Location: Northern Asia (that part west of the Urals is sometimes included with Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean

Language: Russian, other

Currency: 1 ruble (R) = 100 kopeks

Population: 146,393,569

Natural Hazards: permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to development; volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands; volcanoes and earthquakes on the Kamchatka Peninsula

Import: machinery and equipment, consumer goods, medicines, meat, grain, sugar, semifinished metal products

Export: petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures

Industries: complete range of mining and extractive industries producing coal, oil, gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of machine building from rolling mills to
high-performance aircraft and space vehicles; shipbuilding; road and rail transportation equipment; communications equipment; agricultural machinery,
tractors, and construction equipment; electric power generating and transmitting equipment; medical and scientific instruments; consumer durables, textiles,
foodstuffs, handicrafts

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 150,000 km; note—87,000 km in common carrier service; 63,000 km
serve specific industries and are not available for common carrier use
broad gauge: 150,000 km 1.520-m gauge

Highways:
total: 948,000 km (including 416,000 km which serve specific industries or farms and are not maintained by governmental highway maintenance departments)
paved: 336,000 km
unpaved: 612,000 km (including 411,000 km of graveled or some other form of surfacing and 201,000 km of unstabilized earth)

Waterways: total navigable routes in general use 101,000 km; routes with navigation guides serving the Russian River Fleet 95,900 km; routes with night navigational aids 60,400 km; man-made navigable routes 16,900 km

Ports & Harbors: Arkhangel'sk, Astrakhan', Kaliningrad, Kazan', Khabarovsk, Kholmsk, Krasnoyarsk, Moscow, Murmansk, Nakhodka, Nevel'sk, Novorossiysk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, St. Petersburg, Rostov, Sochi, Tuapse, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Vostochnyy, Vyborg

Location: Southeastern Asia, islands between Malaysia and Indonesia

Language: Chinese (official), Malay (official and national), Tamil (official), English (official)

Currency: 1 Singapore dollar (S$) = 100 cents

Population: 3,531,600

Natural Hazards: NA

Import: aircraft, petroleum, chemicals, foodstuffs

Export: computer equipment, rubber and rubber products,
petroleum products, telecommunications equipment

Industries: electronics, financial services, oil drilling equipment, petroleum refining, rubber processing and rubber products, processed food and beverages,
ship repair, entrepot trade, biotechnology

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 38.6 km
narrow gauge: 38.6 km 1.000-m gauge
note: there is a 67 km mass transit system with 42 stations

Highways:
total: 3,017 km
paved: 2,936 km (including 148 km of expressways)
unpaved: 81 km

Ports & Harbors: Singapore

Location: Eastern Asia, southern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea

Language: Korean, English widely taught in junior high and high school

Currency: 1 South Korean won (W) = 100 chun (theoretical)

Population: 46,884,800

Natural Hazards: occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods; low-level seismic activity common in southwest

Import: machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil,
steel, transport equipment, textiles, organic chemicals, grains

Export: electronic and electrical equipment, machinery, steel,
automobiles, ships; textiles, clothing, footwear; fish

Industries: electronics, automobile production, chemicals, shipbuilding, steel, textiles, clothing, footwear, food processing

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 6,240 km
standard gauge: 6,240 km 1.435-m gauge (525 km electrified)

Highways:
total: 63,500 km
paved: 46,800 km (including 1,720 km of expressways)
unpaved: 16,700 km

Waterways: 1,609 km; use restricted to small native craft

Ports & Harbors: Chinhae, Inch'on, Kunsan, Masan, Mokp'o, P'ohang, Pusan, Tonghae-hang, Ulsan, Yosu

Location: Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of India

Language: Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil (national language) 18%

Currency: 1 Sri Lankan rupee (SLRe) = 100 cents

Population: 19,144,875

Natural Hazards: occasional cyclones and tornadoes

Import: machinery and equipment, textiles, petroleum, building materials, sugar

Export: textiles and apparel, tea, diamonds and other gems, coconut products, rubber products, petroleum products

Industries: processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 1,501 km
broad gauge: 1,442 km 1.676-m gauge
narrow gauge: 59 km 0.762-m gauge

Highways:
total: 99,200 km
paved: 39,680 km
unpaved: 59,520 km

Waterways: 430 km; navigable by shallow-draft craft

Ports & Harbors: Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Trincomalee

Location: Eastern Asia, islands bordering the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, and Taiwan Strait, north of the Philippines, off the southeastern
coast of China

