languages_spoken_or_written panayotis potagos
The Kurds (  ) also the ___MASK4___ people are an ethnic group in the Middle East , mostly inhabiting a contiguous area spanning adjacent parts of eastern and southeastern Turkey ( Northern Kurdistan ), western Iran ( Eastern or Iranian Kurdistan ), northern Iraq ( Southern or Iraqi Kurdistan ), and northern Syria ( Western Kurdistan or Rojava ). The Kurds are culturally and linguistically closely related to the Iranian peoples and , as a result , are often themselves classified as an Iranian people . Zaire , officially the Republic of Zaire was the name , between 1971 and 1997 , of a state in Central Africa which was later renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo , after the end of the Mobutu Sese Seko era . The state ' s name derived from the name of the Congo River , sometimes called " Zaire " in ___MASK65___ , adapted from the Kongo word " nzere " or " nzadi " (" river that swallows all rivers "). A Christian ( or ) is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity , an Abrahamic , monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ . " Christian " derives from the ___MASK100___ word " Christós " (  ), a translation of the Biblical ___MASK64___ term " mashiach ". Indonesia ( or ; ___MASK44___ : ), officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a unitary sovereign state and transcontinental country located mainly in Southeast Asia with some territories in Oceania . Situated between the Indian and Pacific oceans , it is the world ' s largest island country , with more than seventeen thousand islands . At , Indonesia is the world ' s 14th - largest country in terms of land area and world ' s 7th - largest country in terms of combined sea and land area . It has an estimated population of over 260 million people and is the world ' s fourth most populous country , the most populous Austronesian nation , as well as the most populous Muslim - majority country . The world ' s most populous island of Java contains more than half of the country ' s population . Tajikistan (, or ), officially the Republic of Tajikistan (" Çumhuriji Toçikiston "), is a mountainous , landlocked country in Central Asia with an estimated 8 million people in 2013 , and an area of . It is bordered by Afghanistan to the south , Uzbekistan to the west , Kyrgyzstan to the north , and China to the east . Pakistan lies to the south , separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor . Traditional homelands of ___MASK86___ people included present - day Tajikistan , Afghanistan and Uzbekistan . Bengal ( bgl ; ___MASK79___ :    ,      and    ) is a region in Asia which is located in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal . Geographically , it is made up by the Ganges - Brahmaputra delta system , the largest such formation in the world ; along with mountains in its north ( bordering the Himalayan states ) and east ( bordering Northeast India and Burma ). Vytina is a mountain village and a former municipality in Arcadia , Peloponnese , Greece . It is considered a traditional settlement . Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortynia , of which it is a municipal unit . The municipal unit has an area of 139 . 309 km . The seat of the municipality was the village Vytina . The village is located at the foot of the mountain range Mainalo . The area produces marble , a variation called the Black of Vytina . Vytina is 10 km east of Levidi , 15 km northeast of Dimitsana and 24 km northwest of Tripoli . The ___MASK28___ National Road 74 ( Tripoli - Pyrgos ) passes through Vytina . The ancient Arcadian city Methydrion was located near Vytina . The Gobi Desert ("", , " semidesert " Xiao ' erjing :    ) is a large desert region in Asia . It covers parts of northern and northwestern China , and of southern Mongolia . The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north , by the Taklamakan Desert to the west , by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the southwest , and by the North China Plain to the southeast . The Gobi is most notable in history as part of the great Mongol Empire , and as the location of several important cities along the Silk Road . Kuwait ('), officially the State of Kuwait ('), is a country in Western Asia . Situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the ___MASK67___ Gulf , it shares borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia . , Kuwait has a population of 4 . 2 million people ; 1 . 3 million are Kuwaitis and 2 . 