Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: How many countries are in Asia?
Asia is the largest continent on Earth. It covers 9% of the Earth's total surface area (or 30% of its land area), and has the largest coastline, at 62,800 kilometres (39,022mi). Asia is generally defined as comprising the eastern four-fifths of Eurasia. It is located to the east of the Suez Canal and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains (or the Kuma–Manych Depression) and the Caspian and Black Seas.[7][37] It is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean and on the north by the Arctic Ocean. Asia is subdivided into 48 countries, three of them (Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey) having part of their land in Europe.
On 1 January 1994, NBC it was officially launched to grand inaugurated a pay television channel in Asia called NBC Asia available in Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Cayman Islands, Micronesia, British Virgin Islands, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, South Korea, People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Macau, Republic of China, Thailand and Philippines at how many of 20-countries of the Asia it like of NBC Europe, NBC Asia featured most of NBC programs as well as NBC Nightly News (a flagship daily evening primetime television news program for NBC News), The Tonight Show, Saturday Night Live and Late Night. Like its European counterpart, it could not broadcast United States-produced primetime shows due to rights restrictions. It also had NBC Sports for the latest action in selected sporting events such: NFL on NBC (a subsidiary of NFL), Major League Baseball on NBC (a subsidiary of MLB), NBA on NBC (a subsidiary of NBA) and NHL on NBC (a subsidiary of NHL). During weekday evenings, NBC Asia had a regional evening news program. It occasionally simulcast some programs from CNBC Asia and MSNBC.
Asia Uncut is a variety chat show hosted by Jon Niermann, the president of Electronic Arts, Asia. The show premiered in March 2009 and is aired in many countries via STAR World.
Beyond the scope Southeast Asia, the Asia-Pacific region contains the largest number of forced laborers anywhere in the world but only has a prevalence rate of 3.3 per 1000, which is one of the lower prevalence rates when compared by region. This is due to the fact that the Asia-Pacific region has a much larger population when compared to the rest of the world's regions.
In Southeast Asia human trafficking is widely regarded as interregional with laborers being collected from countries within the region and ultimately working within the region. Victims from Southeast Asia have also been found in many other countries around the globe. In Southeast Asia human trafficking consists of forced sexual labor and forced labor which, in many countries in Southeast Asia, can lead to mixed forms of human trafficking. In Thailand and Malaysia trafficking mainly takes the form of sexual exploitation, while in Indonesia forced labor is observed is more prevalent, but both forms of sexual and forced labor can be found. It is estimated that 10,000 laborers are deceived or captured into forced labor annually in the region.
"Raising Asia" features Asia Monet Ray and follows both her singing and dancing career. This show also brings to light many of the other activities and performances Asia participates in. The series captures the day-to-day life of the Ray family and how they raise an eight-year-old celebrity. The series aired on Lifetime.
FGM is mainly performed in Africa as well as a few countries in Asia and the Middle East. The worldwide estimation of how many women have undergone FGM is anywhere from 130 to 140 million. In the MICS conducted by UNICEF, the prevalence of FGM in Sierra Leone, Gambia, Burkina Faso and Mauritania was 94%, 79%, 74%, and 72% respectively. While in other countries in western Africa such as Ghana, Niger and Togo, the prevalence of FGM was less than 6%. 
Many countries provide the death penalty for drug trafficking, drug dealing, drug possession and related offences, mostly in West Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and some African countries. Among countries who regularly execute drug offenders are China, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Singapore.
How Do I Look? extended to Asia, which is now called "How Do I Look? Asia" on Asia's leading entertainment channel for women, Diva (Asia TV channel).
Kuro Tawil was on a solo-backpacking trip through South Western Asia in 2013, shortly after graduating from Texas State University. While traveling, he realized how large the issue of sexual violence is around the world and saw how in many developing countries the law and justice system were ineffective. Tawil realized many of these women needed a way to take their protection and their lives into their own hands, seeing the need for a realistic way for a woman to be able to defend themselves. Tawil returned home to Texas and started the conscious business Kuros, as a way to fund the distribution of pepper spray to at risk populations of women.
The Bahá'í Faith originated in Asia, in Iran (Persia), and spread from there to the Ottoman Empire, Central Asia, India, and Burma during the lifetime of Bahá'u'lláh. Since the middle of the 20th century, growth has particularly occurred in other Asian countries, because the Bahá'í Faith's activities in many Muslim countries has been severely suppressed by authorities. Comparatively mild troubles exist in other countries like Pakistan, Iraq, and Indonesia, where the Bahá'í Faith is legal and only somewhat restricted.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN , ) is a regional intergovernmental organization comprising ten countries in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration among its members and other countries in Asia. It also regularly engages other countries in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. ASEAN maintains a global network of alliances and dialogue partners and is considered by many as a global powerhouse, the central union for cooperation in Asia-Pacific, and a prominent and influential organisation. It is involved in numerous international affairs, and hosts diplomatic missions throughout the world. It is a major partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, developing cooperation model with the organisation for the peace, stability, development and sustainability of Asia. 
In 1995 Forum-Asia undertook its first country mission. The regional mission to Burma focused on assessing the situation in the country. The group met with different stakeholders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and based on these engagements assessed how Forum-Asia could assist the HRDs of the country to improve the human rights situation in Burma.
The Bahá'í Faith originated in Asia, in Iran (Persia), and spread from there to the Ottoman Empire, Central Asia, India, and Burma during the lifetime of Bahá'u'lláh. Since the middle of the 20th century, growth has particularly occurred in other Asian countries, because Bahá'í activities in many Muslim countries has been severely suppressed by authorities. Lotus Temple is a big Baha'i Temple in India.
Designed as a test of driving and navigation skill, endurance and teamwork, as well as the preparation, durability and toughness of the 4 wheel drive vehicles, the Asia Cross Country Rally has gained a loyal following among 4 wheel enthusiasts throughout many parts of Asia.
In 2015, executive director Mark L. Clifford authored "The Greening of Asia: The Business Case for Solving Asia’s Environmental Emergency", which provides a behind-the-scenes look at how companies in Asia are building businesses that will lessen the environmental impact of Asia’s extraordinary growth. In 2011, the council published "Through the Eyes of Tiger Cubs: Views of Asia’s Next Generation", which draws excerpts from selected essays from over 400 entries submitted by young Asians to Asia’s Challenge 2020 contest organized by the council, Time, and Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. The book offers insights into the minds of young Asians, including their worries and ideas for solving Asia’s many challenges. In 2007, it published "Building Energy Efficiency: Why Green Buildings Are Key to Asia's Future", which looks at how large energy savings can be achieved in Asia through better building design and operation, highlighting what business and governments are doing now as well as what should be done to realize both economic and environmental benefits. The book was translated into Chinese in 2008.
The suffix -"desh" is an Indo-Aryan word for "country". It appears in the names of many regions and countries, especially in South Asia and Southeast Asia:
Malawian diaspora refers to Malawian citizens and foreign nationals of Malawian descent who relocate—temporarily or permanently—to foreign countries. There are no reliable figures on how many Malawians live abroad. Populations of Malawians can be found in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. Malawians have historically been an important supply of both skilled and unskilled labor to other countries. Malawians were a source of labor to the diamond and gold mines in Southern Africa, particularly South Africa. Many Malawian health professionals have migrated to the Global North (developed nations) in search of employment. The migration of skiiled labor has contributed to the brain drain that is affecting many African nations.
There are many different theories for how Indianization spread throughout insular and mainland Southeast Asia. These differing theories each argue for a different caste of Indians as being the main propagator of Indian language and culture into Southeast Asia.
In Georgia, prostitution is illegal but widespread, particularly in Tbilisi. Many NGO's attribute this to the harsh economic conditions according to the US State Department. Many women from Georgia are part of human trafficking operations to or from countries. Women who are forced to be prostitutes are in Georgia are often from Asia and neighboring European countries.
The board is a map of the world, separated into six regions: Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Central America and South America. One player plays as the US and the other, as the USSR. Many countries are marked on the map and are connected by lines indicating their adjacency. The most important countries are marked as 'battleground countries'. There is the 'turn track', denoting the current turn, a 'victory point track', denoting the current victory point status, the 'DEFCON track' denoting the current level of global stability from five (total peace) to one (thermonuclear war), the 'space race track', denoting how advanced each player is in the space race, the 'action round track', denoting how many cards are left to be played in the turn, and the 'military operations track', denoting how militaristic each player has been in the turn. The game is separated into ten turns which roughly cover the Cold War from 1945 to 1989. Turn One to Turn Three are the 'Early War', Turn Four to Turn Seven are the 'Mid War', and Turn Eight to Turn Ten are the 'Late War'.
During each season, several national meteorological services and scientific agencies forecast how many tropical cyclones, tropical storms, and typhoons will form during a season and/or how many tropical cyclones will affect a particular country. These agencies include the Tropical Storm Risk  Consortium of the University College London, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration and the Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau. During previous seasons the Guy Carpenter Asia-Pacific Climate Impact Centre also issued forecasts, however they did not issue a forecast this year as it had been overestimating how many tropical cyclones would develop during the last few seasons.
Civil-military relations in Southeast Asia vary from nation to nation, but possess consistent themes in military dominance and control in several sectors of every country's secular operations. In several Southeast Asian countries, such as Indonesia and Thailand, the military exerts its influence in economic affairs as well, with former military officials running many vital corporations and industries in both nations. In the broadest sense, the way that military command corresponds to civil governance, and in particular how the military potentially possesses executive power in these different countries, comprises this area of interest.
Since the war in 2003, despite not sharing a border with Iraq, Yemen has become a host country for many Iraqi refugees. However, in 2004, the Yemeni government has changed its policy and currently requires Iraqi nationals to hold visas before letting them into Yemen; this has restricted their entry into the country. It is difficult to estimate how many Iraqis are in Yemen, as the numbers vary frequently, with many arriving and leaving quickly. In 2004, the UNHCR estimated that 100,000 Iraqis were living in Yemen.
In his writings and speeches, Nehru had laid great emphasis on the manner in which post-colonial India would rebuild its Asia connections. At this conference Nehru declared: "... Asia is again finding herself ... one of the notable consequences of the European domination of Asia has been the isolation of the countries of Asia from one another. ... Today this isolation is breaking down because of many reasons, political and otherwise ... This Conference is significant as an expression of that deeper urge of the mind and spirit of Asia which has persisted ... In this Conference and in this work there are no leaders and no followers. All countries of Asia have to meet together in a common task ..."
Since the 1970s (when Vietnamese boat people started coming), wave after wave of refugees from distressed countries in Asia and elsewhere have sought haven in Australia. Many have died making the hazardous journey. How to deal with them has been a highly contentious political issue.