that dictated who could wear what. Clothes were later westernized.
Korean Clothing
Conventionally, the open sleeves have been said to represent the warmth embrace of the Korean people while the voluminous skirts symbolize space and freedom.
The Hanbok
The men wore baji while the women wore chima.
Throughout Korea's fashion timeline, the Hanbok hasn't made any remarkable changes.

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Culture of Monsoon Asia Artpotteryjade calligraphybronze weapons and vesselsporcelainfine chinaink and silk paintingsmonumental ink landscape blue and white porcelainDotaku bellsBuddhismKorean ceramicsGlazed PorcelainDuring the T'ang Dynasty, the Chinese developed a cobalt blue glaze.Shortly after, the Koreans created a unique celadon glaze and made ceramics with delicate inlays.

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Asia is the largest of the world's continents, covering approximately 30 percent of the Earth's land area. It is also the world's most populous continent, with roughly 60 percent of the total population.

Asia makes up the eastern portion of the Eurasian supercontinent; Europe occupies the western portion. The border between the two continents is debated. However, most geographers define Asia's western border as an indirect line that follows the Ural Mountains, the Caucasus Mountains, and the Caspian and Black seas. Asia is bordered by the Arctic, Pacific, and Indian oceans.

The geographic term "Asia" was originally used by ancient Greeks to describe the civilizations east of their empire. Ancient Asian peoples, however, saw themselves as a varied and diverse mix of cultures-not a collective group. Today, the term "Asia" is used as a cultural concept, while subregion classifications describe the distinct geopolitical identities of the continent. These classifications are Western Asia, Central Asia, Southern Asia, Eastern Asia, Southeastern Asia, and Northern Asia.

Today, Asia is home to the citizens of Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Yemen.

Asia's physical geography, environment and resources, and human geography can be considered separately.

Asia's stake in world markets has grown dramatically in the last half-century. Today, Asian countries rank as some of the top producers of many agricultural, forest, fishing, mining, and industrial products. This increased production has brought both extreme wealth and negative environmental impacts to the continent.

Climate and Agriculture

Asia's vast area allows for varied and extreme climates. It has some of the coldest, hottest, wettest, and driest places on Earth. While many distinct climates exist across the continent, Asia's climate can be most generally divided into three zones: north/central, southwest, and southeast.

The continent's north/central zone is affected by cold and dry Arctic winds, especially the Siberia region of Russia. Hardier grains, such as barley, buckwheat, millet, oats, and wheat, are grown in the central and southern areas of this zone, where permanent frosts inhibit plant growth. Animal husbandry is also very important in this zone. In Mongolia, for example, 75 percent of agricultural land is allocated to the rearing of livestock, such as sheep, goats, and cattle.

The southwest zone is a dry, hot region that stretches from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia through Pakistan, Iran, and into the Arabian Peninsula. This zone has very few areas with enough moisture and precipitation to produce crops. Grains, such as barley and corn, are the principal irrigated crops of some countries. A lack of pastureland suitable for grains, however, means heat-resistant vegetables and fruits are grown most widely in this zone. Dates, figs, apricots, olives, onions, grapes, and cherries are the most important of these fruit and vegetable crops.

The southeast zone is greatly affected by the summer monsoon season. During this season, a low-pressure system south of the Himalayas attracts moisture-laden winds from the Indian Ocean. The Himalayas push these winds up, causing clouds and precipitation to form at a rapid rate. As a result, many areas of Southeast Asia are considered the wettest places on Earth and can see more than 254 centimeters (100 inches) of rain every year.

The high temperatures and precipitation levels of Southeast Asia are the perfect conditions for the production of rice and tropical fruits. Rice is one of Asia's most important agricultural commodities and a major food staple of the entire continent. In 2010, Asia harvested almost 570 million metric tons (627 million short tons) of rice, accounting for more than 50 percent of the continent's total cereal production-and roughly 90 percent of total global rice production. Asia also has the highest rates of rice consumption, averaging more than 79 kilograms (175 pounds) per person annually. As a result, the majority of Asia's rice stays within the region and international trade rates are fairly low.

Southeast Asia is also a major producer of tropical fruits, such as mango, papaya, and pineapple. India is the world's largest mango-producing nation, accounting for roughly 40 percent of total global output in 2010. Thailand and the Philippines are the region's major producers of pineapple.

