List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Asia
This is a list of sovereign states and dependent territories in Asia. It includes fully recognized states, states with limited, but substantial, international recognition, de facto' states with little or no international recognition, and dependencies of both Asian and non-Asian states. In particular, it lists 49 generally recognized sovereign states, two states with substantial, but not general, international recognition, four largely unrecognized de facto' states, and six dependent territories and other territories.
The 49 generally recognized sovereign states listed here include two countries that generally are classified as European or African nations but with portions of their territory being in Asia, while the two states with substantial, but not general, recognition are both fully encompassed in Asia. Though majority of the Russian Federation's land area is located within Asia, it is generally considered a European country because of its historical, cultural, ethnic and political ties to Europe, its capital and largest city Moscow is located within Europe, and the vast majority of its population lives within its European part. In addition, while Egypt extends into Asia through the Sinai Peninsula, it generally is considered an African country because most of its population and geographic area is in Africa.
Geographical boundaries of Asia
The divisions between Asia and Europe occur at the Ural Mountains, Ural River, and Caspian Sea in the east, the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea, Bosporus Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles and the Aegean Sea in the south. Azerbaijan, Georgia, Greece, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey all have territory in both Asia and Europe. Armenia and Cyprus are entirely in Western Asia but are socio-politically European countries and members of the Council of Europe, with Cyprus also being a member of the European Union.The division between Asia and Africa is usually considered to be the Suez Canal, placing the Sinai peninsula in Asia, and therefore Egypt, an African country, also may be included as a country in Asia.
The division between Asia and Australasia is disputed, and placed somewhere between Java and New Guinea. Indonesia spans both areas, but is considered to be Asian. East Timor is sometimes considered to be part of Australasia, but due to it being surrounded by Indonesia and its once being part of Indonesia, it is considered Asian. Papua New Guinea is occasionally considered Asian by virtue of neighboring Indonesia, but this is rare, and it is generally accepted to be part of Australasia. The division between Asia and North America is considered to be the Bering Strait. Some of the Aleutian Islands may be considered as Asian.
Sovereign states
A sovereign state is a political association with effective sovereignty over a population for whom it makes decisions in the national interest. According to the Montevideo convention, a state must have a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states. It is also important to note that these states were categorized accordingly independent of our endorsement or opposition to their statehood and is based solely on their de facto and de jure statusesUnited Nations member states
There are 49 Asian states or states with substantial territory in Asia in this list. All are members of the United Nations.| Flag | Map | English short and formal names | Domestic short and formal names | Capital | Population | Area |
| Afghanistan Islamic Republic of Afghanistan | Dari: جمهوری اسلامی افغانستان – افغانستان د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت – افغانستان | Kabul Dari: کابل کابل | ||||
| Armenia Republic of Armenia | Հայաստան – Հայաստանի Հանրապետությու | Yerevan Երևան | ||||
| Azerbaijan Republic of Azerbaijan | Azǝrbaycan – Azǝrbaycan Respublikası | Baku Bakı | ||||
| Bahrain Kingdom of Bahrain | مملكة البحرين – البحرين | Manama المنامة | ||||
| Bangladesh People's Republic of Bangladesh | বাংলাদেশ – গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ | Dhaka ঢাকা | ||||
| Bhutan Kingdom of Bhutan | འབྲུག་ཡུལ་ – འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་ཁབ་ | Thimphu ཐིམ་ཕུ | ||||
| Brunei Brunei Darussalam Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace | Brunei Darussalam Brunei – Negara Brunei Darussalam | Bandar Seri Begawan Bandar Seri Begawan Bandar Seri Begawan | ||||
