Northeast Asia or East Asiais the easternsubregionof the

Asian continent, which can be defined in

eithergeographicalorpan-ethno-culturalterms. Geographically and
geopolitically, it includes Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau,
Taiwan, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea and South Korea.
The region was the cradle of various ancient civilizations such
asAncient China,ancient Japan,ancient Korea, and theMongol
Empire.East Asia was one of the cradles of world civilization, with
China, an ancient East Asian civilization being one of the earliest
cradles of civilization in human history. For thousands of years,
China largely influenced East Asia as it was principally the leading
civilization in the region exerting it's enormous prestige and
influence on its neighbors.Historically, societies in East Asia have
been part of the Chinese cultural sphere, and East Asian
vocabulary and scripts are often derived from Classical
ChineseandChinese script. Major religions
includeBuddhism(mostlyMahayana),ConfucianismorNeo-
Confucianism, Taoism, Chinese folk religion in Mainland China,
Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, Shinto in Japan, Korean
shamanismin Korea. Shamanism is also prevalent
among Mongoliansand other indigenous populations of northern
East Asia such as the Manchus and Ewenki. Islam is popular
in Northwest China and Kazaks in Mongolia. The Chinese
calendar is the root from which many other East Asian calendars
are derived.
East Asians comprise around 1.6 billion people. About 38% of the
population of Asia and 22%, or over one fifth, of world's
population lives in East Asia. The region is to home to major world
metropolises such as Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, 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).
 East Asia Countries:
China
Hong Kong
Macau
Japan
North Korea
South Korea
Mongolia
Taiwan

China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a unitary sovereign
state in East Asia and the world's most populous country, with a population of
around 1.404 billion.[13] Covering approximately 9,600,000 square kilometers
(3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third- or fourth-largest country by total
area, depending on the source consulted. China also has the most neighbor
countries in the world. Governed by the Communist Party of China, it exercises
jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled
municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and the special
administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
China emerged as one of the world's earliest civilizations, in the fertile basin of
the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, China's political system
was based on hereditary monarchies, or dynasties, beginning with the semi-
legendary Xia dynastyin 21st century BCE.[20] Since then, China has expanded,
fractured, and re-unified numerous times. In the 3rd century BCE, the Qin unified
core China and established the first Chinese dynasty. The succeeding Han
dynasty saw some of the most advanced technology at that time,
including papermaking and the compass,[21] along with agricultural and medical
improvements. The invention of gunpowder and printing in the Tang
dynasty completed the Four Great Inventions. Tang culture spread widely in Asia,
as the new maritime Silk Route brought traders to as far
as Mesopotamia and Somalia.[22] Dynastic rule ended in 1912 with the Xinhai
Revolution, as a republic replaced the Qing dynasty. The Chinese Civil War led to
the break up of the country in 1949, with the victorious Communist Party of
China founding the People’s Republic of China on the mainland while the
losing Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan, a dispute which is still unresolved.
Since the introduction of economic reforms in 1978, China's economy has been
one of the world's fastest-growing. As of 2016, it is the world's second-largest
economy by nominal GDP and largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). China is
also the world's largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods.[23] China
is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world's largest standing
army and second-largest defense budget.[24][25] The PRC is a member of
the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the UN
Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal
multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO), the BCIM and the G20. China is a great
power and a major regional power within Asia, and has been characterized as
a potential superpower
Hong Kong

Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港, Cantonese: [hœœːŋ.kɔɔ̌ ːŋ]), officially

