Asia (Burma Ascension)



Asia is the largest continent by area and population on Earth. Asia has an area of 44,579,000 km2 (17,212,000 sq mi) and an estimated population of 3.9 billion as of January 15, 2012.

Countries
There are a total of 17 countries in Asia. These countries, by alphabetical order are

Regional Organisations
Asia has many regional organisations, mainly based on economic cooperation. There are also two religion-based regional organisations - for Buddhism and Islam, and a loose defence agreement

The organisations are:

Religion
Buddhism and Islam are the two largest religions in Asia. Of Asia's population of 3.9 billion, there are around 1.8 billion Buddhists, 900 million Muslims, 700 million Hindus, 350 million Atheists and Freethinkers, and around 150 million Christians.

Buddhism is the dominant religion in Japan, Korea, South China, Majapahit, Myanmar, Sawarak, Tibet and Vietnam, with significant minorities in the Philippines and the Bharati Republic. Buddhism has enjoyed a significant resurgance in recent decades in South China and is the fastest growing religion in the developed world.

Islam is the dominant religion in Arabia, Persia, Turkiye and Uyghurstan, with significant minorities in Bharat and Russia.

Christianity is a major religion in the Philippines and Russia, with minorities in Sawarak, Korea, Vietnam and Dravadia. Christianity has declined slowly since 1950, especially after the Philippines became a Communist republic.

Economy
The combined economy of Asia is the largest in the world, producing over 60% of the world's GDP. The economy of Asian nations vary widely, from the technologically advanced economies of Japan, Korea, Myanmar and South China, to agrarian or natural resource reliant economies such as Arabia, Dravadia, Persia and Tibet.