| Cambodia Kingdom of Cambodia | កម្ពុជា – ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា | Phnom Penh ភ្នំពេញ | ||||
| China People's Republic of China | Beijing | |||||
| Cyprus Republic of Cyprus | Κύπρος – Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Kıbrıs – Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti | Nicosia Λευκωσία Lefkoşa | ||||
| Egypt Arab Republic of Egypt | Arabic: مصر – جمهورية مصر العربية | Cairo Arabic: القاهرة | ||||
| Georgia | საქართველო | Tbilisi / T'bilisi თბილისი | ||||
| India Republic of India | भारत – भारत गणराज्य | New Delhi नई दिल्ली | ||||
| Indonesia Republic of Indonesia | Indonesia – Republik Indonesia | Jakarta Jakarta | ||||
| Iran Islamic Republic of Iran | 2 | Tehran تهران | ||||
| Iraq Republic of Iraq | العراق – جمهورية العراق | Baghdad بغداد | ||||
| Israel State of Israel | יִשְרָאֵל – מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל إسرائيل – دَوْلَة إِسْرَائِيل | Jerusalem ירושלים | ||||
| Japan | 日本 – 日本国 | Tokyo 東京 | ||||
| Jordan Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan | اﻷرُدن – المملكة الأردنية الهاشميه | Amman عمان | ||||
| Kazakhstan Republic of Kazakhstan | Қазақстан – Қазақстан Республикасы Казахстан – Республика Казахстан | Nur-Sultan Нұр-Сұлтан Нур-Султан | ||||
| North Korea Democratic People's Republic of Korea | 조선 – 조선민주주의인민공화국 | Pyongyang 평양 | ||||
| South Korea Republic of Korea | 한국 – 대한민국 | Seoul 서울 | ||||
| Kuwait State of Kuwait | دولة الكويت – اﻟﻜﻮﻳت | Kuwait City الكويت | ||||
| Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyz Republic | Кыргызстан – Кыргыз Республикасы Кыргызстан – Кыргызская Республика | Bishkek Бишкек Бишкек | ||||
| Laos Lao People's Democratic Republic | ປະເທດລາວ – ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ | Vientiane ວຽງຈັນ | ||||
| Lebanon Lebanese Republic | لبنان – الجمهورية اللبنانية | Beirut بيروت | ||||
| Malaysia | Malaysian: Persekutuan Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur | ||||
| Maldives Republic of Maldives | ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ – ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ | Malé / Male' މާލެ | ||||
| Mongolia | Монгол – Монгол улс | Ulaanbaatar Улаанбаатар | ||||
| Myanmar Republic of the Union of Myanmar | မြန်မာ – ပြည်ထောင်စု သမ္မတ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် | Nay Pyi Taw နေပြည်တော် | ||||
| Nepal Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal | सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल | Kathmandu काठमाडौं | ||||
| Oman Sultanate of Oman | عُمان – سلطنة عُمان | Muscat مسقط | ||||
| Pakistan Islamic Republic of Pakistan | Pakistan – Islamic Republic of Pakistan 2 | Islamabad Islamabad اسلام آباد | ||||
| Philippines Republic of the Philippines | Philippines – Republic of the Philippines Pilipinas – Republika ng Pilipinas | Manila Manila Maynila | ||||
| Qatar State of Qatar | قطر – دولة قطر | Doha الدوحة | ||||
| Russia Russian Federation | Росси́я – Российская Федерация | Moscow Москва | ||||
| Saudi Arabia Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | السعودية – المملكة العربية السعودية | Riyadh الرياض | ||||
| Singapore Republic of Singapore | ' Singapore – Republic of Singapore Singapura – Republik Singapura சிங்கப்பூர் – சிங்கப்பூர் குடியரசு | Singapore ' Singapore Singapura சிங்கப்பூர் | ||||
| Sri Lanka Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka | ශ්රී ලංකාව – ශ්රී ලංකා ප්රජාතාන්ත්රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජය இலங்கை – இலங்கை ஜனநாயக சமத்துவ குடியரசு | Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte ශ්රී ජයවර්ධනපුර කෝට්ටේ ஶ்ரீ ஜெயவர்த்தனபுர கோட்டை | ||||
| Syria Syrian Arab Republic | سورية / سوريا – الجمهورية العربية السورية | Damascus دمشق | ||||
| Tajikistan Republic of Tajikistan | Тоҷикистон – Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон | Dushanbe Душанбе | ||||
| Thailand Kingdom of Thailand | ไทย – ราชอาณาจักรไทย | Bangkok กรุงเทพมหานคร | ||||
| Timor-Leste/East Timor Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste | Timor-Leste – República Democrática de Timor-Leste Tetum: Timor Lorosa'e – Repúblika Demokrátika Timor Lorosa'e | Dili Dili Tetum: Dili | ||||
| Turkey Republic of Turkey | Türkiye – Türkiye Cumhuriyeti | Ankara Ankara | ||||
| Turkmenistan | Türkmenistan | Ashgabat Aşgabat | ||||
| United Arab Emirates | اﻹﻣﺎرات – دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة | Abu Dhabi أبوظبي | ||||
| Uzbekistan Republic of Uzbekistan | O‘zbekiston – O‘zbekiston Respublikasi | Tashkent Toshkent | ||||
| Vietnam / Viet Nam Socialist Republic of Vietnam | Việt Nam – Cộng Hòa Xã Hội Chủ Nghĩa Việt Nam | Hanoi Hà Nội | ||||
| Yemen Republic of Yemen | اليمن – الجمهورية اليمنية | Sana'a صنعاء |
States with limited, but substantial, international recognition
In this list, Palestine is a state with substantial international recognition and UN observer-state status but without practical control over tangible territory, while Taiwan is a de facto state with full practical sovereignty over its territory and unofficial ties with most of the international community but not widely recognized de jure. Although a founding member of the United Nations as the Republic of China, since 1971 Taiwan is no longer recognized by the United Nations.| Flag | Map | English short and formal names | Status | Domestic short and formal names | Capital | Population | Area |
| Palestine State of Palestine | Recognized by. See International recognition of the State of Palestine. One of two United Nations non-member observer states | فلسطين | Ramallah رام الله Jerusalem القدس | ||||
| Taiwan Republic of China | Claimed as part of the People's Republic of China. Officially recognized as sovereign by and the Holy See, which deem it to be the rightful government of all of China. In addition, Taiwan maintains unofficial relations with most other countries and is de facto recognized by most sovereign states. See Political status of Taiwan for more information about the situation. | Traditional Chinese: 臺灣/台灣 – 中華民國 | Taipei Traditional Chinese: 臺北/台北 |
De facto states with little or no international recognition
The four de facto states on this list have little or no international recognition and are not members of the United Nations. All are defined as states by the declarative theory.| Flag | Map | English short and formal names | Status | Domestic short and formal names | Capital | Population | Area |
| Abkhazia Republic of Abkhazia | Claimed as an autonomous republic of Georgia. Recognised by five UN states. | Аҧсуа | Sukhumi / Sukhum Аҟəа | 250,000 | |||
| Artsakh Republic of Artsakh | Claimed as part of Azerbaijan. Recognised only by three non-UN states. | Լեռնային Ղարաբաղ – Լեռնային Ղարաբաղ Հանրապետություն | Stepanakert Ստեփանակերտ | 141,400 | |||
| Northern Cyprus Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus | Claimed as part of the Republic of Cyprus. Recognised only by Turkey. | Kuzey Kıbrıs – Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti | North Nicosia Lefkoşa | 285,356 | |||
| South Ossetia Republic of South Ossetia | Claimed as part of Georgia. Recognised by five UN states. | Хуссар Ирыстон – Республикӕ Хуссар Ирыстон Южная Осетия – Республика Южная Осетия | Tskhinvali Цхинвал or Чъреба | 70,000 |
Dependent territories and other territories
The four entities in this list are controlled by a state of which they are not considered to be a part.| Flag | Map | English short and formal names | Status | Domestic short and formal names | Capital | Population | Area |
| Akrotiri and Dhekelia The Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia | British overseas territory | Akrotiri and Dhekelia – Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia | Episkopi Cantonment Episkopi Cantonment | 15,700 | |||
| British Indian Ocean Territory | British overseas territory | British Indian Ocean Territory | Camp Justice | 4,000 | |||
| Christmas Island Territory of Christmas Island | Territory of Australia | Christmas Island – Territory of Christmas Island | Flying Fish Cove / The Settlement | 1,843 | |||
| Cocos Islands Territory of the Cocos Islands | Territory of Australia | Cocos Islands – Territory of the Cocos Islands | West Island / Bantam | 544 |
Special areas of internal sovereignty
The two entities are integral areas of their controlling state, but have a political status that was decided through an international agreement.| Flag | Map | English short and formal names | Status | Domestic short and formal names | Capital | Population | Area |
| Hong Kong Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China | Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China | Hong Kong – Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China | Hong Kong | 7,122,508 | |||
| Macau / Macao Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China | Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China | Macau – Região Administrativa Especial de Macau da República Popular da China | Macau / Macao | 573,003 |