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Geography of Asia

Recentissima Asiae Delineatio, the 1730 map of Johan Christoph Homann. Asia is shown in color. The names are in
Latin. The Asia of this map geographically differs only in minor details from the maps of today. The political
arrangements are somewhat different.
Satellite view of Asia
Geography of Asia reviews geographical concepts of classifying Asia, the central and eastern part
of Eurasia, comprising approximately fty countries.
Geographic Characteristics

Boundary

Main article: Denition and boundaries of Asia

The land mass of Asia is not the sum of the land masses of each of its regions, which have been
dened independently of the whole. For example, the borders of Central Asia and the Middle East
depend on who is dening them and for what purpose. These varying denitions are not generally
reflected in the map of Asia as a whole; for example, Egypt is typically included in the Middle East,
but not in Asia, even though the Middle East is a division of Asia.

The demarcation between Asia and Africa is the isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea. The border with
Europe starts with the coast of the eastern Mediterranean, even though Turkey in the Near East
extends partly into the Aegean Islands and includes Istanbul on the European side of the
Bosphorus. On the north the boundary between the continents of Asia and Europe is commonly
regarded as running through the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, the Black Sea, the
Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the Ural River to its source, and a long border generally
following the eastern side of the Ural Mountains to the Kara Sea, Russia. The Arctic Ocean is the
northern border. The Bering Straits divide Asia from North America.

On the southeast of Asia are the Malay Peninsula (the limit of mainland Asia) and Indonesia ("Isles
of India", the former East Indies), a vast nation among thousands of islands on the Sunda Shelf,
large and small, inhabited and uninhabited. Australia nearby is a different continent. The Pacic
islands northeast of Australia more remotely removed from Japan and Korea are Oceania rather
than Asia. From Indonesia the border runs along the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea. Most of the
islands in the Indian Ocean are Asian.

Overall dimensions

Different sources give different estimates of the area enclosed by the imaginary border of Asia.
The New York Times Atlas of the World gives 43,608,000km2 (16,837,000sqmi).[1] Chambers
World Gazetteer rounds off to 44,000,000km2 (17,000,000sqmi),[2] while the Concise Columbia
Encyclopedia gives 44,390,000km2 (17,140,000sqmi).[3] The 2011 Pearson's has 44,030,000km2
(17,000,000sqmi).[4] The methods of obtaining these gures and exactly what areas they include
have not been divulged.
The map surface of mainland Asia is entirely contained within a Geodetic quadrangle formed from
segments of latitude going through its north and south extremes and segments of longitude
passing through the east and west extremes. Cape Chelyuskin is at 77 43 N; Cape Piai in the
Malay Peninsula is at 1 16 N; Cape Baba in Turkey is at 26 4 E; Cape Dezhnyov is at 169 40 W;
that is, mainland Asia ranges through about 77 of latitude and 195 of longitude,[5] distances of
about 8,560km (5,320mi) long by 9,600km (6,000mi) wide according to Chambers, or 8,700km
(5,400mi) long by 9,700km (6,000mi) wide according to Pearson's.

Indonesia to the southeast, a nation consisting of thousands of islands, adds a signicant amount
of territory to mainland Asia and extends the extreme Asian latitude further south. The geographic
nature of the country raises such questions as whether the sea and the seabed count as Asia. The
AustraliaIndonesia border is still being negotiated. Currently a 1997 treaty remains unratied. As
there are questions of shing rights in the waters and mineral rights in the seabed, two different
boundaries are being negotiated, one for the water column and one for the seabed. The
southernmost seabed boundary is 10 50' S, the latitude of Point A3, the Australia, Indonesia and
Papua lokesh New Guinea common tripoint. The southernmost water column boundary is still
further south at Point Z88, 13 56' 31.8".

Views of Asia

The geographical or traditional view

Medieval Europeans considered Asia as a continent, a distinct landmass. The European concept
of the three continents in the Old World goes back to classical antiquity. Denition of continents
has long been and remains primarily the realm of geographers, including cultural geographers as
well as physical geographers. A wide majority of geographers, via nearly all atlases and many
other publications from the National Geographic to the CIA World Factbook and Merriam-
Webster's Geographical Dictionary dene Europe, Asia and Africa as continents.

