Asia

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Asia's early history

Asian Nobel Prize winners

Asian mythologies

Asian religions

Asian economy

Etymology

Definition and boundaries

Physical geography

See also: Geography of Asia

Geography of Asia

Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia, comprising approximately fifty countries. It has an area, including islands, of roughly 49,694,700 km?....
, Countries in both Asia and Europe, Geographic criteria for the definition of Europe

Copenhagen criteria

The Copenhagen criteria are the rules that define whether a country is eligible to Enlargement of the European Union. The criteria require that a state have the institutions to preserve democracy governance and human rights, have a functioning market economy, and accept the obligations and intent of the European Union....

Medieval Europeans

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 considered Asia as a continent – a distinct landmass. The European concept of the three continents in the Old World

Old World

The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans, Asians, and Africans in the 15th century....
 goes back to Classical Antiquity

Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome....
, but during the Middle Ages was notably due to Isidore of Sevilla (see T and O map

T and O map

A T and O map or O-T or T-O map , is a type of medieval world map, sometimes also called a Beatine map or a Beatus map because one of the earliest known representations of this sort is attributed to Beatus of Li?bana, an 8th-century Spanish monk....
). The demarcation between Asia and Africa (to the southwest) is the Isthmus

Isthmus

File:The Spit Bruny Island.jpg File:IsthmusOfPanama.pngAn isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas. Of note, the Isthmus of Panama connects the continents of North America and South America , and the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt connects Africa and Asia ....
 of Suez and the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a salt water inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb sound and the Gulf of Aden....
. The boundary between Asia and Europe is conventionally considered to run through the Dardanelles

Dardanelles

.The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara....
, the Sea of Marmara

Sea of Marmara

The Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as Propontis , is the inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey's Asian and European parts....
, the Bosporus

Bosporus

The Bosporus or Bosphorus , also known as the Istanbul Strait , is a strait that forms the boundary between the European part of Turkey and its Asian part ....
, the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the Ural River

Ural River

The Ural , known as Yaik before 1775, is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan. It arises in the southern Ural Mountains and ends at the Caspian Sea....
 to its source, and the Ural Mountains to the Kara Sea

Kara Sea

The Kara Sea is part of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. It is separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya....
 near Kara, Russia. While this interpretation of tripartite continents (i.e., of Asia, Europe, and Africa) remains common in modernity, discovery of the extent of Africa and Asia have made this definition somewhat anachronistic. This is especially true in the case of Asia, which would have several regions

Subregions of Asia

Indian Subcontinent/South Asia*North India**Indo-Gangetic Plain**Indus Valley*South India**Deccan plateau*East India*West India*Northeast India...
 that would be considered distinct landmasses if these criteria were used (for example, Southern Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east....
 and Eastern Asia

East Asia

East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either Geography or cultural terms. Geography and geopolitically, it covers about 12,000,000 km?, or about 28 percent of the Asian continent, about 15 percent bigger than the area of Europe, though some categorize Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia as Central Asia....
).

In the far northeast of Asia, Siberia

Siberia

Siberia , is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of North Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the Soviet Union from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century....
 is separated from North America by the Bering Strait

Bering Strait

The Bering Strait is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65? 40' north, slightly south of the polar circle....
. Asia is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
 (specifically, from west to east, the Gulf of Aden

Gulf of Aden

The Gulf of Aden is located in the Arabian Sea between Yemen on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia in the Horn of Africa. In the northwest, it connects with the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait....
, Arabian Sea

Arabian Sea

The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui, the north-east point of Somalia, Socotra, Kanyakumari in India, and the western coast of Sri Lanka....
, and Bay of Bengal

Bay of Bengal

The Bay of Bengal is a Headlands and bays that forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered by India and Sri Lanka to the West, Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal to the North , and Myanmar, southern part of Thailand and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the East....
); on the east by the waters of the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
 (including, counterclockwise, the South China Sea

South China Sea

The South China Sea is a marginal sea*south of China,*west of the Philippines,*north west of Sabah , Sarawak and Brunei,*north of Indonesia,...
, East China Sea

East China Sea

The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km?. In China, the sea is called the East Sea....
, Yellow Sea

Yellow Sea

The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean peninsula....
, Sea of Japan

Sea of Japan

The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, bordered by Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Russia. It is referred to in North Korea as the Korea East Sea and in South Korea as the East Sea....
, Sea of Okhotsk

Sea of Okhotsk

The Sea of Okhotsk is a part of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaido to the far south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and north....
, and Bering Sea

Bering Sea

The Bering Sea is a body of water in the Pacific Ocean that comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelf....
); and on the north by the Arctic Ocean

Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic North Pole region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions....
. Australia (or Oceania

Oceania

Oceania is a geography, often geopolitics, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville....
) is to the southeast.

Some geographers do not consider Asia and Europe to be separate continents, as there is no logical physical separation between them. For example, Sir Barry Cunliffe, the emeritus professor of European archeology at Oxford, argues that Europe has been geographically and culturally merely “the western excrescence of the continent of Asia.” Geographically, Asia is the major eastern constituent of the continent of Eurasia

Eurasia

Eurasia is a large landmass covering about 53,990,000 km? or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface . Often considered a single continent, Eurasia comprises the traditional continents of Europe and Asia, concepts which date back to classical antiquity and the borders for which are somewhat arbitrary....
 – with Europe being a northwestern peninsula

Peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of Landform that is nearly surrounded by water but connected to mainland via an isthmus. Word origin: Latin paeninsula : paene, almost + insula, island....
 of the landmass – or of Afro-Eurasia

Afro-Eurasia

Afro-Eurasia or less commonly Afrasia or Eurafrasia are terms used to describe Eurasia and Africa as one continent. The constituent landmasses contain around 5.7 billion people, or roughly 85% of the world population....
: geologically, Asia, Europe, and Africa comprise a single continuous landmass (save the Suez Canal) and share a common continental shelf

Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during Ice age such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and Bay....
. Almost all of Europe and most of Asia sit atop the Eurasian Plate

Eurasian Plate

The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia , with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent, and the area east of the Chersky Range in East Siberia....
, adjoined on the south by the Arabian

Arabian Plate

The Arabian Plate is one of three tectonic plates which have been moving northward over millions of years toward an inevitable collision with Eurasia....
 and Indian Plates, and with the easternmost part of Siberia (east of the Cherskiy Range) on the North American Plate

North American Plate

The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Greenland and part of Siberia. It extends eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Chersky Range in eastern Siberia....
.

In geography, there are two schools of thought. One school follows historical convention and treats Europe and Asia as different continents, categorizing subregion

Subregion

A subregion is a conceptual unit which derives from a larger region or continent and is usually based on location. Cardinal directions, such as south or southern, are commonly used to define a subregion....
s within them for more detailed analysis. The other school equates the word "continent" with a geographical region when referring to Europe, and use the term "region" to describe Asia in terms of physiography. Since, in linguistic terms, "continent" implies a distinct landmass, it is becoming increasingly common to substitute the term "region" for "continent" to avoid the problem of disambiguation altogether.

Given the scope and diversity of the landmass, it is sometimes not even clear exactly what "Asia" consists of. Some definitions exclude Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
, the Middle East, Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
, and Russia while only considering the Far East, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent to compose Asia,. especially in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 after World War II. The term is sometimes used more strictly in reference to the Asia-Pacific

Asia-Pacific

Asia-Pacific or APAC is the area generally regarded as encompassing littoral East Asia, Southeast Asia and Australasia near the Pacific Ocean, plus the states in the ocean itself ....
 region, which does not include the Middle East or Russia,. but does include islands in the Pacific Ocean—a number of which may also be considered part of Australasia

Australasia

Australasia is a region of Oceania: New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes ....
 or Oceania

Oceania

Oceania is a geography, often geopolitics, region consisting of numerous lands—mostly islands in the Pacific Ocean and vicinity. The term "Oceania" was coined in 1831 by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville....
, although Pacific Islanders are commonly not considered Asian.

Political geography

"Asian" as a demonym

See also: Orientalism

Orientalism

Orientalism refers to the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists, and can also refer to a sympathetic stance towards the region by a writer or other person....
.

The demonym

Demonym

A demonym, also referred to as a gentilic, is a name for a resident of a locality which is derived from the name of the particular locality....
 "Asian

Asian people

Asian or Asiatic people is a demonym for people from Asia. However, the use of the term varies by country and person, often referring to people from a particular region or subregion of Asia....
" is often used colloquially to refer to people from a subregion of Asia instead of for anyone from Asia. Thus, in British English

British English

British English or UK English is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere....
, "Asian" can mean people from the Indian subcontinent

Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of the land lying substantially on the Indian Plate. The subcontinent includes parts of various countries in South Asia, including those on the continental crust , an Island#Continental islands country on the continental shelf , and an Island#Oceanic islands countr...
, but may also refer to other Asian groups. In the United States

American English

PhonologyIn many ways, compared to English language in England, North American English is conservative in its phonology. Some distinctive accents can be found on the East Coast of the United States , partly because these areas were in contact with England, and imitated prestigious varieties of English English at a time when those varieties we...
, "Asian American

Asian American

Asian Americans are United States of Asian people. They include sub-ethnic groups such as Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, Indian Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Korean Americans, Japanese Americans and others whose national origin is from the Asia....
" can mean East Asian Americans, due to the historical and cultural influences of China and Japan on the U.S. up to the 1960s and in preference to the terms "Oriental

Oriental

Oriental means generally "eastern". It is a traditional designation for anything belonging to the Eastern world or "East" , and especially of its Eastern culture to include the peoples....
" and "Asiatic". However, the term is increasingly taken to include Southeast Asian Americans and South Asian Americans, due to the increasing numbers of immigrants from these regions.

Territories and regions

rder="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="border:1px solid #aaa; border-collapse:collapse" |- bgcolor="#ECECEC" ! Name of region

Subregion

A subregion is a conceptual unit which derives from a larger region or continent and is usually based on location. Cardinal directions, such as south or southern, are commonly used to define a subregion....
and
territory, with flag

Flag

A flag is a piece of cloth, often flown from a pole or Mast , generally used symbolically for signaling or identification. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium....
! Area
(km²) ! Population

List of countries by population

This is a list of Country ordered according to population. The list includes list of sovereign states and inhabited dependent territories.Areas that form integral parts of sovereign states, such as the countries of the United Kingdom, are counted as part of the sovereign states concerned....

(1 July 2008 est.) ! Population density

List of countries by population density

This is a list of countries and dependencies ranked by human population density and measured by inhabitants/km?. The list includes sovereign states and self-governing dependent territories that are recognized by the United Nations....

(per km²) ! Capital |- | colspan=5 style="background:#eee;" | Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
: |- | | align="right" | 2,724,927 | align="right" | 15,666,533 | align="right" | 5.7 | Astana

Astana

Astana , is the capital and second largest city of Kazakhstan, with an officially estimated population of 600,200. It is located in the north-central portion of Kazakhstan, within Akmola Province, though politically separate from the rest of the province....
|- | | align="right" | 198,500 | align="right" | 5,356,869 | align="right" | 24.3 | Bishkek

Bishkek

Bishkek is the capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan.Bishkek is also the administrative center of Chuy Province which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the province but rather a province-level unit of Kyrgyzstan....
|- | | align="right" | 143,100 | align="right" | 7,211,884 | align="right" | 47.0 | Dushanbe

Dushanbe

Dushanbe , population 679,400 people , is the Capital and largest city of Tajikistan. Dushanbe means "Monday" in Tajik language, and the name reflects the fact that the city grew on the site of a village that originally was a popular Monday marketplace....
|- | | align="right" | 488,100 | align="right" | 5,179,573 | align="right" | 9.6 | Ashgabat |- | | align="right" | 447,400 | align="right" | 28,268,441 | align="right" | 57.1 | Tashkent

Tashkent

Tashkent is the Capital of Uzbekistan and also of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was 2.18 million....
|- | colspan=5 style="background:#eee;" | Eastern Asia

East Asia

East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either Geography or cultural terms. Geography and geopolitically, it covers about 12,000,000 km?, or about 28 percent of the Asian continent, about 15 percent bigger than the area of Europe, though some categorize Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia as Central Asia....
: |- | | align="right" | 9,584,492 | align="right" | 1,322,044,605 | align="right" | 134.0 | Beijing

Beijing

is a metropolis in northern China and the Capital of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the four municipality of China, which are equivalent to province in China's Political divisions of China....
|- | | align="right" | 1,092 | align="right" | 7,903,334 | align="right" | 6,688.0 | — |- | | align="right" | 25 | align="right" | 460,823 | align="right" | 18,473.3 | — |- | | align="right" | 35,980 | align="right" | 22,920,946 | align="right" | 626.7 | Taipei

Taipei

Taipei has been the de facto capital of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, since the Chinese Civil War in 1949, and the capital of Taiwan since Japanese rule that began in 1895....
|- | | align="right" | 377,835 | align="right" | 127,288,628 | align="right" | 336.1 | Tokyo

Tokyo

, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan of Japan and located on the eastern side of the main island Honshu. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the Tokyo City in the eastern part of the prefecture, and total over 8 million people....
|- | | align="right" | 120,540 | align="right" | 23,479,095 | align="right" | 184.4 | Pyongyang

Pyongyang

Pyongyang is the Capital and largest city of North Korea, located on the Taedong River, at . According to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, it has a population of 3,255,388....
|- | | align="right" | 98,480 | align="right" | 49,232,844 | align="right" | 490.7 | Seoul

Seoul

Seoul is the Capital and largest city of South Korea. With a population of over 10 million, It is one of the world's List of cities proper by population.The Seoul National Capital Area - which includes the major port city of Incheon and satellite towns in Gyeonggi-do, has 24.5 million inhabitants and is the world's second largest List of me...
|- | | align="right" | 1,565,000 | align="right" | 2,996,082 | align="right" | 1.7 | Ulan Bator |- | colspan=5 style="background:#eee;" | Northern Asia

North Asia

North Asia or Northern Asia is sometimes defined as a subregion of Asia consisting only of the Asian portion of Russia. The term is not widely used....
: |- | | align="right" | 13,115,200 | align="right" | 140,702,092 | align="right" | 3.0 | Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital and the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia of the Russian Federation. It is also the largest European cities and metropolitan areas, with the Moscow metropolitan area ranking among the largest urban areas in the world....
|- | colspan=5 style="background:#eee;" | Southeastern Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India and north of Australia....
: |- | | align="right" | 5,770 | align="right" | 381,371 | align="right" | 60.8 | Bandar Seri Begawan

Bandar Seri Begawan

Bandar Seri Begawan, estimated population 27,285 , is the Capital and largest city of the Sultanate of Brunei....
|- | | align="right" | 181,035 | align="right" | 13,388,910 | align="right" | 74 | Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh is the Capital and largest city of Cambodia. It is also the capital of the Phnom Penh municipality. It is an economic, industrial, commercial, cultural, tourist and historical center....
|- | | align="right" | 15,007 | align="right" | 1,108,777 | align="right" | 63.5 | Dili

Dili

Dili, also spelled D?li, is the Capital and largest city of East Timor. It lies on the northern coast of Timor island, the easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands....
|- | | align="right" | 1,419,588 | align="right" | 237,512,355 | align="right" | 159.9 | Jakarta

Jakarta

Jakarta is the Capital and largest city of Indonesia. It also has a List of urban areas by population than any other city in Southeast Asia. It was formerly known as Sunda Kelapa , Jayakarta , Batavia, Dutch East Indies , and Djakarta ....
|- | | align="right" | 236,800 | align="right" | 6,677,534 | align="right" | 24.4 | Vientiane

Vientiane

Vientiane is the capital city of Laos, situated in the Mekong Valley. It is also Laos's largest city. The estimated population of the city is 200,000 while the number of people living in the Vientiane metropolitan area is believed to be over 730,000....
|- | | align="right" | 329,847 | align="right" | 27,780,000 | align="right" | 84.2 | Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur , is the largest city of Malaysia. The city proper, making up an area of , has an estimated population of 1.6 million in 2006. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million....
|- | | align="right" | 678,500 | align="right" | 47,758,224 | align="right" | 62.3 | Naypyidaw

Naypyidaw

Naypyidaw is the Capital of Myanmar. Naypyidaw means "Royal City", but is also translated as "abode of kings". On 6 November 2005, the administrative capital of Burma was officially moved to a Greenfield land site 3 km west of Pyinmana, and approximately 320 km north of Yangon....
|- | | align="right" | 300,000 | align="right" | 92,681,453 | align="right" | 281.8 | Manila

Manila

The 'City of Manila' , or simply 'Manila', is the Capital of the Philippines and one of the 17 cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila....
|- | | align="right" | 704 | align="right" | 4,608,167 | align="right" | 6,369.0 | Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country microstate located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometres north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands....
|- | | align="right" | 514,000 | align="right" | 65,493,298 | align="right" | 121.3 | Bangkok

Bangkok

The city of Bangkok is the Capital , largest urban area and primary city of Thailand. Known in Thai language as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or Krung Thep for short, it was a small trading post at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River during the Ayutthaya Kingdom and came to the forefront of Thailand when it was given the status as the...
|- | | align="right" | 331,690 | align="right" | 86,116,559 | align="right" | 246.1 | Hanoi

Hanoi

Hanoi , estimated population 3,398,889 , is the Capital of Vietnam. From 1010 until 1802, with a few brief interruptions, it was the political centre of an independent Vietnam....
|- | colspan=5 style="background:#eee;" | Southern Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east....
: |- | | align="right" | 647,500 | align="right" | 32,738,775 | align="right" | 42.9 | Kabul

Kabul

Kabul is the Capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of approximately three million. It is an economic and cultural centre, situated 5,900 foot above sea level in a narrow valley, wedged between the Hindu Kush mountains along the Kabul River....
|- | | align="right" | 144,000 | align="right" | 153,546,901 | align="right" | 926.2 | Dhaka

Dhaka

Dhaka ? formerly Dacca and Jahangir Nagar, is the Capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka District. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia....
|- | | align="right" | 47,000 | align="right" | 682,321 | align="right" | 14.3 | Thimphu

Thimphu

Thimphu is the Capital of Bhutan, and also the name of the surrounding valley and dzongkhag, the Thimphu District. With a population of 98,676 , it is also Bhutan's largest city....
|- | | align="right" | 3,167,590 | align="right" | 1,147,995,226 | align="right" | 318.2 | New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. With a total area of 42.7 km2, New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi and serves as the seat of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi ....
|- | | align="right" | 1,648,195 | align="right" | 65,875,223 | align="right" | 42 | Tehran

Tehran

Tehran is the capital and largest city of Iran, and the administrative center of Tehran Province. Tehran is a sprawling city at the foot of the Alborz mountain range with an immense network of highways unparalleled in Western Asia....
|- | | align="right" | 300 | align="right" | 379,174 | align="right" | 1,067.2 | Malé

Malé

Mal? , population 104,403 , is the Capital , the largest city in terms of population, and the name of an island in the Maldives. It is located at the southern edge of North Male' Atoll Kaafu Atoll....
|- | | align="right" | 140,800 | align="right" | 29,519,114 | align="right" | 183.8 | Kathmandu

Kathmandu

Kathmandu is the Capital and the largest metropolis city of Nepal. The city is situated in Kathmandu Valley that also contains two other cities - Patan, Nepal and Bhaktapur....
|- | | align="right" | 803,940 | align="right" | 167,762,049 | align="right" | 183.7 | Islamabad

Islamabad

Islamabad is the Capital of Pakistan, and is the tenth largest city in Pakistan. The Rawalpindi/Islamabad List of most populous metropolitan areas in Pakistan is the third largest in Pakistan with a population of over 4.5 million inhabitants, 1.5 million in Islamabad and three million in Rawalpindi....
|- | | align="right" | 65,610 | align="right" | 21,128,773 | align="right" | 298.4 | Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte |- | colspan=5 style="background:#eee;" | Western Asia

Southwest Asia

Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia is the southwestern subregion of Asia. The term West Asia is sometimes used in the United Nations subregion geoscheme and in writings about the archeology and the late prehistory of the region....
: |- | | align="right" | 29,800 | align="right" | 2,968,586 | align="right" | 111.7 | Yerevan

Yerevan

Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia. It is situated on the Hrazdan River, and is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country....
|- | | align="right" | 46,870 | align="right" | 3,845,127 | align="right" | 82.0 | Baku

Baku

Baku , sometimes known as Baqy, Baky, Baki or Bak?, is the capital, the largest city, and the largest port of Azerbaijan....
|- | | align="right" | 665 | align="right" | 718,306 | align="right" | 987.1 | Manama

Manama

Manama is the capital city and largest city of Bahrain with an approximate population of 155,000 people. Manama has emerged as the capital of independent Bahrain after periods of domination by Portugal and Persians earlier in its history....
|- | | align="right" | 9,250 | align="right" | 792,604 | align="right" | 83.9 | Nicosia

Nicosia

Nicosia, known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is located at . Located on the River Pedieos and situated almost in the centre of the island, it is the seat of government as well as the main business centre....
|- | Gaza

Gaza Strip

The Gaza Strip is a coastal strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Egypt on the south-west and Israel on the south, east and north....
| align="right" | 363 | align="right" | 1,537,269 | align="right" | 3,315.7 | Gaza

Gaza

Gaza is a Palestinian people city in the Gaza Strip, approximately southwest of Jerusalem, with a population of 410,000, making it the largest city under the control of the Palestinian National Authority....
|- | | align="right" | 20,460 | align="right" | 4,630,841 | align="right" | 99.3 | Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi , is the capital city and the largest city of Georgia , lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form Tpilisi and it was officially known as ?????? in Russian, until 1936....
|- | | align="right" | 437,072 | align="right" | 28,221,181 | align="right" | 54.9 | Baghdad

Baghdad

Baghdad is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous. With a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq, and the second largest city in the Arab World....
|- | | align="right" | 20,770 | align="right" | 7,112,359 | align="right" | 290.3 | Jerusalem

Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
|- | | align="right" | 92,300 | align="right" | 6,198,677 | align="right" | 57.5 | Amman

Amman

Amman , sometimes spelled Ammann , is the Capital city of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, a city of 2,525,000 inhabitants , and the administrative capital and commercial center of Jordan....
|- | | align="right" | 17,820 | align="right" | 2,596,561 | align="right" | 118.5 | Kuwait City

Kuwait City

Kuwait City , is the Capital and largest city of Kuwait. It has an estimated population of 63,600 within city limits and 2.38 million in the metropolitan area....
|- | | align="right" | 10,452 | align="right" | 3,971,941 | align="right" | 353.6 | Beirut

Beirut

Beirut is the Capital and largest city of Lebanon with a population of over 2.1 million as of 2007. Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's coastline with the Mediterranean sea, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport and also forms the Beirut District area, which consists of the city and its suburbs....
|- | | align="right" | 212,460 | align="right" | 3,311,640 | align="right" | 12.8 | Muscat

Muscat, Oman

Muscat is the Capital and largest city of Oman. It is also the seat of government and largest city in the Muscat . As of 2008, the population of the Muscat metropolitan area was 1,090,797....
|- | | align="right" | 11,437 | align="right" | 928,635 | align="right" | 69.4 | Doha

Doha

Doha is the capital city of Qatar. With a population of 400,051 according to the 2005 census, it is located in the Ad Dawhah municipality on the Persian Gulf....
|- | | align="right" | 1,960,582 | align="right" | 23,513,330 | align="right" | 12.0 | Riyadh

Riyadh

Riyadh is the Capital of Saudi Arabia and its largest city. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Nejd and Al-Yamama....
|- | | align="right" | 185,180 | align="right" | 19,747,586 | align="right" | 92.6 | Damascus

Damascus

Damascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is List of oldest continuously inhabited cities and its current population is estimated at about 4,000,000....
|- | | align="right" | 756,768 | align="right" | 71,892,807 | align="right" | 76.5 | Ankara

Ankara

Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and the country's List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of cities in Turkey after Istanbul....
|- | | align="right" | 82,880 | align="right" | 4,621,399 | align="right" | 29.5 | Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi is the capital city and second most populous city in the United Arab Emirates , after Dubai. It is also the seat of government of the emirate of Abu Dhabi , which is ruled by Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan – the current ruling Emir of the UAE....
|- | | align="right" | 5,860 | align="right" | 2,611,904 | align="right" | 393.1 | Jerusalem |- | | align="right" | 527,970 | align="right" | 23,013,376 | align="right" | 35.4 | Sanaá |- |- style=" font-weight:bold; " | Total | align="right" | 43,810,582 | align="right" | 4,050,404,193 | align="right" | 89.07 |}

Note: Part of Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
 (Sinai Peninsula

Sinai Peninsula

The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt. It lies between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, forming a land bridge between Africa and Southwest Asia....
) is geographically in Western Asia

See also: List of Asian countries by population

List of Asian countries by population

This is a list of Asian countries by population. It is sourced from the global list of countries by population as of December 2007.There may not be agreement on which countries may be considered Asian — this list does not include some of the countries about which there is commonly debate, such as Russia, Turkey, Cyprus, Armenia, Azerbaijan,...

Country name changes

Various Asian countries have undergone name changes during the previous century as the result of consolidations, secession

Secession

Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. It is not to be confused with succession, the act of following in order or sequence....
s, territories gaining sovereignty

Sovereignty

File:Leviathan gr.jpgSovereignty is the exclusive right to control a government, a State, a people, or oneself. A sovereign is a supreme lawmaking authority....
, and regime change

Regime change

"Regime change" is the replacement of one regime with another. While it is widely believed that the term was first coined by former President of the United States Bill Clinton, use of the term dates to at least 1925....
s.

Previous Name	Year	Current Name
East Pakistan East Pakistan East Pakistan was a former Provinces of Pakistan of Pakistan which existed between 1955 and 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal Province based on a plebiscite in what was then British Raj in 1947....	1971	Bangladesh Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south.... , People's Republic of
Democratic Kampuchea Democratic Kampuchea The Khmer Rouge period refers to the rule of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge political party over Cambodia, known at that time as Democratic Kampuchea ....	1975	Cambodia Cambodia The Kingdom of Cambodia is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 13 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh.... , Kingdom of
Empire of Great Qing of China	1911 1949	China Republic of China The Republic of China , also known as Nationalist China is a country in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition into a multi-party democratic state with Political status of Taiwan.... , Republic of China, People's Republic of
Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor was the name of East Timor when it was under Portugal control. During this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Netherlands East Indies, and later with Indonesia....	1975	East Timor East Timor East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro Island and Jaco , and Oecussi-Ambeno, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor.... , Democratic Republic of
Dutch East Indies Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies, was the Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II.It was formed from the nationalised colony of the former Dutch East India Company that came under the administration of the Netherlands in 1800....	1945	Indonesia Indonesia The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state.... , Republic of
Persian Empire Persian Empire The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....	1935	Iran Iran Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea.... , Republic of
Transjordan Transjordan The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman Empire territory incorporated into the British Mandate of Palestine in 1921 as an autonomous political division under Abdullah I of Jordan....	1946	Jordan Jordan Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba.... , Kingdom of
Kirghizia (USSR)	1991	Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a country in Central Asia. Landlocked and mountainous, it is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and People's Republic of China to the east.... , Republic
Malaya Federation of Malaya The Federation of Malaya , is the name given to a federation of 11 states that existed from 31 January 1948 until 16 September 1963. Comprising the nine Malay states and the United Kingdom Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca, it was eventually superseded by Malaysia.... , Sabah Sabah Sabah is a Malaysian States of Malaysia located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo . It is the second largest state in Malaysia after Sarawak, which it borders on its south-west.... , Sarawak Sarawak Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , it is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia; the second largest, Sabah, lies to the northeast....  and Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country microstate located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometres north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands....	1963	Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia is a federation that consists of States of Malaysia in Southeast Asia with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government....  and Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country microstate located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometres north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands....
Burma	1989	Myanmar Myanmar Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia, or Indochina. The country is bordered by the People's Republic of China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest with... , Union of
Muscat Muscat, Oman Muscat is the Capital and largest city of Oman. It is also the seat of government and largest city in the Muscat . As of 2008, the population of the Muscat metropolitan area was 1,090,797....	1971	Oman Oman Oman , officially the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab country in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates on the northwest, Saudi Arabia on the west and Yemen on the southwest.... , Sultanate of
West Pakistan West Pakistan West Pakistan was the popular and sometimes official name of the western wing of Pakistan until 1971, when the East Pakistan became independent as Bangladesh....	1971	Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th... , Islamic Republic of
Spanish East Indies Spanish East Indies Spanish East Indies , was a term used to describe Spain territories in Asia-Pacific which lasted over three centuries . It encompassed the Philippine Islands , and its dependencies including the Mariana Islands and the Caroline Islands, and for a period of time, parts of Formosa , Sabah, and parts of the Moluccas....	1565	Philippines Philippines The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean.... , Republic of the
Hejaz Hejaz al-Hejaz is a region in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia. Defined mostly by the Red Sea, it extends from Haql on the Gulf of Aqaba to Jizan.... -Nejd, The Kingdom of	1932	Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south.... , Kingdom of
Aden Aden Aden is a city in Yemen, 170 kilometers east of Bab-el-Mandeb.Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a low isthmus....	1970	South Yemen, People's Republic of
Ceylon	1972	Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India.... , Democratic Socialist Republic of
Tajik S.S.R	1991	Tajikistan Tajikistan Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and People's Republic of China to the east.... , Republic of
Siam	1939	Thailand Thailand The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Laos and Myanmar, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Myanmar.... , Kingdom of
Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....	1923	Turkey Turkey Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe.... , Republic of
Turkmen SSR Turkmen SSR The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Turkmen SSR for short, was one of republics of the Soviet Union in Soviet Central Asia....  (USSR)	1991	Turkmenistan Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a Turkic peoples country in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic ....
Trucial Oman & Trucial States	1971	United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven states situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia....
French Indo-China	1949	Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by People's Republic of China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east.... , Socialist Republic of
Yemen Yemen Yemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is an Arab country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia. Yemen has an estimated population of more than 23 million people and is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the North, the Red Sea to the West, the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to the South, and Oman to the east.... , People's Democratic & Southern Yemen	1990	Yemen Yemen Yemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is an Arab country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia. Yemen has an estimated population of more than 23 million people and is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the North, the Red Sea to the West, the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to the South, and Oman to the east.... , Republic of

Economy

Economy of Asia
During 2003 unless otherwise stated

Population:	3,958,768,100 (2006 Estimate)
GDP Gross domestic product File:GDP nominal per capita world map IMF 2008.pngThe gross domestic product or gross domestic income is one of the measures of national income and output for a given country's economy....  (PPP List of countries by GDP (PPP) There are three lists of countries of the world sorted by their gross domestic product . The GDP dollar estimates given on this page are derived from purchasing power parity calculations.... ):	US$18.077 trillion
GDP Gross domestic product File:GDP nominal per capita world map IMF 2008.pngThe gross domestic product or gross domestic income is one of the measures of national income and output for a given country's economy....  (Currency List of countries by GDP List of countries by GDP may refer to:* List of countries by GDP , a list using the current exchange rates for national currencies* List of countries by GDP growth... ):	$8.782 trillion
GDP/capita (PPP List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita This article includes three lists of countries of the world sorted by their gross domestic product at purchasing power parity per capita, the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year divided by the average population for the same year.... ):	$4,518
GDP/capita (Currency List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita File:GDP nominal per capita world map IMF 2008.pngFile:GDP per capita.pngThis article includes three lists of countries of the world sorted by their gross domestic product per capita at nominal values, the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year, converted at market exchange rates to current U.S.... ):	$2,143
Millionaire Millionaire A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account.... s:	2.0 million (0.05%)
Most numbers are from the UNDP from 2002, some numbers exclude certain countries for lack of information.

Asia has the third largest nominal GDP of all continents, after North America and Europe, but the largest when measured in PPP

Purchasing power parity

The purchasing power parity theory uses the long-term equilibrium exchange rate of two currencies to equalize their purchasing power. Developed by Gustav Cassel in 1920, it is based on the law of one price: the theory states that, in ideally efficient markets, identical goods should have only one price....
. As of 2007, the largest national economy within Asia, in terms of gross domestic product

Gross domestic product

File:GDP nominal per capita world map IMF 2008.pngThe gross domestic product or gross domestic income is one of the measures of national income and output for a given country's economy....
 (GDP), is that of China

Economy of China

The economy of China may also include or exclude, depending on context or point of view:*The Economy of the People's Republic of China *The Economy of Hong Kong...
 followed by that of India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
, South Korea

South Korea

South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea , ), often referred to as Korea and the "names of Korea#Revival of the names", is a Semi-presidential system republic in East Asia, located in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula....
 and Indonesia

Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
. However, in nominal (exchange value) terms, they rank as follows: Japan, China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south....
, Taiwan

Republic of China

The Republic of China , also known as Nationalist China is a country in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition into a multi-party democratic state with Political status of Taiwan....
, Indonesia

Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
. Since the 1960s, South Korea had maintained the highest economic growth rate in Asia, nicknamed as an Asian tiger, becoming a newly industrialized country in the 1980s and a developed country

Developed country

The term developed country is used to describe countries that have a high level of development according to some criteria. Which criteria, and which countries are classified as being developed, is a contentious issue and there is fierce debate about this....
 by the 21st century. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the economies of the PRC and India have been growing rapidly, both with an average annual growth rate of more than 8%. Other recent very high growth nations in Asia include the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
, Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by People's Republic of China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east....
, Mongolia

Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and People's Republic of China to the south, east and west....
, Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a Landlocked_country#Doubly_landlocked_country country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union....
 and mineral-rich nations such as Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a large Eurasian country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the List of countries by area as well as the world's largest landlocked country, it has a territory of 2,727,300 km? ....
, Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan is a Turkic peoples country in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic ....
, Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
, Brunei

Brunei

Brunei Darussalam, officially the State of Brunei, Abode of Peace , is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia....
, United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven states situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia....
, Qatar

Qatar

Qatar , officially the State of Qatar , is an Arab emirate in Southwest Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula....
, Kuwait

Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, enclosed by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west....
, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south....
, Bahrain

Bahrain

The Kingdom of Bahrain, in , , literally Kingdom of the Two Seas).Bahrain is an Arabic island country in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Khalifa regime....
, and Oman

Oman

Oman , officially the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab country in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates on the northwest, Saudi Arabia on the west and Yemen on the southwest....
.

Historically,China has the largest GDP for thousands of years.Japan has had for only several dacades after WW2 the largest economy in Asia and second-largest of any single nation in the world, after surpassing the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 (measured in net material product) in 1986 and Germany in 1968. (NB: A number of supernational economies are larger, such as the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 European Union member state, located primarily in Europe. It was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community....
 (EU), the North American Free Trade Agreement

North American Free Trade Agreement

The North American Free Trade Agreement is a trilateral trade bloc in North America created by the governments of the United States, Canada, and Mexico....
 (NAFTA) or APEC). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Japan's GDP was almost as large (current exchange rate method) as that of the rest of Asia combined. In 1995, Japan's economy nearly equalled that of the USA to tie as the largest economy in the world for a day, after the Japanese currency reached a record high of 79 yen

Japanese yen

The is the currency of Japan. It is the third most-traded currency in the forex after the euro and the United States dollar. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S....
/dollar. Economic growth in Asia since World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 to the 1990s had been concentrated in Japan as well as the four regions of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore located in the pacific rim

Pacific Rim

The Pacific Rim refers to the countries and cities located around the edge of the Pacific Ocean. There are many economic centers around the Pacific Rim, such as Auckland, Busan, Brisbane, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Lima, Los Angeles, California, Manila, Melbourne, Panama City, Portland, Oregon, San Diego, California, San Francisco, Cali...
, known as the Asian tigers, which have now all received developed country status, having the highest GDP per capita in Asia.

It is forecast that the People's Republic of China will surpass Japan to have the largest nominal and PPP-adjusted GDP in Asia within a decade. India is also forecast to overtake Japan in terms of Nominal GDP by 2020. In terms of GDP per capita, both nominal and PPP-adjusted, South Korea will become the second wealthiest country in Asia by 2025, overtaking Germany, the United Kingdom and France. By 2050, according to a 2006 report by Price Waterhouse Cooper, China will have the largest economy in the world (43% greater than the United States when PPP adjusted, although perhaps smaller than the United States in nominal terms).

Trade blocks

• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
  Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
  
  Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries or regions to discuss the regional economy, cooperation, trade and investment....
  
• Asia-Europe Economic Meeting
  Asia-Europe Meeting
  
  The Asia-Europe Meeting was officially established in 1996 at the first summit in Bangkok. ASEM is an interregional forum which consists of the European Commission, the twenty-seven members of the European Union , the thirteen members of the ASEAN Plus Three regional grouping, and, as of 2008, India, Mongolia, and Pakistan....
  
• Association of Southeast Asian Nations
  Association of Southeast Asian Nations
  
  The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated ASEAN , is a geo-political and economic organization of 10 countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand....
  
• Gulf Cooperation Council
• Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement
  Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement
  
  Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement are economic and trade agreement between the separate customs territories within the People's Republic of China....
  
• Commonwealth of Independent States
  Commonwealth of Independent States
  
  The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics.The CIS is comparable to a confederation similar to the original European Community....
  
• South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
  South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
  
  The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is an economic and political organization of eight countries in South Asia. In terms of population, its sphere of influence is the largest of any regional organization: almost 1.5 billion people, the combined population of its member states....
  

Natural resources

Asia is the largest continent in the world

World

World is a common name for the planet Earth seen from a human worldview, as a place inhabited by human beings. It is often used to signify the sum of human experience and history, or the 'human condition' in general....
 by a considerable margin, and it is rich in natural resources, such as petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds....
, forest

Forest

File:Stara planina suma.jpgA forest is an area with a high density of trees. There are many definitions of a forest, based on various criteria....
s, fish, water, and metal.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing in Asia has traditionally been strongest in East and Southeast Asia, particularly in mainland China

China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan is an island in East Asia. "Taiwan" is also commonly used to refer to the country governed by the Republic of China and to the ROC itself, which governs the island of Taiwan, Orchid Island and Green Island, Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean off the Taiwan coast, the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait, and Kinmen and the Matsu Islands...
, South Korea

South Korea

South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea , ), often referred to as Korea and the "names of Korea#Revival of the names", is a Semi-presidential system republic in East Asia, located in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula....
, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
, India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 and Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country microstate located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometres north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands....
. Japan and South Korea continue to dominate in the area of multinational corporations, but increasingly mainland China

China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, and India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 are making significant inroads. Many companies from Europe, North America, South Korea and Japan have operations in Asia's developing countries to take advantage of its abundant supply of cheap labour and relatively developed infrastructure.

Financial and other services

Asia has four main financial centres: Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai— formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The city proper has approximately 14 million people and, along with the neighbouring suburbs of Navi Mumbai and Thane, Mumbai forms the World's largest urban agglomerations according to the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects report with around 19...
, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located in Southern China in East Asia, bordering the province of Guangdong to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east, west and south....
, Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country microstate located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometres north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands....
, and Tokyo

Tokyo

, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan of Japan and located on the eastern side of the main island Honshu. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the Tokyo City in the eastern part of the prefecture, and total over 8 million people....
. Dubai

Dubai

Dubai is one of the seven Emirates of the United Arab Emirates and the most populous city of the United Arab Emirates . It is located along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula....
 is growing fast as a financial hub for West Asia. Call centre

Call centre

File:An Indian call center.jpgA call centre or call center is a centralised office used for the purpose of receiving and transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone....
s and business process outsourcing

Business process outsourcing

Business process outsourcing is a form of outsourcing that involves the contracting of the operations and responsibilities of a specific business functions to a third-party service provider....
 (BPOs) are becoming major employers in India, Pakistan and The Philippines due to the availability of a large pool of highly-skilled, English-speaking

Anglophone

An Anglophone is someone who speaks the English language. As an adjective, it refers to belonging to an English-speaking population especially in a country where two or more languages are spoken....
 workers. The increased use of outsourcing

Outsourcing

Outsourcing is subcontracting a process, such as product design or manufacturing, to a third-party company. The decision to outsource is often made in the interest of lowering firm or making better use of time and energy costs, redirecting or conserving energy directed at the core competence of a particular business, or to make more efficient...
 has assisted the rise of India and the People's Republic of China as financial centres. Due to its large and extremely competitive information technology

Information technology

Information technology , as defined by the Information Technology Association of America , is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." IT deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to data conv...
 industry, India has become a major hub for outsourcing.

Early history

The history of Asia can be seen as the distinct histories of several peripheral coastal regions: East Asia

East Asia

East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either Geography or cultural terms. Geography and geopolitically, it covers about 12,000,000 km?, or about 28 percent of the Asian continent, about 15 percent bigger than the area of Europe, though some categorize Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia as Central Asia....
, South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east....
, Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India and north of Australia....
 and the Middle East

Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
, linked by the interior mass of the Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
n steppes.

The coastal periphery was home to some of the world's earliest known civilizations, each of them developing around fertile river valleys. The civilizations in Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
, the Indus Valley, and the Huanghe shared many similarities. These civilizations may well have exchanged technologies and ideas such as mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, change, and related topics of pattern and form. Mathematicians seek out patterns whether found in numbers, space, natural science, computers, imaginary abstractions, or elsewhere....
 and the wheel. Other innovations, such as writing, seem to have been developed individually in each area. Cities, states, and empires developed in these lowlands.

The central steppe region had long been inhabited by horse-mounted nomads who could reach all areas of Asia from the steppes. The earliest postulated expansion out of the steppe is that of the Indo-Europeans, who spread their languages into the Middle East, South Asia, and the borders of China, where the Tocharians

Tocharians

The Tocharians were the Tocharian language-speaking inhabitants of the Tarim Basin, making them the easternmost speakers of an Indo-European language in antiquity....
 resided. The northernmost part of Asia, including much of Siberia

Siberia

Siberia , is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of North Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the Soviet Union from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century....
, was largely inaccessible to the steppe nomads, owing to the dense forests, climate, and tundra

Tundra

In physical geography, tundra is an biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes from Kildin Sami tund?r, which means "uplands, treeless mountain tract." There are two types of tundra: Arctic tundra and alpine tundra....
. These areas remained very sparsely populated.

The center and the peripheries were mostly kept separated by mountains and deserts. The Caucasus

Caucasus

The Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region located between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. It is home to Europe's highest mountain ....
 and Himalaya mountains and the Karakum

Karakum Desert

The Karakum Desert, also spelled Kara-Kum and Gara Gum is a desert in Central Asia. It occupies about 70 percent, or 350,000 km?, of the area of Turkmenistan....
 and Gobi

Gobi Desert

The Gobi is the largest 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 Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the southwest, and by the North China Plain to the s...
 deserts formed barriers that the steppe horsemen could cross only with difficulty. While the urban city dwellers were more advanced technologically and socially, in many cases they could do little in a military aspect to defend against the mounted hordes of the steppe. However, the lowlands did not have enough open grasslands to support a large horsebound force; for this and other reasons, the nomads who conquered states in China, India, and the Middle East often found themselves adapting to the local, more affluent societies.

Languages and literature

Asia is home to several language families

Language family

A language family is a group of languages related Genetic from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family.As with Alpha taxonomy, the evidence of relationship is observable shared characteristics....
 and many language isolate

Language isolate

A language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical relationship with other living languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common to any other language....
s. Most Asian countries have more than one language that is natively spoken. For instance, according to Ethnologue

Ethnologue

Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christianity linguistics service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, primarily to provide the speakers with Bibles, in their native language....
, more than 600 languages are spoken in Indonesia, more than 415 languages spoken in India, and more than 100 are spoken in the Philippines. The People's Republic of China has many languages and dialects in different provinces.

Nobel prizes

The polymath

Polymath

A polymath is a person whose knowledge is not restricted to one subject area. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply refer to someone who is very knowledgeable....
 Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore

, also known by the sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali people mystic, Brahmo poet, visual artist, playwright, novelist, and composer whose works reshaped Bengali literature and Music of Bengal in the late 19th and early 20th centuries....
, a Bengali

Bengali literature

The term Bengali literature refers to literary works written in Bengali language particularly from Bangladesh and the Indian province of West Bengal....
 poet, drama

Drama

Drama is the specific Mode of fiction Mimesis in performance. The term comes from a Ancient Greek word meaning "Action " , which is derived from "to do" ....
tist, and writer from Santiniketan

Santiniketan

Santiniketan is a small town near Bolpur in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, India, approximately 180 kilometres north of Kolkata . It was made famous by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, whose vision became what is now a university town that attracts thousands of visitors each year....
, now in West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a States and territories of India in eastern India. With Bangladesh, which lies on its eastern border, the state forms the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal....
, India, became in 1913 the first Asian Nobel laureate

Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize , established in the 1895 will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel; it was first awarded in Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize in Literature, and Nobel Peace Prize in 1901....
. He won his Nobel Prize in Literature

Nobel Prize in Literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction" ....
 for notable impact his prose works and poetic thought had on English

English literature

The term English literature refers to literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; Joseph Conrad was Polish, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, Salman Rushdie is Indian, V.S....
, French

French literature

French literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak other traditional languages of France....
, and other national literatures of Europe and the Americas

Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
. He is also the writer of the national anthems of Bangladesh and India.

Tagore is said to have named another Bengali Indian Nobel prize winner, the 1998 laureate in Economics, Amartya Sen

Amartya Sen

Amartya Kumar Sen Order of the Companions of Honour , is a Bengali people Indian economist, philosopher, and a winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998, "for his contributions to welfare economics" for his work on famine, human development theory, welfare economics, the underlying mechanisms of poverty, and political C...
. Sen's work has centered around global issues including famine, welfare, and third-world development. Amartya Sen was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge University, UK, from 1998-2004, becoming the first Asian to head an 'Oxbridge' College.

Other Asian writers who won Nobel Prizes include Yasunari Kawabata

Yasunari Kawabata

was a Japanese short story writer and novelist whose spare, lyrical, subtly-shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968, the first Japanese author to receive the award....
 (Japan, 1966), Kenzaburo Oe

Kenzaburo Oe

is a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature. His works, strongly influenced by French and American literature and literary theory, engage with political, social and philosophical issues including nuclear weapons, social non-conformism and existentialism....
 (Japan, 1994), Gao Xingjian

Gao Xingjian

Gao Xingjian , is a France Zhonghua Minzu ?migr? novelist, dramatist and critic, who received the 2000 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is also a noted translator, particularly of Samuel Beckett and Eug?ne Ionesco, a stage director and a celebrated painter....
 (People's Republic of China, 2000) and Orhan Pamuk

Orhan Pamuk

Ferit Orhan Pamuk generally known simply as Orhan Pamuk, is a Turkey novelist and professor of comparative literature at Columbia University....
 (Turkey, 2006).

Also, Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa , born Agnes? Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, was an Albanian people Roman Catholic Church nun with Indian citizenship who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata , India in 1950....
 of India and Shirin Ebadi

Shirin Ebadi

Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer, human rights activist and founder of Children's Rights Support Association in Iran. On October 10, 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially women's, children's, and refugee rights....
 of Iran were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially for the rights of women and children. Ebadi is the first Iranian and the first Muslim woman to receive the prize. Another Nobel Peace Prize winner is Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi Companion of the Order of Australia ; born 19 June 1945 in Rangoon, is a pro-democracy activist and leader of the National League for Democracy in Burma, and a noted prisoner of conscience and advocate of nonviolence resistance....
 from Burma for her peaceful and non-violent struggle under a military dictatorship in Burma. She is a nonviolent pro-democracy activist and leader of the National League for Democracy in Burma(Myanmar), and a noted prisoner of conscience. She is a Buddhist and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

Other Asian Nobel Prize winners include Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

Padma Vibhushan Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Fellow of the Royal Society , English ) was an Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin born United States astrophysicist....
, Venkata Raman, Abdus Salam

Abdus Salam

Abdus Salam was a Demographics of Pakistan theoretical physicist, Astrophysicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his work in electroweak theory....
, Shmuel Yosef Agnon

Shmuel Yosef Agnon

Shmuel Yosef Agnon was a Nobel Prize in literature laureate writer and was one of the central figures of modern Hebrew fiction. In Hebrew, he is known by the acronym Shai Agnon. In English, his works are published under the name S....
, Robert Aumann

Robert Aumann

Robert John Aumann is an Israeli mathematician and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences. He is a professor at the Center for the Study of Rationality in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel....
, Menachem Begin

Menachem Begin

was the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. Before the establishment of the state, he was the leader of the Irgun, playing a central role in Jewish resistance to the British Mandate of Palestine....
, Aaron Ciechanover

Aaron Ciechanover

Aaron Ciechanover is an Israeli biology, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry for his discovery with Avram Hershko and Irwin Rose, of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation....
, Avram Hershko

Avram Hershko

Avram Hershko is an Israeli biology and Nobel laureate in Chemistry for his discovery with Aaron Ciechanover and Irwin Rose, of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation....
, Daniel Kahneman

Daniel Kahneman

Daniel Kahneman With Amos Tversky and others, Kahneman established a cognitive basis for common human errors using heuristics and biases , and developed Prospect theory ....
, Shimon Peres

Shimon Peres

Order of St Michael and St George is the ninth and current President of Israel. Peres served twice as Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 Cabinet of Israel in a political career spanning over 66 years....
, Yitzhak Rabin

Yitzhak Rabin

was an Israeli politician and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....
, Yaser Arafat, Jose Ramos Horta and Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo of Timor Leste and Kim Dae-jung. Most of the said awardees are from Israel

Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
 except for Chandrasekhar and Raman (India), Salam (Pakistan), Arafat (Palestinian Territories), and Kim (South Korea).

In 2006, Dr. Mohammad Yunus

Mohammad Yunus

Mohammad Yunus can refer to:* Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank* Mohammad Yunus , a career Indian diplomat and Special Envoy of Indira Gandhi...
 of Bangladesh was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the establishment of Grameen Bank

Grameen Bank

The Grameen Bank is a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh that makes small loans to the impoverished without requiring collateral ....
, a community development bank that lends money to poor people, especially women in Bangladesh. Dr. Yunus received his Ph.D. in economics from Vanderbilt University, United States. He is internationally known for the concept of micro credit which allows poor and destitutes with little or no collateral to borrow money. The borrowers typically pay back money within specified period of time and the incidence of default is very low.

Beliefs

Mythology

Asian mythology is diverse. The story is first found in Mesopotamian mythology

Mesopotamian mythology

Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq....
, in the

• Higham, Charles. Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations. Facts on File library of world history. New York: Facts On File, 2004.
• Kapadia, Feroz, and Mandira Mukherjee. Encyclopaedia of Asian Culture and Society. New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 1999.
• Levinson, David, and Karen Christensen. Encyclopedia of Modern Asia. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002.

External links