Asia is the world’s largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth’s total surface area (or 29.9% of its land area) and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world’s current human population.
Asia is traditionally defined as part 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 cultural concept incorporating a number of regions and peoples than a homogeneous physical entity.
The wealth of Asia differs very widely among and within its regions, due to its vast size and huge range of different cultures, environments, historical ties and government systems. In terms of nominal GDP, Japan has the largest economy on the continent and the second largest in the world. In purchasing power parity terms, however, China has the largest economy in Asia and the second largest in the world.
| Name of region and territory, with flag |
Area (km²) |
Population (1 July 2008 est.) |
Population density (per km²) |
Capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Asia: | ||||
 Kazakhstan |
2,724,927 | 15,666,533 | 5.7 | Astana |
 Kyrgyzstan |
198,500 | 5,356,869 | 24.3 | Bishkek |
 Tajikistan |
143,100 | 7,211,884 | 47.0 | Dushanbe |
 Turkmenistan |
488,100 | 5,179,573 | 9.6 | Ashgabat |
 Uzbekistan |
447,400 | 28,268,441 | 57.1 | Tashkent |
| Eastern Asia: | ||||
 People’s Republic of China |
9,640,821 | 1,322,044,605 | 134.0 | Beijing |
 Hong Kong |
1,092 | 7,008,300 | 6,417.9 | — |
 Macau |
25 | 460,823 | 18,473.3 | — |
 Japan |
377,835 | 127,288,628 | 336.1 | Tokyo |
 North Korea |
120,540 | 23,479,095 | 184.4 | Pyongyang |
 South Korea |
98,480 | 49,232,844 | 490.7 | Seoul |
 Mongolia |
1,565,000 | 2,996,082 | 1.7 | Ulaan Baatar |
 Taiwan |
35,980 | 22,920,946 | 626.7 | Taipei |
| Northern Asia: | ||||
 Russia |
17,075,400 | 142,200,000 | 26.8 | Moscow |
| Southeastern Asia: | ||||
 Brunei |
5,770 | 381,371 | 66.1 | Bandar Seri Begawan |
 Burma (Myanmar) |
676,578 | 47,758,224 | 70.3 | Naypyidaw |
 Cambodia |
181,035 | 13,388,910 | 74 | Phnom Penh |
 East Timor (Timor-Leste) |
15,007 | 1,108,777 | 73.8 | Dili |
 Indonesia |
1,919,440 | 230,512,000 | 120.1 | Jakarta |
 Laos |
236,800 | 6,677,534 | 28.2 | Vientiane |
 Malaysia |
329,847 | 27,780,000 | 84.2 | Kuala Lumpur |
 Philippines |
300,000 | 92,681,453 | 308.9 | Manila |
 Singapore |
704 | 4,608,167 | 6,545.7 | Singapore |
 Thailand |
514,000 | 65,493,298 | 127.4 | Bangkok |
 Vietnam |
331,690 | 86,116,559 | 259.6 | Hanoi |
| Southern Asia: | ||||
 Afghanistan |
647,500 | 32,738,775 | 42.9 | Kabul |
 Bangladesh |
147,570 | 153,546,901 | 1040.5 | Dhaka |
 Bhutan |
38,394 | 682,321 | 17.8 | Thimphu |
 India |
3,287,263 | 1,147,995,226 | 349.2 | New Delhi |
 Maldives |
300 | 379,174 | 1,263.3 | Malé |
 Nepal |
147,181 | 29,519,114 | 200.5 | Kathmandu |
 Pakistan |
803,940 | 167,762,049 | 208.7 | Islamabad |
 Sri Lanka |
65,610 | 21,128,773 | 322.0 | Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte |
| Western Asia: | ||||
 Armenia |
Yerevan | |||
 Azerbaijan |
86,660 | 8,845,127 | 102.736 | Baku |
 Bahrain |
665 | 718,306 | 987.1 | Manama |
 Cyprus |
9,250 | 792,604 | 83.9 | Nicosia |
 Georgia |
64.06 | Tbilisi | ||
 Iraq |
437,072 | 28,221,181 | 54.9 | Baghdad |
 Iran |
1,648,195 | 70,472,846 | 42.8 | Tehran |
 Israel |
20,770 | 7,112,359 | 290.3 | Jerusalem |
 Jordan |
92,300 | 6,198,677 | 57.5 | Amman |
 Kuwait |
17,820 | 2,596,561 | 118.5 | Kuwait City |
 Lebanon |
10,452 | 3,971,941 | 353.6 | Beirut |
 Oman |
212,460 | 3,311,640 | 12.8 | Muscat |
 Palestine |
6,257 | 4,277,000 | 683.5 | Ramallah |
 Qatar |
11,437 | 928,635 | 69.4 | Doha |
 Saudi Arabia |
1,960,582 | 23,513,330 | 12.0 | Riyadh |
 Syria |
185,180 | 19,747,586 | 92.6 | Damascus |
 Turkey |
Ankara | |||
 United Arab Emirates |
82,880 | 4,621,399 | 29.5 | Abu Dhabi |
 Yemen |
527,970 | 23,013,376 | 35.4 | Sanaá |
| Total | 43,810,582 | 4,162,966,086 | 89.07 | |
