Asia

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

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


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

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

Countries and territories of Asia:

SOURCE: One World - Nations Online all countries of Africa bookmark/share this page