East Asia

{{Main|History of East Asia}}

China was the first region settled in East Asia and was undoubtedly the core of East Asian civilization from where other parts of East Asia were formed. The various other regions in East Asia were selective in the Chinese influences they adopted into their local customs. Historian Ping-ti Ho referred to China as the cradle of Eastern civilization, in parallel with the cradle of Middle Eastern civilization along the Fertile Crescent encompassing Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt{{Cite book |last=Holcombe |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYKlDQAAQBAJ&q=east+asia+history&pg=PA12 |title=A History of East Asia |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-107-11873-7}} as well as the cradle of Western civilization encompassing Ancient Greece.

Chinese civilization emerged early, and prefigured other East Asian civilisations. Throughout history, imperial China would exert cultural, economic, technological, and political influence on its neighbours.{{Cite book |last=Ball |first=Desmond |title=The Transformation of Security in the Asia/Pacific Region |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-714-64661-9 |page=104}}{{Cite book |last1=Chua |first1=Amy |title=The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America |last2=Rubenfeld |first2=Jed |publisher=Penguin |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-594-20546-0 |page=121}} Succeeding Chinese dynasties exerted enormous influence across East Asia culturally, economically, politically and militarily for over two millennia.{{Cite book |last=Kang |first=David C. |title=East Asia Before the West: Five Centuries of Trade and Tribute |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-2-311-5319-5 |pages=33–34}}{{Cite book |last1=Goucher |first1=Candice |title=World History: Journeys from Past to Present |last2=Walton |first2=Linda |publisher=Routledge |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-415-67002-9 |page=232}}{{Cite book |last=Smolnikov |first=Sergey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3LJZDwAAQBAJ&q=pax+sinica+han+dynasty&pg=PA112 |title=Great Power Conduct and Credibility in World Politics |publisher=Springer |year=2018 |isbn=978-3-319-71885-9}} The tributary system of China shaped much of East Asia's history for over two millennia due to Imperial China's economic and cultural influence over the region, and thus played a huge role in the history of East Asia in particular.{{Cite book |last=Lone |first=Stewart |url=https://archive.org/details/dailylivescivili00lone |title=Daily Lives of Civilians in Wartime Asia: From the Taiping Rebellion to the Vietnam War |publisher=Greenwood |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-313-33684-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dailylivescivili00lone/page/n29 3] |url-access=limited}}{{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=Warren I. |author-link=Warren I. Cohen |title=East Asia at the Center: Four Thousand Years of Engagement with the World |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-231-10108-2 |location=New York}} Imperial China's cultural preeminence not only led the country to become East Asia's first literate nation in the entire region, it also supplied Japan and Korea with Chinese loanwords and linguistic influences rooted in their writing systems.{{Cite book |title=Chinese |last=Norman |first=Jerry |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-521-29653-3 |page=17}}

Under Emperor Wu of Han, the Han dynasty made China the regional powerhouse in East Asia, projecting much of its imperial influence onto its neighbours.{{sfn|Cohen|2000|page=60}} Han China hosted the largest unified population in East Asia, the most literate and urbanised as well as being the most economically developed, as well as the most technologically and culturally advanced civilization in the region at the time.{{Cite book |last=Chua |first=Amy |title=Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance—and Why They Fall |publisher=Anchor |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-400-07741-0 |page=62}}{{Cite book |last=Leibo |first=Steve |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781610488853/page/19 |title=East and Southeast Asia 2012 |publisher=Stryker-Post |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-610-48885-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781610488853/page/19 19]}} Cultural and religious interaction between the Chinese and other regional East Asian dynasties and kingdoms occurred. China's impact and influence on Korea began with the Han dynasty's northeastern expansion in 108 BC when the Han Chinese conquered the northern part of the Korean peninsula and established a province called Lelang. Chinese influences were transmitted and soon took root in Korea through the inclusion of the Chinese writing system, monetary system, rice culture, philosophical schools of thought, and Confucian political institutions.{{Cite book |last=Tsai |first=Henry |title=Maritime Taiwan: Historical Encounters with the East and the West |publisher=Routledge |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-765-62328-7 |page=3}} Jomon society in ancient Japan incorporated wet-rice cultivation and metallurgy through its contact with Korea. Starting in the fourth century AD, Japan adopted Chinese characters, which remain integral to the Japanese writing system. Utilizing the Chinese writing system allowed the Japanese to conduct their daily activities, maintain historical records and give form to various ideas, thoughts, and philosophies.

File:Mongols-map.png compared to today's Mongols]]During the Tang dynasty, China exerted its greatest influence on East Asia as various aspects of Chinese culture spread to Japan and Korea.{{Cite journal |last=Lockard |first=Craig |year=1999 |title=Tang Civilization and the Chinese Centuries |url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/ealac/moerman/fall2000/edit/pdfs/wk5/tangci.pdf |journal=Encarta Historical Essays |pages=2–3, 7}} The establishment of the medieval Tang dynasty rekindled the impetus of Chinese expansionism across the geopolitical confines of East Asia. Similar to its Han predecessor, Tang China reasserted itself as the center of East Asian geopolitical influence during the early medieval period which spearheaded and marked another golden age in Chinese history. During the Tang dynasty, China exerted its greatest influence on East Asia as various aspects of Chinese culture spread to Japan and Korea.{{harvnb|Lockard|1999|p=7}} In addition, Tang China also managed to maintain control over northern Vietnam and northern Korea.{{Cite book |last1=Injae |first1=Lee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=46OTBQAAQBAJ&q=goguryeo+tang+war&pg=PA29 |title=Korean History in Maps |last2=Miller |first2=Owen |last3=Jinhoon |first3=Park |last4=Hyun-Hae |first4=Yi |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-107-09846-6 |via=Google Books}}

As full-fledged medieval East Asian states were established, Korea by the fourth century AD and Japan by the seventh century AD, Japan and Korea actively began to incorporate Chinese influences such as Confucianism, the use of Chinese characters, architecture, state institutions, political philosophies, religion, urban planning, and various scientific and technological methods into their culture and society through direct contacts with Tang China and succeeding Chinese dynasties.{{Cite book |last=Fagan |first=Brian M. |title=The Oxford Companion to Archaeology |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-195-07618-9 |page=362}} Drawing inspiration from the Tang political system, Prince Naka no oe launched the Taika Reform in 645 AD where he radically transformed Japan's political bureaucracy into a more centralised bureaucratic empire.{{harvnb|Lockard|1999|p=8}} The Japanese also adopted Mahayana Buddhism, Chinese style architecture, and the imperial court's rituals and ceremonies, including the orchestral music and state dances had Tang influences. Written Chinese gained prestige and aspects of Tang culture such as poetry, calligraphy, and landscape painting became widespread. During the Nara period, Japan began to aggressively import Chinese culture and styles of government which included Confucian protocol that served as a foundation for Japanese culture as well as political and social philosophy.{{Cite book |last=Lockard |first=Craig A. |title=Societies Networks And Transitions: Volume B From 600 To 1750 |publisher=Wadsworth |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-439-08540-0 |pages=290–291}}{{Cite book |last1=Embree |first1=Ainslie |url=https://archive.org/details/asiainwesternwor00ains |title=Asia in Western and World History: A Guide for Teaching |last2=Gluck |first2=Carol |publisher=M. E. Sharpe |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-563-24265-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/asiainwesternwor00ains/page/352 352] |url-access=registration}} The Japanese also created laws adopted from the Chinese legal system that was used to govern in addition to the kimono, which was inspired from Chinese hanfu during the eighth century.

File:Carte Generale de l'Empire Chinois et du Japon.png and expansion of the empire|left]]

For many centuries, most notably from the 7th to the 14th centuries, China stood as East Asia's most advanced civilization and foremost military and economic power, exerting its influence as the transmission of advanced Chinese cultural practices and ways of thinking greatly shaped the region up until the nineteenth century.{{Cite magazine |last=Lind |first=Jennifer |date=February 13, 2018 |title=Life in China's Asia: What Regional Hegemony Would Look Like |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2018-02-13/life-chinas-asia |magazine=Foreign Affairs |volume=97 |issue=March/April 2018}}{{harvnb|Lockard|1999}}{{Cite book |last=Ellington |first=Lucien |title=Japan |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-598-84163-3 |series=Nations in Focus |page=21}} From third century through the eighteenth century, diplomatic and trade relations between China and other East Asian countries and the steppe kingdoms was governed through a tributary system.{{Rp|pages=13-14}} Under this system, the Chinese emperor received tribute from other rulers and in return received political benefits (like recognition or non-aggression agreements) or physical gifts, like porcelain and silks.{{Rp|page=14}} Through this system, the Chinese emperor conferred legitimacy on other rulers.{{Rp|page=14}}

As East Asia's connections with Europe and the Western world strengthened during the late nineteenth century, China's power began to decline.{{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=John M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3QZXvUhGwhAC |title=A Short History of the World |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1997 |isbn=0-195-11504-X |page=272}} By the mid-nineteenth century, the weakening Qing dynasty became fraught with political corruption, obstacles and stagnation that was incapable of rejuvenating itself as a world power in contrast to the industrializing Imperial European colonial powers and a rapidly modernizing Japan.{{Cite book |last=Hayes |first=Louis D. |title=Political Systems of East Asia: China, Korea, and Japan |publisher=Greenlight |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-765-61786-6 |page=xi}}{{harvnb|Hayes|2009|p=15}} The United States Commodore Matthew C. Perry would open Japan to Western influence, and the country would expand in earnest after the 1860s.{{Cite book |last1=Tindall |first1=George Brown |title=America: A Narrative History |last2=Shi |first2=David E. |publisher=W. W. Norton |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-393-934083 |page=926}}{{Cite book |last1=April |first1=K. |url=https://archive.org/details/diversitynewreal00apri |title=Diversity: New Realities in a Changing World |last2=Shockley |first2=M. |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-230-00133-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/diversitynewreal00apri/page/n187 163] |url-access=limited}}{{harvnb|Cohen|2000|p=3}} Around the same time, the Meiji Restoration in Japan sparked rapid societal transformation from an isolated feudal state into East Asia's first industrialised nation.{{Cite AV media |title=Japan's War in Colour |date=2005-01-17 |last=Batty |first=David |type=documentary |publisher=TWI}} The modern and militarily powerful Japan would galvanise its position in the Orient as East Asia's greatest power with a global mission poised to advance to lead the entire world.{{Cite book |title=Diversity: New Realities in a Changing World |last1= Goldman |first1= Merie |last2=Gordon |first2=Andrew |publisher=Harvard University Press |year= 2000 |isbn=978-0-674-00097-1 |page=3}} By the early 1900s, the Empire of Japan succeeded in asserting itself as East Asia's most dominant geopolitical force.

