Only at the first ASEAN Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, on February 23, 1976, did the idea of a permanent office for the secretariat come up. At that time, all of the foreign ministers agreed that the ASEAN Secretariat office would be in Jakarta. This was because Indonesia is the biggest and most powerful country in Southeast Asia.
The Myanmar Kyat is the country's official unit of currency. Even though the Kyat can be broken down into 100 pyas, there aren't many pya coins. Most people use banknotes of up to 1,000 Kyat. Even though the official exchange rate has stayed at 7 Kyats = 1 US Dollar, the Kyat is known for its highly variable rate, which can go as high as 1,000 Kyats per USD.
The national motto of Brunei is written on the crescent: Ad-dimna al-musinna bi-l-hud, which means "Always in service with God's guidance."
Even though Vietnam has a lot of people, there are only two cities with more than 1,000,000 people. With more than 3.4 million people, Ho Chi Minh City is the country's biggest city.
Thailand: Myanmar shares a long land border with Thailand in the west. The border stretches for approximately 2,416 kilometers. Laos: Myanmar also shares a short border with Laos in the northeast. The border between Myanmar and Laos is relatively small compared to the border with Thailand. To summarize, Myanmar borders two ASEAN countries: Thailand and Laos.
Viet Nam is one of the countries in Southeast Asia with the most people, and 80% of the country is still rural. Most of the people live in the deltas of the Red and Mekong rivers and in the southeast, where Ho Chi Minh City is located. The 4 biggest cities are Ho Chi Minh City, which has 3.2 million people,.
Ho Chi Min, who was president and prime minister of Vietnam from 1890 to 1969, was often called "Uncle Ho." Nguyen Minh Triet is the president of Vietnam right now. He led the Viet Minh independence movement. The President of Vietnam is just a figurehead, and the Prime Minister runs the government day-to-day. Le Duc Anh was the head of state of Vietnam from 1992 to 1997. Uncle Sam is a figure that stands for the US government.
Indonesia has the longest coastline in Asia, at 95,176 km (59,140 miles). But 12 of the continent's countries are landlocked and don't have any coasts. These landlocked countries are Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
The People Power Revolution, also called the Yellow Revolution, was a group of peaceful, prayerful street protests that took place in the Philippines in 1986. People had been fighting against the dictatorship of then-president Ferdinand Marcos for 20 years, and these protests were the last straw. They were called "the revolution that shocked the world" in the news.
The official language is Burmese, which about two-thirds of the people speak.
Angkor Wat was first built as a Hindu temple because Suryavarman II, the ruler of the area at the time, was a Hindu. At the end of the 12th century, though, it was thought of as a Buddhist site.
Brunei is one of the few places in the world that still has an absolute monarchy, and it is the only one in Asia. The Sultan of Brunei is both the head of state and the head of government because he is an absolute monarch. He is the King, Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Vietnam's capital is Hanoi, which used to be the capital of the Republic of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City is the country's largest city (also known as Saigon).
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) replaced the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASA), which was made up of the Philippines, Thailand, and the Federation of Malaysia, which is now a part of Malaysia.
East Timor became an observer of ASEAN in 2002, and in 2005, it became a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum.
Putrajaya is both a city and a federal territory of Malaysia. It is in the middle of Peninsular Malaysia's west coast. It is 15 miles (25 km) south of the country's capital, Kuala Lumpur, and is the center of government.
