Page 35 - Atlas Of The World's Strangest Animals

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Asia

Across the vast continent of Asia can be found the world’s highest

mountains and, in their shadow, one of its largest deserts.To the south-
east lie some of the world’s largest and most populated islands.

nlike the other continents,Asia has no obvious Pakistan and China collide.Travel south, and you’ll find
border to mark its boundaries. In fact, Europe is some of the world’s densest rainforests, stretching from
Uno longer considered a separate continent from Myanmar and the Philippines and across the North China
Asia.The region we call Asia is a spectacular, sprawling Sea to Indonesia.This is a nation comprised of 17,508
landmass, and it is perhaps no surprise that sixty per cent inspirational islands, which play host to more species of
of the world’s population – around four billion people – animals and plant life than anywhere else in the world,
make their home here. apart from the Amazon rainforest.
This is the world’s largest continent.And it is truly It’s this geological diversity that makes Asia home to
amazing. Look east and there, sandwiched between China some of the world’s rarest, most beautiful and most
and Siberia, we see the vast Gobi Desert: a parched rain exciting animals. Pandas, tigers and elephants all find a
shadow desert created by the Himalayan mountains, home here. So too do some of nature’s strangest and most
which stop moisture reaching this weather-wizened land. surprising species. It’s here that you’ll come across
Glance west and we find the highest region in the world, monkeys that take shelter from the winter cold in hot
known as ‘High Asia’ or ‘the roof of the world’ – a place springs, and fish that can not only survive out of water
of gigantic peaks and deep valleys where Afghanistan, but are even able to walk across the land.

(c) 2011 Marshall Cavendish. All Rights Reserved.