Asia's Northwestern

 

Asia's northwestern limits are marked by the Ural and Caucasus mountains. Lands in the far north overlap the Arctic Circle and much of the region is tundra, frozen solid for most of the year. Farther south lies a swathe of evergreen forest and, beyond that, the steppes - open, fertile grasslands. Little rain reaches Central Asia, so much of it is desert. 

The world's highest mountain ranges, the Himalayas and the Karakorams, form a snowy barrier to the north of the Indian peninsula, and include the world's highest peak, Mount Everest. To the south, the world's greatest rivers, the Ganges and Brahmaputra, run toward the warm Indian Ocean. The often flood ,m depositing rich, alluvial soil over the wide delta.