File:East Asia and Oceania 1914-en.svg and spheres of influence in East Asia and Oceania, circa 1914]]

With its newly found international status, Japan would begin to challenge the European colonial powers and inextricably took on a more active role within the East Asian geopolitical order and world affairs at large.{{sfn|Cohen|2000|p=273}} Flexing its nascent political and military might, Japan soundly defeated the stagnant Qing dynasty during the First Sino-Japanese War as well as defeating Russia in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905; the first major military victory in the modern era of an East Asian power over a European one.{{Cite book |last1=Hua |first1=Shiping |title=East Asian Development Model: Twenty-first century perspectives |last2=Hu |first2=Amelia |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-415-73727-2 |pages=78–79}}{{Cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Yong Wook |title=China's Rise and Regional Integration in East Asia: Hegemony or community? |last2=Key |first2=Young Son |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-313-35082-5 |page=45}}{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/546176/Sino-Japanese-War|title=Sino-Japanese War (1894–95)|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=12 November 2012}}

During World War I, European military presence in East Asia decreased.{{Cite book |last=Hirata |first=Koji |title=Making Mao's Steelworks: Industrial Manchuria and the Transnational Origins of Chinese Socialism |date=2024 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-009-38227-4 |series=Cambridge Studies in the History of the People's Republic of China series |location=New York, NY}}{{Rp|page=34}} Japan viewed this as an opportunity to increase its power in China and shortly after the war began, occupied Germany's concessions in Shandong.{{Rp|page=34}} In December 1914, Japan made its Twenty-One Demands to China.{{Rp|page=34}} The Republic of China under Yuan Shikai conceded to most of the demands in 1915, and subsequent treaties and agreements further increased Japan's semi-colonial power in China.{{Rp|page=34}}

Japan hegemony was the heart of an empire that would include Taiwan and Korea. During World War II, Japanese expansionism with its imperialist aspirations through the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere would incorporate Korea, Taiwan, much of eastern China and Manchuria, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia under its control establishing itself as a maritime colonial power in East Asia.{{harvnb|Tindall|Shi|2009|p=1147}}

{{See also|Pacific Century}}

After a century of exploitation by the European and Japanese colonialists, post-colonial East Asia saw the defeat and occupation of Japan by the victorious Allies. The end of World War II did not result in east Asian countries obtaining independence or national unification.{{Cite book |last=Li |first=Xiaobing |title=The Cold War in East Asia |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-138-65179-1 |location=Abingdon, Oxon}}{{Rp|page=4}} Independence and national unification were primary concerns for the first generation of east Asian post-World War II leaders.{{Rp|page=4}}

The Chinese Civil War resumed after the defeat of the Japanese, with the Communists defeating the Nationalist Republic of China government. The government of the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan and the People's Republic of China was proclaimed on 1 October 1949.

Post-war, the Korean peninsula was partitioned, leading to the development of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). The Korean War (1950–1953) increased regional and international tensions.{{Cite book |last=Liff |first=Adam P. |title=The Taiwan Question in Xi Jinping's Era: Beijing's Evolving Taiwan Policy and Taiwan's Internal and External Dynamics |last2=Lee |first2=Chaewon |publisher=Routledge |year=2024 |isbn=9781032861661 |editor-last=Zhao |editor-first=Suisheng |editor-link=Suisheng Zhao |location=London and New York |pages= |chapter=Korea-Taiwan "Unofficial" Relations after 30 Years (1992-2022): Reassessing Seoul's "One China" Policy |doi=}}{{Rp|page=163}} The northeast part of East Asia hardened along communist and anti-communist lines.{{Rp|page=163}} South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States have increased their ties.{{Rp|page=163}}

During the latter half of the twentieth century, the region would see the post war economic miracle of Japan, which ushered in three decades of unprecedented growth, only to experience an economic slowdown during the 1990s, but nonetheless Japan continues to remain a global economic power. East Asia would also see the economic rise of Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan, in addition to the respective handovers of Hong Kong and Macau near the end of the twentieth century.

The onset of the 21st-century in East Asia led to the integration of Mainland China into the global economy through its entry in the World Trade Organization while also enhancing its emerging international status as a potential world power reinforced with its aim of restoring its historical established significance and enduring international prominence in the world economy.{{Cite book |last1=Northrup |first1=Cynthia Clark |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwo0000unse_d8h7/page/297 |title=Encyclopedia of World Trade: From Ancient Times to the Present |last2=Bentley |first2=Jerry H. |last3=Eckes |first3=Alfred E. Jr. |publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-765-68058-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwo0000unse_d8h7/page/297 297]}}{{Cite book |last=Paul |first=Erik |title=Neoliberal Australia and US Imperialism in East Asia |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-137-27277-5 |page=114}}{{Cite book |last=Maddison |first=Angus |author-link=Angus Maddison |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-JGGp2suQUC&q=angus+maddison |title=Contours of the World Economy 1–2030 AD: Essays in Macro-Economic History |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-191-64758-1 |page=379}}{{Cite web |last1=Dahlman |first1=Carl J |last2=Aubert |first2=Jean-Eric |title=China and the Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st Century. WBI Development Studies |url=http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED460052&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED460052 |access-date=26 July 2014 |publisher=Institute of Education Sciences}}{{Cite web |title=Angus Maddison. Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run. Development Centre Studies. |url=http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/Maddison98.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/Maddison98.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |access-date=15 September 2017 |page=29}}[http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED460052&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED460052 Dahlman, Carl J; Aubert, Jean-Eric. China and the Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st Century]. WBI Development Studies. World Bank publications. Accessed January 30, 2008.Angus Maddison. [http://browse.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/pdfs/product/4107091e.pdf Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015212817/http://browse.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/pdfs/product/4107091e.pdf |date=2014-10-15 }}. Development Centre Studies. Accessed 2007. p.29 See the "Table 1.3. Levels of Chinese and European GDP Per Capita, 1–1700 AD" in page 29, Chinese GDP Per Capita was 450 and European GDP Per Capital was 422 in 960AD. Chinese GDP Per Capita was 600 while European was 576. During this time, Chinese per capita income rose by about a third.

As of at least 2022, the region is more peaceful, integrated, wealthy, and stable than at any time in the previous 150 years.{{Cite book |last=Ma |first=Xinru |title=Beyond Power Transitions: The Lessons of East Asian History and the Future of U.S.-China Relations |last2=Kang |first2=David C. |date=2024 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-55597-5 |series=Columbia Studies in International Order and Politics |location=New York}}{{Rp|page=183}}

File:Central Asia borders4.png region that overlap with conceptions of East Asia]]

In common usage, the term "East Asia" typically refers to a region including Greater China, Japan, Korea and Mongolia.{{Cite web |date=September 10, 2016 |title=Introducing East Asian Peoples |url=https://www.imb.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Introducing_EAP_Booklet_09_2016_10.pdf |website=International Mission Board}}Gilbet Rozman (2004), Northeast Asia's stunted regionalism: bilateral distrust in the shadow of globalization. Cambridge University Press, pp. 3–4"[https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/09/us-technology-patents-idUSTRE7184CN20110209 Northeast Asia dominates patent filing growth]." Retrieved on August 8, 2001."[http://www.iie.com/publications/papers/schott1001-1.pdf Paper: Economic Integration in Northeast Asia]."{{dead link|date=August 2024}} Retrieved on August 8, 2011.{{sfn|Hua|Hu|2014|p=3}}{{Cite book |last1=Ness |first1=Immanuel |title=The Global Prehistory of Human Migration |last2=Bellwood |first2=Peter |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-118-97059-1 |page=217}}{{harvnb|Kort|2005|pages=7–9}}

