Part of a long archipelago off the eastern rim of the Asian continent, the island country of Japan has four main islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. Learn more.
“Asia” is a term invented by the Greeks and Romans, and developed by Western geographers to indicate the land mass east of the Ural Mountains and Ural River, together with offshore islands such as Japan and Java.
Much of China, a country slightly larger than the continental United States, is hilly or mountainous. To its east lies the Pacific Ocean; to its south thick jungles. Learn more.
Iran's rich history stretches back to about 8000 BCE, when the first settlements appeared in western Iran and the Caspian sea.
Korea is a mountainous peninsula surrounded by the sea on three sides. It shares its northern borders with China and Russia, and its closest southern neighbor is Japan, which lies across a narrow strait. Learn more.
Only in the past sixty years has “Southeast Asia” been used to refer to the region comprising modern-day Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines. Learn more.
The Himalayas are the highest mountain ranges in the world, and from them flow the major rivers of Asia. Learn more.
This collection of resources explores movement of goods, people, and ideas along the Silk Roads. Activities support the Silk and Spice Roads school tour at the Asian Art Museum.
Abbreviated Map of All the World's Nations, approx. 1800-1850. Japan. Woodblock print; ink on paper. Gift to honor the Reverend Hodo Tobase, 2010.452.
