Maps of Asia

Population Density in Asia

Asian cities of 10 million or more (13 of 27 in the world)

Dominant Religion Practiced in Asian Nations

Per Capita Income in U.S. Dollars

Asia is home to over half of the world's population. About two billion Asians still live on less than $2 per day. Asian economies have grown rapidly in recent years. The growth has come at the expense of high environmental costs and huge waste of resources already limited by population pressures. Economic growth is vital for relieving poverty in Asia, but human welfare will not improve for long if the region continues to "grow first and clean up later.” Many countries are becoming aware of the importance of protecting the environment. Some governments have adopted improved legislation and regulations for addressing concerns such as air pollution.

Images of Asia

Men vote in Gujrat, Pakistan.

Women show their id cards in Karachi, Pakistan.

Soldiers patrol the streets of Karachi, Pakistan, after a former prime minister was assassinated.

A woman in India makes patties out of cow dung to use for fuel for heating and cooking.

Workers in an Indian city line up at a food cart amid office buildings and construction projects.

Tsunami survivors searched for their belongings amid the debris of their houses on the Indian coast.

A fisherman casts a net into the waters of Dal Lake in Srinagar, in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Former Communist guerrillas line up to vote in Nepal.

Women vote in recent elections in Nepal.

After a deadly cyclone, an injured man is carried through the rubble in Bangladesh.

A woman weeps after the tsunami destroyed her house in a coastal area in Sri Lanka.

Winter storms delayed trains, causing huge crowds Guangzhou Railway Station in southern China.

A woman collects coal for cooking near a Chinese factory.

These Chinese nomads' grazing herds and climate changes have put pressures on nearby water supplies.

A couple takes wedding photos in Shanghai, China.

A street in Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated places in the world.

A woman grabs a snack from a taxi during rush hour in Taipei, the modern capital of Taiwan.

An historic performance of the New York Philharmonic in North Korea’s East Pyongyang Grand Theater.

Soldiers after morning training in Pongyang, North Korea.

An oil slick, caused by a spill from an oil tanker, washes up along the South Korea's west coast.

Supporters listen to a candidate in Seongnam, South Korea.

Walkers navigate crowded streets in Tokyo, Japan.

In Tokyo, Japan, the late-night fashion crowd hangs out in a basement lounge.

A Buddhist monk begs in Kyoto, Japan.

Students at this Myanmar (Burma) monastery wake up before dawn, study and practice Buddhism until night.

A soldier patrols near the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, a day after the Thai military tried to oust the king.

Workers at a brick factory in Vietnam move bricks into a kiln.

South Korean men meet potential wives at a bar in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Fishermen gather together to fish as large numbers of catfish migrate down the Mekong River in southern Laos.

In Kratie, Cambodia, ox carts travel part of a 130-mile road built by China.

In a Cambodian public hospital, a woman fans her ill father.

A child visits the Singapore Art Museum.

Four generations pose in their island home in the Philippines.

Muslim women pray in Indonesia.

A mosque's relief group distributes supplies to flood victims in Indonesia.