9 million are expatriates . Expatriates account for 70 % of the population . Afghanistan ( ___MASK3___ / Dari : , " Afnistn "), officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan , is a landlocked country located within South Asia and Central Asia . It has a population of approximately 32 million , making it the 42nd most populous country in the world . It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east ; Iran in the west ; Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan , and Tajikistan in the north ; and China in the far northeast . Its territory covers , making it the 41st largest country in the world . Mongolia ( ___MASK61___ : [" Monggol Ulus "] in ___MASK61___ script ; [" Mongol Uls "] in ___MASK61___ Cyrillic ) is a landlocked unitary sovereign state in East Asia . Its area is roughly equivalent with the historical territory of Outer Mongolia , and that term is sometimes used to refer to the current state . It is sandwiched between China to the south and Russia to the north . While it does not share a border with Kazakhstan , Mongolia is separated from it by only . ___MASK28___ National Road 74 ( abbreviated as EO74 ) is a single carriageway road in southern Greece . It connects Pyrgos with Tripoli , via Olympia and Vytina . Its length is . It runs through the western and central part of the Peloponnese peninsula , in the regional units Elis and Arcadia . Iraq (, or ; '; '), officially known as the Republic of Iraq ('; ') is a country in Western Asia , bordered by Turkey to the north , Iran to the east , Kuwait to the southeast , Saudi Arabia to the south , Jordan to the southwest , and Syria to the west . The capital , and largest city , is Baghdad . The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds ; others include Assyrians , ___MASK80___ , Shabakis , Yazidis , Armenians , Mandeans , Circassians , and Kawliya . Around 95 % of the country ' s 36 million citizens are Muslims , with Christianity , Yarsan , Yezidism , and Mandeanism also present . The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and ___MASK4___ . The Arabian Sea is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan and Iran , on the west by northeastern Somalia and the Arabian Peninsula , and on the east by India . Historically the sea has been known by other names including the Erythraean Sea and the ___MASK67___ Sea . Its total area is and its maximum depth is . The Gulf of Aden is in the southwest , connecting the Arabian Sea to the Red Sea through the strait of Bab - el - Mandeb , and the Gulf of Oman is in the northwest , connecting it to the ___MASK67___ Gulf . Chennai ; formerly known as Madras or ) is the capital of the Indian state of ___MASK1___ Nadu . Located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal , it is one of the biggest cultural , economic and educational centres in South India . According to the 2011 Indian census , it is the sixth - largest city and fourth - most populous urban agglomeration in India . The city together with the adjoining regions constitute the Chennai Metropolitan Area , which is the 36th - largest urban area by population in the world . Chennai is among the most visited Indian cities by foreign tourists . It was ranked 43rd most visited city in the world for year 2015 . The Quality of Living Survey rated Chennai as the safest city in India . Chennai attracts 45 percent of health tourists visiting India , and 30 to 40 percent of domestic health tourists . As such , it is termed " India ' s health capital ". As a growing metropolitan city in a developing country , Chennai confronts substantial pollution and other logistical and socio - economic problems . The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Makran or Sea of Oman (" aldj Umn "; in Balochi :    in " Khaleej Oman ") is a strait ( and not an actual gulf ) that connects the Arabian Sea with the Strait of Hormuz , which then runs to the ___MASK67___ Gulf . It borders Pakistan and Iran on the north , Oman on the south , and the United Arab Emirates on the west . India , officially the Republic of India (" Bhrat Gaarjya "), is a country in South Asia . It is the seventh - largest country by area , the second - most populous country ( with over 1 . 2 billion people ), and the most populous democracy in the world . It is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south , the Arabian Sea on the southwest , and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast . It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west ; China , Nepal , and Bhutan to the northeast ; and Myanmar ( Burma ) and Bangladesh to the east . In the Indian Ocean , India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives . India ' s Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia . Its capital is New Delhi ; other metropolises include Mumbai , Kolkata , Chennai , Bangalore , Hyderabad and Ahmedabad . A city is a large and permanent human settlement . Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town in general ___MASK15___ language meanings , many cities have a particular administrative , legal , or historical status based on local law . The Uele River , also spelled Welle River , is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . It originates in the mountains near Lake Albert and flows west for about to join the Mbomou River at Yakoma . In physical geography , a steppe ( Old ___MASK16___ : "  " [ step '], grassland ) is an ecoregion , in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands , savannas , and shrublands biomes , characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes . In South Africa they are referred to as Veld . The prairie ( especially the shortgrass and mixed prairie ) is an example of a steppe , though it is not usually called such . It may be semi - desert , or covered with grass or shrubs or both , depending on the season and latitude . The term is also used to denote the climate encountered in regions too dry to support a forest , but not dry enough to be a desert . The soil is typically of chernozem type . Oman (; ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula . Holding a strategically important position at the mouth of the ___MASK67___ Gulf , the nation is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest , Saudi Arabia to the west , and Yemen to the southwest , and shares marine borders with Iran and Pakistan . The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the southeast and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast . The Madha and Musandam exclaves are surrounded by the UAE on their land borders , with the Strait of Hormuz ( which it shares with Iran ) and Gulf of Oman forming Musandam ' s coastal boundaries . The Circassians ( Circassian :  , " Adygekher ") are a Northwest Caucasian ethnic group native to Circassia , many of whom were displaced in the course of the ___MASK16___ conquest of the Caucasus in the 19th century , especially after the ___MASK16___  Circassian War in 1864 . In its narrowest sense , the term " Circassian " includes the twelve Adyghe ( Circassian :  , " Adyge ") tribes ( three democratic and nine aristocratic ), i . e . Abzakh , Besleney , Bzhedug , Hatuqwai , Kabardian , Mamkhegh , Natukhai , Shapsug , Temirgoy , Ubykh , Yegeruqwai , and Zhaney , each one represented by a star on the green - and - gold Circassian flag . However , due to Soviet administrative divisions , Circassians were also designated as the following : " Adygeans " ( Adyghe in Adygea ), " Cherkessians " ( Adyghe in Karachay - Cherkessia ), " Kabardians " ( Adyghe in Kabardino - Balkaria ), " Shapsugians " ( Adyghe in Krasnodar Krai ) although all the four are essentially the same people residing in different political units . ___MASK96___ (' or ' ) is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the " lingua franca " of the Arab world . ___MASK96___ also is a liturgical language of 1 . 7 billion Muslims . It is one of six official languages of the United Nations . It is named after the Arabs , a term initially used to describe peoples living from Mesopotamia in the east to the Anti - Lebanon mountains in the west , and from northwestern Arabia to the Sinai in the south . The Congo River ( also known as the Zaire River ) is a river in Africa . It is the second largest river in the world by discharge ( after the Amazon ), and the world ' s deepest river with measured depths in excess of . The Congo - Chambeshi river has an overall length of , which makes it the ninth - longest river ( in terms of discharge , the Chambeshi is a tributary of the Lualaba River , Lualaba being the name of the Congo River upstream of the Boyoma Falls , extending for 1 , 800 km ). Measured along the Lualaba , the Congo River has a total length of . It crosses the equator twice . The Congo Basin has a total area of about 4 million km , or 13 % of the entire African landmass . Levidi is a small town and a former municipality in Arcadia , Peloponnese , Greece . Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Tripoli , of which it is a municipal unit . The municipal unit has an area of 312 . 