Asia is a continent which possesses more versatility than any other region on Earth, with a myriad of heritages clashing together into one. Today we thought we’d spice things up a bit and explore ten things you didn’t know about this most interesting of regions.
1. Highs And Lows
Both the highest and lowest points on the globe are located there, with Mount Everest and the Dead Sea grabbing those honors respectively.
Everest was first mastered by the explorer Edmund Hillary and a local Nepalese Sherpa {although there is some speculation they were beaten to the summit} and sits at 29,029 feet above sea level.
The Dead Sea by contrast, shared by the borders of Palestine, Israel and Jordan, can be found as many as 1,371 feet below sea level. Talk about contrasts.
2. Illegal To Be Fat
In Japan it is “illegal” to be above a certain weight when you hit the age of 40 ~ with special regulations brought in to ensure people stay trim and healthy at all times once they reach middle age.
With compulsory measurements taken, anyone found to be above a set limit for the waistline will be asked to shed the pounds, lest they face a fine.
3. Who Runs The World?
With a mind-boggling 4.3 billion people living there, Asia can staggeringly boast a whopping 60% of the world’s population ~ meaning there’s more people located there than the rest of the world combined.
With countries like India {1.25 billion} and China {1.58 billion} situated there, it’s perhaps unsurprising it so heavily out-numbers the rest of the world. Africa is a distant second in the rankings, with a measly 1.03 billion residents.
4. Time Zone Mastery
China is well documented as the largest nation by population ~ and also clocks up as the fourth biggest when it comes to land mass, behind only Russia, Canada and the USA.
Amazingly though, there’s only one time zone to govern the entire nation. This naturally leads to a lot of problems as “It isn’t uncommon in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, to see people enjoying a beautiful sunset … at midnight. Or for the sun to rise there in the winter around 10 AM.”
