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Revision as of 17:29, 14 July 2008 by 97.90.237.146 (talk) (→Other uses of the term East Asia)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) This article is about the geographical region. For the Miyuki Nakajima album, see East Asia (album). For the fictional superstate, see Eastasia (Nineteen Eighty-Four).East Asia
| Area | 11,839,074 km² |
|---|---|
| Population | 1,555,784,500 |
| Density | 131 per km² |
| Countries and Territories | Mainland China Hong Kong Japan Macau Mongolia North Korea South Korea Taiwan |
| Languages and language families | Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, and many others |
| Time zones | UTC +7:00 (Western Mongolia) to UTC +9:00 (Japan and Korean Peninsula) |
| Capital cities | Beijing Pyongyang Seoul Taipei Tokyo Ulan Bator |
| Other major cities | Busan, Guangzhou Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Osaka, Shanghai, Yokohama. |
East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. Geographically, it covers about 12,000,000 km², or about 28 percent of the Asian continent, about 15 percent bigger than the area of Europe. More than 1.5 billion people, about 40 percent of the population of Asia or a quarter of all the people in the world, live in geographic East Asia, which is about twice the population of Europe. The region is one of the world's most crowded places. The population density of East Asia, 131 per km², is about three times the world average of 45 per km².
Historically, many societies in East Asia have been part of the Chinese cultural sphere, and East Asian vocabulary and scripts are often derived from Classical Chinese and Chinese script. Major religions include Buddhism (mostly Mahayana), Confucianism or Neo-Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religion, and Shinto in Japan.
This combination of language, political philosophy, and religion (as well as art, architecture, holidays and festivals, etc.) overlaps with the geographical designation of East Asia for the most part, with a few exceptions, such as the overseas Chinese (including those in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the West).
East Asia and Eastern Asia (the latter form preferred by the United Nations) are both more modern terms for the traditional name the Far East, which describes the region's geographical position in relation to Europe rather than its location within Asia. However, in contrast to the United Nations definition, East Asia commonly is used to refer to the eastern part of Asia, as the term implies.
Mother fucker
Other subregions of Asia
- Southeast Asia
- South Asia
- 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 part of Europe)
- Central Eurasia (Extends into part of Europe)
See also
- Cities of East Asia
- East Asian studies
- Asian Network of Major Cities 21
- East Asian languages
- East Asian calligraphy
- Four Asian Tigers – a label pertinent to the recent economic history of the region.
- East Asia Summit
- History of East Asia
- Sinosphere
- East Asian Community
- Russian Far East (East Asia north of this area)
Notes and references
- The area figure is based on the combined areas of the People's Republic of China (including Hong Kong, Macau, Aksai Chin, and Trans-Karakoram Tract), Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and the Republic of China (Taiwan) as listed at List of countries and outlying territories by total area.
- The population figure is the combined populations of the People's Republic of China (Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau), Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Republic of China (Taiwan) as listed at List of countries by population (last updated March 8, 2008).
- Dispute due to mainly Political status of Taiwan between governments of Republic of China and People's Republic of China.
- "East Asia". encarta. Micosoft. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
East A·sia the countries, territories, and regions of China, Hong Kong, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Macau, Mongolia, parts of Russia, and Taiwan.
- Columbia University - "East Asian cultural sphere" "The East Asian cultural sphere evolves when Japan, Korea, and what is today Vietnam all share adapted elements of Chinese civilization of this period (that of the Tang dynasty), in particular Buddhism, Confucian social and political values, and literary Chinese and its writing system."
- See, List of countries by population density
- "Far East". encarta. Micosoft. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
Far East a former term for the countries of East Asia, sometimes extended to include those of Southeast Asia (dated)
