How Many Countries Are in Asia Continent?

There are 48 countries in Asia continent according to the United Nations.

But why do some sources list 49, 50, or 51 countries in Asia?

The difference comes from how sources classify transcontinental countries and places with disputed or special political status.

• 48 countries: Based on the United Nations M49 geographic classification.
• 49 countries: A broader count that includes Russia, which spans Europe and Asia.
• 50 countries: A count that adds both Russia and Taiwan to the 48-country list.
• 51 entries: A broader list that adds Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao to the 48-country list. Hong Kong and Macao are Special Administrative Regions of China, not separate sovereign countries.

The full list is shown in the table below.

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Complete List of Asian Countries

Explore Asian countries and their national flags, capitals, subregions, total areas, 2026 population estimates, languages, currencies, calling codes, and ISO codes. Search for a country or use the filters to explore the list.

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All Entries (52 Entries) UN M49 Countries (48) Central Asia (5) Eastern Asia (5) Southern Asia (8) South-eastern Asia (11) Western Asia (19) Transcontinental (1) Territories & Areas (3)

Showing 52 entries

No.	Flag	Country / Area	Capital / Seat	Subregion / Classification	Total Area (km²)	Population (2026 est.)	Language	Currency	Calling Code	ISO Code
1		Kazakhstan	Astana	Central Asia	2,724,910	21.1 million	Kazakh, Russian	Tenge (KZT)	+7	KZ
2		Kyrgyzstan	Bishkek	Central Asia	199,951	7.5 million	Kyrgyz, Russian	Som (KGS)	+996	KG
3		Tajikistan	Dushanbe	Central Asia	143,100	11 million	Tajik	Somoni (TJS)	+992	TJ
4		Turkmenistan	Ashgabat	Central Asia	491,210	7.7 million	Turkmen	Manat (TMT)	+993	TM
5		Uzbekistan	Tashkent	Central Asia	448,978	37.9 million	Uzbek	Som (UZS)	+998	UZ
6		China	Beijing	Eastern Asia	9,596,961	1.41 billion	Chinese (Mandarin)	Renminbi (CNY)	+86	CN
7		Japan	Tokyo	Eastern Asia	377,975	122.4 million	Japanese	Japanese yen (JPY)	+81	JP
8		Mongolia	Ulaanbaatar	Eastern Asia	1,564,116	3.57 million	Mongolian	Tögrög (MNT)	+976	MN
9		North Korea	Pyongyang	Eastern Asia	120,538	26.6 million	Korean	North Korean won (KPW)	+850	KP
10		South Korea	Seoul	Eastern Asia	100,472	51.6 million	Korean	South Korean won (KRW)	+82	KR
11		Afghanistan	Kabul	Southern Asia	652,230	44.5 million	Dari, Pashto	Afghani (AFN)	+93	AF
12		Bangladesh	Dhaka	Southern Asia	148,460	178.4 million	Bangla	Taka (BDT)	+880	BD
13		Bhutan	Thimphu	Southern Asia	38,394	802,214	Dzongkha	Ngultrum (BTN)	+975	BT
14		India	New Delhi	Southern Asia	3,287,263	1.48 billion	Hindi, English	Indian rupee (INR)	+91	IN
15		Maldives	Malé	Southern Asia	300	531,517	Dhivehi	Rufiyaa (MVR)	+960	MV
16		Nepal	Kathmandu	Southern Asia	147,181	29.63 million	Nepali	Nepalese rupee (NPR)	+977	NP
17		Pakistan	Islamabad	Southern Asia	881,913	260.4 million	Urdu, English	Pakistani rupee (PKR)	+92	PK
18		Sri Lanka	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte	Southern Asia	65,610	23.39 million	Sinhala, Tamil	Sri Lankan rupee (LKR)	+94	LK
19		Brunei	Bandar Seri Begawan	South-eastern Asia	5,765	470,935	Malay	Brunei dollar (BND)	+673	BN
20		Cambodia	Phnom Penh	South-eastern Asia	181,035	18.0 million	Khmer	Riel (KHR)	+855	KH
21		Indonesia	Jakarta	South-eastern Asia	1,904,569	288.6 million	Indonesian	Rupiah (IDR)	+62	ID
22		Laos	Vientiane	South-eastern Asia	236,800	7.98 million	Lao	Kip (LAK)	+856	LA
23		Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	South-eastern Asia	330,803	36.5 million	Malay	Ringgit (MYR)	+60	MY
24		Myanmar	Naypyidaw	South-eastern Asia	676,578	55.3 million	Burmese	Kyat (MMK)	+95	MM
25		Philippines	Manila	South-eastern Asia	300,000	117.9 million	Filipino, English	Philippine peso (PHP)	+63	PH
