Asia is the largest continent by area and population on Earth. Asia has an area of 44,579,000 sq km (17,212,000 sq mi) and an estimated population of 3.9 billion as of January 15, 2012. Asia is defined according to similar definitions presented by the Encyclopædia Britannica and the National Geographic Society as four-fifths of the landmass of Eurasia – with the western portion of the latter occupied by Europe – located to the east of the Suez Canal, east of the Ural Mountains and south of the Caucasus Mountains (or the Kuma-Manych Depression) and the Caspian and Black Seas. It is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean and on the north by the Arctic Ocean. Given its size and diversity, Asia – a toponym dating back to classical antiquity – "is more a cult