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's
Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the eastern side of
the Pearl River estuary in East Asia, south of the mainland
Chinese province of Guangdong, and east of the special administrative
region of Macau. With over 7.3 million Hongkongers of various
nationalities[note 1] in a territory of 1,104 km2, Hong Kong is
the fourth-most densely populated region in the world.
Hong Kong was formerly a colony of the British Empire, after the
perpetual cession of Hong Kong Island from Qing China at the
conclusion of the First Opium War in 1842. The colony expanded to
the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 after the Second Opium War, and was
further extended when Britain acquired a 99-year lease of the New
Territories starting in 1898. The Empire of Japanattacked the city as part of a co-
ordinated offensive against the Allied Powers at the start of the Pacific
War and held it under military occupation for the duration of the war,
until the British resumed control of the colony in 1945. The entire
territory, including ceded areas, was returned to China under the
framework of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, signed by the United
Kingdom and China in 1984 and marked with the transfer of
sovereignty over Hong Kong at the end of the New Territories lease in
1997, when it became a special administrative region of the People's
Republic of China.[16]
Under the principle of "one country, two systems",[17][18] Hong Kong
maintains a separate political and economic system apart from China.
Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong retains
independent executive, legislative, and judiciary powers.
[19]Nevertheless, Hong Kong does directly develop relations with
foreign states and international organizations in a broad range of
"appropriate fields",[20] being actively and independently involved in
institutions such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperationforum and
the World Trade Organization.[21][22]
Hong Kong is one of the world's most significant financial centres,
holding the highest Financial Development Index score and
consistently ranking as the world's most competitive and freest
economic areas.[23][24] As the seventh-largest trading entity in the
world,[25][26] its legal tender, the Hong Kong dollar, is the 13th-most
traded currency.[27] Hong Kong's tertiary sector dominated economy
is characterised by competitive simple taxation and supported by
its independent judiciary system.[28] Although the city boasts one of
the highest per capita incomes in the world, it suffers from
severe income inequality.

Macau
Macau, also spelled Macao and officially the Macao Special
Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is an
autonomous territory on the western side of the Pearl
River estuary in East Asia. Macau is bordered by the city
of Zhuhai in Mainland China to the north and the Pearl River Delta to
the east and south. Hong Kong lies about 64 kilometres (40 mi) to its
east across the Delta.[5] With a population of 650,900[3] living in an
area of 30.5 km2 (11.8 sq mi), it is the most densely populated
region in the world. A former Portuguese colony, it was returned to
Chinese sovereignty on 20 December 1999.
Macau was administered by the Portuguese Empire and its inheritor
states from the mid-16th century until late 1999, when it constituted
the last remaining European colony in Asia. [6][7] Portuguese traders
first settled in Macau in the 1550s. In 1557, Macau was leased to
Portugal from Ming China as a trading port. The Portuguese Empire
administered the city under Chinese authority and sovereignty until
1887, when Macau became a colony through a mutual agreement
between the two countries. Sovereignty over Macau was transferred
back to China on 20 December 1999. The Joint Declaration on the
Question of Macau and Macau Basic Law stipulate that Macau operate
with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after
the transfer.[8]
Under the policy of "one country, two systems", the Central People's
Government of the People's Republic of China is responsible
for military defense and foreign affairs while Macau maintains its
own legal system, public security force, monetary system, customs
policy and immigration policy. Macau participates in international
organizations and events that do not require members to possess
national sovereignty.[8][9]
Macau is a resort city in Southern China, known for its casinos and
luxury hotels. Its gaming revenue has been the world's largest since
2006,[10] with the economy heavily dependent on gaming and
tourism. According to The World Factbook, Macau has the fourth
highest life expectancy in the world.[11] Moreover, it has a very
high Human Development Index, ranking 17th in the world as of 2016.
[12] Macau is among the world's richest regions and its GDP per
capita by purchasing power parity was higher than that of any country
in the world, according to the World Bank.[13]
It is widely known as the pre-eminent gambling (or gaming) capital of
the world, greatly dwarfing other gambling

Japan
Japan (Japanese: 日本 Nippon [ɲippoɴ] or Nihon [ɲihoɴ]; formally 日本国 Nippon-
koku or Nihon-koku, meaning "State of Japan") is a sovereign island nation in East Asia.
Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian mainland and
stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and China in the
southwest.

The kanji, or Sino-Japanese characters, that make up Japan's name mean "sun origin",
and it is often called the "Land of the Rising Sun". Japan is
a stratovolcanic archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest
are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, which make up about ninety-seven percent of
Japan's land area and often are referred to as home islands. The country is divided into
47 prefectures in eight regions, with Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture
and Okinawa being the southernmost one. The population of 127 million is the world's
tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98.5% of Japan's total population. About 9.1
million people live in Tokyo,[15] the capital of Japan.
Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper
Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the
1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of
isolation, particularly from Western Europe, has characterized Japan's history.

