Asia is the world's largest continent, home to around 48-49 countries, including giants like China, India, Indonesia, and Russia, alongside nations from the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Iran), Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines), East Asia (Japan, South Korea, North Korea), Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan), and South Asia (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka), encompassing diverse cultures, geographies from deserts to Himalayas, and numerous island states like Singapore, Brunei, and the Philippines.
In total, the Asian continent makes up about 17.21 million square miles of land! There are 48 countries in Asia and three territories, with a total population of around 4.6 billion people.
Below is a list of countries in Asia by area. Russia is the largest country in Asia and the world, even after excluding its European portion. The Maldives is the smallest country in Asia.
The "Big 5" Asian countries can refer to different groups, but most commonly includes China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia, especially in economic contexts (OECD data), while by land area, China, India, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia are among the largest. By population, it's India, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
The top five largest economies in Asia are China, Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore and Indonesia. Asia is surrounded by the Arctic Ocean, the Dark Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.
Maldives is the smallest country in Asia. Its land area is only 298 square kilometres (115 sq mi), but this is spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 sq mi) of the sea, making it one of the world's most spatially dispersed sovereign states.
The continents are, from largest to smallest: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.
10 Beautiful Places in Asia
Singapore tops the list as Asia's safest country in 2025, Global Peace Index
Iceland. Ranked number one since 2008, Iceland remains the world's most peaceful nation, leading across all three domains: safety and security, ongoing conflict and militarisation. It even recorded a 2% improvement this year, widening the gap from the second-place country on the list.
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No, the United States is larger than Australia overall, but Australia is comparable in size to the contiguous (lower 48) U.S. states, making it seem very large, with the U.S. having about 9.8 million km² and Australia around 7.7 million km². While the U.S. is the world's third or fourth largest country, Australia is the sixth largest and a massive landmass, about 28% smaller than the whole U.S.
South Sudan ranks as the poorest country globally, grappling with prolonged civil war, oil dependency, and severe food insecurity. The ongoing conflict disrupts agricultural production, leaving over 60% of its population in need of humanitarian assistance.
Russia tops the list with over 17 million km², making it more than five times the size of India.
Australia is 20 times larger than Japan.
Asia is the largest continent on Earth. It covers 9% of the Earth's total surface area (or 30% of its land area), and has the longest coastline, at 62,800 kilometres (39,022 mi). Asia is generally defined as comprising the eastern four-fifths of Eurasia.
Discover Atlantium - The Smallest Country in Australia! Welcome to Atlantium, a unique campsite located on a 0.76 square kilometre pastoral estate in the scenic Lachlan River valley, nestled between Crookwell and Cowra.
Singapore (the Republic of Singapore) is an island and city state, the smallest country, by surface area, in Southeast Asia.
Bhutan. Bhutan ranks 145th globally, making it the weakest military in Asia. The country maintains a small volunteer army with limited equipment and a modest defense budget. Bhutan's military focus is primarily on internal security and disaster response, with no significant offensive capabilities.