Following the Communist victory on the mainland in 1949, 2 million Nationalists fled to Taiwan and established a government using the 1946 constitution drawn up for all of China.

Under a series of agreements signed between May 1994 and September 1999, Israel transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA) security and civilian responsibility for Palestinian-populated areas of the West Bank and Gaza.

(overseas collectivity of France)

(territory of the US)

Since the enactment of Vietnam's "doi moi" (renovation) policy in 1986, Vietnamese authorities have committed to increased economic liberalization and enacted structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive, export-driven industries.

This South Pacific island economy is based primarily on small-scale agriculture, which provides a living for 65% of the population. Fishing, offshore financial services, and tourism, with more than 60,000 visitors in 2005, are other mainstays of the economy.

Independent since 1991, the country seeks to gradually lessen its dependence on agriculture while developing its mineral and petroleum reserves.

The UAE's per capita GDP is on par with those of leading West European nations.

Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name ".tv" for $50 million in royalties over a 12-year period.

Turkmenistan is a largely desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and large gas and oil resources.

Tonga - unique among Pacific nations - never completely lost its indigenous governance.

(territory of New Zealand)

East Timor declared itself independent from Portugal on 28 November 1975 and was invaded and occupied by Indonesian forces nine days later.

Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power.

Tajikistan became independent in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union, and it is now in the process of strengthening its democracy and transitioning to a free market economy after its 1992-97 civil war.

The Syrian economy grew by an estimated 3.3% in real terms in 2007 led by the petroleum and agricultural sectors, which together account for about one-half of GDP.

Buddhism was introduced in about the mid-third century B.C., and a great civilization developed at the cities of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.

The Spratly Islands consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs, surrounded by rich fishing grounds and potentially by gas and oil deposits. They are claimed in their entirety by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, while portions are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines.

Ethnic violence, government malfeasance, and endemic crime have undermined stability and civil society.

Singapore has a remarkably open and corruption-free environment, stable prices, and a per capita GDP equal to that of the four largest West European countries

Since independence in 1976, per capita output in this Indian Ocean archipelago has expanded to roughly seven times the pre-independence, near-subsistence level, moving the island into the upper-middle income group of countries.

The country is vulnerable to devastating storms.

(overseas collectivity of France)

(overseas territory of the UK)

In 1935 the Philippines became a self-governing commonwealth.

China has occupied the Paracel Islands since 1974, when its troops seized a South Vietnamese garrison occupying the western islands.

Papua New Guinea is richly endowed with natural resources, but exploitation has been hampered by rugged terrain and the high cost of developing infrastructure.

After three decades as part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific under US administration, this westernmost cluster of the Caroline Islands opted for independence in 1978 rather than join the Federated States of Micronesia.

The separation in 1947 of British India into the Muslim state of Pakistan (with West and East sections) and largely Hindu India was never satisfactorily resolved, and India and Pakistan fought two wars - in 1947-48 and 1965 - over the disputed Kashmir territory.

(commonwealth in political union with the US)

(territory of Australia)

(self-governing in free association with New Zealand)

Over the past 20 years the government has transformed New Zealand from an agrarian economy dependent on concessionary British market access to a more industrialized, free market economy that can compete globally.

(self-governing territory of France)

Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with almost one-third of its population living below the poverty line.

Revenues of this tiny island have traditionally come from exports of phosphates, now significantly depleted.

The Mongols gained fame in the 13th century when under Chinggis Khan they conquered a huge Eurasian empire. After his death the empire was divided into several powerful Mongol states, but these broke apart in the 14th century.

Economic activity consists primarily of subsistence farming and fishing. The potential for a tourist industry exists, but the remote location, a lack of adequate facilities, and limited air connections hinder development.

The Marshall Islands hosts the US Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) Reagan Missile Test Site, a key installation in the US missile defense network.

The Maldives was long a sultanate, first under Dutch and then under British protection. It became a republic in 1968, three years after independence.

Malaysia, a middle-income country, has transformed itself since the 1970s from a producer of raw materials into an emerging multi-sector economy.

