Countries in Asia: the list of all 48 Asian countries and their capitals
There are 48 countries in Asia under the United Nations M49 standard: 47 UN member states and the State of Palestine, a UN observer state. Turkey, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia and Cyprus are counted in Asia; Russia is counted in Europe and Egypt in Africa. Other lists give 49 or more.
How many countries are in Asia, and what are their capitals? Asia shares long borders with Europe and Africa, so the count depends on the rule. This guide uses the M49 standard of the United Nations Statistics Division, writes out all 48 Asian countries with their capitals in five regions, explains the capitals that have moved, are split or are disputed, and ends with a free trainer for learning them.
Key ideas
- Under UN M49, Asia has 48 countries: 47 UN members and the State of Palestine; Hong Kong and Macao are listed as areas of China, not countries.
- Transcontinental countries count once: Russia in Europe, Egypt in Africa, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan in Asia.
- Wider lists count 49 generally recognised states by adding Russia and Egypt, plus Palestine and Taiwan with partial recognition.
- Capitals that changed or are split: Astana, Naypyidaw, Islamabad, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte and Colombo.
How many countries are in Asia?
There are 48 countries in Asia under the M49 standard, the list of world regions kept by the United Nations Statistics Division. Its Asia region contains 47 of the 193 UN member states and the State of Palestine, one of the two UN observer states. M49 also lists Hong Kong and Macao, special administrative regions of China, as separate areas, but they are not countries and are not in the count. Taiwan has no separate entry in M49.
Transcontinental countries are counted in one continent only. Russia stretches across northern Asia, but it is counted in Eastern Europe because its capital and most of its people are in the European part. Egypt reaches into Asia through the Sinai Peninsula and is counted in Africa. In the other direction, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia, which have land on both sides of the usual Europe–Asia line, are in Western Asia, and Kazakhstan is in Central Asia. Armenia and Cyprus lie wholly in Western Asia even though they belong to several European organisations.
Other counts exist. Wikipedia’s list of sovereign states in Asia gives 49 generally recognised states, because it includes Russia and Egypt for their Asian land, and adds two states with substantial but not general recognition, the State of Palestine and Taiwan, plus three largely unrecognised de facto states. M49 states that its groupings are for statistical convenience and carry no political meaning. It is used here, and in the world capitals tool, because it puts each country in exactly one continent.
List of Asian countries and their capitals
Here are all 48, alphabetically within each M49 region. Central Asia, 5 countries: Kazakhstan — Astana, Kyrgyzstan — Bishkek, Tajikistan — Dushanbe, Turkmenistan — Ashgabat, Uzbekistan — Tashkent.
Eastern Asia, 5 countries: China — Beijing, Japan — Tokyo, Mongolia — Ulaanbaatar, North Korea — Pyongyang, South Korea — Seoul.
South-eastern Asia, 11 countries: Brunei — Bandar Seri Begawan, Cambodia — Phnom Penh, Indonesia — Jakarta, Laos — Vientiane, Malaysia — Kuala Lumpur, Myanmar — Naypyidaw, Philippines — Manila, Singapore — Singapore, Thailand — Bangkok, Timor-Leste — Dili, Vietnam — Hanoi.
Southern Asia, 9 countries: Afghanistan — Kabul, Bangladesh — Dhaka, Bhutan — Thimphu, India — New Delhi, Iran — Tehran, Maldives — Malé, Nepal — Kathmandu, Pakistan — Islamabad, Sri Lanka — Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte.
Western Asia, 18 countries: Armenia — Yerevan, Azerbaijan — Baku, Bahrain — Manama, Cyprus — Nicosia, Georgia — Tbilisi, Iraq — Baghdad, Israel — Jerusalem (status disputed), Jordan — Amman, Kuwait — Kuwait City, Lebanon — Beirut, Oman — Muscat, Qatar — Doha, Saudi Arabia — Riyadh, State of Palestine — Jerusalem (proclaimed; administration in Ramallah), Syria — Damascus, Turkey (Türkiye) — Ankara, United Arab Emirates — Abu Dhabi, Yemen — Sanaa.