641 km . The town is situated on the northeastern slope of the Mainalo mountains , at about 850 m elevation . While the Mainalo is densely forested , the plains towards the northeast contain farmlands . Levidi is 9 km northwest of Kapsas , 10 km east of Vytina , 12 km southwest of Kandila and 20 km northwest of Tripoli . It is at the junction of the ___MASK28___ National Road 74 ( Tripoli - Pyrgos ) and the ___MASK28___ National Road 66 ( Levidi - Nemea ). Levidi was the site of several battles during the ___MASK28___ War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire . Panayotis Potagos ( 1839 - 1903 ) was a ___MASK28___ physician and explorer from Arcadian Vytina . Potagos began his travels in 1867 , visiting Iraq , Iran , Afghanistan , Gobi Desert , and India . He arrived in Egypt in 1876 , ascending the Nile River to southern Sudan and then crossed the Congo - Nile Divide into the Congo River basin through what is now the Central African Republic and finally reached the Uele River in 1877 . He was the first to reach Mbomu and Uele rivers from the north . He published an account of his travels , which was translated in ___MASK35___ . The Mainalo ( ___MASK13___ :  , ___MASK25___ :  or  - " Mainalos " or " Mainalon "; Latin : " Mænalus "), named after the mythical Maenalus , son of Lycaon , is a mountain range that spans about 15 to 20 km from north to south ( southwest of Tripoli to northeast of Vytina ) and from east to west from 5 to 10 km ( from Zygovisti to Kapsas ). Nagorno - Karabakh , officially the Nagorno - Karabakh Republic ( NKR ; " Lernayin Gharabaghi Hanrapetut ' yun "), Artsakh Republic or Republic of Artsakh (" Arts ' akhi Hanrapetut ' yun "), is an unrecognised republic in the South Caucasus . The region is considered by the UN to be part of Azerbaijan , but is under the control of ethnic ___MASK68___ separatists . The NKR controls most of the territory of the former Nagorno - Karabakh Autonomous Oblast and some of the surrounding area , giving it a border with Armenia to the west , Iran to the south , and the uncontested territory of Azerbaijan to the north and east . Turkey , officially the Republic of Turkey ( ___MASK84___ : ), is a transcontinental country in Eurasia , mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia , with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe . Turkey is a democratic , secular , unitary , parliamentary republic with a diverse cultural heritage . Turkey is bordered by eight countries : Greece to the west ; Bulgaria to the northwest ; Georgia to the northeast ; Armenia , the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan and Iran to the east ; and Iraq and Syria to the south . The Aegean Sea is to the west , the Black Sea to the north , and the Mediterranean Sea to the south . The Bosphorus , the Sea of Marmara , and the Dardanelles , which together form the ___MASK84___ Straits , divide Thrace and Anatolia ; they also separate Europe and Asia . Turkey ' s location has given it geopolitical and strategic importance throughout history . Afghan ( ___MASK3___ also ___MASK67___ :  ; see " etymology ") refers to someone or something from Afghanistan , in particular a citizen of that country . Prior to the rise of the nation as Afghanistan , it was used by ___MASK67___ speakers and those influenced by the ___MASK67___ language to denote the Pashtun people . In modern times , " Afghan " is rarely used as an ethnic term for the Pashtuns , but is rather used as the national demonym for all citizens of Afghanistan  Pashtuns , Tajiks , and also a large number of Hazaras , Uzbeks , Aimaqs , Turkmens , Balochs , Nuristanis , Pashayis , Pamiris , Arabs , and others . According to the " Encyclopædia Iranica ", the word Afghan ( afn ) in current political usage means any citizen of Afghanistan , regardless of their tribal or religious affiliation . According to the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan , all Afghans are equal in rights and obligations before the law . The fourth article of the current Constitution of Afghanistan states that citizens of Afghanistan consist of Pashtuns , Tajiks , Hazara , ___MASK37___ , Turkmen , Aymaq , Arab , Baluch , Pashayi , Nuristani , Qezelbash , Gujjars , Brahui , and members of other tribes . The Strait of Hormuz " Tangehyyeh Hormoz " , " Maq Hurmuz ") is a strait between the Gulf of Oman and the ___MASK67___ Gulf . It provides the only sea passage from the ___MASK67___ Gulf to the open ocean and is one of the world ' s most strategically important choke points . On the north coast lies Iran , and on the south coast the United Arab Emirates and Musandam , an exclave of Oman . At its narrowest , the strait has a width of . Iran (, also , ; ' ), also known as Persia , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (' ), is a sovereign state in Western Asia . It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia , the " de facto " Nagorno - Karabakh Republic , and Azerbaijan ; to the north by the Caspian Sea ; to the northeast by Turkmenistan ; to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan ; to the south by the ___MASK67___ Gulf and the Gulf of Oman ; and to the west by Turkey and Iraq . Comprising a land area of , it is the second - largest country in the Middle East and the 18th - largest in the world . With 82 . 