How Many Countries Are in Asia? (2026)
Asia has 46 countries, counting UN member states under the UN’s regional classification. It’s the second-highest continental count after Africa’s 54, and by far the messiest to define, because Asia’s western edge is less a border than a centuries-old argument with mountains in it.
| Country | Capital | Population |
|---|---|---|
 Afghanistan | Kabul | 43,800,000 |
 Armenia | Yerevan | 3,090,000 |
 Azerbaijan | Baku | 10,200,000 |
 Bahrain | Manama | 1,600,000 |
 Bangladesh | Dhaka | 175,700,000 |
 Bhutan | Thimphu | 797,000 |
 Brunei | Bandar Seri Begawan | 466,000 |
 Cambodia | Phnom Penh | 17,800,000 |
 China | Beijing | 1,406,600,000 |
 Georgia | Tbilisi | 3,940,000 |
 India | New Delhi | 1,463,900,000 |
 Indonesia | Jakarta | 285,700,000 |
 Iran | Tehran | 92,400,000 |
 Iraq | Baghdad | 47,000,000 |
 Israel | Jerusalem | 10,100,000 |
 Japan | Tokyo | 123,400,000 |
 Jordan | Amman | 11,500,000 |
 Kazakhstan | Astana | 20,800,000 |
 Kuwait | Kuwait City | 4,870,000 |
 Kyrgyzstan | Bishkek | 7,340,000 |
 Laos | Vientiane | 7,870,000 |
 Lebanon | Beirut | 5,850,000 |
 Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur | 36,000,000 |
 Maldives | Malé | 530,000 |
 Mongolia | Ulaanbaatar | 3,570,000 |
 Myanmar | Naypyidaw | 54,900,000 |
 Nepal | Kathmandu | 29,600,000 |
 North Korea | Pyongyang | 26,600,000 |
 Oman | Muscat | 5,490,000 |
 Pakistan | Islamabad | 255,200,000 |
 Philippines | Manila | 116,800,000 |
 Qatar | Doha | 2,970,000 |
 Saudi Arabia | Riyadh | 37,000,000 |
 Singapore | Singapore | 6,110,000 |
 South Korea | Seoul | 51,700,000 |
 Sri Lanka | Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo | 21,800,000 |
 Syria | Damascus | 25,600,000 |
 Tajikistan | Dushanbe | 10,800,000 |
 Thailand | Bangkok | 71,600,000 |
 Timor-Leste | Dili | 1,420,000 |
 Turkey | Ankara | 85,900,000 |
 Turkmenistan | Ashgabat | 7,620,000 |
 United Arab Emirates | Abu Dhabi | 11,500,000 |
 Uzbekistan | Tashkent | 37,100,000 |
 Vietnam | Hanoi | 101,600,000 |
 Yemen | Sana'a | 41,800,000 |
What the 46 covers
The full sweep: the Middle East (yes, it’s Asia, from the UN’s standpoint, filed under Western Asia), Central Asia’s five “-stans,” South Asia from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, East Asia, and Southeast Asia down through Indonesia and Timor-Leste. The range inside one continent is absurd in the best way: India and China anchor the population tables, while the Maldives spreads a few hundred thousand people across coral atolls. Asia holds both.
The famous boundary problems
No continent generates more “wait, which one is it in?” questions, so here’s the scorecard used by the UN and by this site’s quizzes:
Russia spans both continents, with the Ural Mountains as the traditional dividing line and most of its territory in Asia. The UN files Russia under Europe, and most references follow, because its population, capital, and history center on the European side. Quiz answer: Europe.
Turkey likewise straddles the Bosporus, with Istanbul split between two continents, the only major city in the world with that distinction. The UN files Turkey under Western Asia. Its small European corner, about 3% of its land, keeps the argument alive at trivia nights forever.
Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, the Caucasus trio, sit exactly on the seam. Culturally they lean European (two of them compete in European football and Eurovision); geographically the UN classifies all three as Western Asia, so they count toward 46 here.
Cyprus is the quiet one: an EU member the UN classifies as Asia, geographically closer to Syria than to Greece. It’s the answer to a great trivia question (“which EU country is in Asia?”) and a common miss in continent-sorting quizzes.
Kazakhstan has a sliver of land west of the Ural River, technically in Europe, and counts as Asian everywhere that matters.
Indonesia raises the eastern-edge version of the question: its half of New Guinea sits on the Australian continental shelf, geologically closer to Oceania. Indonesia still counts as Asia in every standard scheme.
And hovering outside every official count: Taiwan, functioning as a state without UN membership, which the how many countries are there page covers in full.
Testing it
Knowing the roster and placing it are different skills; the Asia map quiz covers all 46 including the Gulf slivers and the archipelagos, the Asia capitals quiz handles a continent where capitals keep moving, and the Asia flag quiz rounds out the set.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Middle East part of Asia?
Yes. The UN classifies the Middle East as Western Asia, so Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Israel, Yemen, and their neighbors all count toward Asia’s 46. “Middle East” is a cultural and political label, not a continent, however much headlines treat it as one.
Is Russia counted in Asia’s total?
No. Despite holding more Asian land than any country on Earth, Russia is classified under Europe by the UN, and this site follows that standard. Its Asian expanse, Siberia, is the reason Asia looks even bigger on the map than its country count suggests.
Which Asian countries do people forget?
The Maldives and Timor-Leste headline the forgotten list, followed by Bhutan and Brunei. Timor-Leste is doubly missable: young (independent since 2002) and tucked among Indonesian islands. All four appear in the countries of the world quiz, where they quietly end streaks.
Why do different sources give different Asia counts?
Boundary calls. Move the Caucasus trio to Europe, reassign Cyprus, count Taiwan, or shift Russia, and the total swings by several. The UN standard behind 46 is simply the most widely used ruling, which is why quizzes, including ours, anchor to it.