Too often defined by a few nations, Asia is in truth a vast composition of many countries, where every border reshapes what it means to belong.
Written By: Shreya Londhe
If you look up “Asian” on Google, Yahoo, or any search engine, the most common thing you’ll see is the demography and culture of China, Japan, South Korea, and even Singapore to a certain extent. These cultures have a beautiful, rich, and deep history. But is that all the perspective of Asia should be limited to? Isn’t Asia built up of more countries, geographies, and regions? Isn’t it, for a lack of better words, unfair to other cultures and countries falling under Asia to not be recognised when the word “Asian” is used?
Asia, as a continent, is built up of 51 independent countries, divided geographically into six regions. The common stereotype of “Asian” is centered only around the twelve countries of East Asia. The rest – North, Central, South, Southeast, and West Asia – rarely find equal representation in global perception.
All of these regions, while sharing a faint cultural thread, are diversified at a massive scale when viewed closely. To reduce a continent’s identity to a few East Asian nations is to overlook centuries of exchange, conflict, creativity, and coexistence that make Asia what it truly is: a living network of cultures rather than a single cultural block. Asia has never been one story, and the deeper you look, the more the idea of a singular “Asian identity” begins to dissolve.
East Asia includes China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. The region is fused by Confucian philosophy, dynastic legacies, and rapid modernization. China, Japan, and South Korea lead the world in innovation and design, while Mongolia preserves its nomadic identity and Taiwan stands as a resilient democracy. Hong Kong and Macau carry both Chinese and Western influences, reflecting the region’s constant dialogue between tradition and transformation.
North Asia is primarily represented by Russia, which stretches across Siberian wilderness and Arctic tundras. It is where the Asian and European worlds meet, both geographically and culturally, expanding how we understand the term “Asian.”
Central Asia, made up of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, once stood at the center of the Silk Road. Cities like Samarkand and Bukhara were crossroads of trade, philosophy, and architecture. The region still carries traces of Persian poetry, Islamic learning, and Soviet history, merging Turkic, Persian, and Russian elements into a distinct identity.
South Asia carries the heartbeat of diversity. The region includes India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Iran. Every few hundred kilometers, the rhythm changes: new cuisine, new dialect, new belief. Yet, a shared sense of spirituality, endurance, and community connects it all.
Southeast Asia stretches from Myanmar and Thailand to Indonesia and the Philippines, including Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Timor, Leste, and Vietnam. This region tells the story of movement, trade, and adaptation. Buddhist temples, Islamic traditions, and colonial-era structures stand side by side, while modern cities like Bangkok, Jakarta, and Singapore symbolize progress built on cultural coexistence.
West Asia, often called the Middle East, includes Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Oman, Yemen, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. It is the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and the foundation of ancient civilization itself. Its cities, from Baghdad to Jerusalem to Istanbul, have shaped art, literature, philosophy, and science for thousands of years.
With such beautiful diversity and variety in culture, I feel an attempt to define Asia is to admit it cannot be defined. Its identity is not singular but a living kaleidoscope of voices and legacies that together make it the most complex and compelling continent on Earth.