8 million inhabitants , Iran is the world ' s 17th - most - populous country . It is the only country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline . The country ' s central location in Eurasia and Western Asia , and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz , make it of great geostrategic importance . Tehran is the country ' s capital and largest city , as well as its leading economic center . Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal , is a landlocked central Himalayan country in South Asia . It has a population of 26 . 4 million and is the 93rd largest country by area . Bordering China in the north and India in the south , east , and west , it is the largest sovereign Himalayan state . Nepal does not border Bangladesh , which is located within only 27 km ( 17 mi ) of its southeastern tip . It neither borders Bhutan due to the Indian state of Sikkim being located in between . Nepal has a diverse geography , including fertile plains , subalpine forested hills , and eight of the world ' s ten tallest mountains , including Mount Everest , the highest point on Earth . Kathmandu is the nation ' s capital and largest city . It is a multiethnic nation with ___MASK32___ as the official language . Xiao ' erjing or Xiao ' erjin or Xiaor jin or in its shortened form , Xiaojing , literally meaning " children ' s script " or " minor script " ( cf . " original script " referring to the original Perso - ___MASK96___ script , , Xiao ' erjing :    ; / Benjin ), is the practice of writing Sinitic languages such as Mandarin ( especially the Lanyin , Zhongyuan and Northeastern dialects ) or the Dungan language in the Perso - ___MASK96___ Script . It is used on occasion by many ethnic minorities who adhere to the Islamic faith in China ( mostly the Hui , but also the Dongxiang , and the Salar ), and formerly by their Dungan descendants in Central Asia . Soviet writing reforms forced the Dungan to replace Xiao ' erjing with a Roman alphabet and later a Cyrillic alphabet , which they continue to use up until today . The Yazidis ( also Yezidis , " Êzidî ") are an ethnically ___MASK4___ religious community or an ethno - religious group indigenous to northern Mesopotamia ( see also Ezidkhan ) who are strictly endogamous . Their religion , " Yazidism " is linked to ancient Mesopotamian religions and combines aspects of Zoroastrianism , Islam , Christianity and Judaism . Yazidis who marry non - Yazidis are automatically considered to be converted to the religion of their spouse and therefore are not permitted to call themselves Yazidis . They live primarily in the Nineveh Province of Iraq . Additional communities in Armenia , Georgia , Turkey , Iran , and Syria have been in decline since the 1990s as a result of significant migration to Europe , especially to Germany . The Yazidis ' cultural practices are observably ___MASK4___ , and almost all speak Kurmanji ( Northern ___MASK4___ ). The Soviet Union considered the Yazidis to be Kurds , as does Sharaf Khan Bidlisi ' s " Sheref - nameh " of 1597 , which cites seven of the ___MASK4___ tribes as being at least partly Yazidi , and ___MASK4___ tribal confederations as containing substantial Yazidi sections . Saudi Arabia , officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ( KSA ), is an Arab sovereign state in Western Asia constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula . With a land area of approximately , Saudi Arabia is geographically the fifth - largest state in Asia and second - largest state in the Arab world after Algeria . Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north , Kuwait to the northeast , Qatar , Bahrain , and the United Arab Emirates to the east , Oman to the southeast , and Yemen to the south . It is separated from Israel and Egypt by the Gulf of Aqaba . It is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a ___MASK67___ Gulf coast , and most of its terrain consists of arid desert or barren landforms . Armenia ( tr . " Hayastan "), officially the Republic of Armenia ( tr . " Hayastani Hanrapetut  yun "), is a sovereign state in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia . Located in Western Asia on the " ___MASK68___ Highlands ", it is bordered by Turkey to the west , Russia and Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to the east , and Iran and Azerbaijan ' s exclave of Nakhchivan to the south . The ___MASK67___ Gulf is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia . The body of water is an extension of the Indian Ocean ( Gulf of Oman ) through the Strait of Hormuz and lies between Iran to the northeast and the Arabian Peninsula