All of the world's major religions have their origins in the continent of Asia. Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism were all founded on the Indian subcontinent, whilst Confucianism and Taoism originated in China. In addition to these 'eastern' religions, the 'western', or Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, were also founded in Asia; the first two in what is now the modern state of Israel, and the third in what later became Saudi Arabia.
The continent was the birthplace, not only of the major religions, but also of civilisation itself. From its beginnings in the fertile crescent of the Middle East some 12,000 years ago civilisation has spread to almost every corner of the globe, and to each one of the many nations which exist today,. This quiz is about just a few of those countries, and the flags which represent them.
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Indonesia sits where the Pacific, Eurasian, and Australian tectonic plates meet, which makes the country prone to both earthquakes and volcanoes. There are more than 150 active volcanoes in Indonesia, such as Tambora and Krakatoa, both of which caused disasters during the 1800s. More recently, in 2004 an under-sea earthquake caused a tsunami which killed 230,000 people, most of whom were in Indonesia
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Vietnam has, in its time, been occupied by the Chinese, the French and the Japanese. Following World War II Vietnam was divided into two separate countries which were reunified in 1976, after the Vietnam war
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Written in green on the Iraqi flag is the Takbir - the Arabic phrase Allahu Akbar. This translates into English as "God is Greatest," and it is often used by Muslims to express joy
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Afghanistan first existed as a country in 1709 when it became independent from Persia. Since then it has had wars with three great empires (the British, the Soviets and the Americans), but it has maintained its independence throughout
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The Sri Lankan flag shows a golden lion holding a Kastane, a traditional Sri Lankan sword. The current design of the flag, like the name Sri Lanka, was adopted in 1972
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Tajikistan was once one of the most eastern parts of the Persian Empire. Since then it has been ruled by the Greeks, Scythians, Arabs, Samanids, Mongols, Bukharans and Russians. It finally became independent in 1991
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Situated on the historical Silk Road, the ancient city of Merv was located in Turkmenistan. During the 12th century it was the largest city on Earth and what remains of Merv is now a United Nations World Heritage Site
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The colours of the Kuwaiti flag are inspired by the 14th century poet, Safie Al-Deen Al-Hali, who spoke of "the green fields of the Arabs, the black battles they face, the white purity of their deeds and the red blood on their swords"
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Macau was the last remaining European colony in Asia before its transfer in 1999. Despite its union with China, Macau still retains a great deal of its autonomy
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Formerly known as Peking, Beijing is China's second largest city after Shanghai. A city has existed on the site of Beijing for over 3,000 years
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