Asian Studies in Credo: Geographical Features

Turkish Frat, Arabic Al Furat, river of SW Asia, c.1,700 mi (2,740 km) long, formed by the confluence of the Kara and the Murad rivers, E central Turkey, and flowing generally S through Turkey into Syria, then SE through Iraq. Ancient Mesopotamia, birthplace of many great civilizations, depended on the waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris for survival.

Major river of India and Bangladesh; length 2,510 km/1,560 mi. It drains a fertile and densely populated basin, approximately a quarter of the total area of India, and is the most sacred river for Hindus. The Ganges River flows eastward along the border separating the Himalayan complex and the flat expanse of the Indian subcontinent.

Chief river of Pakistan, c.1,900 mi (3,060 km) long, rising in the Kailas range in the Tibetan Himalayas, and flowing W across Jammu and Kashmir, India, then SW through Pakistan to the Arabian Sea SE of Karachi. The principal waterway of Pakistan and source of the word “India,” is one of the world's great rivers and the source of ancient civilizations. Its flooding has created both fertile farmland and great loss of life and land.

Chinese Lancang, one of the great rivers of SE Asia, c.2,600 mi (4,180 km) long.

Freshwater lake in southern Siberia, Russia, the largest in Asia, and the eighth largest in the world (area 31,500 sq km/12,150 sq mi). Lake Baikal is also the world's deepest lake (up to 1,640 m/5,700 ft) and its oldest, having existed for over 25 million years.

River of SW Asia, c.1,150 mi (1,850 km) long, rising in the Taurus Mts., E Turkey, and flowing SE through Iraq to join the Euphrates River, with which it forms the Shatt al Arab. In antiquity, some of the great cities of Mesopotamia, including Nineveh, Ctesiphon, and Seleucia, stood on the banks of the Tigris, and the river served as an important transportation route.

Chang Jiang or Yangtze Kiang; longest river of China and Asia, and third longest in the world, flowing about 6,300 km/3,900 mi from Qinghai on the Tibetan Plateau to the Yellow Sea. It is a major commercial waterway and, with its tributaries, is navigable for 30,000 km/18,640 mi; Yichang is considered the head of navigation, but ocean-going vessels can reach inland as far as Wuhan.

[Sanskrit,=abode of snow]; great Asian mountain system, extending c.1,500 mi (2,410 km) E from the Indus River in Pakistan through India, the Tibet region of China, Nepal, E India, and Bhutan to the southern bend of the Brahmaputra River in SE Tibet.

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
[Arab.,=empty quarter], great desert of the Arabian peninsula, c.225,000 sq mi (582,750 sq km); one of the largest sand deserts in the world.

Vast desert region of Central Asia in the independent state of Mongolia, and Inner Mongolia, China.

Siberia is conventionally subdivided into the following four geomorphological areas: the West Siberian lowland; the Central Siberian plateaus, or uplands; the mountains of the south; and the northeast Siberian mountain systems.

Temperate grassland of Eurasia, consisting of level, generally treeless plains.