East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. Political-geographically, it covers about 6,640,000 km², or 15% of the Asian continent. More than 1.5 billion people, about 40% of the population of Asia or a quarter of all the people in the world, live in geographic East Asia. The region is one of the world's most crowded places. The population density of East Asia, 230 per km², is over five times the world average.

East Asia and Eastern Asia (the latter being the preferred term used by the United Nations) are both more modern terms for the traditional European name the Far East, which describes the region's geographical position in relation to Europe rather than its location within Asia.

The following countries (both States and territories) are located in geographic East Asia:

• People's Republic of China
• Hong Kong (a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China)
• Japan
• Democratic People's Republic of Korea
• Republic of Korea
• Macau (a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China)
• Mongolia
• Republic of China (Taiwan)

The following peoples or societies are encompassed by cultural East Asia:

• Chinese society (including the Chinese-dominated regions of Hong Kong, and Macau; and Singapore and Taiwan due to their majority Chinese population)
• Japanese society
• Korean society
• Mongolian society
• Vietnamese society