Population size and density
Eurasia, like Africa, is considered the ancestral homeland of man. As of the beginning of 2016, $5,175 million people lived in Eurasia, including $4,436 million in Asia and $739 million in Europe. In total, more than $2/3$ live in Eurasia general population planets. Due to the heterogeneity of natural conditions, Eurasia is unevenly populated.
The impact on Asian economies and societies was no less profound. This had a significant impact on European culture and, in particular, on European and Western concepts of the East. While European culture possessed concepts and ideas of Asia since the times of Herodotus and Aristotle, this “knowledge” was limited in scope and related to a small part of Asia. The journey of the brothers Niccolo and Maffeo Polo, Marco's father and uncle, and Catholic missionaries sent to the court of the Great Khan expanded this knowledge a little.
But the lack of regular contact and lack accurate information meant that European conceptions of Asia were more legend than fact, and on the eve of da Gama's journey to India, Asia was still a largely unknown part of the world to Europeans. Until this point, the continuing influence of ancient Greek sources meant that the dominant concept of Asia was one of ancient, refined, and wealthy civilizations dominated by centralized imperial monarchies with despotic forms of government.
The most densely populated areas are with favorable climate And fertile soils. Such conditions are observed in the Mediterranean region and lower rivers of Asia.
The population density of Eurasia averages $95$ people per square kilometer. Eurasia is home to most of the most populated areas peace. This is, first of all, the Indo-Gangetic lowland, where about $1 billion people live with a population density of $1000 \ person/km^2$, as well as the Great Chinese Plain, the Sichuan River Basin, the island of Java and the Tokaido region in Japan.
Subsequent encounters with the Islamic world in the form of a threatening Ottoman Empire reinforced this view of the “alien” and “strangeness” of Asia and added to it religious overtones. Asia was perceived as a more or less undifferentiated land mass, where mainly climatic and environmental reasons political despotism, slavery, heretical and idolatrous religions dominated unchangeable societies. Understandable high degree the sophistication of Asian societies meant that Europeans viewed Asian societies as civilizational.
Among the countries, the most densely populated are Macau (China) – $21\352\person/km^2$, Monaco – $19010\person/km^2$ and Singapore – $7697\person/km^2$. Population density increases sharply in cities. The most populated cities Eurasia are Shanghai (China) - $24.2 million people, Karachi (Pakistan) - $23.5 million people, Mumbai (India) - $22.0 million people, Beijing (China) - $21.5 million people, Delhi (India) – $18.6 million people.
However, the impression of deep “otherness” persisted and was reinforced by religious and cultural differences, as well as language barriers in communication. Difficulties in promoting European economic interests and the spread of Christianity in various parts Asian emphasized negative perception these areas. These authors portrayed various political entities between the Sublime Porte in Constantinople and the Qing court in Beijing as good and characterized by despotic and arbitrary rule.
However, conflicting interpretations did exist. A trend in 18th-century thought offered an alternative interpretation of the East. Prominent Enlightenment intellectuals such as Voltaire attempted to challenge the prevailing negative views of Asia. Scholars of Asian history and law such as Abraham-Hyacinthe Ankeil-Duperron have refuted the perception of a lack of written laws, private property, reliable justice and regular administration of public affairs in the East. However, these general prejudices continued to influence the way most Westerners assessed the position of Asian countries in their scale of civilizational development.
At the same time, there are very sparsely populated areas in Eurasia. These are high mountain and desert areas such as Tibet, Gobi and inland parts Arabian Peninsula. Among entire states, this is Mongolia, where $2 \ people/km^2$ live, or Iceland with a population density of just over $3 \ people/km^2$. In certain dependent territories European countries lives less than $1\person/km^2$.
Thus, two opposing approaches arose. One of them was clearly Eurocentric and identified the causes of Eastern "otherness" in negative terms. Another defined the East as positive alternative model, and not only different, but in many ways better than modern Europe.
At the end of the 18th century, the most common perception of Asia in Asia was that of a "stationary" society. What was previously often interpreted positively, as stability is now interpreted as the inability of Asian societies to improve and advance in the same Europe, is progressing. At the same time, it was recognized that many Asian countries, however, have achieved a lot in the past, with their high-level production and technological and artistic traditions. Established school thought in France, Britain and Germany argued that Asia was the cradle of civilization from which science, philosophy and religious doctrines were transmitted to the West.
Racial and ethnic composition
Eurasia is inhabited by representatives different races and ethnic groups. Among the races, representatives of Caucasoid and Mongoloid predominate, with representatives of the first living in Europe, South-West and South Asia, and the second in East and Central Asia. Representatives Negroid race live on the island of Sri Lanka and the south of the Hindustan Peninsula.
At the same time, Europeans believed that modern Asia stagnates and the economic and technological gap between Europe and Asia widens, especially in the case of those countries that have refused to open their markets. New expressions entered the language of economics and general discourse, such as the “stationary state,” which was often used in modern China. One attempt to explain this supposed immobility has discussed environmental and cultural reasons. It was stated that in case Islamic countries and Confucian China, a combination of climate and religious beliefs led to laziness, idleness and lack of initiative.
