The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a political and economic organisation of ten Southeast Asian countries, 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, and 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 4.4 million km², 3% of the total land area of earth. The territorial waters of ASEAN member-states is about three times larger than its land counterpart. It has a population of approximately 617 million people, or 8.8% of the world's population. In 2012, its combined nominal GDP had grown to more than US$2.3 trillion. If ASEAN were a single entity, it would rank as the seventh largest economy in the world, behind the US, China, Japan, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.
Purpose
As set out in the ASEAN Declaration, the aims and purposes of ASEAN are:
- To accelerate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in the region
- To promote regional peace and stability
- To promote collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest
- To provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities
- To collaborate for the better utilisation of agriculture and industry to raise the living standards of the people
- To promote Southeast Asian studies
- To maintain close, beneficial co-operation with existing international organisations with similar aims and purposes
Headquarters | Jakarta, Indonesia | |
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Membership | ||
Leaders | ||
- | Secretary General | Lê Lương Minh |
- | Current ASEAN Chair | Malaysia |
Establishment | ||
- | Bangkok Declaration | 8 August 1967 |
- | Charter | 16 December 2008 |
Area | ||
- | Total | 4,479,210.5 km2 2,778,124.7 sq mi |
Population | ||
- | 2014 estimate | 620,438,505 |
- | Density | 138/km2 223/sq mi |
GDP (PPP) | 2011 estimate | |
- | Total | US$3.574 trillion |
- | Per capita | US$5,930 |
GDP (nominal) | 2013 estimate | |
- | Total | US$2.403 trillion |
- | Per capita | US$3,909 |
HDI (2013) | 0.669b medium | |
Currency | ||
Time zone | ASEAN(UTC+9 to +6:30) | |
Calling code | ||
Internet TLD | ||
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