In terms of Asian people, there is an abundance of ethnic groups in Asia, with adaptations to the climate zones of the continent, which include arctic, subarctic, temperate, subtropical or tropical, as well as extensive desert regions in Central and Western Asia. The ethnic groups have adapted to mountains, deserts, grasslands, and forests, while on the coasts of Asia, resident ethnic groups have adopted various methods of harvest and transport. The types of diversity in Asia are cultural, religious, economic and historical.
The literature of Central Asia is linked with Persian literature as historically it has been part of the Persian Empire for a lot of its history. Furthermore, sitting at the junction of the Silk Road, it has numerous Chinese, Indian and Arabian literary works.
Throughout the ages, the greatest influence on East Asia historically has been from China, where the span of its cultural influence is generally known as the Sinosphere laid the foundation for East Asian civilization.[68] Chinese culture not only served as the foundation its own society and civilization, but for also that of its East Asian neighbors, Japan and Korea.[69] The knowledge and ingenuity of Chinese civilization and the classics of Chinese literature and culture were seen as the foundations for a civilized life in East Asia. China served as a vehicle through which the adoption of Confucian ethical philosophy, Chinese calendar systems, political and legal systems, architectural style, diet, terminology, institutions, religious beliefs, imperial examinations that emphasized a knowledge of Chinese classics, political philosophy and culture, as well as historically sharing a common writing system reflected in the histories of Japan and Korea.[70][71][72][68][73][74][75] The relationship between China and its cultural influence on East Asia has been compared to the historical influence of Greco-Roman civilization on Europe and the Western World.[74] Major characteristics exported by China towards Japan and Korea include shared Chinese-derived language characteristics, as well as similar social and moral philosophies derived from Confucianist thought.[75][73][76]
European influences, especially Russian, are strong in the southwestern and central part of the region, due to its high Russian population from Eastern Europe which began to settle the area in the 18th century.[78] For the most part, North Asia is considered to be made up of the Asian part of Russia solely. North Asia is geographically the northern extremity of East Asia and the physical characteristics of its native inhabitants generally resemble that of East Asians, however, this is principally divided along political lines under separate national identities, particularly that of China, Mongolia and Russia. The main ethnic groups of the region speak languages of the Uralic, Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic language families, along with East Slavs and various "Paleo-Siberian" peoples, with most of these ethnic groups being composed of nomads or people with a nomadic history.
Bhutanese are often referred to in their literature as "Bhote" (people of Bhutia/Bhotia or Tibet). They follow Tibetan Buddhism to and it is a dominant political and cultural element in modern Bhutan. Their language, Dzongkha, is the national language and is descended from Old Tibetan.
Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism founded in the region that is today's India, and spread throughout the Indian subcontinent. Islam and Christianity also have significant histories. While India and Nepal have a majority of people following Hinduism, Islam is the second largest religion after Hinduism in India and South Asia with Muslim majority countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh. Sri Lanka and Bhutan have a majority of Buddhists alongside with Hindus
Demographically, Southeast Asia has had little Western immigration, although Western influence still exists due to the lasting legacy of colonialism. One example is the Philippines, which has been heavily influenced by Spain and slightly by the United States of America over the course of almost four centuries of colonisation.
A common feature found around the region is stilt houses, while another is rice paddy agriculture, which originated in the region thousands of years ago. Dance is also a very important feature of the culture, utilizing movements of the hands and feet perfected over thousands of years. Furthermore, the arts and literature of Southeast Asia is very distinctive as some have been influenced by Indian, Hindu, Chinese, Islamic and Buddhist literature.
Culturally, the region's dominant ethnic groups are Arab (about 150 million), Turkic (about 60 million), Persian (about 50 million) and Kurds (about 35 million). Other indigenous minorities include Jews (6.2 million), Assyrians (about 400,000), Armenians (about 4.5 million), Azerbaijanis (about 40 million), Mandaeans, Yazidis, Circassians, Greeks, and others. Many of the West Asian countries contain expansive deserts, and thus many nomadic groups exist today, most notably the Bedouin Arabs.
Europeans, Russian nationals, North Americans, and South Americans
At least 21 million of European, Russian, North American and South American nationalities and heritage live in Asia, representing 0.45% of the total population of Asia. The following is a list of people with such ancestry and nationality, including people of mixed heritage of part Asian and part European/North American/South American, living in Asian countries, also showing the main country of origin.
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^Sinitic means relating to China or the Chinese. It is derived from the Greco-Latin word Sīnai ('the Chinese'), probably from Arabic Ṣīn ('China'), from the Chinese dynastic name Qín. (OED)
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^Miller, David (2007). Modern East Asia: An Introductory History. Routledge (published 15 December 2007). pp. 7–8. ISBN978-0765618221.
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^ abLewis, Mark Edward (2012). China's Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty. Belknap Press (published 9 April 2012). p. 156. ISBN978-0674064010.
^ abEdwin O. Reischauer, "The Sinic World in Perspective," Foreign Affairs 52.2 (January 1974): 341—348. JSTORArchived 15 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine
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