Asia.U.S. and NATO forces are helping President Hamid Karzai of AFGHANISTAN battle a growing challenge from Taliban rebels. The Taliban, hard-line Islamists who let Afghanistan become a training ground for Al Qaeda, were overthrown in December 2001 by a U.S.-led invasion. The economists of CHINA and INDIA continue to boom. While Americans love buying inexpensive goods that are imported from China, many are concerned about job losses to countries like China and India, where wages are much lower than in the U.S. Kim Jong Il, the leader of NORTH KOREA, is refusing to negotiate his country's development of nuclear weapons. Also of concern to North Korea's neighbors: the prospect of millions of impoverished refugees fleeing if the repressive Communist regime collapse. Shinzo Abe, JAPAN'S new Prime Minister, would like his nation to play a greater role in international affairs. Abe has said he wants to amend Japan's post-World War II constitution to let the military function in more than the purely defensive role allowed now.
ASIA
URBAN
AREA (SQ MI) POP. %
POP. RISE
COUNTRY POPULATION %/YEAR CAPITAL
AFGHANISTAN 251,772 22 KABUL
31,100,000 2.6
ARMENIA 11,506 64 YEREVAN
3,000,000 0.4
AZERBAIJAN 33,436 52 BAKU
8,500,000 1.1
BANGLADESH 55,598 23 DHAKA
146,600,000 1.9
BHUTAN 18,147 31 THIMPHU
900,000 1.3
BRUNEI 2,228 72 BANDAR
400,000 1.7 SERI
BEGAWAN
CAMBODIA 69,900 15 PHNOM
14,100,000 2.1 PENH
CHINA 3,696,100 37 BEIJING
1,311,400,000 0.6
EAST TIMOR 5,741 22 DILI
1,000,000 2.7
GEORGIA 26,911 52 TBILISI
4,400,000 0.1
INDIA 1,269,340 29 NEW
1,121,800,000 1.7 DELHI
INDONESIA 735,355 42 JAKARTA
225,500,000 1.4
JAPAN 145,869 79 TOKYO
127,800,000 0
KAZAKHSTAN 1,049,151 57 ASTANA
15,300,000 0.8
KOREA, NORTH 46,541 60 PYONGYANG
23,100,000 0.9
KOREA, SOUTH 38,324 80 SEOUL
48,500,000 0.4
KYRGYZSTAN 76,641 35 BISHKEK
5,200,000 1.4
LAOS 91,429 19 VIENTIANE
6,100,000 2.3
MALAYSIA 127,317 62 KUALA
26,900,000 1.6 LUMPUR
MALDIVES 116 27 MALE
300,000 1.5
MONGOLIA 604,826 57 ULAAN-BAATAR
2,600,000 1.2
MYANMAH 261,228 29 YANGON
(Burma) 51,000,000 1.1 (RANGDON)
NEPAL 56,826 14 KATHMANDU
26,000,000 2.2
PAKISTAN 307,375 34 ISLAMABAD
165,800,000 2.4
PHILIPPINES 115,830 48 MANILA
86,300,000 2.1
SINGAPORE 239 100 SINGAPORE
4,500,000 0.6
SRI LANKA 25,332 20 COLOMBO
19,900,000 1.3
TAIWAN 13,969 78 TAIPEI
22,800,000 0.3
TAJIKISTAN 55,251 26 DUSHANBE
7,000,000 2.2
THAILAND 198,116 33 BANGKOK
65,200,000 0.7
TURKMENISTAN 188,456 47 ASHGABAT
5,300,000 1.6
UZBEKISTAN 172,741 36 TASHKENT
26,200,000 1.6
VIETNAM 128,066 26 HAN0I
84,200,000 1.3
COUNTRY MAJOR LANGUAGES
AFGHANISTAN Pashtu
Afghan Persian
Turkic & others
ARMENIA Armenian
Russian
others
AZERBAIJAN Azeri
Russian
Armenian & others
BANGLADESH Bengali
English
BHUTAN Dzongkha
Tibetan
Nepalese dialects
BRUNEI Malay
English
Chinese
CAMBODIA Khmer
French
CHINA Mandarin
other Chinese dialects
other languages
EAST TIMOR Tetun
Portuguese,
Indonesian & English
GEORGIA Georgian, Russian,
Armenian, Azeri,
Ossetian & others
INDIA Hindi
English
many others
INDONESIA Bahasa Indonesian
English
Dutch & others
JAPAN Japanese
KAZAKHSTAN Kazakh
Russian
Ukrainian & others
KOREA, NORTH Korean
KOREA, SOUTH Korean
English
KYRGYZSTAN Kirghiz
Russian
LAOS Lao
French
English & others
MALAYSIA Malay, English
Chinese dialects
many others
MALDIVES Maldivian Divehi
English
MONGOLIA Khalkha Mongol
Turkic
Russian & Chinese
MYANMAH Burmese
(Burma) others
NEPAL Nepali
others
PAKISTAN Urdu, Punjabi,
Sindhi, Siraiki,
English & others
PHILIPPINES English
Tagalog
SINGAPORE Chinese
Malay
Tamil & English
SRI LANKA Tamil
Sinhala
English
TAIWAN Mandarin Chinese
Taiwanese
others
TAJIKISTAN Tajik
Russian
THAILAND Thai
English
regional dialects
TURKMENISTAN Turkmen
Uzbek
Russian & others
UZBEKISTAN Uzbek
Russian
Tajik & others
VIETNAM Vietnamese, French,
Chinese, English,
Khmer & others
POLITICAL SYSTEM &
