Asian Studies: Websites

The Statesman’s Yearbook is an annual publication covering the politics, cultures and economies of all of the countries of the world plus major international organizations. It is authoritative and up-to-date; meticulously compiled by a dedicated in-house editorial team since 1864.

The World Factbook provides basic intelligence on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, environment, communications, transportation, military, terrorism, and transnational issues for 266 world entities.

Compiled by the US Census Bureau

From the Asia Society

Compiled by the World Bank and searchable by country

This collection contains electronic versions of eighty books originally sponsored by the U.S. Army and written by researchers affiliated with the Library’s Federal Research Division. Intended for a general audience, the studies provide descriptions and analyses of lesser-known countries or regions where U.S. military forces might be deployed.

PDFs of primary sources translated into English from China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN on 7 January 1984, followed by Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999, making up what is today the ten Member States of ASEAN.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a regional economic forum established in 1989 to leverage the growing interdependence of the Asia-Pacific. APEC's 21 members aim to create greater prosperity for the people of the region by promoting balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure growth and by accelerating regional economic integration.

The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is the most inclusive intergovernmental platform in the Asia-Pacific region. The Commission promotes cooperation among its 53 member States and 9 associate members in pursuit of solutions to sustainable development challenges. ESCAP is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations.

The Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs leads U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and North Africa region through carefully administered diplomacy, advocacy, and assistance that advances the interests, safety, and economic prosperity of the American people.

The Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs deals with U.S. foreign policy and U.S. relations with the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Through diplomacy, advocacy, assistance, and learning from the past we advance the interests of the American people, their safety and economic prosperity.

The Asia Society’s purpose is to navigate shared futures for Asia and the world across policy, arts and culture, education, sustainability, business, and technology.

The Association for Asian Studies was founded in 1941, originally as publisher of the Far Eastern Quarterly (now the Journal of Asian Studies). It has gone through a series of reorganizations to serve better the broadening disciplinary and geographical interests of its membership.

From the University of Bristol

From the Nagasaki University Library

From the University of Wisconsin

The mission of the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is to deliver world-class diplomatic training and provide the career-long learning opportunities that U.S. government foreign affairs professionals need in order to excel in today’s global arena, advance U.S. foreign policy and deliver on behalf of the American people.

Links to online dictionaries and translations of Asian classics.

Omniglot is an encyclopedia of writing systems and languages. You can use it to learn about languages, to learn alphabets and other writing systems, and to learn phrases, numbers and other things in many languages. There is also advice on how to learn languages.

From the University of Chicago

Contains many philosophical, religious, and historical terms