China, Japan, and Korea represent the three core countries and civilizations of traditional East Asia, as they once had a shared written language, a shared culture, and a shared Confucian societal value system (involving shared Confucian philosophical tenets) once instituted by Imperial China.{{Cite book |title = East Asia in the World: An Introduction |last=Prescott |first= Anne |publisher=Routledge |year=2015 |isbn=978-0765643223 |pages =3 }}{{Cite book |last=Ikeo |first=Aiko |title=Economic Development in Twentieth-Century East Asia: The International Context |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-415-14900-6 |page=1}}{{Cite book |last=Yoshimatsu |first=H. |title=Comparing Institution-Building in East Asia: Power Politics, Governance, and Critical Junctures |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-137-37054-9 |page=1}}{{Cite book |last=Kim |first=Mikyoung |title=Routledge Handbook of Memory and Reconciliation in East Asia |publisher=Routledge |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-415-83513-8}}{{Cite book |last1=Hazen |first1=Dan |title=Building Area Studies Collections |last2=Spohrer |first2=James H. |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz |year=2005 |isbn=978-3-447-05512-3 |page=130}} Other usages define China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, North Korea, South Korea and Taiwan as countries that constitute East Asia based on their geographic proximity as well as historical and modern cultural and economic ties, particularly with Japan and Korea in having retained strong cultural influences that originated from China.{{Cite book |last1=Grabowski |first1=Richard |title=Economic Development: A Regional, Institutional, and Historical Approach |last2=Self |first2=Sharmistha |last3=Shields |first3=William |publisher=Routledge |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-765-63353-8 |edition=2nd |publication-date=September 25, 2012 |page=59}}{{Cite book |last=Currie |first=Lorenzo |title=Through the Eyes of the Pack |publisher=Xlibris Corp |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-493-14517-1 |page=163}}{{Cite book |last=Asato |first=Noriko |title=Handbook for Asian Studies Specialists: A Guide to Research Materials and Collection Building Tools |publisher=Libraries Unlimited |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-598-84842-7 |page=1}} Some scholars include Vietnam as part of East Asia as it has been considered part of the greater Chinese cultural sphere. Though Confucianism continues to play an important role in Vietnamese culture, Chinese characters are no longer used in its written language and many scholarly organizations classify Vietnam as a Southeast Asian country.{{harvnb|Prescott|2015|p=6}}{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=David Y. |title=Modern East Asia: An Introductory History |publisher=Routledge |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-765-61822-1 |page=xi}}{{Cite web|url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/main_pop/kpct/ct_china.htm|title=Central Themes for a Unit on China r Educators |publisher=Columbia University|website=afe.easia.columbia.edu|access-date=2018-12-01}} "Within the Pacific region, China is potentially a major economic and political force. Its relations with Japan, Korea, and its Southeast Asian neighbours, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, will be determined by how they perceive this power will be used." Mongolia is geographically north of Mainland China yet Confucianism and the Chinese writing system and culture had limited impact on Mongolian society. Thus, Mongolia is sometimes grouped with Central Asian countries such as Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. Xinjiang and Tibet are sometimes seen as part of Central Asia (see also Greater Central Asia).{{Cite book |last=Cummings |first=Sally N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SRafuiRUJaMC&q=humboldt+central+asia+definition&pg=PT28 |title=Understanding Central Asia: Politics and Contested Transformations |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-134-43319-3}}{{cite book |last1=Saez |first1=Lawrence |title=The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC): An emerging collaboration architecture |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-67108-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yTzKWI42uR4C&q=humboldt+central+asia+Afghanistan&pg=PA35}}{{Cite book |last=Cornell |first=Svante E. |url=http://silkroadstudies.org/resources/1811CA-Regional.pdf |title=Modernization and Regional Cooperation in Central Asia: A New Spring? |publisher=Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and the Silk Road Studies}}

Broader and looser definitions by international agencies and organisations such as the World Bank refer to East Asia as the "three major Northeast Asian economies, i.e. mainland China, Japan, and South Korea", as well as Mongolia, North Korea, the Russian Far East, and Siberia.{{Cite web |last1=Aminian |first1=Nathalie |last2=Fung |first2=K. C. |last3=Ng |first3=Francis |title=Integration of Markets vs. Integration by Agreements |url=http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2008/03/04/000158349_20080304084358/Rendered/PDF/wps4546.pdf |website=Policy Research Working Paper |publisher=World Bank |number=4546}} The Council on Foreign Relations includes the Russia Far East, Mongolia, and Nepal.{{cite web|url=http://www.cfr.org/region/478/northeast_asia.html|title=Northeast Asia|publisher=Council on Foreign Relations|access-date=August 10, 2009}} The World Bank also acknowledges the roles of Chinese special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau, as well as Taiwan, a country with limited recognition. The Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia defines the region as "China, Japan, the Koreas, Nepal, Mongolia, and eastern regions of the Russian Federation".{{Cite book |last=Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia |title=Japan and Russia in Northeast Asia: Partners in the 21st Century |publisher=Greenwood |year=1999 |page=248}}

File:Map of East Asia.png

File:UN Asia Geoscheme.png (UNSD) geoscheme for Asia works with subregions defined in terms of UN political geography statistics.{{Cite web |title=UNSD — Methodology |website= unstats.un.org |url= https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/ |access-date= 2023-12-10}} The UNSD geoscheme is based on statistic convenience rather than implying any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories:{{Cite web |date=2015-05-06 |title=United Nations Statistics Division – Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications (M49) |url=http://millenniumindicators.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm |access-date=2010-07-24 |publisher=United Nations Statistics Division}}

{{legend|#0000E0|North Asia}}

{{legend|#E000E0|Central Asia}}

{{legend|#00E000|Western Asia}}

{{legend|#E00000|South Asia}}

{{legend|#FFFF20|East Asia}}

{{legend|#FFC000|Southeast Asia}}]]

The UNSD definition of East Asia is based on statistical convenience, but others commonly use the same definition of Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.{{cite web |url = http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861672714/East_Asia.html |title = East Asia |access-date = 2008-01-12 |work = Encarta |publisher = Microsoft |quote = the countries and regions of Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Mongolia, South Korea, North Korea and Japan. |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091109184354/http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861672714/East_Asia.html |archive-date=2009-11-09 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |date=11 February 2013 |title=Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm |access-date=28 May 2013 |publisher=United Nations Statistics Division}}

Certain Japanese islands are associated with Oceania due to non-continental geology, distance from mainland Asia or biogeographical similarities with Micronesia.{{Cite book |last=Todd |first=Ian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gcEJAQAAIAAJ&q=%22French+language+cultures%22+1974+pacific |title=Island Realm: A Pacific Panorama |publisher=Angus & Robertson |year=1974 |isbn=978-0-207-127618- |page=190}}{{cite web |last1=Udvardy |first1=Miklos D. F. |title=A Classification of the Biogeographical Provinces of the World |url=https://fnad.org/Documentos/A%20Classification%20of%20the%20Biogeographical%20Provinces%20of%20the%20World%20Miklos%20D.F.%20Udvardy.pdf |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=7 March 2022 |archive-date=18 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218131430/http://www.fnad.org/Documentos/A%20Classification%20of%20the%20Biogeographical%20Provinces%20of%20the%20World%20Miklos%20D.F.%20Udvardy.pdf |url-status=dead }} Some groups, such as the World Health Organization, categorize China, Japan and Korea with Australia and the rest of Oceania. The World Health Organization label this region the "Western Pacific", with East Asia not being used in their concept of major world regions. Their definition of this region further includes Mongolia and the adjacent area of Cambodia, as well as the countries of the South East Asia Archipelago (excluding East Timor and Indonesia).{{cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Countries-and-areas-in-WHOs-Western-Pacific-Region_fig1_256404088 |title=IMAGE: Countries and areas in WHO's Western Pacific Region |via=ResearchGate}}

{{See also|Pacific Asia}}

In the context of business and economics, "East Asia" is sometimes used to refer to the geographical area covering ten Southeast Asian countries in ASEAN, Greater China, Japan, and Korea. However, in this context, the term "Far East" is used by the Europeans to cover ASEAN countries and the countries in East Asia. On rare occasions, the term is also sometimes taken to include India and other South Asian countries that are not situated within the bounds of the Asia-Pacific, although the term Indo-Pacific is more commonly used for such a definition.{{Cite web |date=15 September 2021 |title=Forget Asia-Pacific, it's Indo-Pacific now. Where is that? |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/forget-asia-pacific-it-s-the-indo-pacific-we-live-in-now-where-is-that-exactly-20210810-p58hku.html}}

Observers preferring a broader definition of "East Asia" often use the term Northeast Asia to refer to China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan, with the region of Southeast Asia covering the ten ASEAN countries. This usage, which is seen in economic and diplomatic discussions, is at odds with the historical meanings of both "East Asia" and "Northeast Asia".{{cite book|first=Christopher M. |last=Dent|year=2008|title=East Asian regionalism|url=https://archive.org/details/eastasianregiona00dent|url-access=limited|publisher=Routledge|pages=[https://archive.org/details/eastasianregiona00dent/page/n22 1]–8}}{{Cite book |last1=Harvie |first1=Charles |title=New East Asian regionalism |last2=Fukunari |first2=Kimura |last3=Lee |first3=Hyun-Hoon |publisher=Edward Elgar |year=2005 |pages=3–6}}{{Cite book |last1=Katzenstein |first1=Peter J. |title=Beyond Japan: the dynamics of East Asian regionalism |last2=Takashi |first2=Shiraishi |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2006 |location=Ithaca |pages=1–33}} The Council on Foreign Relations of the United States defines Northeast Asia as Japan and Korea.

File:East Asia map of Köppen climate classification.svg.]]

East Asia is home to many climatic zones. It also has unique weather patterns such as the East Asian rainy season and the East Asian Monsoon.{{Cite journal |last=An |first=Z |date=April 2000 |title=Asynchronous Holocene optimum of the East Asian monsoon |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=19 |issue=8 |pages=743–762 |bibcode=2000QSRv...19..743A |doi=10.1016/S0277-3791(99)00031-1}}

{{Main|Climate change in Asia}}

File:Kang 2018 NCP irrigation RCPs.png over at the North China Plain, which is particularly vulnerable as widespread irrigation results in very moist air. There is a risk that agricultural labourers will be physically unable to work outdoors on hot summer days at the end of the century, particularly under the scenario of greatest emissions and warming.{{Cite journal |last1=Kang |first1=Suchul |last2=Eltahir |first2=Elfatih A. B. |date=31 July 2018 |title=North China Plain threatened by deadly heatwaves due to climate change and irrigation |journal=Nature Communications |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=3528 |doi=10.1038/s41467-023-38906-7 |doi-access=free |pmid=37402712 |pmc=10319847 |bibcode=2023NatCo..14.3528K }}]]

Like the rest of the world, East Asia has been getting warmer due to climate change, and there had been a measurable increase in the frequency and severity of heatwaves.{{rp|1464}} The region is also expected to see the intensification of its monsoon, leading to more flooding.Shaw, R., Y. Luo, T. S. Cheong, S. Abdul Halim, S. Chaturvedi, M. Hashizume, G. E. Insarov, Y. Ishikawa, M. Jafari, A. Kitoh, J. Pulhin, C. Singh, K. Vasant, and Z. Zhang, 2022: [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Chapter10.pdf Chapter 10: Asia]. In [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/ Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability] [H.-O. Pörtner, D. C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E. S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, New York, US, pp. 1457–1579 |doi=10.1017/9781009325844.012.{{rp|1459}} China has notably embarked on the sponge cities program, where cities are designed to increase the area of urban green spaces and permeable pavings in order to help deal with flash floods caused by greater precipitation extremes.{{rp|1504}} Under high-warming scenarios, "critical health thresholds" for heat stress during the 21st century will be at times breached,{{rp|1465}} in areas like the North China Plain.

