Demographics of Asia
Encyclopedia
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
population of Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. The continent covers 29.4% of the Earth's land area and has a population of almost 4 billion - accounting for about 56% of the world population. Together, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
's and India's populations are estimated to be around 2.5 billion people.
Economy
Economically, most of Asia is traditionally considered part of the "Second WorldSecond World
The term "Second World" is a phrase used to describe those countries which are allied with or are supported by the "First World" countries . These include countries supported by the United States, such as Colombia, Israel, etc., and those supported by the former Soviet Union, also known as the the...
", with the significant exception of the industrialized "First World
First World
The concept of the First World first originated during the Cold War, where it was used to describe countries that were aligned with the United States. These countries were democratic and capitalistic. After the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the term "First World" took on a...
" nations of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, 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...
and South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. Asian nations in the G20 major economies are China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, 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...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. Of these, Russia and Japan are also in the G8
G8
The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...
, and additionally China and India in the G8+5
G8+5
The G8+5 group of leaders consists of the heads of government from the G8 nations , plus the heads of government of the five leading emerging economies .-February 2007 Declaration:On February 16, 2007, The Global Legislators Organisation The G8+5 group of leaders consists of the heads of government...
.
The Human Development Index
Human Development Index
The Human Development Index is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries...
is mostly in the "medium" range of 0.5-0.8, with 13 countries in the "high" range:
highest HDIs
| Rank | Country | HDI in 2005 (published in 2007) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 data (published in 2007) | Change compared to 2004 data (published in 2006) | ||
| High | |||
| 1 | (0) |  Japan |
0.953 |
| 2 | (0) |  Republic of China |
0.943 |
| 3 | (0) |  Israel |
0.932 |
| 4 | (0) |  Singapore |
0.922 |
| 5 | (0) |  South Korea |
0.921 |
| 6 | (1) |  Brunei |
0.894 |
| 7 | (1) |  Kuwait |
0.891 |
| 8 | (4) |  Qatar |
0.875 |
| 9 | (10) |  United Arab Emirates |
0.868 |
| 10 | (2) |  Bahrain |
0.866 |
| 11 | (2) |  Oman |
0.814 |
| 12 | (15) |  Saudi Arabia |
0.812 |
| 13 | (2) |  Malaysia |
0.811 |
| 14 | (2) |  Russia |
0.802 |
10 lowest HDIs
| Rank | Country | HDI in 2005 (published in 2007) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 data (published in 2007) | Change compared to 2004 data (published in 2006) | ||
| Medium | |||
| 1 | (0) |  Yemen |
0.508 |
| 2 | (0) |  East Timor |
0.514 |
| 3 | (0) |  Papua New Guinea |
0.530 |
| 4 | (0) |  Nepal |
0.534 |
| 5 | (0) |  Bangladesh |
0.547 |
| 6 | (1) |  Pakistan |
0.551 |
| 7 | (1) |  Bhutan |
0.579 |
| 8 | (1) |  Myanmar |
0.583 |
| 9 | (1) |  Cambodia |
0.598 |
| 10 | (2) |  Laos |
0.601 |
Ethnicities
- Central Asian peoples: Turkic peoplesTurkic peoplesThe Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
, Iranian peoplesIranian peoplesThe Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
, MongolsMongolsMongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
, RussiansRussiansThe Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries.... - East Asian peoples: List of Chinese ethnic groups (historicalEthnic groups in Chinese historyEthnic groups in Chinese history refer to various or presumed ethnicities of significance to the history of China, gathered through the study of Classical Chinese literature, Chinese and non-Chinese literary sources and inscriptions, historical linguistics, and archaeological research.Among the...
), Sino-Tibetan peoples, Japanese peopleJapanese peopleThe are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
, Koreans - Northern Asia: List of indigenous peoples of Russia: Indigenous peoples of SiberiaIndigenous peoples of SiberiaIncluding the Russian Far East, the population of Siberia numbers just above 40 million people.As a result of the 17th to 19th century Russian conquest of Siberia and the subsequent population movements during the Soviet era, the demographics of Siberia today is dominated by native speakers of...
; Finno-Ugric peoplesFinno-Ugric peoplesThe Finno-Ugric peoples are any of several peoples of Europe who speak languages of the proposed Finno-Ugric language family, such as the Finns, Estonians, Mordvins, and Hungarians...
; Tungusic peoplesTungusic peoplesTungusic peoples are the peoples who speak Tungusic languages. The word originated in Tunguska, an ill-defined region of Siberia.-Peoples:Tungusic peoples are:*Evenks*Evens*Jurchens *Manchu*Negidals... - Ethnic groups of South AsiaEthnic groups of South AsiaThe ethno-linguistic composition of the population of South Asia, that is the nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka is highly diverse. The majority of the population fall within two large Linguistic groups, Indo-Aryan and Dravidian.These groups are further...
: Ethnic groups of India, Ethnic groups in PakistanEthnic groups in PakistanAbout 98% of languages spoken in Pakistan are Indo-Iranian , a branch of Indo-European family of languages. Most languages of Pakistan are written in the Perso-Arabic script, with significant vocabulary derived from Arabic and Persian. Punjabi , Seraiki, Sindhi, Pashto, Urdu, Balochi, Kashmiri , etc...
, Dravidians, Indo-AryansIndo-AryansIndo-Aryan is an ethno-linguistic term referring to the wide collection of peoples united as native speakers of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian family of Indo-European languages...
, Munda peopleMunda peopleThe Munda are tribal people of the Chota Nagpur Plateau region.They are found across Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Assam states of India, and into parts of Bangladesh... - Ethnic groups of Southeast AsiaEthnic groups of Southeast AsiaThe ethnic groups of Southeast Asia comprise many different linguistic stocks. Apart from Negrito, which is a physical description, they are here arranged according to the family their languages belong to.-Kradai:*Thai people*Lao people*Kadai peoples...
: Austronesian peoples, Tai peoplesTai peoplesThe Tai ethnicity refers collectively to the ethnic groups of southern China and Southeast Asia, stretching from Hainan to eastern India and from southern Sichuan to Laos, Thailand, and parts of Vietnam, which speak languages in the Tai family and share similar traditions and festivals, including...
; List of ethnic groups in Cambodia, ethnic groups in IndonesiaEthnic groups in IndonesiaThere are over 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia. 95% of those are of Native Indonesians ancestry.The largest ethnic group in Indonesia is the Javanese who make up 41% of the total population. The Javanese are concentrated on the island of Java but millions have migrated to other islands throughout...
, List of ethnic groups in Laos, Ethnic groups of the Philippines, List of ethnic groups in Vietnam - Ethnic groups in West Asia: Arab people, Peoples of the Caucasus (transcontinental), Ethnic minorities in IranEthnic minorities in IranThis article focuses on ethnic minorities in Iran and their related political issues.-Overview:Iran is an ethnically diverse country, and interethnic relations are generally amicable. Persians form the majority of the population...
, Ethnic minorities in Iraq; Semites, Iranian peoplesIranian peoplesThe Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
, TurkmenTurkmen peopleThe Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
, TurksTurkish peopleTurkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...