(special administrative region of China)

The government of Laos, one of the few remaining one-party Communist states, began decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise in 1986.

A Central Asian country of incredible natural beauty and proud nomadic traditions, most of Kyrgyzstan was formally annexed to Russia in 1876.

Kuwait is a small, rich, relatively open economy with self-reported crude oil reserves of about 104 billion barrels - 10% of world reserves.

Since the 1960s, South Korea has achieved an incredible record of growth and integration into the high-tech modern world economy.

North Korea, one of the world's most centrally directed and least open economies, faces chronic economic problems.

A remote country of 33 scattered coral atolls, Kiribati has few natural resources.

Kazakhstan's economy is larger than those of all the other Central Asian states combined, largely due to the country's vast natural resources and a recent history of political stability.

After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and a staunch ally of the US.

Iraq attained its independence as a kingdom in 1932.

Known as Persia until 1935, Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979 after the ruling monarchy was overthrown and the shah was forced into exile.

The Dutch began to colonize Indonesia in the early 17th century; the islands were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945.

Aryan tribes from the northwest infiltrated onto the Indian subcontinent about 1500 B.C. and created the classical Indian culture.

(special administrative region of China)

The region of present-day Georgia contained the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Kartli-Iberia.

(overseas territory of France)

The French annexed various Polynesian island groups during the 19th century.

Fiji became independent in 1970, after nearly a century as a British colony.

Scattered over more than three-quarters of a million square kilometers of ocean, the Coral Sea Islands were declared a territory of Australia in 1969. They are uninhabited except for a small meteorological staff on the Willis Islets.

Named after Captain Cook, who sighted them in 1770, the islands became a British protectorate in 1888. By 1900, administrative control was transferred to New Zealand; in 1965, residents chose self-government in free association with New Zealand.

There are 27 coral islands in the group. Captain William Keeling discovered the islands in 1609, but they remained uninhabited until the 19th century. From the 1820s to 1978, members of the Clunie-Ross family controlled the islands and the copra produced from local coconuts. Annexed by the UK in 1857, the Cocos Islands were transferred to the Australian Government in 1955.

Named in 1643 for the day of its discovery, the island was annexed and settlement began by the UK in 1888. Phosphate mining began in the 1890s. The UK transferred sovereignty to Australia in 1958.

For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation.

Most Cambodians consider themselves to be Khmers, descendants of the Angkor Empire that extended over much of Southeast Asia and reached its zenith between the 10th and 13th centuries.

Britain conquered Burma over a period of 62 years (1824-1886) and incorporated it into its Indian Empire. Burma was administered as a province of India until 1937 when it became a separate, self-governing colony; independence from the Commonwealth was attained in 1948.

In 1888, Brunei became a British protectorate; independence was achieved in 1984. The same family has ruled Brunei for over six centuries.

Established as a territory of the UK in 1965, a number of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) islands were transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago.

The economy is based on agriculture and forestry, which provide the main livelihood for more than 60% of the population. Agriculture consists largely of subsistence farming and animal husbandry. Rugged mountains dominate the terrain and make the building of roads and other infrastructure difficult and expensive.

In 1947, West Pakistan and East Bengal (both primarily Muslim) separated from India (largely Hindu) and jointly became the new country of Pakistan.

In 1783, the al-Khalifa family captured Bahrain from the Persians. In order to secure these holdings, it entered into a series of treaties with the UK during the 19th century that made Bahrain a British protectorate. The archipelago attained its independence in 1971.

Azerbaijan - a nation with a majority-Turkic and majority-Muslim population - was briefly independent from 1918 to 1920; it regained its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century.

These uninhabited islands came under Australian authority in 1931; formal administration began two years later.

Armenia prides itself on being the first nation to formally adopt Christianity (early 4th century). Despite periods of autonomy, over the centuries Armenia came under the sway of various empires including the Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Persian, and Ottoman.

The country served as a buffer between the British and Russian empires until it won independence from notional British control in 1919. A brief experiment in democracy ended in a 1973 coup and a 1978 Communist counter-coup.

(territory of Australia)