China, Japan and the Republic of Korea are expected to see some of the largest economic losses caused by sea level rise. The city of Guangzhou is projected to experience the single largest annual economic losses from sea level rise in the world, potentially reaching US$254 million by 2050. Under the highest climate change scenario and in the absence of adaptation, cumulative economic losses caused by sea level rise in Guangzhou would exceed US$1 trillion by 2100. Shanghai is also expected to experience annual losses of around 1% of the local GDP in the absence of adaptation. The Yangtze River basin is a sensitive and biodiverse ecosystem, yet around 20% of its species may be lost throughout the century under {{convert|2|C-change|F-change}} and ~43% under {{convert|4.5|C-change|F-change}}.{{rp|1476}}

{{Main|Economy of East Asia}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"

!class="unsortable" | Customs territory

! data-sort-type="number" | GDP nominal
billions of USD (2024){{cite web |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2024/April/weo-report?c=111,&s=NGDPD,PPPGDP,NGDPDPC,PPPPC,&sy=2022&ey=2027&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 |title=Report for Selected Countries and Subjects: April 2024|publisher=International Monetary Fund|website=imf.org}}

! data-sort-type="number" | GDP nominal per capita
USD (2024)

! data-sort-type="number" | GDP PPP
billions of USD (2024)

! data-sort-type="number" | GDP PPP per capita
USD (2024)

|-

| {{PRC}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 18,532,633

| style="text-align:right;" | 13,136

| style="text-align:right;" | 35,291,015

| style="text-align:right;" | 25,015

|-

| {{HKG}}{{efn|Listed as "Hong Kong SAR" by IMF}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 406,775

| style="text-align:right;" | 53,606

| style="text-align:right;" | 570,082

| style="text-align:right;" | 75,128

|-

| {{MAC}}{{efn|Listed as "Macao SAR" by IMF}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 54,677

| style="text-align:right;" | 78,962

| style="text-align:right;" | 92,885

| style="text-align:right;" | 125,510

|-

| {{JPN}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 4,110,452

| style="text-align:right;" | 33,138

| style="text-align:right;" | 6,720,962

| style="text-align:right;" | 54,184

|-

| {{MNG}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 21,943

| style="text-align:right;" | 6,182

| style="text-align:right;" | 58,580

| style="text-align:right;" | 16,504

|-

| {{PRK}}

| style="text-align:right;" | N/A

| style="text-align:right;" | N/A

| style="text-align:right;" | N/A

| style="text-align:right;" | N/A

|-

| {{KOR}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 1,760,947

| style="text-align:right;" | 34,165

| style="text-align:right;" | 3,057,995

| style="text-align:right;" | 59,330

|-

| {{TWN}}{{efn|Listed as "Taiwan, Province of China" by IMF}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 802,958

| style="text-align:right;" | 34,432

| style="text-align:right;" | 1,792,349

| style="text-align:right;" | 76,858

|-

! East Asia

! $25,690,385

! $15,612

! $47,583,868

! $28,916

|}

China, North Korea, South Korea and Taiwan are all unrecognised by at least one other East Asian state because of severe ongoing political tensions in the region, specifically the division of Korea and the political status of Taiwan.

{| class=wikitable

! rowspan=2 | Flag !! colspan=2 | Common Name !! colspan=2 | Official name !! colspan=4 | ISO 3166 Country Codes{{cite web |url = https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html |title=Country codes |website=iso.org}}

|-

! Exonym !! Endonym !! Exonym !! Endonym !! ISO Short Name !! Alpha-2 Code !! Alpha-3 Code !! Numeric

|-

| {{flagdeco|CHN}} || China || align=center | {{lang|zh-cn|中国}} || People's Republic of China || {{lang|zh-cn|中华人民共和国}} || China || CN || CHN || 156

|-

| {{flagdeco|HKG}} || Hong Kong || align=center | {{lang|zh|香港}} || Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
of the People's Republic of China || {{lang|zh-hk|中華人民共和國香港特別行政區}} || Hong Kong || HK || HKG || 344

|-

| {{flagdeco|MAC}} || Macau || align=center | {{lang|zh-hk|澳門}} || Macao Special Administrative Region
of the People's Republic of China || {{lang|zh-hk|中華人民共和國澳門特別行政區}} || Macao || MO || MAC || 446

|-

| {{flagdeco|JPN}} || Japan || align=center | {{lang|ja|日本}} || Japan || {{lang|ja|日本国}} || Japan || JP || JPN || 392

|-

| {{flagdeco|MNG}} || Mongolia || align=center | {{lang|mn|Монгол улс / {{MongolUnicode|ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ
ᠤᠯᠤᠰ}}}} || Mongolia || {{lang|mn|Монгол Улс}} ({{MongolUnicode|ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ
ᠤᠯᠤᠰ}})|| Mongolia || MN || MNG || 496

|-

| {{flagdeco|PRK}} || North Korea || align=center | {{lang|ko|조선}} || Democratic People's Republic of Korea || {{lang|ko|조선민주주의인민공화국}} || Korea (the Democratic People's Republic of) || KP || PRK || 408

|-

| {{flagdeco|KOR}} || South Korea || align=center | {{lang|ko|한국}} || Republic of Korea || {{lang|ko|대한민국}} || Korea (the Republic of) || KR || KOR || 410

|-

| {{flagdeco|TWN}} || Taiwan || align=center | {{lang|zh-tw|臺灣 / 台灣}} || Republic of China || {{lang|zh-tw|中華民國}} || Taiwan (Province of China)|| TW || TWN || 158

|}

File:Eastern Asia population pyramid 2023.svg

File:China ethnolinguistic 1967.jpg

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! class="unsortable" | State/Territory

! Area km²

! Population in

thousands (2023){{UN_Population|ref}}

!% of East Asia

!% of World

! Population density
per km²

! HDI{{cite web|url=http://www.hdr.undp.org/en/2018-update|title= Human Development Reports|website=www.hdr.undp.org|date=January 2018 |language=en|access-date=2018-10-14}}

! class="unsortable" | Capital/Administrative Centre

|-

| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|PRC|name=China}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 9,640,011{{efn|Includes all area which under PRC's government control {{citation needed span|(excluding "South Tibet" and disputed islands).|date=November 2021}}}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 1,425,671{{efn|name=un-twn|A note by the United Nations: "For statistical purposes, the data for China do not include Hong Kong and Macao, Special Administrative Regions (SAR) of China, and Taiwan Province of China."{{UN_Population|ref}}

}}

|85.76%

|17.72%

| style="text-align:right;" | 138

| style="text-align:right;" | 0.788

| style="text-align:left;" | Beijing

|-

| style="text-align:left;" | {{HKG}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 1,104

| style="text-align:right;" | 7,492

|0.45%

|0.093%

| style="text-align:right;" | 6,390

| style="text-align:right;" | 0.956

| style="text-align:left;" | Hong Kong

|-

| style="text-align:left;" | {{MAC}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 30

| style="text-align:right;" | 704

|0.042%

|0.0087%

| style="text-align:right;" | 18,662

| style="text-align:right;" | 0.925

| style="text-align:left;" | Macao

|-

| style="text-align:left;" | {{JPN}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 377,930

| style="text-align:right;" | 123,295

|7.42%

|1.53%

| style="text-align:right;" | 337

| style="text-align:right;" | 0.920

| style="text-align:left;" | Tokyo

|-

| style="text-align:left;" | {{MNG}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 1,564,100

| style="text-align:right;" | 3,447

|0.2%

|0.042%

| style="text-align:right;" | 2

| style="text-align:right;" | 0.741

| style="text-align:left;" | Ulaanbaatar

|-

| style="text-align:left;" | {{PRK}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 120,538

| style="text-align:right;" | 26,161

|1.57%

|0.33%

| style="text-align:right;" | 198

| style="text-align:right;" | 0.733{{Citation needed|reason=Please cite the relevant source to the data acquired.|date=February 2023}}

| style="text-align:left;" | Pyongyang

|-

| style="text-align:left;" | {{KOR}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 100,210

| style="text-align:right;" | 51,784

|3.11%

|0.64%

| style="text-align:right;" | 500

| style="text-align:right;" | 0.929

| style="text-align:left;" | Seoul

|-

| style="text-align:left;" | {{TWN}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 36,197

| style="text-align:right;" | 23,923

|1.44%

|0.297%

| style="text-align:right;" | 639

| style="text-align:right;" | 0.926

| style="text-align:left;" | Taipei

|-

!East Asia

!11,840,000

!1,662,477

!100%

!20.66%

!141

!

|}

{{Also see|East Asian religions}}{{Pie chart

| thumb = right

| caption = Religion in East Asia (est. 2020){{Cite web|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projection-table/2020/percent/all/|title=Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050|website=Pew|date=2 April 2015|access-date=2020-10-18|archive-date=2019-12-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221014350/https://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projection-table/2020/percent/all/|url-status=dead}}

| label1 = Chinese Folk Religion

| value1 = 52.10

| color1 = Gold

| label2 = Buddhism

| value2 = 19.65

| color2 = Red

| label3 = No Religion

| value3 = 19.62

| color3 = Grey

| label4 = Christianity

| value4 = 5.56

| color4 = DodgerBlue

| label5 = Islam

| value5 = 1.57

| color5 = Green

| label7 = Other

| value7 = 1.44

| color7 = Chartreuse

}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! class="unsortable" | Religion

! class="unsortable" | Native name

!Creator/Current Leader

!Founded Time

! class="unsortable" | Main Denomination

! class="unsortable" | Major book

! class="unsortable" | Type

! Est. Followers

! class="unsortable" | Ethnic groups

! class="unsortable" | States/territories

|-

| Chinese folk religion

| {{lang|zh-hant|中國民間信仰}} or {{lang|zh-hant|中国民间信仰}}

|Spontaneous formation

|Prehistoric period

|Salvationist, Wuism, Nuo

| Chinese classics, Huangdi Sijing, precious scrolls, etc.

| Prehistoric, pantheism, and polytheism

| style="text-align:right;" | ~900,000,000{{cite journal |last=Wenzel-Teuber |first=Katharina |year=2012 |title=People's Republic of China: Religions and Churches Statistical Overview 2011 |journal=Religions & Christianity in Today's China |volume=II |number=3 |pages=29–54 |url=http://www.china-zentrum.de/fileadmin/downloads/rctc/2012-3/RCTC_2012-3.29-54_Wenzel-Teuber_Statistical_Overview_2011.pdf |issn=2192-9289 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427151725/http://www.china-zentrum.de/fileadmin/downloads/rctc/2012-3/RCTC_2012-3.29-54_Wenzel-Teuber_Statistical_Overview_2011.pdf |archive-date=27 April 2017}}{{cite journal |last=Wenzel-Teuber |first=Katharina |year=2017 |title=Statistics on Religions and Churches in the People's Republic of China – Update for the Year 2016 |journal=Religions & Christianity in Today's China |volume=VII |number=2 |pages=26–53 |url=http://www.china-zentrum.de/fileadmin/downloads/rctc/2017-2/RCTC_2017-2.26-53_Wenzel-Teuber__Statistics_on_Religions_and_Churches_in_the_PRC_%E2%80%93_Update_for_the_Year_2016.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722112103/http://www.china-zentrum.de/fileadmin/downloads/rctc/2017-2/RCTC_2017-2.26-53_Wenzel-Teuber__Statistics_on_Religions_and_Churches_in_the_PRC_%E2%80%93_Update_for_the_Year_2016.pdf |archive-date=22 July 2017}}

| Han, Hmong, Qiang, Tujia (worship of the same ancestor-gods)

| {{flagicon|CHN}} ({{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}) {{flagicon|TWN}}

|-

| Taoism

| {{lang|zh|道教}}

| Zhang Daoling, Wang Chongyang (Quanzhen School)

|125 AD Eastern Han dynasty{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

| Zhengyi, Quanzhen

| Tao Te Ching

| Pantheism, polytheism

| style="text-align:right;" | ~20,000,000

| Han, Zhuang, Hmong, Yao, Qiang, Tujia

| {{flagicon|CHN}} ({{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}) {{flagicon|TWN}}

|-

| East Asian Buddhism/Chinese Buddhism

| {{lang|zh-hant|漢傳佛教}} or {{lang|zh-hans|汉传佛教}}

| Emperor Ming of Han (introduced to China), Mālānanda (introduced to Baekje), King Seong of Baekje (introduced to Japan)

|67 AD Eastern Han dynasty

| Mahayana

| Diamond Sutra

| Non-God, Dualism.

| style="text-align:right;" | ~300,000,000

| Han, Koreans, Yamato

| {{flagicon|CHN}} ({{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}) {{flagicon|JPN}} {{flagicon|PRK}} {{flagicon|KOR}} {{flagicon|TWN}}

|-

| Tibetan Buddhism

| {{lang|zh-hant|藏傳佛教}} or {{lang|zh-hans|藏传佛教}}/{{bo-textonly|བོད་བརྒྱུད་ནང་བསྟན།}}

|Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche

|1800 years ago

| Mahayana, Bon

| Anuttarayoga Tantra

| Non-God

| style="text-align:right;" | ~10,000,000

| Tibetans, Manchus, Mongols

| {{flagicon|CHN}} {{flagicon|MNG}}

|-

| Shamanism

| {{lang|zh-hant|薩滿教}} or {{lang|mn|Бөө мөргөл}}

|Spontaneous formation

|Prehistoric period

|

| N/A

| Prehistoric, polytheism, and pantheism

| style="text-align:right;" | N/A

| Manchus, Mongols, Oroqens

| {{flagicon|CHN}} {{flagicon|MNG}}

|-

| Shinto

| {{lang|zh|神道}}

|Spontaneous formation

|Yayoi period{{Cite book |last=Hardacre |first=Helen |title=Shinto: a history |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-190-62171-1 |location=New York |pages=18 |publisher=Oxford University Press }}

| Shinto sects

| Kojiki, Nihon Shoki

| Prehistoric, pantheism, and polytheism

| style="text-align:right;" | N/A

| Yamato

| {{flagicon|JPN}}

|-

| Korean shamanism

| {{lang|ko|무속}} ({{lang|ko|巫俗}}) or {{lang|ko|무교}} ({{lang|ko|巫敎}})

|Spontaneous formation

|N/A

| Shamanism sects

| N/A

| Prehistoric, pantheism, and polytheism

| style="text-align:right;" | N/A

| Koreans

| {{flagicon|PRK}} {{flagicon|KOR}}

|-

| Ryukyuan religion

| {{lang|ja|琉球神道}} or {{lang|ja|ニライカナイ信仰}}

|Spontaneous formation

|N/A

| N/A

| N/A

| Prehistoric, pantheism, and polytheism

| style="text-align:right;" | N/A

| Ryukyuans

| {{flagicon|JPN}} ({{flagicon|Okinawa}})

|}

{{Main|East Asians|Ethnic groups of East Asia}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! class="unsortable" | Ethnicity

! class="unsortable" | Native name

! Population

! class="unsortable" | Language(s)

! class="unsortable" | Writing system(s)

! class="unsortable" | Major states/territories*

! class="unsortable" | Traditional attire

|-

| Han/Chinese

| {{lang|zh-hant|漢族}} or {{lang|zh-hans|汉族}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 1,313,345,856{{Cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html |title=CIA Factbook |access-date=2018-03-17 |archive-date=2016-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013030611/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html |url-status=dead }}

| Chinese (Mandarin, Min, Wu, Yue, Jin, Gan, Hakka, Xiang, Huizhou, Pinghua, etc.)

| Simplified Han characters, Traditional Han characters

| {{flagicon|CHN}}({{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}) {{flagicon|TWN}}

| File:兩漢服人hanfu.jpg

|-

| Yamato/Japanese

| {{lang|ja|大和民族}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 125,117,000{{cite web |url = http://www.stat.go.jp/data/jinsui/pdf/201612.pdf | script-title =ja:人口推計 – 平成 28年 12月 報 | work = stat.go.jp}}

| Japanese

| Han characters (Kanji), Katakana, Hiragana

| {{flagicon|JPN}}

| File:Shinto married couple.jpg

|-

| Korean

| {{lang|ko-kp|조선민족 (朝鮮民族)}}
{{lang|ko-kr|한민족 (韓民族)}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 84,790,105[https://jumin.mois.go.kr/ 주민등록 인구통계]{{Cite CIA World Factbook|country=Korea North|access-date=8 April 2023}}{{cite book|accessdate=1 February 2022|date=2021|location=South Korea|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade|script-title=ko:재외동포현황|trans-title=Total number of overseas Koreans|url=http://www.mofa.go.kr/www/wpge/m_21509/contents.do}}

| Korean

| Hangul, Han characters (Hanja)

| {{flagicon|ROK}} {{flagicon|PRK}}

| File:Hanbok (female and male).jpg

|-

| Bai

| {{lang|zh|白族}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 2,091,543{{cite web |title=China Statistical Yearbook 2021 |url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2021/indexee.htm}}

| Bai, Southwestern Mandarin

| Simplified characters, Latin script

| {{flagicon|CHN}}

| File:Bai 5.JPG

|-

| Hui

| {{lang|zh|回族}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 11,377,914

| Northwestern Mandarin, other Chinese Dialects, Huihui language, etc.

| Simplified characters

| {{flagicon|CHN}}

| File:HuiChineseMuslim3.jpg

|-

| Mongols

| {{lang|mn|Монголчууд}} {{MongolUnicode|ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯᠴᠤᠳ}}
Монгол/{{MongolUnicode|ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 8,942,528

| Mongolian

| Mongol script, Cyrillic script

| {{flagicon|CHN}} {{flagicon|MGL}} {{flagicon|RUS}}

| File:Mongolian Musician.jpg

|-

| Zhuang

| {{lang|zh-hans|壮族}}/{{lang|za|Bouxcuengh}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 19,568,546

| Zhuang, Southwestern Mandarin, etc.

| Simplified Han characters, Latin script

| {{flagicon|CHN}}

| File:Zhuang's beautiful maiden in Chongzuo Fusui.jpg

|-

| Uyghurs

| {{lang|zh|维吾尔族}}/ئۇيغۇر

| style="text-align:right;"| 11,774,538

| Uyghur

| Arabic alphabet, Latin script

| {{flagicon|CHN}}

| File:Uyghur-elders-sunday-market-Kashgar.jpg

|-

| Manchus

| {{lang|zh-hans|满族}}/{{ManchuSibeUnicode|ᠮᠠᠨᠵᡠ}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 10,423,303

| Northeastern Mandarin, Manchu language

| Simplified Han characters, Mongol script

| {{flagicon|CHN}}{{flagicon|TWN}}

| File:Akšan.jpg

|-

| Hmong/Miao

| {{lang|zh|苗族}}/Ghaob Xongb/Hmub/Mongb

| style="text-align:right;" | 11,067,929

| Hmong/Miao, Southwestern Mandarin

| Latin script, Simplified Han characters

| {{flagicon|CHN}}

| File:贵州黔东南苗族女性（a Miao woman in Qiandongnan，Guizhou）.jpg

|-

| Tibetans

| {{lang|zh|藏族}}/{{bo-textonly|བོད་པ་}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 7,060,731

| Tibetan, Rgyal Rong, Rgu, etc.