26		Singapore	Singapore	South-eastern Asia	744.3	6.21 million	English, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil	Singapore dollar (SGD)	+65	SG
27		Thailand	Bangkok	South-eastern Asia	513,120	71.6 million	Thai	Baht (THB)	+66	TH
28		Timor-Leste	Dili	South-eastern Asia	15,007	1.44 million	Tetum, Portuguese	US dollar (USD)	+670	TL
29		Vietnam	Hanoi	South-eastern Asia	331,338	102.38 million	Vietnamese	Dong (VND)	+84	VN
30		Armenia	Yerevan	Western Asia	29,743	2.93 million	Armenian	Dram (AMD)	+374	AM
31		Azerbaijan	Baku	Western Asia	86,600	10.48 million	Azerbaijani	Manat (AZN)	+994	AZ
32		Bahrain	Manama	Western Asia	786.8	1.7 million	Arabic	Bahraini dinar (BHD)	+973	BH
33		Cyprus	Nicosia	Western Asia	9,251	1.4 million	Greek, Turkish	Euro (EUR)	+357	CY
34		Georgia	Tbilisi	Western Asia	69,700	3.8 million	Georgian	Lari (GEL)	+995	GE
35		Iran	Tehran	Western Asia	1,648,195	93.5 million	Persian (Farsi)	Iranian rial (IRR)	+98	IR
36		Iraq	Baghdad	Western Asia	438,317	48.0 million	Arabic, Kurdish	Iraqi dinar (IQD)	+964	IQ
37		Israel	Jerusalem	Western Asia	22,072	10.2 million	Hebrew, Arabic	Israeli new shekel (ILS)	+972	IL
38		Jordan	Amman	Western Asia	89,342	11.6 million	Arabic	Jordanian dinar (JOD)	+962	JO
39		Kuwait	Kuwait City	Western Asia	17,818	5.1 million	Arabic	Kuwaiti dinar (KWD)	+965	KW
40		Lebanon	Beirut	Western Asia	10,452	5.9 million	Arabic	Lebanese pound (LBP)	+961	LB
41		Oman	Muscat	Western Asia	309,500	5.67 million	Arabic	Omani rial (OMR)	+968	OM
42		Palestine	East Jerusalem (claimed); Ramallah (administrative)	Western Asia	6,020	5.7 million	Arabic	Israeli new shekel (ILS), Jordanian dinar (JOD)	+970	PS
43		Qatar	Doha	Western Asia	11,571	3.2 million	Arabic	Qatari riyal (QAR)	+974	QA
44		Saudi Arabia	Riyadh	Western Asia	2,149,690	35.3 million	Arabic	Saudi riyal (SAR)	+966	SA
45		Syria	Damascus	Western Asia	185,180	26.8 million	Arabic	Syrian pound (SYP)	+963	SY
46		Türkiye (Turkey)	Ankara	Western Asia	783,562	87.9 million	Turkish	Turkish lira (TRY)	+90	TR
47		United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi	Western Asia	83,600	11.7 million	Arabic	UAE dirham (AED)	+971	AE
48		Yemen	Sana’a	Western Asia	527,970	42.9 million	Arabic	Yemeni rial (YER)	+967	YE
49		Russia	Moscow	Transcontinental: Europe and Asia	17,098,246	143.4 million	Russian	Russian ruble (RUB)	+7	RU
50		Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Territory & Area: Special Administrative Region of China	1,114.57	7.51 million	Chinese, English	Hong Kong dollar (HKD)	+852	HK
51		Macao	Macao	Territory & Area: Special Administrative Region of China	33.3	724,254	Chinese, Portuguese	Macanese pataca (MOP)	+853	MO
52		Taiwan	Taipei	Territory & Area: Self-governing island	36,197	23.4 million	Mandarin Chinese	New Taiwan dollar (TWD)	+886	TW

Note: This directory lists 48 countries grouped into five subregions: Central Asia (5), Eastern Asia (5), Southern Asia (8), South-eastern Asia (11), and Western Asia (19). Iran is included in Western Asia. Russia is listed separately as a transcontinental country spanning Europe and Asia. Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao are listed separately under Territories & Areas for broader regional coverage. Hong Kong and Macao are Special Administrative Regions of China, not separate sovereign countries. Population figures are approximate 2026 estimates and may vary by source.

The total area of the Asia continent is approximately 44,579,000 square kilometers (or about 17,212,000 square miles).

India is the most populous country in Asia, followed by China. Russia is the largest country by total area, although it spans both Europe and Asia. The Maldives is the smallest Asian country by land area. The table above makes it easy to compare the land area and estimated 2026 population of the countries listed.

See also: World Clock by Country, Current Time, and Time Converter to check local times around the world.