Curated playlist
Regions of Asia
- Southeast AsiaAn American pastor first used the term "Southeast Asia" in 1839. His definition left out the islands entirely.
- East AsiaMongolia has the lowest population density on Earth, while East Asia's coasts are among the most packed places.
- Central AsiaThe Soviet Union once left Kazakhstan out of its version of Central Asia. It called the smaller region Middle Asia.
- South AsiaSouth Asia is home to a quarter of all people alive on Earth.
- Middle EastAn American naval strategist popularized the name "Middle East" in 1902. Outsiders, not locals, named the region.
- North AsiaNorth Asia is the largest part of Asia by area, yet under one percent of Asians live there.
- MesopotamiaThe oldest monument celebrating a massacre comes from Mesopotamia.
- LevantThe Levant gets its name from a word meaning "rising," as in where the sun rises.
- South CaucasusThe South Caucasus sits on the edge of Iran, Russia and Turkey, which explains why empires kept fighting over it.
- Near EastThe phrase Near East took hold during the Crimean War of 1853-1856. Britain used it for the Ottoman Empire.
- Islamic worldThe phrase "Muslim world" was already in print by 1912. It grew from the anxieties of empire, not geography.
- East IndiesColumbus's mistake helped create the name East Indies. He thought he reached Asia, so his find became the West Indies.
- KashmirKashmir's maharaja hesitated in 1947, though most observers expected him to join Pakistan.
- AnatoliaMost Europeans carry DNA from farmers who left Anatolia about 9,000 years ago. Anatolia is the peninsula now in Turkey.
- Indian subcontinentCitizens of Pakistan and Bangladesh increasingly see the phrase Indian subcontinent as offensive.
- Palestine (region)After crushing a revolt around 135 CE, Rome renamed Judaea as Syria Palaestina.
- BengalIn 325 BCE, Alexander the Great's troops turned back after hearing of a delta kingdom's war elephants.
- SiberiaIn Siberia, the towns of Oymyakon and Verkhoyansk both reached minus 67.7 degrees Celsius in February 1933.