East Asia

East Asia can be defined in either cultural or geographic terms. Geographically, it is a subregion of Asia, covering about 6,640,000 km², or 15 percent of the Asian continent. Culturally, it embraces the societies that display heavy historical influence from the medieval Chinese language (including the traditional script), Neo-Confucianism, and Mahayana Buddhism. This combination of language, political philosophy, and religion overlaps somewhat but not entirely with the geographically eastern subregion of Asia.

The following societies are encompassed by cultural East Asia:

• Han Chinese society
• Japanese society
• Korean society
• Vietnamese society

The following countries are located in geographic East Asia:

• The People's Republic of China, except for the province of Qinghai and the autonomous regions of Xinjiang and Tibet, which may also be considered to be located in Central Asia
• Republic of China on Taiwan
• Japan
• North Korea
• South Korea

The following countries or regions are sometimes considered part of East Asia. A major reason for disagreement on this question is that the difference between cultural and geographic definitions is not always taken into account. Political point of view is also an important factor.

• The parts of China that are not historically Han Chinese: Xinjiang, Qinghai, Tibet (either East Asia or Central Asia)
• Mongolia (either East Asia or Central Asia)
• Vietnam (either East Asia or Southeast Asia)
• Russian Far East (either East Asia or North Asia)

More than 1,500 million people, or about 40 per cent of all Asians and a quarter of all the people in the world, live in geographic East Asia. The region is one of the world's most crowded places. The population density of East Asia, 230 per km², is over five times the world average.

Other subregions of Asia

• Southeast Asia
• South Asia (Indian Subcontinent)
• Central Asia
• Southwest Asia or West Asia (One definition of the Middle East is synonymous with Southwest Asia)
• North Asia (Siberia)
• Northern Eurasia (Extends into Europe)
• Central Eurasia (Extends into Europe)

See also

• History of East Asia (a small index)
• Eastasia — One of the three superpowers in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
• East Asian Tigers -- a label pertinent to the recent economic history of the region.