Asian

Regionalism
  Regionalization: is the “societal integration
and the often undirected process of social
and economic interaction
 Regionalism is “the formal process of
Regionalism intergovernmental collaboration between
and two or more states. Regionalism is the set
Regionalization of conscious activities carried out by states
within a region to cooperate while
regionalization is a less conscious process
which is the outcome of these states
policies
  A region is an area that includes a number
of places--all of which have something in
common. It is an area united by shared
characteristics. Geographers categorize
Regions: regions in two basic ways: physical and
How They cultural.
Form  Physical regions are defined by landform
(continents and mountain ranges), climate,
soil, and natural vegetation.
 Cultural regions are distinguished by such
traits as language, politics, religion,
economics, and industry.
  Physical Regions
 Physical regions are units of physical space that are very
similar in their natural characteristics. Characteristics that
define physical regions can include landforms, types of
vegetation, climate, or other natural features.
 Cultural Regions
 Cultural regions are units of physical space defined by
people who share cultural traits like religion, language,
Characteristics identity, or even food preferences.
 Economic Regions
of Regions:  Economic regions are those physical spaces determined by
economic interactions. In many countries, border zones are
important economic regions where lots of trade occurs. On a
larger scale, many countries around the world have created
economic regions called economic blocs; these are a group of
countries that act as a unit when dealing with the global market.
 Political Regions
 Finally, we can also identify political regions, or spaces that
share common ideas about political ideologies, the reach of
laws, or political power. In a large sense, the countries that share
ideas about democracies could be considered a political region
of the world of authority.
  The widely recognized all the 7 continents
are listed by size below, from biggest to
smallest.
 ASIA includes 50 countries, and it is the
World most populated continent, the 60% of the
REGIONS total population of the Earth live here.
or  AFRICA comprises 54 countries. It is the
CONTINENTS hottest continent and home of the world's
largest desert, the Sahara, occupying the
25% of the total area of Africa.
 NORTH AMERICA includes 23 countries led
by the USA as the largest economy in the
world.
 SOUTH AMERICA comprises 12 countries. Here
is located the largest forest, the Amazon
rainforest, which covers 30% of the South
America total area.
 ANTARCTICA is the coldest continent in the
world, completely covered with ice. There are no
permanent inhabitants, except of scientists
maintaining research stations in Antarctica.
 EUROPE comprises 51 countries. It is the most
developed economically continent with the
European Union as the biggest economic and
political union in the world.
 AUSTRALIA includes 14 countries. It is the least
populated continent after Antarctica, only 0.3%
of the total Earth populations live here.
  Gains in Trade
 Regionalism encourages cooperation and
partnerships. Trade agreements that open
borders allow a country with a particularly
strong industry.
 Economies of Scale
ADVANTAGES
and  Regional integration agreements expand the
DISADVANTAGES market for goods and therefore allow
companies, factories and industries to
produce more of their goods and sell it to a
bigger market. This creates something called
economies of scale, where the per-unit price
of producing a good decreases as the total
quantity of that good's production increases.
  Limited Fiscal Capabilities
 Some regional integration agreements that
involve the creation of a common currency -- most
notably the European Union's -- lead to fiscal
crises. Without regional integration, individual
countries cannot control the supply of their own
ADVANTAGES currency to suit the nation's economic conditions.
and  Cultural Centralization
DISADVANTAGES
 While regionalism puts regional community on the
map so everyone will know where they are and, in
many ways, who and what we they are, still
regional integration has a final non-economic
disadvantage. Especially strong integration -- like
the European Union -- can lead to the loss of
unique minority cultures within a region.
Arc of
Containment
  Central Asia (Tajikistan, Uzbekistan,
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan)
 Central Asia is west of China, south of
Russia, and north of Afghanistan. The
western border of this region runs along the
Caspian Sea. Given that the name of each of
Asian these countries ends in "-stan," Central Asia
Countries is sometimes informally referred to as "The
and Regions Stans." The region covers a total area of
1,545,741 square miles and has a population
size of just over 69.78 million individuals.