| Tibetan script

| {{flagicon|CHN}}

| File:People of Tibet46.jpg

|-

| Yi

| {{lang|zh|彝族}}/{{lang|ii|ꆈꌠ}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 9,830,327

| Various Loloish, Southwestern Mandarin

| Yi script, Simplified Han characters

| {{flagicon|CHN}}

| File:Ethnic Yi China Costume.jpg

|-

| Tujia

| {{lang|zh|土家族}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 9,587,732

| Northern Tujia, Southern Tujia

| Simplified Han characters

| {{flagicon|CHN}}

| File:Tujia women.jpg

|-

| Kam

| {{lang|zh|侗族}}/Gaeml

| style="text-align:right;" | 3,495,993

| Gaeml

| Simplified Han characters, Latin script

| {{flagicon|CHN}}

| File:Ethic Dong Liping Guizhou China.jpg

|-

| Tu

| {{lang|zh|土族}}/Monguor

| style="text-align:right;" | 289,565

| Tu, Northwestern Mandarin

| Simplified Han characters

| {{flagicon|CHN}}

| File:Nadun Picture 1.jpg

|-

| Daur

| {{lang|zh-hans|达斡尔族}}/{{MongolUnicode|ᠳᠠᠭᠤᠷ}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 131,992

| Daur, Northeastern Mandarin

| Mongol script, Simplified Han characters

| {{flagicon|CHN}} {{flagicon|MGL}}

| File:Daur woman smiling.jpg

|-

| Indigenous Taiwanese

| {{lang|zh|臺灣原住民}}/ {{lang|zh-cn|高山族}}/ {{lang|ami|Yincomin}}/ {{lang|pwn|Kasetaivang}}/ {{lang|pyu|Inanuwayan}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 533,600

| Austronesian languages (Amis, Yami), etc.

| Latin script, Traditional Han characters

| {{flagicon|TWN}}

|

File:Tao1.jpg

|-

| Ryukyuan

| {{lang|ryu|琉球民族}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 1,900,000

| Japanese
Ryukyuan

| Han characters (Kanji), Katakana, Hiragana

| {{flagicon|JPN}}

| File:Five men wearing Ryukyuan Dress.JPG

|-

| Ainu

| {{lang|ain|アイヌ}}/ {{lang|ain|Aynu}}/ {{lang|ain|Айну}}

| style="text-align:right;" | 200,000

| Japanese
Ainu{{cite book |editor-last=Gordon |editor-first=Raymond G. Jr. |year=2005 |title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World |edition=15th |location=Dallas |publisher=SIL International |isbn=978-1-55671-159-6 |oclc=224749653}}

| Ainu uses both the Katakana and Latin scripts{{cite web | url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/ainu.htm | title=Ainu language and alphabet }}

| {{flagicon|JPN}}

| File:AinuSan.jpg

|}

• Note: The order of states/territories follows the population ranking of each ethnicity, within East Asia only.

{{Main category|Culture of East Asia}}

The culture of East Asia has been deeply influenced by China, as it was the civilization that had the most dominant influence in the region throughout the ages that ultimately laid the foundation for East Asian civilization. The vast knowledge and ingenuity of Chinese civilization and the classics of Chinese literature and culture were seen as the foundations for a civilized life in East Asia. Imperial China served as a vehicle through which the adoption of Confucian ethical philosophy, Chinese calendar system, political and legal systems, architectural style, diet, terminology, institutions, religious beliefs, imperial examinations that emphasised a knowledge of Chinese classics, political philosophy and cultural value systems, as well as historically sharing a common writing system reflected in the histories of Japan and Korea.{{Cite book |last=Goscha |first=Christopher |title=The Penguin History of Modern Vietnam: A History |publisher=Allen Lane |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-846-143106}}{{harvnb|Chua|Rubenfeld|2014|p=122}}{{Cite book |title=China's Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty |last=Lewis |first=Mark Edward |publisher=Belknap |year=2012 |isbn= 978-0-674-06401-0 |page=156}}{{Cite journal |last=Reischauer |first=Edwin O. |year=1974 |title=The Sinic World in Perspective |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=341–348 |doi=10.2307/20038053 |jstor=20038053}}

The Imperial Chinese tributary system was the bedrock of network of trade and foreign relations between China and its East Asian tributaries, which helped to shape much of East Asian affairs during the ancient and medieval eras. Through the tributary system, the various dynasties of Imperial China facilitated frequent economic and cultural exchange that influenced the cultures of Japan and Korea and drew them into a Chinese international order.{{harvnb|Chua|Rubenfeld|2014|p=121–122}} The Imperial Chinese tributary system shaped much of East Asia's foreign policy and trade for over two millennia due to Imperial China's economic and cultural dominance over the region, and thus played a huge role in the history of East Asia in particular. The relationship between China and its cultural influence on East Asia has been compared to the historical influence of Greco-Roman civilization on classical Western civilisation.

Since the late 19th century, the initially unequal encounter with Western influences has also shaped East Asia.{{Citation |last=Seo |first=Yongseok |title=Chapter 22. East Asian Response to the Globalization of Culture: Perceptional Change and Cultural Policy |date=2006-04-30 |work=Fairness, Globalization, and Public Institutions: East Asia and Beyond |pages=319–336 |editor-last=Dator |editor-first=Jim |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780824841966-023/html?lang=en&srsltid=AfmBOorLR_G6ZoXN9Cj4ZXOg8OdMPytPhkz2ql0wQCO_9yvF8Y---dBx |access-date=2024-12-21 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |language=en |doi=10.1515/9780824841966-023/html?lang=en&srsltid=afmboorlr_g6zoxn9cj4zxog8odmpytphkz2ql0wqco_9yvf8y---dbx |isbn=978-0-8248-4196-6 |editor2-last=Pratt |editor2-first=Richard C. |editor3-last=Seo |editor3-first=Yongseok}}

{{Unreferenced section|date=November 2020}}

{| class="wikitable"

! Festival

! Native Name

! Other name

! Calendar

! Date

! Gregorian date

! Activity

! Religious practices

! Food

! Major ethnicities

! Major states/territories

|-

| Chinese New Year

| {{lang|zh-hant|農曆新年}}/{{lang|zh-hans|农历新年}} or {{lang|zh-hant|春節}}/{{lang|zh-hans|春节}}

| Spring Festival

| Chinese

| Month 1 Day 1

| 21 Jan–20 Feb

| Family Reunion, Ancestors Worship, Tomb Sweeping, Fireworks

| Worship the King of Gods

| Nian gao

| Han, Manchus etc.

| {{flagicon|CHN}} ({{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}) {{flagicon|MNG}} {{flagicon|TWN}}

|-

| Korean New Year

| {{lang|ko|설날}} or {{lang|ko|설}}

| Seollal

| Korean

| Month 1 Day 1

| 21 Jan–20 Feb

| Ancestors Worship, Family Reunion, Tomb Sweeping

| N/A

| Tteokguk

| Koreans

| {{flagicon|PRK}} {{flagicon|KOR}}

|-

| Losar or Tsagaan Sar

| {{lang|zh|藏历新年}}/{{bo-textonly|ལོ་གསར་}} or {{lang|zh|查干萨日}}/{{lang|mn|Цагаан сар}}

| White Moon

| Tibetan, Mongolian

| Month 1 Day 1

| 25 Jan – 2 Mar

| Family Reunion, Ancestors Worship, Tomb Sweeping, Fireworks

| N/A

| Chhaang or Buuz

| Tibetans, Mongols, Tu etc.

| {{flagicon|CHN}} {{flagicon|MNG}}

|-

| New Year

| {{lang|zh|元旦}}

| Yuan Dan

| Gregorian

| 1 Jan

| 1 Jan

| Fireworks

| N/A

| N/A

| N/A

| {{flagicon|CHN}} ({{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}) {{flagicon|JPN}} {{flagicon|MNG}} {{flagicon|PRK}} {{flagicon|KOR}} {{flagicon|TWN}}

|-

| Lantern Festival

| {{lang|zh-hant|元宵節}} or {{lang|zh-hans|元宵节}}

| Upper Yuan Festival ({{lang|zh-hans|上元节}})

| Chinese

| Month 1 Day 15

| 4 Feb – 6 Mar

| Lanterns Expo, Ancestors Worship, Tomb Sweeping

| Birthdate of the God of Sky-officer

| Yuanxiao

| Han

| {{flagicon|CHN}} ({{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}) {{flagicon|TWN}}

|-

| Daeboreum

| {{lang|ko|대보름}} or {{lang|ko|정월 대보름}}

| Great Full Moon

| Korean

| Month 1 Day 15

| 4 Feb – 6 Mar

| Greeting of the moon, kite-flying, Jwibulnori, eating nuts (Bureom)

| Bonfires (daljip taeugi)

| Ogok-bap, namul, nuts

| Korean

| {{flagicon|PRK}} {{flagicon|KOR}}

|-

|Hanshi Festival

|{{lang|zh-hant|寒食節}} or {{lang|zh-hans|寒食节}}

| Cold Food Festival

| Solar term

| Traditionally, on the 105th day after the Winter solstice. Revised to 1 day before the Qingming Festival by Johann Adam Schall von Bell (Chinese: {{zhi|c=汤若望}}) during the Qing dynasty.