From the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal
military shōguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a long period
of isolation in the early 17th century, which was ended in 1853 when a United States
fleet pressured Japan to open to the West. After nearly two decades of internal conflict
and insurrection, the Imperial Court regained its political power in 1868 through the help
of several clans from Chōshū and Satsuma—and the Empire of Japan was established. In
the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victories in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-
Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of
increasing militarism. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World
War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki and the Japanese surrender. Since adopting its revised constitution on May
3, 1947, during the occupation by the SCAP, Japan has maintained
a unitaryparliamentary constitutional monarchy with an Emperor and an elected legislature
called the National Diet.

Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8 and the G20—and is considered
a great power.[16][17][18] The country has the world's third-largest economy by nominal
GDP and the world's fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the
world's fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer.
The country benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is among the most highly
educated countries in the world, with one of the highest percentages of its citizens
holding a tertiary education degree.[19] Although Japan has officially renounced its right
to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the world's eighth-largest military
budget,[20] used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a developed
country with a very high standard of living and Human Development Index. Its population
enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world.
Japan is renowned for its historical and extensive cinema, rich cuisine and its major
contributions to science and modern-day technology.

North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (abbreviated as DPRK or DPR Korea), is a sovereign state in East
Asia constituting the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang is the
nation's capital and largest city. To the north and northwest, the country
is bordered by China and by Russia along the Amnok (known as the Yalu in China)
and Tumen rivers;[13] it is bordered to the south by South Korea, with the heavily
fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two. Nevertheless, North
Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the
entire peninsula.[14]
In 1910, Korea was annexed by Japan. After the Japanese surrender at the end of
World War II in 1945, Korea was divided into two zones, with the north occupied by
the Soviets and the south occupied by the Americans. Negotiations
on reunification failed, and in 1948, separate governments were formed: the
socialist Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north, and the
capitalist Republic of Korea in the south. An invasion initiated by North Korea led
to the Korean War (1950–1953). The Korean Armistice Agreement brought about a
ceasefire, but no peace treaty was signed.[15]
North Korea officially describes itself as a self-reliant, socialist state[16] and
formally holds elections. Various media outlets have called it Stalinist,
[25] particularly noting the elaborate cult of personality around Kim Il-
sung and his family. The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), led by a member of the
ruling family,[26] holds power in the state and leads the Democratic Front for the
Reunification of the Fatherland of which all political officers are required to be
members.[27] Juche, an ideology of national self-reliance, was introduced into the
constitution in 1972.[28][29] The means of production are owned by the state
through state-run enterprises and collectivized farms. Most services such as
healthcare, education, housing and food production are subsidized or state-
funded.[30] From 1994 to 1998, North Korea suffered a famine that resulted in the
deaths of between 240,000 and 420,000 people,[31] and the country continues to
struggle with food production. A sizeable amount of the population is thought to
suffer from malnutrition, parasite infestations and food and waterborne diseases.
North Korea follows Songun, or "military-first" policy.[32] It is the country with the
highest number of military and paramilitary personnel, with a total of 9,495,000
active, reserve and paramilitary personnel. Its active duty army of 1.21 million is
the fourth largest in the world, after China, the United States and India.
[33] It possesses nuclear weapons.[34][35] North Korea is an atheist state with no
official religion, and public religion is discouraged.[36]Both North Korea and South
Korea became members of the United Nations in 1991.[37]
International organizations have assessed that human rights violations in North
Korea have no parallel in the contemporary world.[38][39][40] North Korea operates
re-education and prison camps, akin to the gulag prisons of the Soviet Union. The
concentration camps are used to segregate those seen as enemies of the state
and punish them for alleged political misdemeanours or alleged misdemeanours
of relatives as part of the "3 generations of punishment" policy instigated by state
founder Kim Il-sung.[citation needed] Prisoners are frequently subject to slave
labour, malnutrition, torture, human experimentation, rape and arbitrary
executions.