Which Asian capitals have moved, split or are disputed?
Several Asian capitals are recent or shared. Kazakhstan’s capital is Astana, called Nur-Sultan from 2019 to 2022; Almaty was the capital until 1997. Myanmar’s capital is Naypyidaw, and Yangon was the capital until 2006. Pakistan’s first capital was Karachi, and Islamabad became the capital in 1967. Malaysia’s official capital is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the administrative and judicial capital. Sri Lanka’s official capital is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, a suburb of Colombo, and Colombo, the capital until 1982, keeps the executive and judicial bodies. Indonesia’s capital is Jakarta, and a new capital, Nusantara, is being built on Borneo. In South Korea, some government functions moved to Sejong City in 2012, but Seoul remains the capital.
Some capitals are disputed. Israel names Jerusalem as its capital and its government sits there, but the UN Security Council declared that law null and void, and nearly all countries keep their embassies in and around Tel Aviv. The State of Palestine proclaims Jerusalem as its capital, while its administration works from Ramallah; neither claim to the city is widely recognised internationally. In Yemen, Sanaa is the capital in law but has been held by the Houthi movement since 2014, and the internationally recognised government has used Aden as a temporary capital. Nicosia is a divided city, the capital of Cyprus. And three common slips: Turkey’s capital is Ankara, not Istanbul; the capital of the United Arab Emirates is Abu Dhabi, not Dubai; and Vietnam’s is Hanoi, not Ho Chi Minh City.
How to learn the capitals of Asia
Learn Asia’s capitals one region at a time, starting with the short ones. Central and Eastern Asia have five countries each, so they make a good first session; South-eastern and Southern Asia come next, and Western Asia, with 18 countries, is best split in two. Practise country → capital first, then capital → country, and give extra time to the names that sound alike, such as Bishkek and Ashgabat or Dhaka and Doha.
The free world capitals tool at VITON13 SCHOOL has everything for this in one place. Its searchable list covers all 195 countries, the 193 UN members and the 2 observer states, with their capitals, and a continent filter shows only Asia. In the trainer, choose Asia, pick country → capital or capital → country, answer by typing or with multiple choice and keep an eye on your score. After a round, start “repeat my mistakes” to go over only the ones you missed. To see where each country is, try the find-the-country quiz on the interactive world map.
In everyday language
Think of a capital as a country’s address. Most Asian countries have one fixed address, but some have moved house, like Kazakhstan from Almaty to Astana or Myanmar from Yangon to Naypyidaw, and some use two buildings at once, like Malaysia with Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. A quiz asks for the official address on the envelope.
Try it yourself
Open the world capitals tool, filter the list to Asia and check that it shows 48 countries. Then start the trainer for Asia, country → capital, with typed answers, and finish one round and a “repeat my mistakes” round.
Expected result
Forty-eight countries in the Asia filter, a score after the first round, and a shorter second round made only of the capitals you missed.
Check your answer: Which three of these cities are not national capitals: Istanbul, Ankara, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi?
Istanbul, Dubai and Ho Chi Minh City. The capitals are Ankara (Turkey), Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) and Hanoi (Vietnam).
Questions
Is Russia counted as an Asian country?
Not in this count. Most of Russia’s land is in Asia, but its capital and most of its people are in Europe, so the UN M49 standard places Russia in Eastern Europe. Lists that include every state with land in Asia do count it.
What is the capital of Kazakhstan?
Astana. The city was called Nur-Sultan from 2019 to 2022, and before 1997 the capital was Almaty.
Asia has 48 countries under the UN M49 count, 49 or more in wider lists. Learn their capitals region by region in the free VITON13 SCHOOL world capitals trainer, watch for capitals that moved, and finish each session with a round of your own mistakes.