The Hellenic origin

The coast of Turkey, original Asian shore seen from a beach on Rhodes.
The three-continent system was an idea devised in Archaic Greece, a time of Greek colonial
expansion and trade throughout the Mediterranean and the spread of writing again. Writing is a
prerequisite of written geography. It had been lost during the preceding Greek Dark Ages, a period
of piracy at sea and defensive parochialism on land. The preceding Mycenaean Greece left scant
record of some serving women from a locality in the later Asia Minor called Asia. Europe was
mainly Greece, while Libya was a small region to the west of Egypt. There was no systematic
denition of "continent;" however, the Greek mariners did make a distinction that was to become
one: the islands, nsoi, versus the mainland, peiros.[6] One etymology relates peir- to the same
Indo-European root from which English "over" came.[7] The Armenian form means "bank, coast."
The Greek form must be some sort of "overland," whether continuous land or a coast that looms
over. In Latin it became continens terra, "the continuous land," shortened to just continens, stem
continent-.

Most ships of the Archaic Period were not ocean-going. They followed the shores closely, ready to
put in at the rst sign of trouble. It is not surprising that the rst continents were "shores," as they
are in Herodotus, rst historian whose works are extant, who relies on earlier geography now
missing except for fragments. Asia is dened by two akrai, "bluffs" or "shores." One runs from
Phasis in Colchis (Georgia) at the eastern end of the Black Sea around the coast of Asia Minor to
Phoenicia. The second runs from Phoenicia to the Red Sea (the ancient Red Sea comprised also
the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean) and from there to India, after which "no man can say what
sort of region it is."[8]

Ancient ships in trouble on the sea.

Asia is equal to its shores, which also dene Europe and Libya. The northern shore runs eastward
along the line if the Phasis and Araxes Rivers; that is, south of the Caucasus Mountains, and
around the south of the Caspian Sea. The southern shore continues the Red Sea and the Nile River,
as Darius had constructed a canal between them. This division and system was already in place
before Herodotus. He professes not to understand it: "I am astonished that men should ever have
divided Libya, Asia and Europe as they have, for they are exceedingly unequal."[9] His astonishment
continues: "I cannot conceive why three names, and women's names especially, should ever have
been given to a tract which is in reality one ... nor can I even say who gives the three tracts [akrai]
their names." Previously he had spoken of two tracts. He says that an alternate northern border is
the mouth of the Don River.[10]

Strabo, geographer of the Early Roman Empire, has an explanation of the geography Herodotus
found so puzzling. The key is the coast-hugging requirement of most ancient navigation. As the
ancient navigator passed under the Rock of Gibraltar on his way into the Mediterranean Sea ("our
sea" to those who lived there), two paths appeared to him, the north shore or the south shore.
Strabo says:[11]

"Now as you sail into the strait at the Pillars, Libya lies on your right hand as
far as the stream of the Nile, and on your left hand across the strait lies
Europe as far as the Tanais."

To the ancient navigators of Our Sea, the continents were separated by seas. The canal extended
the southern shore into the Red Sea. The symmetry of the scheme was too geometric for the
Greeks to resist, as they represented all geographic masses by regular gures if they could. A
triangle prevailed in the Greek imagination with points at the Pillars, the Tanais and the Red Sea.
As the sides were three shores, the continents were three.

For more details on on the etymology of Asia, see Name of Asia.

Imperial Roman geography

The geographer, Claudius Ptolemaeus, distinguishes between geography, which is "a

representation in picture of the whole known world," and chorography ("study of places"), which
"treats more fully the particulars."[12] The idea of the continents is geography and is presented as
such. A chorographer in Ptolemy's view was the expert in a specic locality, such as a ship captain,
a merchant, or a native. Geographers consult them but they do not write geography unless they
happen to be both.

