asia is a large region on earth mainly in the northern hemisphere. asia is connected to europe in the west, forming a continent called eurasia, though sometimes it is viewed as a separate continent from europe. some of the oldest human civilizations began in asia, such as sumer, china, and india. asia was also home to some large empires such as the persian empire, the mughal empire, the mongol empire, and the ming empire. it is home to at least 44 countries. turkey, russia, georgia, kazakhstan and cyprus are partly are also considered european.