| April 3–5

| Ancestors Worship, Tomb Sweeping, No cooking hot meal/setting fire, Cold food only. Cuju, etc. (People used to mix this one with the Qingming Festival due to their close dates)

| In Memory of a loyal Ancient named Jie Zhitui (Chinese: {{zhi|c=介子推}}), ordered by the Monarch of the Jin (Chinese state), Duke Wen of Jin (Chinese: {{zhi|c=重耳}})

| Cold Food, e.g. Qingtuan

| Han, Koreans, Mongols

| {{flagicon|CHN}} ({{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}) {{flagicon|PRK}} {{flagicon|KOR}} {{flagicon|TWN}}

|-

|Qingming Festival

|{{lang|zh-hant|清明節}} or {{lang|zh-hans|清明节}} or Ханш нээх

|Tomb Sweeping Day

|Solar term

|15th day after the Vernal Equinox. Just 1 day after the Hanshi Festival, but in much higher repute.

|April 4–6th

|Ancestors Worship, Tomb Sweeping, Excursion, Planting trees, Flying kites, Tug of war, Cuju, etc. (Almost the same with the Hanshi Festival's, due to their close dates)

|Burning Hell money for deceased family members. Planting willow branches to keep ghosts away from houses.

|Boiled eggs

|Han, Koreans, Mongols

|{{flagicon|CHN}} ({{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}) {{flagicon|MNG}} {{flagicon|PRK}} {{flagicon|KOR}} {{flagicon|TWN}}

|-

| Dragon Boat Festival

| {{lang|zh-hant|端午節}} or {{lang|zh-hans|端午节}} or {{lang|ko|단오}}

| Duanwu Festival / Dano (Surit-nal)

| Chinese / Korean

| Month 5 Day 5

|

| Driving poisons & plague away. (China: Dragon Boat Race, Wearing coloured lines, Hanging felon herb on the front door.) / (Korea: Washing hair with iris water, ssireum)

| Worship various Gods

| Zongzi / Surichwitteok (rice cake with herbs)

| Han, Koreans, Yamato

| {{flagicon|CHN}} ({{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}) {{flagicon|PRK}} {{flagicon|KOR}} {{flagicon|JPN}} {{flagicon|TWN}}

|-

| Ghost Festival

| {{lang|zh-hant|中元節}} or {{lang|zh-hans|中元节}} or {{lang|ko|백중}}

| Mid Yuan Festival

| Chinese

| Month 7 Day 15

|

| Ancestors Worship, Tomb Sweeping

| Birthdate of the God of Earth-officer

|

| Han, Koreans, Yamato

| {{flagicon|CHN}} ({{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}) {{flagicon|PRK}} {{flagicon|KOR}} {{flagicon|JPN}} {{flagicon|TWN}}

|-

| Mid-Autumn Festival

| {{lang|zh-hant|中秋節}} or {{lang|zh-hans|中秋节}}

| {{lang|zh|中秋祭}}

| Chinese

| Month 8 Day 15

|

| Family Reunion, Enjoying Moon view

| Worship the Moon Goddess

| Mooncake

| Han

| {{flagicon|CHN}} ({{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}) {{flagicon|TWN}}

|-

| Chuseok

| {{lang|ko|추석}} or {{lang|ko|한가위}}

| Hangawi

| Korean

| Month 8 Day 15

|

| Family Reunion, Ancestors Worship, Tomb Sweeping, Enjoying Moon view

| N/A

| Songpyeon, Torantang (Taro soup)

| Koreans

| {{flagicon|PRK}} {{flagicon|KOR}}

|-

| Tsukimi

| {{lang|ja|月見}} or {{lang|ja|お月見}}

| Tsukimi or Otsukimi

| Gregorian

| Month 8 Day 15

|

| Family Reunion, Enjoying Moon view

| Worship the Moon

| Tsukimi Dango, Sweet Potato

| Yamato

| {{flagicon|JPN}} ^*

|-

| Double Ninth Festival

| {{lang|zh-hant|重陽節}} or {{lang|zh-hans|重阳节}}

| Double Positive Festival

| Chinese

| Month 9 Day 09

|

| Climbing Mountain, Taking care of elderly, Wearing Cornus.

| Worship various Gods

|

| Han, Korean, Yamato

| {{flagicon|CHN}} ({{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}) {{flagicon|PRK}} {{flagicon|KOR}} {{flagicon|JPN}} {{flagicon|TWN}}^*

|-

| Lower Yuan Festival

| {{lang|zh-hant|下元節}} or {{lang|zh-hans|下元节}}

| N/A

| Chinese

| Month 10 Day 15

|

| Ancestors Worship, Tomb Sweeping

| Birthdate of the God of Water-officer

| Ciba

| Han

| {{flagicon|CHN}} ({{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}) {{flagicon|TWN}}

|-

| Dongzhi Festival

| {{lang|zh|冬至}} or {{lang|ko|동지}} or {{lang|ja|冬至}}

| N/A

| Gregorian

| Between Dec 21 and Dec 23

| Between Dec 21 and Dec 23

| Ancestors Worship, Rites to dispel bad spirits

| N/A

| Tangyuan, Patjuk, Zenzai, Kabocha

| Han, Koreans, Yamato

| {{flagicon|CHN}} ({{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}) {{flagicon|PRK}} {{flagicon|KOR}} {{flagicon|JPN}} {{flagicon|TWN}}

|-

| Small New Year

| {{lang|zh|小年}}

| Jizao ({{lang|zh|祭灶}})

| Chinese

| Month 12 Day 23

|

| Cleaning Houses

| Worship the God of Hearth

| tanggua

| Han, Mongols

| {{flagicon|CHN}} ({{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}) {{flagicon|MNG}} {{flagicon|TWN}}

|}

*Japan switched the date to the Gregorian calendar after the Meiji Restoration.

*Not always on that Gregorian date, sometimes April 4.

East Asian popular culture, such as anime and manga from Japan and K-pop and K-dramas from South Korea, have become highly popular worldwide in the 21st century.{{Cite web |last=Hollingsworth |first=Julia |date=2019-12-29 |title=Why the past decade saw the rise and rise of East Asian pop culture |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/28/entertainment/east-asia-pop-culture-rise-intl-hnk/index.html |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=CNN |language=en}}

File:Incheon AsianGames Baseball Japan Mongolia 25 (15162267778).jpg]]

Baseball is one of the main sports in East Asia, having been introduced through mid-19th century American contact and further spread by the Japanese Empire.{{Cite journal |last=Cho |first=Younghan |date=2016 |title=Double binding of Japanese colonialism: trajectories of baseball in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09502386.2015.1094498 |journal=Cultural Studies |language=en |volume=30 |issue=6 |pages=926–948 |doi=10.1080/09502386.2015.1094498 |issn=0950-2386}} The game has gained millions of fans in China since the 2010s.{{Cite web |last=杜娟 |title=MLB's China operation knocking it out the ball park |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202108/20/WS611f1093a310efa1bd66a009.html |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=www.chinadaily.com.cn}}

{{Unreferenced section|date=November 2020}}

{{Main|East Asian Youth Games}}Formerly the East Asian Games, it is a multi-sport event organized by the East Asian Games Association (EAGA) and held every four years since 2019 among athletes from East Asian countries and territories of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), as well as the Pacific island of Guam, which is a member of the Oceania National Olympic Committees.

It is one of five Regional Games of the OCA. The others are the Central Asian Games, the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), the South Asian Games and the West Asian Games.

{{Unreferenced section|date=November 2020}}

{| class="wikitable"

! Name of agreement

! Parties

! Leaders at the time

! Negotiation begins

! Signing date

! Starting time

! Current status

|-

| China–South Korea FTA

| {{flagicon|CHN}} {{flagicon|KOR}}

| Xi Jinping, Park Geun-hye

| May, 2012

| Jun 01, 2015

| Dec 30, 2015

| Enforced

|-

| China–Japan–South Korea FTA

| {{flagicon|CHN}} {{flagicon|JPN}} {{flagicon|KOR}}

| Xi Jinping, Shinzō Abe, Park Geun-hye

| Mar 26, 2013

| N/A

| N/A

| 10 round negotiation

|-

| Japan-Mongolia EPA

| {{flagicon|JPN}} {{flagicon|MNG}}

| Shinzō Abe, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj

| -

| Feb 10, 2015

| -

| Enforced

|-

| China-Mongolia FTA

| {{flagicon|CHN}} {{flagicon|MNG}}

| Xi Jinping, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj

| N/A

| N/A

| N/A

| Officially proposed

|-

| China-HK CEPA

| {{flagicon|CHN}} {{flagicon|HKG}}

| Jiang Zemin, Tung Chee-hwa

| -

| Jun 29, 2003

| -

| Enforced

|-

| China-Macau CEPA

| {{flagicon|CHN}} {{flagicon|MAC}}

| Jiang Zemin, Edmund Ho Hau-wah

| -

| Oct 18, 2003

| -

| Enforced

|-

| Hong Kong-Macau CEPA

| {{flagicon|HKG}} {{flagicon|MAC}}

| Carrie Lam, Fernando Chui

| Oct 09, 2015

| N/A

| N/A

| Negotiating

|-

| ECFA

| {{flagicon|CHN}} {{flagicon|TWN}}

| Hu Jintao, Ma Ying-jeou

| Jan 26, 2010

| Jun 29, 2010

| Aug 17, 2010

| Enforced

|-

| CSSTA (Based on ECFA)

| {{flagicon|CHN}} {{flagicon|TWN}}

| Xi Jinping, Ma Ying-jeou

| Mar, 2011

| Jun 21, 2013

| N/A

| Abolished

|-

| CSGTA (Based on ECFA)

| {{flagicon|CHN}} {{flagicon|TWN}}

| Hu Jintao, Ma Ying-jeou

| Feb 22, 2011

| N/A

| N/A

| Suspended

|}

{| class="wikitable"

