Rank Asia uses the United Nations M49 geographic grouping so “Asia” has a consistent editorial meaning: Central, Eastern, Southern, South-eastern, and Western Asia.
Central Asia
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
East Asia
China, Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan.
South Asia
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Southeast Asia
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.
Western Asia
From the South Caucasus and Türkiye through the Levant and Arabian Peninsula, following M49.
Geographic note M49 is a statistical convention, not a political claim. Place names follow common English travel usage and say nothing about political status. Russia is classified under Eastern Europe in that system and is outside the default Rank Asia taxonomy unless an individual article explicitly defines a transcontinental scope.