Ptolemy was a geographer of the middle Roman Empire, an Egyptian. The idea of the continents
preceded the imperial Romans but through them reached to modern time to determine today's
geographic views, which are enhancements and renements of the classical. Stating that
"continents are bounded more properly, when it is possible, by seas than by rivers," Ptolemy
denes a three-continent system: Europe, Libya, Asia. His Libya is the North Africa of today,
containing a province, Africa, whose name replaced Libya. Rejecting the Nile River as the Asian
border so as not to split Egypt, Ptolemy designates the Red Sea as the border between Libya and
Asia. In the north the border between Asia and Europe is a meridian through the mouth of the Don
River northward "to the unknown region."[13] Asia Minor remains "Asia properly so called."[14]
Ptolemy's Asia extends to the Far East, approximately identical to today's Asia, except that the
European border runs through the future location of Moscow, then a wilderness of forest skirted
by Sarmatian tribesmen. In a striking foreshadowing of European and Asian Russia, European
Sarmatia lies between the Vistula River and the Don River, while Asian Sarmatia runs east of the
Don to Scythia.[15] is a kontinenti

Geologic view

See also: North Asia Geomorphology, and Geology of India

The relatively recent study of plate tectonics has discovered that Asia has several regions that
would be considered distinct landmasses if strictly geologic and tectonic criteria were used (for
example, South Asia and East Asia). Denition of continental plates is the realm of geologists.
Strictly in terms of geological landmasses or tectonic plates, Europe is a western peninsula of
Eurasia and of the Africa-Eurasia landmass. In the latter, Europe and Asia are parts of the Eurasian
plate, which excludes the Arabian and Indian tectonic plates.

Regional view

In human geography, there are several schools of thought. The more common school follows
historical convention and treats Europe and Asia as different continents, categorizing East Asia,
South Asia, and the Middle East as specic regions for more detailed analysis. Other schools
equate the word "continent" to geographical "region" when referring to Europe and Asia in terms of
physical geography.[citation needed]

Ethnic view

In European languages the term "Asian" more commonly refers to ethnic heritage rather than a
strict geographic area. In American English, "Asian" often refers to East Asians, while in British
English, Asian often refers to South Asians. See the List of transcontinental countries for further
geographic denitions. The term Asia Pacic generally refers to a combination of East Asia,
Southeast Asia, and islands in the Pacic Ocean most of which are also considered part of
Australasia or Oceania. Asia contains the Indian subcontinent, Arabian peninsula, as well as a
piece of the North American plate in Siberia.

Regions
Since the 18th century Asia has been divided into several subregions independently dened from
Asia as a whole. There have been no historical consensus and there is not now any universal
consensus on the use of these terms, just as there is none for the word "Asia".

The regions of Asia include:

Central Asia
Commonly understood as comprising; Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and
Kyrgyzstan.
East Asia
Commonly understood as comprising;[16] China, Hong Kong, Macau, North Korea, South Korea,
Japan, Taiwan, Mongolia.
South Asia
Commonly understood as comprising;[17] Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka,
Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh. A common approximate synonym for South Asia is the Indian
subcontinent, plus Afghanistan.
Southeast Asia
Commonly understood as comprising;[18] Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam.
Western Asia (or Southwestern Asia, or Middle East minus Egypt)
Commonly understood as comprising;[19] Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel,
Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab
Emirates, Yemen

Asia's changing climate

A survey carried out in 2010 by global risk analysis rm Maplecroft identied 16 countries that are
extremely vulnerable to climate change. Each nation's vulnerability was calculated using 42 socio,
economic and environmental indicators, which identied the likely climate change impacts during
the next 30 years. The Asian countries of Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan and Sri
Lanka were among the 16 countries facing extreme risk from climate change. Some shifts are
already occurring. For example, in tropical parts of India with a semi-arid climate, the temperature
increased by 0.4C between 1901 and 2003. A 2013 study by the International Crops Research
Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) aimed to nd science-based, pro-poor approaches
and techniques that would enable Asia's agricultural systems to cope with climate change, while
benetting poor and vulnerable farmers. The study's recommendations ranged from improving the
use of climate information in local planning and strengthening weather-based agro-advisory
services, to stimulating diversication of rural household incomes and providing incentives to
farmers to adopt natural resource conservation measures to enhance forest cover, replenish
groundwater and use renewable energy.[20]

General data for countries defined as Asian by the UNSD

The United Nations Statistics Division, charged with collecting statistical data on global regions
including Asia, publishes a classication standard, United Nations M49, which assigns code
numbers to continental regions, areas and countries, based on statistical purposes,[21] and the
countries and regions grouped together don't imply any assumption regarding political or other
afliations between the grouped countries.[21] Some general data on the countries listed in M49
for the continental region, Asia (142), and one non-ofcial region, "Northern Asia," are presented
below.