to the southwest . The Shatt al - Arab river delta forms the northwest shoreline . ___MASK3___ (; " Pax  t " ), also known in older literature as Afghn or Pahn , is the South - Central Asian language of the Pashtuns . Its speakers are called Pashtuns or Pukhtuns and sometimes Afghans or Pathans . It is an Eastern Iranian language , belonging to the Indo - European family . ___MASK3___ is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan , and it is the second - largest regional language of Pakistan , mainly spoken in the west and northwest of the country . Pakistan ' s Federally Administered Tribal Areas ( FATA ) are almost 100 % ___MASK3___ - speaking , while it is the majority language of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern districts of Balochistan . ___MASK3___ is the main language among the Pashtun diaspora around the world . The total number of ___MASK3___ - speakers is estimated to be 45  60 million people worldwide . The Mbomou River or Bomu ( also spelled M ' bomou in ___MASK35___ ) forms part of the boundary between the Central African Republic ( CAR ) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DRC ). The Taklamakan Desert ( Xiao ' erjing :             ; ), also spelt " Taklimakan " and " Teklimakan ", is a desert in southwest Xinjiang ___MASK59___ Autonomous Region , northwest China . It is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south , the Pamir Mountains and Tian Shan ( ancient Mount Imeon ) to the west and north , and the Gobi Desert to the east . Central Asia or Middle Asia is the core region of the Asian continent and stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north . It is also colloquially referred to as " the ' stans " ( as the six countries generally considered to be within the region all have names ending with the ___MASK67___ suffix "- stan ", meaning " land of ") and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent . Arcadia (" Arkadía ") is one of the regional units of Greece . It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese . It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula . It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas . In ___MASK28___ mythology , it was the home of the god Pan . In European Renaissance arts , Arcadia was celebrated as an unspoiled , harmonious wilderness . Greece (' ), officially the Hellenic Republic ( ___MASK28___ : ' ), historically also known as Hellas ("" ), is a country in southeastern Europe . Greece ' s population is approximately 10 . 955 million as of 2015 . Athens is the nation ' s capital and largest city , followed by Thessaloniki . The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world ' s oceanic divisions , covering ( approximately 20 % of the water on the Earth ' s surface ). It is bounded by Asia on the north , on the west by Africa , on the east by Australia , and on the south by the Southern Ocean or , depending on definition , by Antarctica . It is named after the country of India . The Indian Ocean is known as " Ratnkara ", "" the mine of gems "" in ancient ___MASK12___ literature , and as " Hind Mahsgar ", "" the great Indian sea "", in ___MASK45___ . The Altai Mountains ( also spelled Altay Mountains ; Altai :   , " Altaj tuular "; ___MASK61___ : , " Altai - yin niruu " ( Chakhar ),   , " Altain nurú " ( Khalkha ); Kazakh :   , " Altay tawlar ",   ; Chinese ;  , "  ' rtài Shnmài ", Xiao ' erjing :              ) are a mountain range in Central and East Asia , where Russia , China , Mongolia , and Kazakhstan come together , and are where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their headwaters . The northwest end of the range is at 52 ° N and between 84 ° and 90 ° E ( where it merges with the Sayan Mountains to the east ), and extends southeast from there to about 45 ° N and 99 ° E , where it gradually becomes lower and merges into the high plateau of the Gobi Desert . The Mongol Empire ( ___MASK61___ : " Mongolyn Ezent Güren " ; ___MASK61___ Cyrillic :    also (" Horde ") in ___MASK16___ chronicles ) existed during the 13th and 14th centuries and was the largest contiguous land empire in history . Originating in the steppes of Central Asia , the Mongol Empire eventually stretched from Central Europe to the Sea of Japan , extending northwards into Siberia , eastwards and southwards into the Indian subcontinent , Indochina , and the Iranian plateau , and westwards as far as the Levant and Arabia . Sri Lanka ( or ; Sinhalese :         ', ___MASK1___ :     " Ilakai "), officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( formerly known as Ceylon ), is an island country in South Asia near south - east India . Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest .