Asia: position, resources, population and economic groups

Asian countries differ widely in economic development. Japan is Asia’s only G7 member, known for high-tech industry and a high standard of living. Israel is a developed country, especially strong in high technology. China and India are key developing countries: China has the world’s second-largest GDP (the largest by purchasing power), and India is among the fastest-growing big economies, though their per-person figures are still low. The Republic of Korea and Singapore moved from newly industrialised to developed status; Malaysia and Thailand follow a similar path, specialising in electronics, cars and shipbuilding. Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Türkiye and Iran are large industrial-agrarian countries. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Brunei are oil exporters: GDP per person is very high but their economies rest on raw materials, and they now develop tourism, finance and transit trade. Central Asia, the Transcaucasian states and Mongolia are industrial-agrarian economies in transition (Uzbekistan is in this group); Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan are comparatively richer thanks to oil and gas exports. Cyprus, Lebanon and the Maldives specialise in tourism and services. In Vietnam, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Sri Lanka light industry is growing fast, while Afghanistan, Nepal, Yemen, Myanmar, Laos and Timor-Leste are the least developed and depend on farming.