M49 is a device for collecting useful statistics for the UNSD and is a suggested reference guide
offered as a global standard for all agencies and institutions within the various UN departments
that might be interested. The United Nations Statistics Division does not present it as an
authoritative standard or as one that is more valid or more worthy of adoption than some other. It
is not a requirement for other agencies within the United Nations, which use their own standards
as are convenient for their operations.

No nations have adopted M49 as a mandatory standard. It does, however, reflect general usage
concerning the political geography of Asia. M49 is updated frequently to reflect changing
geopolitical circumstances.

One problematic aspect of the classication of Asia not yet denitively addressed by the Statistics
Division is "Northern Asia," which has no regional code and is not currently ofcially a region of
Asia. Russia, or "the Russian Federation," is a nation of Europe. The "Northern Asia" name is
unofcially recognized; for example, the UN Group of Experts on Geographical Names includes an
Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia Division. "Northern Asia" comes from traditional usage,
which divides Europe from Asia at the Ural Mountains. No one at the UN is suggesting that
European Russia be included in Asia or that Asian Russia be included in Europe. Their policy is
that a nation shall appear once in one region. They have selected Europe. The problem remains
unsolved.

Geopolitical map of Asia

The nations of this map with one major exception (and a few minor ones) are those dened by the
World Factbook. Short forms of the names are used; sometimes abbreviations. All the nations can
be found in the table below. The one major exception to the scheme is "Russia," not currently
ofcially in the continental region of Asia, but unofcially partly in it even though classied as
Europe.
European Russia
Asian Russia
Mongolia
China
Japan
South Korea
North Korea
Taiwan
Hong Kong, Macau
India
Pakistan
Nepal
Bhutan
Bangladesh
Maldives
British Indian Ocean Territory
Sri Lanka
Vietnam
Thailand
Laos
Cambodia
Myanmar
Malaysia
Brunei
Singapore
Philippines
Indonesia
East Timor
Kazakhstan
Uzbekistan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Egypt
Afghanistan
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Oman
Yemen
UAE
Qat.
Bah.
Kuw.
Iraq
Jor.
Isr.
Syria
Leb.
Turkey
Cyp.
Georgia
Azerbaijan
Armenia
Australia
Greece

Geopolitical data for Asia

Introduction

The countries in this table are categorised mainly, but not entirely, according to the UNSD scheme
for statistical purposes used by the United Nations Statistics Division. For example, the UNSD
statistical geoscheme does not recognize a "North Asia," but problematic differences in point of
view reach down to the country level elsewhere as well. Part of Egypt (Sinai Peninsula) is
geographically in Western Asia, and the Australian external territories of Christmas Island and the
Cocos (Keeling) Islands are often associated with Asia. However, these are not present in the
UNSD geoscheme.

There is no universally dened standard Asia. Traditional views are approximate at best. Even
today borders are still being dened, as between Indonesia, Australia and Oceania. As long as
conflict over territory remains a human trait there may well be "an eastern question," as the British
Empire said of the Ottoman Empire.

In evaluating the geographic position of nations of the edge of Asia some writers utilize the
amorphous concept of "transcontinental countries," which has different meanings to different
authorities. Merriam-Webster denes it as "going across a continent," as might a railroad.[22] With
regard to Asia, there is only one such country, the Russian Federation.

In a second denition, Petrovsky refers to a new tendency to form transcontinental agencies,

meaning agencies whose jurisdictions cross continental borders, rather than the whole continent.
[23]
Petrovsky's examples put together widely scattered sections of continents. There is no
question of their trans- status. More precise views, however, require denitions of continents,
which in the case of Asia are not quite so facile.