South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (abbreviated ROK), is a sovereign
state in East Asia constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula.[14] Officially, its
territory consists of the whole Korean Peninsula and its adjacent islands,[15] which are largely
mountainous. South Koreans lead a distinctive urban lifestyle, as half of them live in high-
rises[16] concentrated in the Seoul Capital Area with 25 million residents.[17]
The earliest neolithic Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC,[18] with three kingdoms flourishing in
the 1st century BC. The name Korea is derived from one of them, Goguryeo, which was one of
the great powers in East Asia during its time,[19][20][21][22] ruling most of the Korean
Peninsula, Manchuria, some parts of the Russian Far East[23] and Inner Mongolia,
[24] under Gwanggaeto the Great.[25] Since the unification of the Korean kingdoms into Unified
Silla and Balhae in the 7th century, Korea enjoyed over a millennium of relative tranquility
under long-lasting dynasties.[26] Koreans developed improved versions of many advanced
innovations such as the metal movable type printing press, which used to print and publish
the Jikji, the world's oldest extant movable metal type printed paper bookin 1377. In the 15th
century, Koreans had one of the highest living standards in the world,[27] and Sejong the
Great invented Hangulto promote literacy amongst the general Korean population, enabling
anyone to easily learn to read and write and transfer written information rather than spend
years in learning complicated Hanja.[28] Its rich and vibrant culture left 19 UNESCO Intangible
Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage
Sites.
Annexed into Imperial Japan in 1910, the country's current political structure dates back to
1919 when the Korean Provisional Government was organized in Shanghai, China as
a government in exile and then moved to Chungking to resist the Japanese occupation of
Korea. After Japan's surrender in 1945, Korea was divided along the 38th parallel with
the United States controlling the southern part. This region was declared the First Korean
Republic on August 15, 1948, but a North Korean invasion led to the Korean War (1950–1953)
two years later. Peace has since mostly continued with the two agreeing to work peacefully
for reunification and the South solidifying peace as a regional power with the world's 10th
largest defense budget.

South Korea is one of the Four Asian Tigers. The South Korean economy soared at an annual
average of 10% for over 30 years[29] in a period of rapid transformation called the Miracle on
the Han River. A long legacy of openness and focus on innovation made it successful.
[30] Today, it is the world's seventh largest advanced economy and fifth largest exporter with
the G20's largest budget surplus[31] and highest credit rating of any country in East Asia.[32] It
has free trade agreements with 75% of the world economy and is the only G20 nation trading
freely with China, the US and the EU simultaneously.[33] Since 1988, its
constitution guarantees a liberal democracy with high government transparency and many
fundamental rights such as universal healthcare.[34] High personal freedoms led to the rise of
a globally influential pop culture[35] such as K-pop and K-drama, a phenomenon called
the Korean Wave, known for its distinctive fashionable and trendy style.[36] Home of
the UN Green Climate Fund and GGGI, South Korea is a leader in low carbon green growth,
[37] committed to helping developing countries as a major DAC and Paris Club contributor. It is
the world's third least ignorant country in the Index of Ignorance,[38] ranking eighth highest
for peaceful tolerance and inclusion of minorities on the Fragile States Index.[39]
South Korea is a technologically advanced developed country driven by a highly educated and
skilled workforce, having the world's eighth highest median household income, the highest in
Asia.[40] Globally, it ranks highly in personal safety, job security, ease of doing
business and healthcare quality, with the world's third highest health adjusted life
expectancy and fourth most efficient healthcare system.[41] It is the world's largest spender
on R&D per GDP, leading the OECD in graduates in science and engineering[42] and ranking
third in the Youth Wellbeing Index.[43] Home of Samsung, LG and Hyundai-Kia, South Korea
was named the world's most innovative country for 4 consecutive years since 2014 in
the Bloomberg Innovation Index,[44] ranking first in business R&D intensity,
manufacturing value-added, patents filed per GDP, second in higher education efficiency and
fourth in high-tech density and researcher concentration. [45] In 2005, it became the
world's first country to fully transition to high-speed Internet[46] and today it has the
world's fastest Internet speed and highest smartphone ownership,