Forestry and Fishing

Forestry, the management of trees and other vegetation in forests, is an important but threatened industry in a select group of Asian countries. China, Indonesia, and Malaysia make up more than half of the forested lands in Asia. China is a major exporter of wood products, ranking first globally in wood-based panel production, paper, and wood furniture. Both Indonesia and Malaysia are top producers of tropical timbers. These tropical woods, such as teak, are primarily used in high-quality furniture and flooring.

During the past 10 years, Asia has increased its forest cover by 30 million hectares (74 million acres) to create forest plantations where trees can be intensively managed for higher-yield production. The timber industry estimates that Asia will produce roughly 45 percent of wood from forest plantations by 2020. These plantations will become increasingly important as natural forest resources continue to be depleted.

External and internal pressures, however, threaten Asia's timber industry. Rapidly rising populations have dramatically increased demand for forest products. While more of Asia's forests have come under environmental protection, lenient legislation and enforcement has allowed illegal logging and timber smuggling to flourish. This is especially true in Southeast Asia, where high-value species are found. As a result, Asian countries have some of the worst deforestation rates in the world.

Asia represents the most important region for fisheries and aquaculture production in the world. Aquaculture is the rearing of fish and other aquatic animals in controlled environments. In 2008, Asia's marine fishing areas produced roughly 50 percent of the global fish capture. Six of the top 10 world producers of fish are found in Asia: China, Indonesia, Japan, India, Philippines, and Myanmar (Burma). Asia also produced about 90 percent of the world's aquaculture-raised fish in 2008.

Seafood is extremely important to the lifestyle of many Asian peoples. A recent study by the National Geographic Society places China and Japan as the world's leading consumers of seafood, at roughly 694 million and 582 million metric tons (765 million and 641 million tons) annually. Emphasizing that each fish species impacts the marine environment differently, the study measured each country's "seafood print" based on the quantities and types of fish consumed. While Japan eats larger, higher-quality fish, China's massive population is consuming smaller fish at a much higher rate. This is because China, along with many countries in Southeast Asia, is experiencing a rapid expansion of its middle class population. More people can afford expensive food.

Mining and Drilling

Extractive activities are an important part of the economies of many Asian countries. China, India, Russia, and Indonesia are the continent's most productive mining economies. These countries extract many of the same minerals.

China is the world's largest producer of aluminum, gold, tin, and coal. India is also a major producer of aluminum and iron ore, along with other minerals such as barite (used in drilling fluids), chromium (used in steel production and dyes), and manganese (used in steel production). Russia is a major producer of coal, tungsten (used in steel production), diamonds, iron, and steel. Indonesia is a major producer of coal, gold, copper, and tin.

Countries on the Arabian Peninsula have the world's largest deposits of oil and natural gas. These fossil fuels are drilled for energy and fuel, and make the region one of the most important in the international economy. The oil found throughout the Arabian Peninsula and Middle East is of the highest quality: light sweet crude. Light sweet crude oil is used to make gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuels. It is in constant demand throughout the developed world.

In 2010, Saudi Arabia was the world's largest manufacturer of petroleum liquids, producing 10.07 million barrels of liquid fuels every day. (An oil barrel is 159 liters, or 42 gallons.) It also has the world's largest oil reserves, at roughly 250 billion barrels. Saudi Arabia's economy is heavily dependent on oil exports, which account for 80 to 90 percent of the country's total revenues. Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates accounted for roughly 57 percent of global liquid fuels production in 2010.

Another major player in Asia's liquid fuels industry is Russia. Russia has oil reserves in Siberia, and massive natural gas reserves throughout the Arctic. Russia is the world's largest producer of natural gas, and the largest supplier of natural gas to Europe. Russia has not aggressively drilled in the Arctic Ocean, but engineers say the area holds millions of barrels of oil and gas reserves.

The Built Environment

Asia contains some of the most populated and fastest-growing cities of the world. Shanghai, China, and Mumbai, India, are the largest cities in the world. They are also among the most densely populated. Other cities, such as Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Delhi, India, are growing rapidly.

A surge of economic investment, primarily funded by the oil, technology, and pharmaceutical industries, has fueled the development of medium-sized cities into important metropolitan areas. Two urban areas that demonstrate this are Hyderabad, India, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Hyderabad, India, the capital city of the state of Andhra Pradesh, has a population of more than 5 million people. Nicknamed "Cyberabad," the city has developed into one of the world's major hubs for information technology, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical production. Hyderabad has aggressively promoted its skilled labor force and cheap investment opportunities. In fact, the city inaugurated a township known as HITEC City in 1998 in order to attract international IT firms. Today, HITEC hosts offices from an array of national and international IT companies, including Oracle Corporation, General Electric, and Microsoft. Microsoft's largest research and development campus outside the United States is in the HITEC complex.

