Asia

Asia

Asia has the second-highest number of countries of any continent, but exactly how many that is can be tricky to determine. The United Nations recognizes 49 countries in Asia, which is the most widely accepted number. However, depending upon which territories one recognizes and which intercontinental countries one includes, Asia could be said to have as few as 45 or as many as 53 countries.

The most populous country in Asia (and the world) is China, which has more than 1.4 billion people. The largest country by land area is Russia, which is 6.6 million square miles (17.125 million square kilometers)—however, because 78% of its people live in the European part of the country, Russia is generally considered to be a European country.

In fact, Asia is the continent with the largest number of transcontinental countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, and (surprisingly to many) Egypt, some of which are counted as Asian and some of which are not. Similarly, Cyprus is geographically located close to Asia’s Middle East region but is widely considered a European country.

Finally, Asia also includes several partially recognized and/or disputed territories, such as Taiwan (claimed by China), Palestine (disputed territory), and China’s two “Special Administrative Regions,” Hong Kong and Macau. Below are all of the countries and territories in Asia, listed alphabetically:

Countries and territories of Asia:

• Afghanistan
• Armenia (transcontinental – generally considered Asian)
• Azerbaijan (transcontinental – generally considered Asian)
• Bahrain
• Bangladesh
• Bhutan
• British Indian Ocean Territory (UK territory)
• Brunei
• Cambodia
• China
• Cyprus (transcontinental – generally considered European)
• Egypt (transcontinental – generally considered African)
• Georgia (transcontinental – generally considered Asian)
• Hong Kong (China – Special Administrative Region)
• India
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Iraq
• Israel (U.N. member, though partially unrecognized)
• Japan
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan (transcontinental – generally considered Asian)
• Kuwait
• Kyrgyzstan
• Laos
• Lebanon
• Macau (China – Special Administrative Region)
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Mongolia
• Myanmar (formerly Burma)
• Nepal
• North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea)
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Palestine (limited recognition)
• Philippines
• Qatar
• Russia (transcontinental – generally considered European)
• Saudi Arabia
• Singapore
• South Korea (Republic of Korea)
• Sri Lanka
• Syria
• Taiwan (limited recognition – claimed by China)
• Tajikistan
• Thailand
• Timor-Leste/East Timor
• Turkey (transcontinental – generally considered European)
• Turkmenistan
• United Arab Emirates
• Uzbekistan

Vietnam

• Vietnam – Population and Statistics
• Yemen