Monglia
Mongolia (Monggol Ulus in Mongolian; Монгол Улс in Mongolian Cyrillic) is a
landlocked unitary sovereign statein East Asia. Its area is roughly equivalent with
the historical territory of Outer Mongolia, and that term is sometimes used to refer
to the current state. It is sandwiched between China to the south and Russia to
the north. While it does not share a border with Kazakhstan, Mongolia is separated
from it by only 36.76 kilometres (22.84 mi).
At 1,564,116 square kilometres (603,909 sq mi), Mongolia is the 18th largest and
the most sparsely populated fully sovereign country in the world, with a
population of around 3 million people. It is also the world's second-
largest landlocked country behind Kazakhstan and the largest landlocked
country that does not border a closed sea. The country contains very little arable
land, as much of its area is covered by grassy steppe, with mountains to the north
and west and the Gobi Desert to the south. Ulaanbaatar, the capital and largest
city, is home to about 45% of the country's population.
Approximately 30% of the population is nomadic or semi-nomadic; horse culture is
still integral. The majority of its population are Buddhists. The non-religious
population is the second largest group. Islam is the dominant religion among
ethnic Kazakhs. The majority of the state's citizens are of Mongol ethnicity,
although Kazakhs, Tuvans, and other minorities also live in the country, especially
in the west. Mongolia joined the World Trade Organization in 1997 and seeks to
expand its participation in regional economic and trade groups.[13]
The area of what is now Mongolia has been ruled by various nomadic empires,
including the Xiongnu, the Xianbei, the Rouran, the Turkic Khaganate, and others.
In 1206, Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Empire, which became the
largest contiguous land empirein history. His grandson Kublai Khan conquered
China to establish the Yuan dynasty. After the collapse of the Yuan,
the Mongolsretreated to Mongolia and resumed their earlier pattern of factional
conflict, except during the era of Dayan Khan and Tumen Zasagt Khan.
In the 16th century, Tibetan Buddhism began to spread in Mongolia, being further
led by the Manchu-founded Qing dynasty, which absorbed the country in the 17th
century. By the early 1900s, almost one-third of the adult male population were
Buddhist monks.[14][15]After the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911,
Mongolia declared independence from the Qing dynasty, and in
1921 established de facto independence from the Republic of China. Shortly
thereafter, the country came under the control of the Soviet Union, which had
aided its independence from China. In 1924, the Mongolian People's Republic was
declared as a Soviet satellite state.[16] After the anti-Communist revolutions of
1989, Mongolia conducted its own peaceful democratic revolution in early 1990.
This led to a multi-party system, a new constitution of 1992, and transition to
a market economy.

Taiwan
Taiwan (/ˌtaɪˈwɑːn/ ( listen)), officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a state
in East Asia. Its neighbors include the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the
west, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south. Taiwan is the most
populous state and largest economy that is not a member of the United Nations.
The island of Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa, was inhabited
by aborigines before the 17th century, when Dutch and Spanishcolonies opened
the island to mass Han immigration. After a brief rule by the Kingdom of Tungning,
the island was annexed by the Qing dynasty, the last dynasty of China. The Qing
ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 after the Sino-Japanese War. While Taiwan was
under Japanese rule, the Republic of China (ROC) was established on the mainland
in 1912 after the fall of the Qing dynasty. Following the Japanese surrender to the
Allies in 1945, the ROC took control of Taiwan. However, the resumption of
the Chinese Civil War led to the ROC's loss of the mainland to the Communists,
and the flight of the ROC government to Taiwan in 1949. Although the ROC
continued to claim to be the legitimate government of China, its effective
jurisdiction had, since the loss of Hainan in 1950, been limited to Taiwan and its
surrounding islands, with the main island making up 99% of its de facto territory.
As a founding member of the United Nations, the ROC continued to
represent China at the United Nations until 1971, when the PRC assumed China's
seat, causing the ROC to lose its UN membership.
In the early 1960s, Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic
growth and industrialization, creating a stable industrial economy. In the 1980s
and early 1990s, it changed from a one-party military dictatorship dominated by
the Kuomintang to a multi-party democracy with a semi-presidential system.
Taiwan is the 22nd-largest economy in the world, and its high-tech industry plays
a key role in the global economy. It is ranked highly in terms of freedom of the
press, healthcare,[15] public education, economic freedom, and human
development.[e][13][16] The country benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is
among the most highly educated countries in the world with one of the highest
percentages of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree.[17][18]
The PRC has consistently claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and asserted the ROC
is no longer in legitimate existence. Under its One-China Policy the PRC
refuses diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes the ROC. Today, 20
countries maintain official ties with the ROC but many other states maintain
unofficial ties through representative offices and institutions that function as de
factoembassies and consulates. Although Taiwan is fully self-governing, most
international organizations in which the PRC participates either refuse to grant
membership to Taiwan or allow it to participate only as a non-state actor.
Internally, the major division in politics is between the aspirations of
eventual Chinese unification or Taiwanese independence, though both sides have
moderated their positions to broaden their appeal. The PRC has threatened the
use of military force in response to any formal declaration of independence by
Taiwan or if PRC leaders decide that peaceful unification is no longer possible.