A third denition emphasizes transformation in place from one continent to another. Fahey at rst
denes Turkey as transcontinental by virtue of being in both Anatolia and the Balkans, neglecting
the historical circumstance that the Balkans as part of the Ottoman Empire were once Asian, as
was much of North Africa. He then hypothesizes that Turkey, accepted into the European Union, is
dened by that circumstance to be European.[24] By this usage, the very region to which "Asia" was
rst applied is now Europe. If it is, Turkey cannot be transcontinental by being split between two
continents. This sort of paradox only underlines that Asia has no precise denition in the same
way that nations do, to whom a mere 100 yards of border may be of great concern.

Data included in the table below are per sources in linked articles when available, the CIA World
Factbook when not. No attempt is made to split populations. That of Russia is for the whole
country; thus, the populations and areas cannot be summed to produce those of any dened Asia.
The notes state which nations might be considered transcontinental by some agency, but there is
little agreement generally.

Table

Name of region
Pop.
and Area
Code Population density Date Capital
territory, with flag (km)
 (/km)

143 Central Asia

Jan
398 Kazakhstanb[] 2,724,927 16,536,000 6.1 Astana
2011

Jul
417 Kyrgyzstan 199,951 5,587,443 27.9 Bishkek
2011

Jul
762 Tajikistan 143,100 7,627,200 53.3 Dushanbe
2011

Jul
795 Turkmenistan 488,100 4,997,503 10.2 Ashgabat
2011

Jul
860 Uzbekistan 447,400 28,128,600 62.9 Tashkent
2011

030 Eastern Asia

156 Chinaf[]g[] 9,640,821 1,322,044,605 134.0 Beijing

Jul
344 Hong Kongf[] 1,104 7,122,508 6,451.5
2011

Jul
392 Japan 377,947 127,920,000 338.5 Tokyo
2011

408 North Korea 120,540 23,479,095 184.4 Pyongyang

410 South Korea 98,480 49,232,844 490.7 Seoul

446 Macauf[] 25 460,823 18,473.3

496 Mongolia 1,565,000 2,996,082 1.7 Ulaan Baatar

158 Taiwanf[] 35,980 22,920,946 626.7 Taipei

N/A Northern Asia

643 Russiad[] 13,119,600 37,630,081 2.9 Moscow

035 Southeastern Asia

096 Brunei 5,770 381,371 66.1 Bandar Seri Begawan

104 Myanmar 676,578 47,758,224 70.3 Naypyidaw

116 Cambodia[25] 181,035 13,388,910 74 Phnom Penh

360 Indonesiac[] 1,919,440 230,512,000 120.1 Jakarta

418 Laos 236,800 6,677,534 28.2 Vientiane

458 Malaysia 329,847 27,780,000 84.2 Kuala Lumpur

608 Philippines 300,000 92,681,453 308.9 Manila

702 Singapore 704 4,608,167 6,545.7 Singapore

764 Thailand 514,000 65,493,298 127.4 Bangkok

626 Timor-Lestec[] 15,007 1,108,777 73.8 Dili

704 Vietnam 331,690 86,116,559 259.6 Hanoi

034 Southern Asia

004 Afghanistan 647,500 32,738,775 42.9 Kabul

050 Bangladesh 147,570 153,546,901 1040.5 Dhaka

064 Bhutan 38,394 682,321 17.8 Thimphu

356 Indiag[] 3,287,263 1,147,995,226 349.2 New Delhi

462 Maldives 300 379,174 1,263.3 Mal

524 Nepal 147,181 29,519,114 200.5 Kathmandu

586 Pakistang[] 803,940 167,762,049 208.7 Islamabad

Sri
144 Sri Lanka 65,610 21,128,773 322.0 Jayawardenapura-
Kotte

145 Western Asia

051 Armeniae[] 29,800 3,299,000 280.7 Yerevan

031 Azerbaijana[]b[] 86,660 8,845,127 102.736 Baku

048 Bahrain 665 718,306 987.1 Manama

196 Cypruse[] 9,250 792,604 83.9 Nicosia

268 Georgiaa[] 69,700 4,636,400 65.1 Tbilisi

364 Iran 1,648,195 70,472,846 42.8 Tehran

368 Iraq 437,072 28,221,181 54.9 Baghdad

 376 Israel 20,770 7,112,359 290.3 Jerusalemh[]

400 Jordan 92,300 6,198,677 57.5 Amman

414 Kuwait 17,820 2,596,561 118.5 Kuwait City

422 Lebanon 10,452 3,971,941 353.6 Beirut

512 Oman 212,460 3,311,640 12.8 Muscat

275 State of Palestine 6,257 4,277,000 683.5 Ramallah

634 Qatar 11,437 928,635 69.4 Doha

