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Il clima nell'Asia meridionale è tropicale.

Il clima nell'Asia meridionale è tropicale.
The climate in Southern Asia is tropical.
From Lesson 372:Articles with modified countries (nell'Italia meridionale)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Il clima nell'Asia meridionale è tropicale.

Why is it nell'Asia here instead of just in Asia?
Normally, you use the simple preposition in without an article for continents and countries (like in Asia). However, when the continent is modified by an adjective or a specifying phrase (here, meridionale), the definite article is required. Since in + l' combines to form nell', we get nell'Asia meridionale.
Could I use Sud instead of meridionale for "Southern"?
Yes, you can! Asia del Sud is very common and means the exact same thing. Meridionale is just the specific adjective form of "southern." Keep in mind that if you use Asia del Sud, the "del Sud" part is still a specification, so you still retain the article: nell'Asia del Sud.
Why doesn't meridionale end in -a, since Asia is feminine?
Meridionale belongs to the class of adjectives that end in -e in the singular. These adjectives don't change based on gender; they use the -e ending for both masculine and feminine nouns. They only change to -i in the plural (meridionali).
Why does clima take il as its article if it ends in -a?
Like many words ending in -ma derived from Greek (such as il problema, il programma, il sistema), clima is actually masculine. Therefore, it takes the masculine singular article il and would be i climi in the plural.

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