Language: Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects

Currency: 1 New Taiwan dollar (NT$) = 100 cents

Population: 22,113,250

Natural Hazards: earthquakes and typhoons

Import: machinery and electrical equipment 16.5%, electronic products 16.3%, chemicals 10.0%, precision instrument 5.6%

Export: machinery and electrical equipment 21.7%, electronic products 14.8%, information/communications 11.8%, textile products 11.6%

Industries: electronics, textiles, chemicals, clothing, food processing, plywood, sugar milling, cement, shipbuilding, petroleum refining

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 4,600 km (519 km electrified); note—1,108 km belongs to the Taiwan Railway Administration and the remaining 3,492 km is dedicated to industrial use
narrow gauge: 4,600 km 1.067-m

Highways:
total: 19,634 km
paved: 17,171 km (including 548 km of expressways)
unpaved: 2,463 km

Ports & Harbors: Chi-lung (Keelung), Hua-lien, Kao-hsiung, Su-ao, T'ai-chung

Location: Central Asia, west of China

Language: Tajik (official), Russian widely used in government and business

Currency: Tajikistani ruble (TJR) = 100 tanga

Population: 6,102,854

Natural Hazards: NA

Import: fuel, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, textiles, foodstuffs

Export: cotton, aluminum, fruits, vegetable oil, textiles

Industries: aluminum, zinc, lead, chemicals and fertilizers, cement, vegetable oil, metal-cutting machine tools, refrigerators and freezers

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 480 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines

Highways:
total: 13,700 km
paved: 11,330 km (note—these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, meaning that some are paved and some are all-weather gravel surfaced)
unpaved: 2,370 km

Ports & Harbors: none

Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, southeast of Burma

Language: Thai, English (secondary language of the elite), ethnic and regional dialects

Currency: 1 baht (B) = 100 satang

Population: 60,609,046

Natural Hazards: land subsidence in Bangkok area resulting from the depletion of the water table; droughts

Import: capital goods 50%, intermediate goods and raw
materials 22%, consumer goods 10.2%, fuels 8.7%

Export: manufactures 82% (computers and parts 16%),
agricultural products and fisheries 14%

Industries: tourism; textiles and garments, agricultural processing, beverages, tobacco, cement, light manufacturing, such as jewelry; electric appliances and
components, computers and parts, integrated circuits, furniture, plastics; world's second-largest tungsten producer and third-largest tin producer

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 4,623 km
narrow gauge: 4,623 km 1.000-m gauge (99 km double track)

Highways:
total: 64,600 km
paved: 62,985 km
unpaved: 1,615 km

Waterways: 3,999 km principal waterways; 3,701 km with navigable depths of 0.9 m or more throughout the year; numerous minor waterways navigable by shallow-draft native craft

Ports & Harbors: Bangkok, Laem Chabang, Pattani, Phuket, Sattahip, Si Racha, Songkhla

Location: southwestern Asia (that part west of the Bosporus is sometimes included with Europe), bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia,
and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria

Language: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic

Currency: Turkish lira (TL)

Population: 65,599,206

Natural Hazards: very severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van

Import: machinery and equipment 50%, fuels, minerals,
foodstuffs

Export: textiles and apparel 30%, foodstuffs 15%, iron and
steel products 13%

Industries: textiles, food processing, autos, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 10,386 km
standard gauge: 10,386 km 1.435-m gauge (1,088 km electrified)

Highways:
total: 382,397 km
paved: 95,599 km (including 1,560 km of expressways)
unpaved: 286,798 km

Waterways: about 1,200 km

Ports & Harbors: Gemlik, Hopa, Iskenderun, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli (Izmit), Icel (Mersin), Samsun, Trabzon

Location: Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan

Language: Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%

Currency: 1 Turkmen manat (TMM) = 100 tenesi

Population: 4,366,383

Natural Hazards: NA

Import: machinery and parts, grain and food, plastics and
rubber, consumer durables, textiles

Export: natural gas, cotton, petroleum products, textiles,
electricity, carpets

Industries: natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 2,187 km
broad gauge: 2,187 km 1.520-m gauge

Highways:
total: 24,000 km
paved: 19,488 km (note—these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, meaning that
some are paved and some are all-weather gravel surfaced)
unpaved: 4,512 km

Waterways: the Amu Darya is an important inland waterway

Ports & Harbors: Turkmenbashy