The largest continent on the face of the Earth is Asia. It covers an area of 17,212,000 square miles (44,579,000 square km); that's almost 9% of the Earth's surface!
Asia is the world's most populous continent. Almost two thirds of all the inhabitants of Earth live there. But despite its size and its population, Asia has fewer countries than either Africa or Europe, which are both considerably smaller.
Here are some questions about ten of the countries to be found on the continent, and the flags which they use.
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What we now call China was originally several independent states. These were unified by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, in 221 BC. The Emperors who followed ruled China for 2,133 years before it became a republic in 1912
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The red circle in the middle of the flag represents the sun. In Japanese the flag has two names: Hinomaru (circle of the sun) and Nisshoki (sun-mark flag). The Japanese call their country Nippon, which means "the sun's origin"; literally, the land of the rising sun
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What we call Burma was first unified in 849 AD as the Pagan Empire. It was conquered by the British in the 19th century, but regained its independence in 1948. In 1989 Burma changed the name given to it by the British and officially became Myanmar
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The Saudi flag is marked by the Islamic creed, which translates into English as, "There is no god but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God"
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China was torn apart by civil war after World War II. The governing Nationalists were defeated on the mainland by the Communists who took control of the country. The Nationalists retreated to the island of Taiwan and held on to power there, hence its official name "The Republic of China," as opposed to the Communist "People's Republic of China" which is found on the mainland
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The UAE is made up of seven different emirates, including Dubai, the business, tourism and leisure metropolis. The UAE gained its independence from Britain in 1971
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It is said that the seven pointed star symbolises the seven verses of Islamic belief mentioned at the beginning of the Qur'an: faith in one God, humanity, humility, national spirit, virtue, social justice, and aspiration
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Lebanon gets its name from the mountain range which runs through it. The root of the name means "white" and perhaps refers to the snow on the peaks of the Lebanon Mountains.
The Lebanese flag is marked by a cedar tree, a native of the country, and it symbolises immortality and steadiness |
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In its time Bahrain has been governed by the Persians, the Arabs, the Portuguese and the British, from whom it won its independence in 1971
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Bangladesh became independent from Pakistan in 1971 following a war in which it was aided by the Indian government. It then changed its name from East Pakistan to Bangladesh
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