China has 1.3 billion people, which makes it the most populated nation in the world. More and more Chinese people join the middle class every day, though hundreds of millions still live on the land.

Dhaka is a city full of factories, where many goods are made for export. It is a swamp city on the coast and is threatened by rising seas, as well as rampant corruption.

Thailand is proud of the fact that alone among its neighbors, it was never colonized. It has a king and a nascent democracy that is currently threatened by military rulers.

Mandarin is the official language of China. However, it's not the only common language there, with Cantonese not far behind. English is the lingua franca between nations of the region, as not many people speak both Hindi and Mandarin many speakers of either language also know English.

At 12,388 feet, this is the highest peak in Japan. It's also the name of a very successful brand of cameras that hail from not too far away.

The Ganges is holy but incredibly polluted, a product of India's poverty and corruption outside the major cities. Cleanup will be expensive but is slowly happening as Indians grow richer and stop feeling like they must put up with their landscape being abused by bad management.

This dam flooded the homes of many, many people, and its construction was immensely controversial. However, some argue that China's commitment to hydropower is better for its people long term than its former interest in coal - which it has now abandoned in favor of a half-trillion dollar investment in solar.

Macau is rich. It's so rich it has a GDP per capita of $114,000. That's nearly as high as the oil-rich state of Qatar. It's probably a sign of some very serious corruption!

Russia is bigger than China but much of its borders are ocean. It's also not entirely in Asia. Thus, China has the biggest Asian land border.

Seoul is one of the most exciting cities in the world. Unfortunately, it's also within contemporary weapons range of North Korea, which might make it the wrong kind of exciting from time to time.

Myanmar, formerly Burma, has been through a lot. There is currently a low-level war going on there, and the nation has previously been colonized as well as having had key parts of World War II fought on its territory.

Singapore's income is very high thanks to it being a city state with a strong financial center. The GDP per capita is $52,000, which is close to the USA's figure of about $59,000.

Cambodia is home to these incredible temples that cover many hundreds of acres. It was built by the Khmer King, Suryavarman II, 700 years ago.

Russia is partly on the European side of the Caucasus mountains, and partly on the Asian side. It's the biggest country in the world, hence it spans two continents.

Kazakhstan is not very populated as it is too dry and too high. However, it will soon be easier to reach as part of China's massive Belt and Road project connecting all of Asia.

It's called the Eurasian Pole of Inaccessibility. Suluk is almost impossible to reach. It is on the Kazakh-Chinese border.

Karakorum was the Mongol capital, though now it is merely a ruin. It remains a World Heritage site due to it being the home of Genghis Khan.

North Korea sees the war as a civil one. South Korea says the two nations are now separate. There is hope that they may one day be at peace again, but while one is a dictatorship and the other a democracy, this is a challenge.

Hong Kong is now part of China again but still has a different set of rules. For this reason, it is very popular with expats who do not like living under the fuller censorship of mainland China.

China has lots of neighbors thanks to its long land border. It is on friendlier terms with some than with others, however.

Technically, Everest is also partly in China, but the peak is in Nepal. This makes it the highest land border in the world.

Sri Lanka was once called Ceylon and was a tea-growing colony of Britain. It is now independent and still grows a lot of tea.

This is the deadliest natural disaster in history. Most of the casualties were in Indonesia and Thailand, with India also hard hit.

The total list is Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, China, and Vietnam. The Mekong is one of hte most important rivers in the world and the 12th longest.

The Maldives are very beautiful and make a lot of money from tourism. However, since the islands are very low-lying, rising seas threaten the entire country's existence.

There are only 10 rivers creating 95 percent of the problem and eight of them are in Asia. This is partly because of poverty and corruption, as people cannot hold local government or companies accountable. It is also because of customers of companies that outsource, who enjoy cheap goods but don't ask questions. Asian populations are starting to protest more loudly and action is slowly being taken.

Mumbai is a vast and sprawling city, home to great wealth and also great poverty. It is also home to Bollywood, which is the biggest film industry on the planet.

Laos was part of French Indochina until 1954. It achieved independence on Boxing Day of that year.

Bhutan is a landlocked nation that is still a monarchy. However, it's not a very repressive monarchy, unlike many of the other rulers in the area.

"Pak" means pure in both Urdu and Persian. Pakistan was once part of India but due to its Muslim majority, split off when India became independent.

The capital of Japan is really big. It has a staggering 38.2 million residents. That means it could swallow London four times.

Brunei is very small. It's also very rich, thanks to oil. As it is a monarchy, this wealth has tended to collect around the leadership.

The Thar Desert creates a natural boundary. Unfortunately, this has not prevented India and Pakistan from having a number of wars over the years.

Kashmir is claimed by several nations, meaning that the region is one of the most militarized in Asia. It's also very beautiful, and if it opens up for tourism again, will doubtless become very popular once more.

India has a vast 1.2 billion people, making it the biggest democracy in the world. Unfortunately, its demoracy is very chaotic and the government doesn't always get much done!