August 2023 coincides with the 56th ASEAN Anniversary, which also places Indonesia as ASEAN Chair for the fifth time. Apart from the many agreements during the ASEAN Summit, many interesting facts from ASEAN are worth exploring and knowing.
Interesting facts about ASEAN, it also recalls the background and history of establishing this association that has succeeded in uniting countries in the Southeast Asian region. Here are interesting facts about ASEAN contained in unique figures:
Starting from Four Countries
Establishing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) began with the reconciliation of three countries at odds: Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Then Thailand stepped in to bridge the reconciliation between the three countries. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, Thanat Khoman, proposed the formation of a regional organization to Adam Malik, the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs at that time. The name ASEAN itself was coined by Foreign Minister Adam Malik.
10 Member Countries
Other countries also welcomed the organization's formation in the Southeast Asian region. Until now, there are a total of 10 countries that are members of the ASEAN organization, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos PDR, and Cambodia.
Area Reaches 5 Million Square Kilometers
The total ASEAN area reaches 5,060,100 square kilometers for water areas when combined. Meanwhile, the total land area in the ASEAN region is approximately 4,817,000 square kilometers. Interestingly, Indonesia is the largest ASEAN country, with an area of 1.905 million square kilometers. Meanwhile, Singapore is the country in the ASEAN region with the smallest area, 728.6 square kilometers.
Contributing 8% of the World's Population
Based on a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in 2023, the total population in the Southeast Asian region is estimated to reach 679.69 million people. This figure indicates that ASEAN countries contribute 8.09% of the world population, totaling 8.4 billion people. From these data, Indonesia is the country in the ASEAN region with the largest population, around 277 million people, or about 40.8% of the total population in the ASEAN region.
Number Eight
Besides contributing 8.09% of the world's population, there is an interesting fact about the relationship between the number eight (8) and the rest of ASEAN. In the Gregorian calendar, eight refers to August. This month, ASEAN was founded, on August 8, 1967, to be precise. Not only that, another interesting fact, in the eighth month (August), three countries in the ASEAN region, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, celebrate Independence Day.
Photo: Shutterstock/BUTENKOV ALEKSEI