This is the twenty-eighth issue of the Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific, prepared by the Statistics Division of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Data appearing in the publication have been compiled from periodic statements provided by the national sources and national statisical publications supplemented, wherever necessary, by data compiled or published by the United Nations Statistics Division and the specialized agencies of the United Nations. The data up to the end of 1995, wherever available, have been included in the tables. The Yearbook contains statistics on all the 56 regional members and associate members of ESCAP: Afghanistan, American Samoa, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Japan, Kazakstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tonga, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu and Viet Nam. The term “developing ESCAP region” excludes Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the Russian Federation; the term “ESCAP region” includes these countries.