List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Asia

Though a majority of the Russian Federation's land area is located within Asia, it is generally considered a European country because of its historical, cultural, ethnic, and political ties to Europe.

Its capital and largest city, Moscow is located within Europe, and the vast majority of its population lives within its European part.

In addition, while Egypt extends into Asia through the Sinai Peninsula, it is generally considered to be an African country because most of its population and geographic area is in Africa.

Papua New Guinea is occasionally thought of as a Southeast Asian country,[2][3][4] but it is generally considered to be part of Australasia or Melanesia.

The division between East Asia and Oceania is usually placed somewhere between the Japanese archipelago and the Northern Mariana Islands of Micronesia.

[citation needed] A sovereign state is a political organization with effective sovereignty over a population for whom it makes decisions in its interest.