Regional perspectives: Asia and the Pacific

Abstract

The Asia and the Pacific region is comprised of 43 countries and a number of territories, and is, for the purposes of this report, divided into six sub-regions. It is endowed with a rich diversity of natural, social and economic resources. The length of its coastline is two-thirds of the global total, and it has the world's largest mountain chain. The region includes some of the poorest nations in the world, several highly advanced economies, and a number of rapidly growing ones, notably China and India. From 1987 to 2007, the population increased from almost 3 billion to almost 4 billion people, and the region is now home of 60 per cent of the world's people (GEO Data Portal, from UNPD 2007], representing a wide range of different ethnicities,cultures and languages.