Southeast Asia

This chapter provides a brief overview of Southeast Asia and introduces the Association of Southeast Asian NationsAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), assisting readers to better understand the region’s air quality challenges. It reviews the geographySoutheast Asiageography and climateSoutheast Asiaclimate of the region and looks into the economic development, industrialization, and urbanizationSoutheast Asiaurbanization, as well as the resulting increase in energy consumptionSoutheast Asiaenergy consumption. It also presents some of the governanceSoutheast Asiagovernance and social challenges that the eleven ASEAN member countries face in their highly diverse and unequal societiesSoutheast Asiasociety.