Central Asia played an important role in the
transportation of goods between China and
Europe during the Silk Road trading era.
  East Asia (China, Mongolia, North Korea, South
Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau)
 East Asia is located east of Central Asia, with its
eastern border running along the East China Sea.
This region covers a total area of 4,571,092 square
miles and has a population size of more than 1.641
billion, which represents 22% of the global
population and 38% of Asia's total population. Many
residents of East Asia are concentrated in major
Asian metropolitan areas such as Beijing and Tokyo.
Countries  The geography of East Asia is varied depending on
the zone. The inner continental area experiences a
and Regions temperate climate, while Mongolia is covered by the
arid Gobi desert. China, the largest country in the
region, is home to both mountains and plateaus,
while Japan is characterized by thousands of islands
and coastlines. Today, East Asia is believed to have
some of the most advanced technologies in the
world, which fosters economic development.
  South Asia (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, the
Maldives)
 South Asia has a peninsula-like shape that is
bordered by three bodies of water: the
Indian Ocean to the south, the Bay of
Asian Bengal to the east, and the Arabian Sea to
Countries the west. The region includes Indian
subcontinent and surrounding countries.
and Regions The region covers a total area of roughly
two million square miles and has a
population size of more than 1.74 billion,
which is nearly a quarter of the global
population. Additionally, South Asia has the
distinction of being the most densely
populated area in the world.
  Western Asia (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine,
Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia)
 West Asia is located in the area between Central
Asia and Africa, south of Eastern Europe. The
majority of the region is often referred to as the
Asian Middle East, although it geographically excludes
the mainland of Egypt (which is culturally
Countries considered a Middle Eastern country). The region
and Regions covers a total area of around 2.415 million square
miles and has a population size of 313.428 million.
 A large area of the region is covered by an arid
desert environment. However, West Asia does have
several points of access to large bodies of water,
including the Black Sea, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea,
Red Sea, Caspian Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and the
Aegean Sea.
  Southeast Asia (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,
Timor Leste, Vietnam, Christmas Island, Cocos Islands)
 Southeast Asia is located north of Australia, south of East
Asia, west of the Pacific Ocean, and east of the Bay of
Bengal. It encompasses several island and archipelago
nations that stretch between the northern and southern
hemispheres, making it the only Asian region located on
both sides of the equator.
Asian
 Southeast Asia covers a total area of 1,735,121 square
Countries miles and has a population size of more than 641 million
and Regions individuals. The geography of Southeast Asia is
characterized by a large number of archipelagos. The
Indonesian Archipelago is the biggest in the world and is
home to the largest number of active volcanoes in the
world. The region's importance in global trade began
during the spice trade, which started before European
exploration. Today, the economy of Southeast Asia is
rapidly developing. Indonesia is considered the largest
economy in the region and is East Asia's only member of
the G20.
  Association of Southeast Asian Nations
 10 member states
 Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand, & Vietnam
 home to 642 million people
ASEAN:  collective GDP of US$2.8 trillion
overview
 5 founding members:
 Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore,
Indonesia, Philippines
 Bangkok Declaration of 1967:
 accelerate economic growth
 promote regional peace and stability
 contain the spread of communism
  The entire world is moving towards integration, it is
inevitable. But a regional partnership is the first step, we
can see this in the EUROPEAN UNION, AFRICAN UNION,
UNION OF SOUTH AMERICAN NATIONS, and there is
more on the way. In Asia, the Southeast Asian countries
have already formed ASEAN (ASSOCIATION OF
FACTORS SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS. This regional power block
LEADING appears to work fine, the member states fit very well
together because of the following factors:
TO GREATER
 1. Mutual benefit - when it comes to trade, these nations
INTEGRATION can readily supply each other’s needs.
OF  2. Mutual goals
THE  3. Similar culture - the people of this region are generally
ASIAN REGION alike in appearance, temperament which is seemingly
peaceful. They tend to get along quite well even on an
individual level.
 4. Similar security needs - aside from small localized
rebels, this association needs only to contend with foreign-
supported terrorist groups which are usually handled well.