682 Saudi Arabia 1,960,582 23,513,330 12.0 Riyadh

760 Syria 185,180 19,747,586 92.6 Damascus

792 Turkeya[]b[] Ankara

United Arab
784 82,880 4,621,399 29.5 Abu Dhabi
Emirates

887 Yemen 527,970 23,013,376 35.4 Sana

142 Asia 43,810,582 4,162,966,086 89.07

Table notes

^a:Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey are often considered to be transcontinental countries,

spanning both Asia and Europe. Many organisations, such as the BBC[26] place them in Europe,
while others such as the CIA[27] include them in Asia, West Asia and the Middle East to be precise.
All are included in European organisations such as the Council of Europe[28] and are considered to
be European, and thus eligible to join, by the European Union.[29]
^b:Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkey are considered split by some between two continents:
Azerbaijan north of the Caucasus, Kazakhstan west of the Ural River and Turkey west of the
Bosphorus might be construed as in Europe. Only national data is presented. Splitting a nation
would be more problematic; for example, the Ural River is not a well-dened boundary in places;
moreover, some geopolitical units straddle it. The UN convention is followed here, which does not
dene any transcontinental regions.
^c:Indonesia is often considered a transcontinental country with territory in both Asia and
Oceania, and East Timor can be placed in either Asia or Oceania. Population and area gures for
Indonesia do not include Irian Jaya and Maluku Islands, frequently reckoned in Oceania.
^d:Russia is considered a transcontinental country with territory in Eastern Europe and Northern
Asia; population and area gures are for the Ural Federal District, Siberian Federal District and Far
Eastern Federal District of Russia, which belong to Asia.
^e:The island of Cyprus is located on the Asian Anatolian plate,[30] but is a member of European
organisations such as the Council of Europe[28] and the European Union.[29] Armenia is similarly
located fully within Asia, but is a member of the Council of Europe.[28]
^f:Hong Kong and Macau are Special Administrative Regions (SAR) of China. Taiwan (ofcially
the Republic of China) is a de facto state claimed by the PRC. Figures given for China do not
include these areas.
^g:The area of India includes Jammu and Kashmir, a disputed territory contested between India,
Pakistan, and China.
^h:In 1980, Jerusalem was proclaimed Israel's united capital, following its annexation of Arab-
dominant East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War. The United Nations and many countries do
not recognize this claim, with most countries maintaining embassies in Tel Aviv instead.

See also

List of Asian countries by population United Nations geoscheme for Asia

References

^ The New York Times and Bartholomew, Edinburgh (1992). The New York Times Atlas of the
World. New York: Times Books (Random House). p.44.

^ "Asia". Chambers World Gazetteer (5th ed.). 1988.

^ "Asia". The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia (2nd ed.). 1989.

^ Edgar Thorpe; Shawick Thorpe (2011). The Pearson General Knowledge Manual. India: Dorling
Kindersley. p.A.25.

^ "Asia: The Land". The New Encyclopdia Britannica (15th ed.).

^ Georg Autenrieth (1876). "peiros". A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges.

^ J.B. Hofmann (1950). "peiros". Etymologisches Wrterbuch des Griechischen (in German).
Mnchen: Verlag von R. Oldenbourg.

^ Histories, Book IV, Articles 37-40. ^ Histories, Book IV, Article 42. ^ Histories, Book!V, Article 45

^ Geography, 2.5.26. ^ Geography, Book I, Chapter 1. ^ Geography, Book II, Prologue.