COUNTRY HEAD OF GOVERNMENT
AFGHANISTAN Transitional democracy
President HAMID KARZAI
ARMENIA Presidential-parliamentary democracy
President ROBERT KOCHARIAN
AZERBAIJAN Presidential (dominant party)
President ILHAM ALIYEV
BANGLADESH Parliamentary democracy
Prime Minister KHALEDA ZIA
BHUTAN Monarchy
KING JIGME SINGYE WANGCHUK
BRUNEI Monarchy
Sultan and Prime Minister SIR HASSANAL
BOLKIAH MU'IZZADIN WADDAULAH
CAMBODIA Dominant party
Prime Minister SAMDECH HUN SEN
CHINA Communist one-party state
President HU JINTAO
EAST TIMOR Presidential-parliamentary democracy
(transitional)
President XANANA GUSMAO
GEORGIA Presidential-parliamentary democracy
President MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI
INDIA Parliamentary democracy
Prime Minister MANMOHAN SINGH
INDONESIA Parliamentary democracy
President SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO
JAPAN Parliamentary democracy
Prime Minister SHINZO ABE
KAZAKHSTAN Dominant party
President NUR5ULTAN NAZARBAYEV
KOREA, NORTH Communist dictatorship
General Secretary KIM JONG IL
KOREA, SOUTH Presidential-parliamentary democracy
President ROH M00-HYUN
KYRGYZSTAN Presidential-parliamentary in transition
President KURMANBEK BAKIYEV
LAOS Communist one-party state
president CHOUMMALY SAYASONE
MALAYSIA Dominant party
Prime Minister
DATUK SERI ABDULLAH AHMAD BADAWI
MALDIVES Presidential dictatorship
President MAUMOON ABDUL GAYOOM
MONGOLIA Presidential-parliamentary democracy
Prime Minister MIYEEGOMBO ENKHBOLD
MYANMAH Military
(Burma) General THAN SHWE
NEPAL Constitutional monarchy
with limited parliament
KING GYANENDRA BIR BIKRAM SHAH
PAKISTAN Military
President General PERVEZ MUSHARRAF
PHILIPPINES Presidential-legislative democracy
President GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO
SINGAPORE Dominant party
Prime Minister LEE HSIEN LOONG
SRI LANKA Presidential-parliamentary democracy
President MAHINDA RAJAPAKSE
TAIWAN Presidential-parliamentary democracy
President CHEN SHUI-BIAN
TAJIKISTAN Presidential (transitional)
President IMOMALI RAKHMONOV
THAILAND Military controlled in transition
General SONDHI BOONYARATKALN
TURKMENISTAN Presidential dictatorship
President SAPARMURAT NIYAZOV
UZBEKISTAN Presidential (dominant party)
President ISLAM KARIMOV
VIETNAM Communist one-party state
Prime Minister NGUYEN TAN DUNG
DATE LITERACY PER CAPITA
OF ORIGIN RATE (%) GDP
% POP. LIFE
COUNTRY UNDER 15 EXPECTANCY HDI
AFGHANISTAN 1919 51/21 $800
45 41/42 NA
ARMENIA 1918 99/98 $4,500
22 67/75 0.759
AZERBAIJAN 1991 99/98 $4,800
24 70/75 0.729
BANGLADESH 1971 54/32 $2,100
35 61/62 0.520
BHUTAN 1949 60/34 $1,400
33 62/64 0.536
BRUNEI 1984 96/91 $23,600
30 72/77 0.866
CAMBODIA 1949 85/64 $2,200
37 57/63 0.521
CHINA 1912 95/87 $6,800
20 70/74 0.755
EAST TIMOR 2002 59 $400
43 54/56 0.513
GEORGIA 1991 99/99 $3,300
19 69/75 0.732
INDIA 1947 70/48 $3,300
36 62/63 0.602
INDONESIA 1945 93/83 $3,600
29 67/72 0.697
JAPAN 660 B.C. 99/99 $31,500
14 79/86 0.943
KAZAKHSTAN 1991 99/98 $8,200
27 61/72 0.761
KOREA, NORTH 1945 99/99 $1,700
27 68/73 NA
KOREA, SOUTH 1945 99/97 $20,400
19 74/81 0.901
KYRGYZSTAN 1991 99/98 $2,100
32 64/72 0.702
LAOS 1949 77/56 $1,900
43 53/56 0.545
MALAYSIA 1957 92/85 $12,100
33 72/76 0.796
MALDIVES 1965 97/97 $3,900
33 70/70 0.745
MONGOLIA 1921 98/98 $1,900
29 64/68 0.679
MYANMAH 1948 89/81 $1,700
(Burma) 32 57/63 0.578
NEPAL 1768 63/35 $1,400
41 62/63 0.526
PAKISTAN 1947 62/35 $2,400
41 61/63 0.527
PHILIPPINES 1946 93/93 $5,100
35 67/72 0.758
SINGAPORE 1965 97/89 $28,100
20 78/82 0.907
SRI LANKA 1948 95/90 $4,300
26 71/77 0.751
TAIWAN 1949 96 $27,600
19 73/79 NA
TAJIKISTAN 1991 99/99 $1,200
32 61/66 0.652
THAILAND 1238 95/91 $8,300
23 68/75 0.778
TURKMENISTAN 1991 99/98 $8,000
34 58/67 0.738
UZBEKISTAN 1991 99/99 $1,800
35 63/70 0.694
VIETNAM 1945 94/87 $2,800
29 70/73 0.704
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion