Asia is the largest and most populous continent or region, depending on the definition. It covers 8.7 percent of the Earth's total surface area, or 29.8 percent of its land area, and it contains more than 60 percent of the world's human population.

Asia is traditionally defined as part of the landmass of Africa-Eurasia – with the western portion of the latter occupied by Europe – lying east of the Suez Canal, east of the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Seas.

Etymology

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The word Asia entered English, via Latin, from Ancient Greek Ασία (Asia; see also List of traditional Greek place names). This name is first attested in Herodotus (about 440 BC), where it refers to Asia Minor; or, for the purposes of describing the Persian Wars, to the Persian Empire, in contrast to Greece and Egypt. Herodotus comments that he is puzzled as to why three different women's names are used to describe a single land mass (Europa, Asia and Libya, referring to Africa), stating that most Greeks assumed that Asia was named after the wife of Prometheus but that the Lydians say it was named after Asias, son of Cotys who passed the name on to a tribe in Sardis.

More on [ Asia ]

NPR Topics: Arts & Entertainment

'Bangkok Dangerous': A Hit Man Adrift In Thailand
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:03:00 -0400
The Pang Brothers' partially sanitized remake of their own 1999 thriller is hardly philosophical. Its style and its soul are more Asian than American — and it leaves some space for contemplation between shootouts.
'The Fly' Stirs New Buzz — On The Operatic Stage
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:36:00 -0400
Science fiction isn't typical source material for opera. Which is why Placido Domingo was a little surprised when The Fly landed on his desk. But David Cronenberg and Howard Shore's opera opens Sept. 7 in Los Angeles.
Summary Judgment: A Record Summer For Movies
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:00:00 -0400
Despite economic woes, domestic ticket sales topped a record $4 billion this summer. Slate.com's Mark Jordan Legan caught up with a few movie-goers to see what they enjoyed about their cinematic experience. Food prices weren't part of it.

NYT > Arts

The Risky Leap From Screen to Stage
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:35:06 -0000
Broadway, it seems, has eclipsed Playboy as the place to make Hollywood pay attention.
The New Season | Dance: ‘On the Town’ and Out of Town
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:37:15 -0000
New York doesn’t do justice to the choreographers who live and work here, but it remains the best place to see the spectrum of those who don’t.
The New Season | Video Games: Creative Ferment in Worlds That Never Were
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:40:52 -0000
Video games are enjoying a moment of creative possibility not seen since the early 1980s. Here are some products to watch.

Arts & Culture

Joan Acocella: A festival for everyone.
Joan Acocella Mon, 01 Sep 2008 04:00:00 -0000
For anyone who doesn’t know about it by now, the Fall for Dance Festival is a two-week series that takes place every September, at City Center, and has a notable entry fee: ten dollars a seat, every seat. City Center was once a Shriners auditorium. After our municipality bought . . .
Goings on About Town: Movies
Mon, 01 Sep 2008 04:00:00 -0000
OPENING AUGUST EVENING A drama, directed by Chris Eska, about several generations of Latino migrant workers in Texas. Opening Sept. 5. (Village East Cinemas.) BANGKOK DANGEROUS Reviewed this week in The Current Cinema. Opening Sept. 5. (In wide release.) EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ITALIAN Jason Todd Ipson directed this romantic . . .
Goings on About Town: Art
Mon, 01 Sep 2008 04:00:00 -0000
MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES METROPOLITAN MUSEUM Fifth Ave. at 82nd St. (212-535-7710)--“J. M. W. Turner.” Through Sept. 21. | “Landscapes Clear and Radiant: The Art of Wang Hui (1632-1717).” Opens Sept. 9. | “Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe.” Through Sept. 21. | “Jeff Koons . . .

Christian Science Monitor | Arts & Entertainment

Review: 'Trouble the Water'
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:00:00 -0500
Documentary follows the human drama of hurricane Katrina through the eyes of a young married couple from the Lower Ninth Ward.
Review: 'Ping Pong Playa'
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:00:00 -0500
Comedy about a basketball star who gets roped into the family table tennis business is fitfully amusing.
Review: 'I Served the King of England'
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:00:00 -0500
Chaplinesque fable has an airiness that masks its tragic undertow.

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