Hyderabad has also invested extensively in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Biotechnology is the manipulation of living things to produce useful products, such as changing genetic material to create medicines. Much like HITEC City, Hyderabad's Genome Valley is a large campus of facilities that houses more than 100 biotech companies, including Novartis, Monsanto, and Pfizer. The city has also developed campuses for the study of nanotechnology and the manufacturing of advanced semiconductors and solar technologies. This aggressive investment in high-tech industries will most likely continue to bring revenue and jobs into the city. As a result, Hyderabad must deal with a swelling population in need of more goods and services well into the future.

Dubai is one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). An emirate is a political territory that is ruled by a Muslim monarch called an emir. Dubai's population has grown rapidly to roughly 1.8 million in 2010 as a result of intense economic growth.

Real estate and construction represent more than 20 percent of the city's economy. Urban infrastructure has expanded at a rate unparalleled in modern human history. Dubai has the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. The Burj Khalifa stands at slightly more than 828 meters (2,700 feet)-almost a kilometer tall. The city's Persian Gulf coast is the site of the Palm Jumeirah, an artificial island shaped like a palm tree. The Palm Jumeirah hosts 4,000 residential lots and has doubled Dubai's shoreline. The city's transportation infrastructure is also expanding at a rapid rate. The city's international airport will soon be the largest airport in the world. The Dubai Metro system is the first urban train network on the Arabian Peninsula.

Dubai's rapid growth, warm climate, and luxurious lifestyle have attracted many foreigners to the city. Dubai was the 10th most-visited city in the world in 2009. Known as the "shopping capital of the Middle East," Dubai has more than 70 shopping malls. Dubai has also been referred to as the " Expat Capital of the World" because of the foreign majority that lives in the city. More than 75 percent of the city's population is male, represented mostly by laborers from countries such as India and the Philippines who have come to work in Dubai's construction business. The laborers' poor working and living conditions have come under criticism from the international community, especially in contrast to the city's image as a luxury capital of the world.

Asia has a number of state-of-the-art engineering marvels that solve complex infrastructural problems. China's Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest hydroelectric power station. The dam stands at 185 meters (607 feet) high and stretches for 2,335 meters (7,660 feet) across the Yangtze River. It supplies millions of homes, businesses, hospitals, and schools with safe, affordable electricity.

The massive project, however, has had a devastating effect on the human and natural environment. The damming of the Yangtze River created a reservoir that flooded 632 square kilometers (244 square miles), taking out hundreds of towns and villages and displacing more than 1.2 million people. It submerged hundreds of factories, mines, and waste dumps, allowing industrial pollutants and garbage to enter the reservoir. The reservoir has also threatened the habitats of birds, fish, and other wildlife populations.

The Jamnagar Refinery in Gujarat, India, is the world's largest oil refinery. An oil refinery is a factory where crude oil is processed and refined into useful products, such as gasoline, kerosene, and diesel oil. Referred to as the "Refining Capital of the World," Jamnagar has a refining capacity of 1.24 million barrels of oil per day. The factory covers an area larger than the city of London, England.

Japan's Shinkansen train network is one of the world's fastest high-speed railway lines. The so-called "bullet trains" can reach speeds of 300 kilometers per hour (186 miles per hour). Shinkansen links most major cities on the islands of Honshu and Kyushu. The Tōkaidō line, which connects Tokyo and Osaka, is the world's busiest high-speed rail line. Since the railway lines were laid in the mid-1960s, it has transported roughly 5 billion people.

The Baikonur Cosmodrome is the world's first and largest spaceport. The facility opened in the late 1950s, when the steppes of Central Asia were part of the Soviet Union. The world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched from Baikonur in 1957, and the first spacecraft to carry a person into orbit ( Vostok 1, carrying Soviet pilot Yuri Gagarin) was launched in 1961. Today, the Baikonur Cosmodrome is in southern Kazakhstan, although it is leased to and maintained by Russia. The state-of-the-art facility allows for the launch of both manned and unmanned spacecraft, and is vital to the support and maintenance of the International Space Station (ISS).

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Asia is the largest of the world's continents, covering approximately 30 percent of the Earth's land area. It is also the world's most populous continent, with roughly 60 percent of the total population. Asia makes up the eastern portion of the Eurasian supercontinent; Europe occupies the western portion.

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Asia covers a vast area that reaches almost halfway round the Earth from east to west. As you'd expect with such a huge land area, it contains a diverse array of habitats. Biogeographically, Asia is part of the Eurasian landmass and some species - such as bears and golden eagles - are found on both continents.

