The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly as ASEAN, is a political and economic union of 10 states in Southeast Asia. Together, its member states represent a population of over 600 million over a land area of 4.5 million km2 (1.7 million sq mi). The bloc generated a purchasing power parity (PPP) gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$10.2 trillion in 2022, constituting approximately 6.5% of global GDP (PPP). ASEAN member states include some of the fastest growing economies in the world.
ASEAN headquarters in Jakarta
ASEAN leaders sign the declaration of the ASEAN Economic Community during the 27th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, 2015
ASEAN Tourism Forum 2019 - Traditional Vietnam woman cloth parade
Nguyễn Ngọc Thiện, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam at the ASEAN Tourism Awards 2019 in Ha Long Bay
Southeast Asia is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and north-west of mainland Australia which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia is bordered to the north by East Asia, to the west by South Asia and the Bay of Bengal, to the east by Oceania and the Pacific Ocean, and to the south by Australia and the Indian Ocean. Apart from the British Indian Ocean Territory and two out of 26 atolls of Maldives in South Asia, Maritime Southeast Asia is the only other subregion of Asia that lies partly within the Southern Hemisphere. Mainland Southeast Asia is entirely in the Northern Hemisphere. East Timor and the southern portion of Indonesia are the parts of Southeast Asia that lie south of the Equator.
Megalithic statue found in Tegurwangi, Sumatra, Indonesia 1500 CE
Bronze drum from Sông Đà, northern Vietnam. Mid-1st millennium BC
Borobudur temple in Central Java, Indonesia
Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia