How Many Countries Are in Asia? 47, 48 or 50 — the Full List by Region

By Serdar Freimoser · Updated 26 October 2026 · Guide · 6 minute read · Auf Deutsch lesen

Asia has 47 states with a UN seat if you count the way UN statistics do – Cyprus included, Russia not. With Palestine it is 48, the most common figure; with Taiwan 49. On our globe there are 50 shapes, because Hong Kong and Macao are separate territories and Cyprus sits in Europe for us. Below is every country by region.

The number: 47, 48 or 50?

Asia is the continent with the most people and the most special cases: a country almost nobody recognises, two cities with their own passports and a western border that runs through Russia, Turkey and the Caucasus. The numbers you will meet:

For everyday use: 48 countries, 49 with Taiwan. Whoever says "every country in Asia" should add whether the Caucasus and Turkey are included – otherwise you are comparing 42 with 50.

Every country in Asia by region

The grouping follows the UN Statistics Division (M49) with five regions and is the same as on our globe. The one difference: Cyprus sits in Southern Europe for us, in Western Asia in UN statistics. Territories without UN membership are marked.

Western Asia (16 states + Palestine (not a UN member))

• 🇦🇲 Armenia
• 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan
• 🇧🇭 Bahrain
• 🇬🇪 Georgia
• 🇮🇶 Iraq
• 🇮🇱 Israel
• 🇯🇴 Jordan
• 🇰🇼 Kuwait
• 🇱🇧 Lebanon
• 🇴🇲 Oman
• 🇵🇸 Palestine – not a UN member
• 🇶🇦 Qatar
• 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
• 🇸🇾 Syria
• 🇹🇷 Turkey
• 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
• 🇾🇪 Yemen

Central Asia (5 states)

• 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
• 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan
• 🇹🇯 Tajikistan
• 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan
• 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan

Southern Asia (9 states)

• 🇦🇫 Afghanistan
• 🇧🇩 Bangladesh
• 🇧🇹 Bhutan
• 🇮🇳 India
• 🇮🇷 Iran
• 🇲🇻 Maldives
• 🇳🇵 Nepal
• 🇵🇰 Pakistan
• 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka

South-Eastern Asia (11 states)

• 🇧🇳 Brunei
• 🇰🇭 Cambodia
• 🇮🇩 Indonesia
• 🇱🇦 Laos
• 🇲🇾 Malaysia
• 🇲🇲 Myanmar
• 🇵🇭 Philippines
• 🇸🇬 Singapore
• 🇹🇭 Thailand
• 🇹🇱 Timor-Leste
• 🇻🇳 Vietnam

Eastern Asia (5 states + Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan (not a UN member))

• 🇨🇳 China
• 🇭🇰 Hong Kong – not a UN member
• 🇯🇵 Japan
• 🇲🇴 Macao – not a UN member
• 🇲🇳 Mongolia
• 🇰🇵 North Korea
• 🇰🇷 South Korea
• 🇹🇼 Taiwan – not a UN member

The edge cases

• Russia – about 13 million square kilometres lie east of the Urals in Asia, more than any Asian country. Still, the UN lists Russia under Eastern Europe, because three quarters of its people live there. For us: Europe.
• Turkey – 97 percent in Asia. UN statistics: Western Asia; Council of Europe member and EU candidate. For us: Western Asia.
• Taiwan – self-governing since 1949 with its own currency, passports and elections; China regards it as a province, hence no UN seat and only about a dozen diplomatic recognitions. Its own ISO code TW, its own shape on almost every map.
• Hong Kong and Macao – special administrative regions of China with their own passports, currencies and border controls ("one country, two systems", agreed until 2047 and 2049). Own ISO codes HK and MO, hence separate shapes in travel apps – but not states.
• Palestine – UN observer state since 2012, recognised by about three quarters of UN members, since 2024/25 also by several Western European states. Own ISO code PS.
• Cyprus – geographically 100 kilometres off the Syrian coast, politically an EU member using the euro. UN statistics: Western Asia; for us Southern Europe. The north has been occupied by Turkey since 1974.
• Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan – south of the Caucasus watershed, so geographically Asia; politically members of the Council of Europe and in Eurovision and UEFA. UN statistics and our map: Western Asia.
• Kazakhstan – a small part west of the Urals lies in Europe; it is counted as Central Asia everywhere.

Asia in numbers

What counts as visited – and how to really "have" Asia

The rule is the same as everywhere: under the strict rule a country counts after a night's stay, under the middle rule once you have left the transit area, under the loose rule even on a layover – the three rules in detail. Asia has a trap no other continent has: the hubs. Whoever flies to Bangkok via Doha, Dubai, Singapore or Istanbul has three countries under the loose rule, one under the strict rule – and under the middle rule it depends on whether the layover was long enough for a taxi into town.

That is why the Asia titles in Love the World are built by region: "Southeast Asia Insider" for five Southeast Asian countries, "The Subcontinent" for three South Asian, "East Asia Circuit" for three East Asian, "Western Asia Route" for three Western Asian and "Central Asia Pioneer" for two Central Asian – the rarest of them all. Each of the 50 shapes above gets its own entry stamp in the passport, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan included, because maps show territories, not memberships. See how the app works, or continue with Europe and Africa.

Sources (retrieved 26 October 2026): UN member states · UN Statistics Division M49 · UN: observer states · ASEAN: member states · Natural Earth

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