East Asia and the Pacific Regional Report 2012
A regional analysis of the situation of out-of-school children
Highlights
The East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region encompasses one-third of the world’s population – or around 2 billion people. It also contains over one-quarter of the world’s children – around 580 million children in total. The region stretches from Mongolia in the north to Tonga in the south, and from Western China to the Cook Islands. The smallest country in East Asia and the Pacific, Niue, has 1,700 people while the largest, China, has 1.3 billion people. There are around 30 million children born in the region every year. The region has significant diversity and includes some of the fastest-growing economies in the world as well as ten of the least-developed countries – six in the Pacific and four in East Asia. The Pacific is a distinct sub-region within the wider region, with its unique characteristics, dynamics and challenges.