Also, Eurasia is multi-ethnic, representatives live here different nations. By linguistic characteristics are being formed language groups and families.
The population of Europe belongs predominantly to the Indo-European language family, which includes the Germanic, Romance and Slavic language groups. Asia is inhabited predominantly by representatives of the Sino-Tibetan language family, which consists of Chinese and Tibeto-Burman groups.
However, the role physical environment was not considered paramount. The recognized connection between immobility, the absence of civilians and political freedoms and, as a consequence, the lack of individual security in the case of modern Asian societies only confirmed European beliefs about the connection between freedom, progress and civilization, as evidenced by modern Europe.
This form of Sinophobia became the predominant attitude towards China in the late 18th century and significantly translated Sinomania, which caused the "crisis of European reason" and the element of Enlightenment culture and thought that respected well-governed monarchical government and merit-based nobility, as well as the promotion of Agriculture, moral teachings as a basis social communication and tolerance in religious issues. Recognition of Chinese civilization was often motivated by Christian skepticism.
Note 1
Religious composition The population of Eurasia is also heterogeneous. Foreign Asia(in relation to Russia) is the cradle of all world religions. Islam of various denominations is practiced by the population of the countries of Western and South-West Asia. Hinduism is most widespread in India, Buddhism in China, Mongolia, Korea and Japan, Judaism in Israel. Most of European populations profess Christianity.
Chinese historical traditions, based on recorded astronomical observations, assumed a chronology of historical time that was inconsistent with the Bible, and thus conveyed powerful weapon those in Europe who believed that the world was much older than the Jewish scriptures suggested. Skepticism towards the Christian, and especially the Catholic view of world history, as well as the promotion of natural religion and tolerance contributed to synomania. Synomania was not just an intellectual trend; it manifested itself - perhaps more firmly - in artistic tastes and material goods.
In Eurasia live peoples belonging mainly to two large races: the inhabitants of Europe, South-West Asia, and most of India belong to the Caucasian race, while the inhabitants of Eastern, Central and South-East Asia, a number of peoples of Northern Asia - to Mongoloid. The most numerous people in Eurasia and in the world are the Chinese. Europe is inhabited by peoples of the Caucasian race (Germanic, Romance and Slavic languages). On the continent of Eurasia and the adjacent islands there are two largest states in terms of population - China (more than 1.1 billion people) and India (about 0.8 billion people). More than 100 million people comprise the population of each of the five states - Russia, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The average population density of Eurasia is about 70 people per 1 km2, i.e. more than on any other continent. But different parts of Eurasia, individual countries differ markedly in population density. The most low density population is observed in the vast cold spaces of the tundra and northern taiga, in the sultry arid deserts of Central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, in the highlands of the Himalayas, Tibet, and the Pamirs. Very high population density in some countries Western Europe. The territories of small city-states are even more densely populated (Singapore - 4000 people per 1 km2). The population of the countries of South and Southeast Asia is large, where favorable natural conditions for the life of people. Central European Plain. In the Netherlands there is a saying: “God created the sea, the Dutch created the shores.” The north of the Scandinavian Peninsula, on the contrary, is characterized by uplifts. Slow (secular) land fluctuations are also observed in other areas of Eurasia. The gigantic size of the continent and its geological structure determined the diversity of minerals. Eurasia is richest in fossil fuel reserves: coal (untouched reserves in the north of the continent. In Eurasia live peoples belonging mainly to two large races: residents of Europe, South-West Asia, most of India belong to the Caucasian race, while residents of Eastern and Central and Southeast Asia, a number of peoples of Northern Asia - to Mongoloid. The most numerous people in Eurasia and in the world are the Chinese. Europe is inhabited by peoples of the Caucasian race (Germanic, Romance and Slavic languages). large states in terms of population - China (more than 1.1 billion people) and India (about 0.8 billion people) The population of each of the five states - Russia, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan and more than 100 million people. Bangladesh. The average population density of Eurasia is about 70 people per 1 km2, i.e. more than on any other continent. But different parts of Eurasia, individual countries differ markedly in population density. The lowest population density is observed in the vast cold spaces of the tundra and northern taiga, in the sultry arid deserts of Central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, in the high mountainous regions of the Himalayas, Tibet, and the Pamirs. Very high population density in a number of Western European countries. The territories of small city-states are even more densely populated (Singapore - 4000 people per 1 km2). The countries of South and Southeast Asia have a large population, where natural conditions are favorable for people to live.
The transition from Sinomania to Sinophobia was a change in intellectual attitudes, and not a change in tastes in consumer goods. In particular, this circumstance introduced two factors. The Society of Jesus was discredited by controversy and ultimately suppressed. As a result, the sympathetic attitude toward China and Chinese culture that informed the writings of many Jesuit missionaries active in China diminished. Before the suppression of the order, the Jesuits generated a significant body of translation and original literature on Chinese civilization, which aimed to highlight China's image as powerful empire, thereby weakening the importance of their missionary activities.