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NEW DELHI - Khushwant Singh halted his tennis serve in mid-swing and cupped his ear. As his playing companions steamed in the already blazing morning sun and shuffled their feet impatiently on the red clay courts of the Gymkhana Club, Singh let out a jubilant shout: "The monsoon bird is here! Hail clamator jacobinus, the monsoon is coming!"

In the excruciating pre-monsoon temperatures of northern India, when 110-degree heat is just a starting point, there are no sweeter words. The only thing more satisfying is when the dusty sky actually fills with clouds and the pressure builds like the inside of an airplane cabin and the aching, parched land explodes under joyous, drenching rain.

'Songbird of Rain'

What Khushwant Singh heard on that recent Sunday morning was the pea-pea pew-pew-pew call of the pied crested cuckoo, otherwise known by its Latin name, clamator jacobinus, and, colloquially to the rest of Asia, as the "songbird of rain."

Singh, 72, is a well-known historian and author, whose many works include a recent book on the annual Indian summer monsoon. He has a theory that the summer monsoon, which brings relief to the millions of parched souls of the Indian subcontinent as well as 70% of India's entire annual rainfall, is heralded by the arrival of the pied crested cuckoo from Africa and the sprouting of a thorny green bush that grows near his New Delhi apartment.

Practically everyone in India has some personal signal that the monsoon is coming: The delicious summer mangoes from Lucknow, southeast of New Delhi, lose their tartness. The large, black Indian ants become frantic in their search for food, massing over the scorched earth with a collective desperation. A locust-type insect swarms over light fixtures. The late afternoon sky turns a dirty yellow and the midnight heavens thunder impotently, like a god with a hacking dry cough.

Signs of Relief

The signs are studied intently. For the one billion people of South Asia, the monsoon time is the most important time of year. Moreover, it is a cultural mainstay, the creative source for art and literature ranging from cosmic Hindu myths to simple tribal paintings, such as the pointillistic rain sketches of the Worli Tribe from Maharashtra.

"No single event is more important to India than the coming of the monsoon," said Singh. "It is depicted in all of our literature and song. It is the inspiration for half of our poetry and ragas (ancient melodies)."

The word monsoon comes from the Arabic word for season. There are actually two monsoons in India: the winter, or northeastern, monsoon; and the summer, or southwestern, monsoon.

By far the most important is the summer monsoon, the one generated, usually in late May or early June, when the cool, high-pressure, moisture-laden, front off the coast of Africa is drawn into India by hot, low-pressure, air trapped over the northern Indian plains by the great Himalayan range.

Many other tropical and sub-tropical lands have monsoons, but the one that comes here is made more dramatic by India's geographical configuration, a huge inverted triangle of land, capped by a collar of the world's highest mountains and jutting southward into the Indian Ocean.

Extreme Temperatures

Temperatures are so extreme here, rising to more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the nearby Rajasthan Desert, that the meeting of superheated air with air that is ocean-cooled is like a giant meteorological collision.

The summer monsoon is vital to the Indian economy. A poor monsoon or a delay of a few weeks in the arrival of monsoon rains can make the difference between bumper crops and famine.

For this reason, the Indian government has been negotiating for several years to buy a super computer from the United States to help collect and interpret data about the approaching monsoon so that advance decisions can be made about planting crops and distributing irrigation water.

So far, India has been blocked from getting the computer it wants (the Cray XMP) by U.S. Defense Department officials who fear the technology would be leaked to the Soviet Union, India's strongest ally.

Progress Charted Daily

The monsoon, when it finally arrives, advances across the Malabar Coast of India and makes its way slowly and capriciously northward. Its progress is charted daily in practically every Indian newspaper. No other rainstorm gets such billing. The monsoon eventually arrives here in the north, usually during the first week of July.

But when it is several weeks late, as it is this year, the delay produces a palpable, unstated fear that it might not arrive at all, or that it will be very weak like the one that produced a severe drought in 1964-65.

"I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this monsoon," said S. Gangadharan, a researcher for the Economic Times newspaper, which regularly documents the march of the monsoon and projects the possible consequences on cash crops. "So far it looks very uncertain."

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Cultural Mainstay : Monsoon: It's More Than a Rain for India

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NEW DELHI - Khushwant Singh halted his tennis serve in mid-swing and cupped his ear. As his playing companions steamed in the already blazing morning sun and shuffled their feet impatiently on the red clay courts of the Gymkhana Club, Singh let out a jubilant shout: "The monsoon bird is here!

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