Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)
Jan 27: Asia, Trends to Watch - Asia
Asia
World
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Geography
Area: 31,829,200 sq kmApproximately 23.5% of the world’s surface area. Russia east of the Ural Mountains is geographically part of Asia, but here all of the Russian Federation is included with Europe. Included here are the Trans-Caucasus states (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) as well as the West Asian/Middle Eastern countries. Includes amazing geographic and ecological diversity – tropical rain forest, desert, alluvial plains, hills and the world’s highest
Population: 4,166,741,314 Annual Growth: 1.10%
Urbanites: 43%
Peoples
Peoples: 4,860 (0% unreached)Languages: 2,322
Religion
Largest Religion: Muslim| Religion | Pop % | Ann Gr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christians | 368,075,984 | 8.83 | 2.3 |
| Evangelicals | 146,854,085 | 3.5 | 3.0 |
| Muslim | 1,100,825,428 | 26.42 |
Answer to Prayer
Church growth in Asia continues to be remarkable; for its sheer scale, for its unprecedented occurrence in previously unevangelized nations and regions and, in many areas, for how long it has been sustained. Some of the greatest growth in the past decade or two has been in China, India, Nepal, Iran, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam and, although unverifiable, North Korea.All Christians have increased from 22 million (2.3%) in 1900 to nearly 370 million (8.8%) in 2010.
Protestant, Independent and Anglican Christians increased from under 3 million (0.3%) in 1900 to nearly 200 million (4.9%) in 2010.
Catholic growth was slower, but still significant - from 11.1 million (1.2%) to 142 million (3.4%) over the same period.
Evangelicals in Asia, nearly 150 million, now number more than those on any other continent apart from Africa. It is also the continent with the second-fastest growing evangelical population; if measured only by conversion rate (and not including biological growth), Asia has the fastest growing evangelical population by a significant margin - 33% faster than any other region.
For an additional 8 Answers to Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
More Information
The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Asia.Trends to Watch - Asia
Asia
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Challenge for Prayer
Demographic shifts will have massive implications for Asia’s future. The rapidly rising life expectancies and reduced birth rates of the populations of China, Japan and South Korea will place great burdens on the next generation. The gender gap is caused by selective abortion and infanticide in East and South Asia; these have created a deficit of tens of millions of girls, giving rise to prostitution, sex trafficking, wife-buying and abduction. Then there are the burgeoning populations in most of the Arab world, particularly Yemen and Palestine (also the poorest Arab countries) as well as Afghanistan, Pakistan and many Southeast Asian countries. Over the next 50 years, all of these dynamics combined will generate incredible pressures on nation-states and fuel large-scale migration and unrest.For an additional 11 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
