East Asia

From Open Encyclopedia

Image:East Asia Scope.png East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. Geographically, it covers about 6,640,000 km², or 15% of the Asian continent. Culturally, it embraces those societies that are part of the Chinese cultural sphere, displaying heavy historical influence from the Classical Chinese language (including the traditional script), Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Daoism. This combination of language, political philosophy, and religion overlaps with the geographical designation of East Asia.

The following countries are located in geographic East Asia:

The People's Republic of China (including Hong Kong and Macau)
Republic of China (Taiwan) (see political status of Taiwan)
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)
Republic of Korea (South Korea)
Japan
Mongolia

The following peoples or societies are encompassed by cultural East Asia:

Chinese society (which would also include the dispersed Chinese-dominated regions of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, and most of Singapore)
Japanese society
Korean society
Mongolian society
Vietnamese society

The following countries or regions are sometimes considered part of East Asia. A major reason for disagreement on this question is the difference between the cultural and geographic definitions of "East Asia". Political perspective is also an important factor.

The parts of China that are not historically Han Chinese: Xinjiang, Qinghai, Tibet (either East Asia or Central Asia)
Russian Far East (either East Asia or North Asia)
Vietnam (either East Asia or Southeast Asia)

More than 1.5 billion people, about 40% of the population of Asia or a quarter of all the people in the world, live in geographic East Asia. The region is one of the world's most crowded places. The population density of East Asia, 230 per km², is over five times the world average.

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Other subregions of Asia

Southeast Asia
South Asia (Indian Subcontinent)
Central Asia
Southwest Asia or West Asia (One definition of the Middle East is synonymous with Southwest Asia)
North Asia (Siberia)
Northern Eurasia (Extends into Europe)
Central Eurasia (Extends into Europe)

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Regions of the World
Africa:	Central Africa \| East Africa \| Great Lakes \| Guinea \| Horn of Africa \| North Africa \| Maghreb \| Northwest Africa \| Sahel \| Southern Africa \| Sub-Saharan Africa \| Sudan \| West Africa
Americas:	Andean states \| Caribbean \| Central America \| Great Lakes \| Great Plains \| Guianas \| Latin America \| North America \| Northern America \| Pacific Northwest \| Patagonia \| South America \| Southern Cone
Eurasia:	Anatolia \| Arabia \| Asia \| Balkans \| Baltic region \| Benelux \| British Isles \| Caucasus \| Central Asia \| Central Europe \| East Asia \| Eastern Europe \| East Indies \| Europe \| Far East \| Kurdistan \| Levant \| Mediterranean \| Mesopotamia \| Middle East \| Near East \| North Asia \| Northern Europe \| Scandinavia \| South Asia \| Southeast Asia \| Southern Europe \| Southwest Asia \| Western Europe
Oceania:	Australasia \| Melanesia \| Micronesia \| Polynesia \| Pacific Rim
Polar:	Arctic \| Antarctic