Introduction

When people think about Asia, they have to think about the earliest footprints of what has been called “civilization”. They think about Assyria, Nineveh, Sumer, Persepolis, Sian, Mohenjo-Daro, Jerusalem, Mecca (Makkah), Pataliputra, Bagan, Borobudur, Angkor Wat, Beijing and Edo. Asia gave birth to: Zoroaster, the founder of the Zoroastrian faith; Siddhartha Gautama, on whose teachings Buddhism is founded; Confucius, the promulgator of an essentially secular morality that has influenced all of East Asia; Jesus, on whose teachings Christianity is based; and Muhammad, the founder of Islam – not to mention an acephalous faith, such as Hinduism. Asia originated the modern system of numbers, and most likely algebra and algorithms. Through transoceanic, transmontane and many other routes and devices of trade, Asia connected the continents of Africa and Europe, and Asians crossing over the Bering Strait peopled the Americas.

Related Subject(s): Economic and Social Development