Association of Southeast Asian Nations
The Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (
ASEAN /ˈɑːsi.ɑːn/ AH-see-ahn, /ˈɑːzi.ɑːn/ AH-zee-ahn) is a political and economic organisation of ten countries located in
Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8
August 1967 by
Indonesia,
Malaysia, the
Philippines,
Singapore and
Thailand. Since then, membership has expanded to include
Brunei,
Cambodia,
Laos,
Myanmar (
Burma) and
Vietnam. Its aims include accelerating economic growth, social progress, sociocultural evolution among its members, protection of regional
peace and stability, and opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully.
ASEAN covers a land area of 4.46 million km², which is 3% of the total land area of
Earth, and has a population of approximately 600 million people, which is 8.8% of the world's population.
The...