End of Life Category: Asian Death Practices

The world’s largest continent and by far the most diverse, Asia covers 17,226,200 square miles, about one-third of the land surface of the Earth, and is home to over 4.5 billion people. It comprises 48 independent nations and three dependencies or territories, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. The continent is roughly divided into five geographic regions, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Southern Asia, and Western Asia (often referred to as the Middle East.) Each of these regions, and in many cases each individual country, has its own language, culture, and spiritual beliefs.

Because of its enormous diversity, Asia defies categorization. Nonetheless, we have tried to provide an overview of the cultural beliefs around death and remembrance of some nations in the region in the articles below