Stretching between the Atlantic to the west, the Arctic to the north, the Indian to the south and the Pacific to the east, Asia is the largest and most diverse continent in the world, and it is politically one of the most powerful, influential places on the planet. Throughout it's long history, it has been shaped by large, powerful empires, such as the Sibir Khanate, the Safavid Dynasty and the Empire of Japan. Nowhere else on Earth have such mighty powers had so much influence over so much of the world for so long.