• Armenia - Armenia, republic in the Transcaucasia region of western Asia
• Azerbaijan - Azerbaijan, republic in the Transcaucasia region of western Asia
• Bahrain - Bahrain or Bahrein, independent state in southwestern Asia
• Bangladesh - Bangladesh, in full, People's Republic of Bangladesh, republic of southern Asia
• Brunei Darussalam - sultanate located on the northern coast of the island of Borneo, in eastern Asia,
• Cambodia - republic in southeastern Asia, bounded on the northeast by Laos, on the east and southeast by Vietnam,
• China - country in East Asia, the world's third largest country by area (after Russia and Canada) and the largest by population.
• Georgia - republic in the Transcaucasia region of western Asia, bordered by the Black Sea on the west, Russia on the north,
• Hong Kong - mainland portion located on the southeastern coast of China and more than 200 islands.
• India - situated in the subcontinent of India and comprising, with Pakistan and Bangladesh, the 17 territories formerly included in British India
• Indonesia - designation officially applied, after September 20, 1948, to the Netherlands Indies,
• Israel - republic in southwestern Asia, located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
• Japan - constitutional monarchy in eastern Asia, comprising four large islands, as well as the Ryukyu Islands and more than 1000 lesser adjacent islands
• Jordan - kingdom in southwestern Asia, bounded on the north by Syria, on the east by Iraq and Saudi Arabia
• Kazakhstan - republic in Central Asia, bounded on the north by Russia; on the east by China;
• Korea - peninsula, Asia, divided since 1948 into two political entities: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea)
• Kuwait - independent state in southwestern Asia, on the northwestern coast of the Persian Gulf.
• Kyrgyzstan - Kyrgyz Republic, independent republic in Central Asia
• Laos - Lao People's Democratic Republic, independent state of Southeast Asia,
• Lebanon - republic in southwestern Asia, bounded on the north and east by Syria, on the southeast and south by Israel
• Macau - overseas territory of Portugal, on the southeastern coast of China, west of Hong Kong.
• Malaysia - constitutional monarchy in Southeast Asia, on the South China Sea, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations
• Maldives - island republic in southern Asia, located in the northern Indian Ocean, southwest of the southern tip of India.
• Myanmar - Union of Myanmar, republic in Southeast Asia, bounded on the west by Bangladesh; on the northwest by India's Assam state
• Nepal - constitutional monarchy of southern Asia, bounded on the north by the Tibetan Autonomous Region in China and on the east, south, and west by India
• Oman - independent state, extending about 1610 km (about 1000 mi) along the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula,
• Pakistan - republic in southern Asia, bounded on the north and northwest by Afghanistan, on the northeast by Jammu and Kashmìr
• Philippines - republic in the western Pacific Ocean, made up of the Philippine Islands and forming in physical geography a part of the Malay Archipelago
• Qatar - independent state occupying the Qatar Peninsula, jutting into the Persian Gulf from the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula
• Russia - independent republic in eastern Europe and Asia, which was established on December 25, 1991, and includes 21 ethnically based republics,
• Saudi Arabia - monarchy in southwestern Asia, occupying most of the Arabian Peninsula.
• Singapore - independent city-state in southeastern Asia, comprising one major island and more than 50 small adjacent islets, located off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula
• Sri Lanka - island republic in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of India, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
• Syrian Arab Republic - Al Jumhuriyah al Arabiyah as Suriyah (Syrian Arab Republic), republic in southwestern Asia
• Taiwan - island in East Asia, the seat of the government of the Republic of China, also claimed by China as a province.
• Thailand - formerly Siam, officially Kingdom of Thailand, kingdom in Southeast Asia,
• United Arab Emirates - federation of seven independent states lying along the east central coast of the Arabian Peninsula.
• Uzbekistan - republic in Central Asia, bordered on the west and north by Kazakhstan, on the east by Kyrgyzstan, on the southeast by Tajikistan, and on the south by Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.
• Viet Nam - republic of Southeast Asia, bordered by China on the north, the South China Sea on the east and south, and Cambodia and Laos on the west.
• Yemen - country in southwestern Asia, on the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula.

    Lying almost entirely in the northern hemisphere, Asia is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the Bering Strait and the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the southwest by the Red and Mediterranean seas. On the west, the conventional boundary between Europe and Asia is drawn at the Ural Mountains, continuing south along the Ural River to the Caspian Sea, then west along the Caucasus Mountains to the Black Sea. Many geographers prefer to regard the landmass formed by Europe and Asia as a single continent-Eurasia.

Some "Asia," information, Microsoft® Encarta® 97 Encyclopedia.
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Last Revised: May 27, 2007 03:21 PM.