East Asia

East Asia is a region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms.^[7][8] The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan.^[2][3][4][5] Hong Kong and Macau, two coastal cities located in the south of China, are autonomous regions under Chinese sovereignty. The economies of Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau are some of the world's largest and most prosperous economies.^[9] East Asia borders Siberia and the Russian Far East to the north, Southeast Asia to the south, South Asia to the southwest, and Central Asia to the west. To the east is the Pacific Ocean and to the southeast is Micronesia (a Pacific Ocean island group that is classified as part of Oceania).

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East Asia

Area	11,840,000 km2 (4,570,000 sq mi) (3rd)
Population	1.6 billion (2023; 4th)
Population density	141.9 km2 (54.8 sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	$44.7 trillion (2023)[1]
GDP (nominal)	$24.8 trillion (2023)[1]
GDP per capita	$15,000 (nominal)[1]
Demonym	East Asian
Countries	6 countries[2][3][4][5]  China  Japan  Mongolia  North Korea  South Korea  Taiwan
Dependencies	2 autonomous dependencies  Hong Kong (China)  Macau (China)
Languages	Chinese Japanese Korean Mongolian Tibetan Others
Time zones	UTC+7, UTC+8 & UTC+9
Largest cities	List of urban areas:[6] Beijing Busan Chengdu Daegu Guangzhou Hangzhou Hong Kong Kaoshiung Macau Nagoya Nanjing Osaka Seoul Shanghai Shenzhen Taipei Tokyo Yokohama
UN M49 code	030 – Eastern Asia 142 – Asia 001 – World

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East Asia has long been a crossroads of civilizations, as the region's prominence has facilitated the transmission of ideas, cultural exchanges, commercial trade, scientific and technological cooperation, and migration, as its position and proximity to both the Pacific Ocean and the Continental Asian landmass makes it strategically significant for facilitating international maritime trade and transportation. The contemporary economic, technological, political, and social integration of East Asia coupled with the its rich history of diversity, division, and divergent development have all contributed to its enduring complexity, scientific and technological advancement, cultural richness, economic prosperity, and geopolitical significance on the world stage. With the region having been home to various influential empires, kingdoms, and dynasties throughout history, each leaving its mark on the region and transforming the region's geopolitical landscape ranging from distinct dynastic kingdoms to colonial possessions to independent modern nation-states. East Asia, especially Chinese civilization, is regarded as one of the earliest cradles of civilization. Other ancient civilizations in East Asia that still exist as independent countries in the present day include the Japanese, Korean and Mongolian civilizations. Various other civilizations existed as independent polities in East Asia in the past but have since been absorbed into neighbouring civilizations in the present day, such as Tibet, Baiyue, Khitan, Manchuria, Ryukyu (Okinawa) and Ainu, among many others. Taiwan has a relatively young history in the region after the prehistoric era; originally, it was a major site of Austronesian civilization prior to colonisation by European colonial powers and China from the 17th century onward. For thousands of years, China was the leading civilization in the region, exerting influence on its neighbours.^[10][11][12] Historically, societies in East Asia have fallen within the Chinese sphere of influence, and East Asian vocabularies and scripts are often derived from Classical Chinese and Chinese script. The Chinese calendar serves as the root from which many other East Asian calendars are derived.

Major religions in East Asia include Buddhism (mostly Mahayana),^[13] Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, Taoism,^[14] ancestral worship, and Chinese folk religion in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, Shinto in Japan, and Christianity, and Musok in Korea.^[15][16][17] Tengerism and Tibetan Buddhism are prevalent among Mongols and Tibetans while other religions such as Shamanism are widespread among the indigenous populations of northeastern China such as the Manchus.^[18] Major languages in East Asia include Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Major ethnic groups of East Asia include the Han (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan), Yamato (Japan) and Koreans (North Korea, South Korea). Mongols, although not as populous as the previous three ethnic groups, constitute the majority of Mongolia's population. There are 76 officially-recognized minority or indigenous ethnic groups in East Asia; 55 native to mainland China (including Hui, Manchus, Chinese Mongols, Tibetans, Uyghurs and Zhuang in the frontier regions), 16 native to the island of Taiwan (collectively known as Taiwanese indigenous peoples), one native to the major Japanese island of Hokkaido (the Ainu) and four native to Mongolia (Turkic peoples). Ryukyuan people are an unrecognized ethnic group indigenous to the Ryukyu Islands in southern Japan, which stretch from Kyushu Island (Japan) to Taiwan. There are also several unrecognized indigenous ethnic groups in mainland China and Taiwan.

East Asians comprise around 1.7 billion people, making up about 33% of the population in Continental Asia and 20% of the global population.^{[19][20][21][needs update]} The region is home to major world metropolises such as Beijing, Hong Kong, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Taipei and Tokyo. Although the coastal and riparian areas of the region form one of the world's most populated places, the population in Mongolia and Western China, both landlocked areas, is very sparsely distributed, with Mongolia having the lowest population density of a sovereign state. The overall population density of the region is 133 inhabitants per square kilometre (340/sq mi), about three times the world average of 45/km² (120/sq mi).^{[when?][citation needed]}