! Name

! Parties within the region

|-

| Sino-North Korean Mutual Aid and Cooperation Friendship Treaty

| {{flagicon|CHN}} {{flagicon|PRK}}

|-

| Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan

| {{flagicon|USA}} {{flagicon|JPN}}

|-

| Mutual Defense Treaty Between the United States and the Republic of Korea

| {{flagicon|USA}} {{flagicon|KOR}}

|}

{{Main|Cities of East Asia}}

{{Largest population centres

| name = Largest urban areas of East Asia

| country = East Asia

| stat_ref = {{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/urbanization/the_worlds_cities_in_2016_data_booklet.pdf|title=The World's Cities in 2016|last=United Nations|date=March 12, 2017|website=United Nations}}{{cite web|url=http://rcps.egov.go.kr:8081/jsp/stat/ppl_stat_jf.jsp|script-title=ko:통계표명 : 주민등록 인구통계|publisher=Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs|language=ko|access-date=4 April 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303195830/http://rcps.egov.go.kr:8081/jsp/stat/ppl_stat_jf.jsp|archive-date=3 March 2011}}

| list_by_pop =

| div_name = Country

| div_link =

| city_1 = Tokyo| div_1 = Japan| pop_1 = 38,140,000| img_1 = Tokyo Skyline20210123.jpg

| city_2 = Seoul| div_2 = South Korea| pop_2 = 25,520,000| img_2 = Seoul (South Korea).jpg

| city_3 = Shanghai| div_3 = China| pop_3 = 24,484,000| img_3 =

| city_4 = Beijing| div_4 = China| pop_4 = 21,240,000| img_4 = Beijing Sunset2.jpg

| city_5 = Osaka| div_5 = Japan| pop_5 = 20,337,000

| city_6 = Chongqing| div_6 = China| pop_6 = 13,744,000

| city_7 = Guangzhou| div_7 = China| pop_7 = 13,070,000

| city_8 = Tianjin| div_8 = China| pop_8 = 11,558,000

| city_9 = Shenzhen| div_9 = China| pop_9 = 10,828,000

| city_10 = Chengdu| div_10 = China| pop_10 = 10,104,000

}}

File:Shinjuku skyline, Tokyo - Sony A7R (11831328835).jpg|Tokyo is the capital of Japan and the world's largest city, both in metropolitan population and economy.

File:Beijing Guomao CBD.jpg|Beijing is the capital of China. It has a history of over 3300 years.

File:Namdaemun-ro, Seoul.jpg|Seoul is the capital of South Korea.

File:Osaka Umeda Sky Building Panoramablick 05.jpg|Osaka is the second-largest metropolitan area in Japan.

File:Guangzhou Night.jpg|Guangzhou is one of the most important economic centers in southern China.

File:Nagoya Night View.jpg|Nagoya is the third-largest metropolitan area in Japan. Nagoya is a major port city and the location of Lexus headquarters.

File:Kyoto, Japan (Unsplash UIN-pFfJ7c).jpg|Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan for eleven centuries.

File:UB downtown.jpg|Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia, with a population of 1.6 million as of 2021.

File:Taipei Night Skyline from Hongludi 20240113.jpg|Taipei City is the capital of Taiwan, with a population of 2.6 million.

File:Hong Kong Harbour Night 2019-06-11.jpg|Hong Kong is one of the global financial centres and is known as a cosmopolitan metropolis.

File:Gwangandaegyo_Bridge_in_Busan,_South_Korea_(iau2207b).jpg|Busan is the second largest city in South Korea and a financial centre along with Seoul

File:Pyongyang City - Ryugyong Hotel in Background (13913572409).jpg|Pyongyang is the capital of North Korea, and a major city on the Korean Peninsula.

File:Xi'an Gulou.jpg|Xi'an or Chang'an is the oldest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China.

File:Pass over Eastern Asia to Philippine Sea and Guam.ogv|Pass of the ISS over Mongolia, looking out west towards the Pacific Ocean, China, and Japan. As the video progresses, major cities along the Chinese coast and the Japanese islands on the Philippine Sea are visible. The island of Guam can be seen further down the pass into the Philippine Sea, and the pass ends just to the east of New Zealand.

{{Portal|Geography|Asia|China|Hong Kong|Japan|North Korea|South Korea|Taiwan

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• East Asia–United States relations
• East Asian Community
• China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit
• East Asia Summit
• East Asian studies

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• Church, Peter. A short history of South-East Asia (John Wiley & Sons, 2017).
• Chung, Eunbin. Pride, Not Prejudice: National Identity as a Pacifying Force in East Asia (University of Michigan Press, 2022) [https://issforum.org/to/jrt14-14 online reviews by six scholars]
• Clyde, Paul H., and Burton F. Beers. The Far East: A History of Western Impacts and Eastern Responses, 1830–1975 (1975) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.283180 online 3rd edition 1958]
• Crofts, Alfred. A history of the Far East (1958) [https://archive.org/details/historyoffareast0000crof online free to borrow]
• Dennett, Tyler. Americans in Eastern Asia (1922) [https://archive.org/details/americansineast01denngoog/page/n644 online free]
• Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, and Anne Walthall. East Asia: A cultural, social, and political history (Cengage Learning, 2013).
• Embree, Ainslie T., ed. Encyclopedia of Asian history (1988)
• [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofas0003unse/page/n5/mode/2up vol. 1 online]; [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofas0002unse/page/n5/mode/2up vol 2 online]; [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofas0003unse_l9c1/page/n5/mode/2up vol 3 online]; [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofas0000embr vol 4 online]
• Fairbank, John K., Edwin Reischauer, and Albert M. Craig. East Asia: The great tradition and East Asia: The modern transformation (1960) [2 vol 1960] [https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%28Reischauer%2C%20Fairbank%2C%29 online free to borrow], famous textbook.
• Flynn, Matthew J. China Contested: Western Powers in East Asia (2006), for secondary schools
• Gelber, Harry. The dragon and the foreign devils: China and the world, 1100 BC to the present (2011).
• Green, Michael J. By more than providence: grand strategy and American power in the Asia Pacific since 1783 (2017) a major scholarly survey [https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Providence-American-East-Relations/dp/0231180438/ excerpt]
• Hall, D.G.E. History of South East Asia (Macmillan International Higher Education, 1981).
• Holcombe, Charles. A History of East Asia (2d ed. Cambridge UP, 2017). [https://www.amazon.com/History-East-Asia-Civilization-Twenty-First/dp/1107544890/ excerpt]
• Iriye, Akira. After Imperialism; The Search for a New Order in the Far East 1921–1931. (1965).
• Jensen, Richard, Jon Davidann, and Yoneyuki Sugita, eds. Trans-Pacific Relations: America, Europe, and Asia in the Twentieth Century (Praeger, 2003), 304 pp [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-asian-studies/article/trans-pacific-relations-america-europe-and-asia-in-the-twentieth-century-edited-by-jensenrichard-and-davidannjonsugitayoneyuki-westport-conn-praeger-2003-xvi-304-pp-6995-cloth/22A4DB3E0B917B3AE00A780351F3B775 online review]
• Keay, John. Empire's End: A History of the Far East from High Colonialism to Hong Kong (Scribner, 1997). [https://archive.org/details/empiresendhistor00keay online free to borrow]
• Levinson, David, and Karen Christensen, eds. Encyclopedia of Modern Asia. (6 vol. Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002).
• Mackerras, Colin. Eastern Asia: an introductory history (Melbourne: Longman Cheshire, 1992).
• Macnair, Harley F. & Donald Lach. Modern Far Eastern International Relations. (2nd ed 1955) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.125746 1950 edition online free], 780pp; focus on 1900–1950.
• Miller, David Y. Modern East Asia: An Introductory History (Routledge, 2007)
• Murphey, Rhoads. East Asia: A New History (1996)
• Norman, Henry. The Peoples and Politics of the Far East: Travels and studies in the British, French, Spanish and Portuguese colonies, Siberia, China, Japan, Korea, Siam and Malaya (1904) [https://archive.org/details/peoplesandpolit05normgoog online]
• Paine, S. C. M. The Wars for Asia, 1911–1949 (2014) [https://www.amazon.com/Wars-Asia-1911-1949-S-Paine/dp/1107697476/ excerpt]
• Prescott, Anne. East Asia in the World: An Introduction (Routledge, 2015)
• Ring, George C. Religions of the Far East: Their History to the Present Day (Kessinger Publishing, 2006).
• Szpilman, Christopher W. A., Sven Saaler. "Japan and Asia" in Routledge Handbook of Modern Japanese History (2017) [https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315746678.ch3 online]
• Steiger, G. Nye. A history of the Far East (1936).
• Vinacke, Harold M. A History of the Far East in Modern Times (1964) [https://archive.org/download/dli.bengal.10689.12563/10689.12563_text.pdf online free]
• Vogel, Ezra. China and Japan: Facing History (2019) [https://www.amazon.com/China-Japan-Ezra-F-Vogel/dp/0674916573/ excerpt]
• Woodcock, George. The British in the Far East (1969) [https://archive.org/details/britishinfareast0000wood online]

{{commons category|East Asia}}

{{Wiktionary}}

{{Wikivoyage|East Asia}}

{{Asia topics}}

{{East Asian topics |state = expanded}}

{{Geographic location

| Centre = East Asia

| North = North Asia

| Northeast = North Asia
Pacific Ocean

| East = Pacific Ocean

| Southeast = South China Sea

| South = South Asia
Southeast Asia

| Southwest = South Asia

| West = Central Asia

| Northwest = North Asia
Central Asia

}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Regions of Asia

Category:Asia-Pacific

Category:Articles containing Mongolian script text

Category:Articles containing video clips