T.his is the 34th edition of the Asia Yearbook, which first appeared in December 1959.

It gives a comprehensive survey of the region, and specific details of events in 1992 in 36 Asian

countries. It includes a look at regional trade and development, stockmarkets and currencies,

military power and population, as well as the latest on shipping and aviation, energy, fishing

and commodities prices. For individual countries, it provides a review of political, social, diplo-

matic, economic and infrastructural developments, plus vital economic and social indicators and

performance figures.

In an era of change, the Yearbook also has changed, with the inclusion for the first time of

surveys of the five former Soviet, now independent, Central Asian republics -- Kazakhstan,

Kirghyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- as well as an extended chapter on the

Russian Far East and Siberia.

And as the global threat recedes with the end of the Cold War, but arms sales boom in Asia, the

Yearbook welcomes the return of the detailed lists of military strength from the authoritative

Military Balance, compiled by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.