Foreign Asia is a region that leads the world not only in terms of area, but also in terms of population. Moreover, he has been holding this championship for more than one millennium. The countries of foreign Asia, despite their many differences, have a number of common features. They will be discussed in this article.
General characteristics of foreign Asian countries
Foreign Asia is the cradle of many civilizations and the birthplace of agriculture. The world's first cities were built here and a number of great scientific discoveries were made.
All countries of foreign Asia (48 in total) cover an area of 32 million square kilometers. Large states predominate among them. There are also giant countries, the area of each of which exceeds 3 million km22 (India, China).
Most of the states in this region are classified by experts as developing countries. Only four countries out of 48 can be called economically developed. These are Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Israel.
There are 13 monarchies on the political map of foreign Asia (with half of them located in the Middle East). The rest of the countries in the region are republics.
According to the peculiarities of the geographical location, all countries of foreign Asia are divided into:
- island (Japan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, etc.);
- seaside (India, South Korea, Israel, etc.);
- inland (Nepal, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, etc.).
Obviously, countries from the latter group are experiencing great difficulties in bringing their products to world markets.
Regions and countries of overseas Asia
Geographers divide overseas Asia into five subregions:
- Southwest Asia - includes all countries on the territory of the Arabian Peninsula, the republics of Transcaucasia, Turkey, Cyprus, Iran and Afghanistan (20 states in total);
- South Asia - includes 7 states, the largest of which are India and Pakistan;
- Southeast Asia is 11 states, ten of which are developing countries (all except Singapore);
- East Asia - includes only five powers (China, Mongolia, Japan, South Korea and North Korea);
- Central Asia is the five post-Soviet republics (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan).
How do the countries of foreign Asia border? The map below will help you navigate this issue.
Population and natural resources
This region, due to its tectonic structure, is distinguished by a huge variety of mineral resources. So India and China canboast significant reserves of coal, iron and manganese ores. However, the most important we alth here is black gold. The largest oil fields are concentrated in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kuwait.
As for the conditions for the development of agriculture, in this regard, some states were more fortunate, others - much less. Many of the countries of South and Southeast Asia have excellent agro-climatic resources. But states such as Syria or Mongolia are practically a continuous lifeless desert, where only certain branches of animal husbandry can be developed.
According to various estimates, from 3.5 to 3.8 billion people live within the region. That's more than half of the world's population. Almost all countries of Foreign Asia are distinguished by high birth rates (the so-called second type of reproduction). Many states in the region are now experiencing a population explosion, which entails food and other problems.
The ethnic structure of the population in this region is also very complex. At least a thousand different nationalities live here, the most numerous of which are the Chinese, Japanese and Bengalis. In terms of linguistic diversity, this region also has no equal on the entire planet.
Most of the population of foreign Asia (about 66%) lives in rural areas. Nevertheless, the pace and nature of urbanization processes in this region are so great that the situation has already begun to be called an "urban explosion".
Foreign Asia: features of the economy
What is the role of the modern countries of the region in the global economy? All states of foreign Asia can be collected in several groups. There are so-called new industrial countries (Singapore, Korea, Taiwan and others), which in a short period of time were able to rebuild their national economy and achieve certain success in development. A separate group in the region is the oil-producing countries (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, etc.), whose economy is completely based on this natural we alth.
None of these categories can be attributed to Japan (the most developed country in Asia), China and India. All other states remain underdeveloped, some of them have no industry at all.
Conclusion
Foreign Asia is the largest historical and geographical region of the planet, within which more than one civilization was born. Today there are 48 independent states here. They differ in size, population, state structure, but they also have several common features.
Most of the countries of Foreign Asia are developing countries with a rather backward economy. Only four of them can be classified as economically developed powers.
