Asia

Bahrain is a small country with a wide range of things to do. Popular pastimes include shopping -either at the country’s large air-conditioned malls or in the colourful souks (markets) – or soaking up the sun on one of Bahrain’s beautiful beaches. Football is the most popular sport along with horse-racing and the more traditional sports of gazelle and hare hunting, usually reserved for wealthier Bahrainis.

The tiny nation of Brunei Darussalam is the only sovereign state located entirely on the on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Sitting 277 miles north of the equator, Brunei is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, which splits the country into two parts.

Hong Kong is a city-state that consists of the Kowloon Peninsula and New Territories, which border the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, and several islands including Hong Kong Island and Lantau Island. A former British colony and protectorate, it was handed back to China in 1997.

The colourful and diverse nation of India borders many of the major countries of Asia. As well as sharing land borders with Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal and Bhutan, it is bounded by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian Ocean to the south and the Bay of Bengal to the east.

Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean characterised by a rich cultural history and remarkable natural beauty. It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world and the majority of its 127 million residents live on the largest islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku.

Kazakhstan is a country situated in Central Asia of Eurasian continent. The official name is the “Republic of Kazakhstan” and it is the largest landlocked country in the world with total area 2.7 million square kilometres. Kazakhstan has the ninth land area and borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Malaysia is quite literally a country of two halves, with its component land masses – Peninsular Malaysia (which lies on the Malay Peninsula) and East Malaysia (on the island of Borneo) – separated by the South China Sea. A former British colony which gained independence in 1957.

The tiny Gulf state of Qatar has risen to global prominence largely due to its vast resources of oil and gas. A small peninsula bordering only Saudi Arabia by land, it lies on the Persian Gulf. With a long cultural history, Qatar boasts relics from many of the great regional powers of the past including the Persian, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires.