Source: https://oc.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichièr:Map-World-Southeast-Asia.png

Southeast Asia includes territories situated on the main Asian continent as well as in the Pacific ocean, so it is best to travel by air than by land or water.  It is also relatively cheap due to the availability of local and regional low-cost airlines. In addition, flight times between the farthest main cities are no more than 5 hours.

Google Map with population data from Source: https://www.citypopulation.de/en/ 

The top 5 largest countries by land area and population are:

  • By land area: Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia;
  • By population: Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar.
Sources: 1) Estimated population of ASEAN countries in 2021 from https://www.statista.com/statistics/796222/total-population-of-the-asean-countries/; 2) Estimated land area of ASEAN countries in 2018 from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1011862/asean-land-surface-country/ (data captured on 22 JUL 2021)

Urbanization

Singapore is a city state, thus has a 100% urbanization rate. Brunei and Malaysia’s urbanization rate rank 2nd and 3rd, but could still be considered rather high. The reason for Brunei is it being a very small but affluent country, while for Malaysia is likely from it being comprised of multiple states with their own capital cities and heads of state. Indonesia and Thailand’s rate of urbanization are close to the global average and are similar in how their populations huddle around a few large cities with large industries such as manufacturing, trade and tourism. As for the other countries, the urbanization rates are not so high most likely because of agriculture being their main industry.

Sources:  Hootsuite, 2018, Global overview https://www.slideshare.net/wearesocial/digital-in-2018-global-overview-86860338, Hootsuite, 2018, Southeast Asia part 1 & 2 https://www.slideshare.net/wearesocial/digital-in-2018-in-southeast-asia-part-1-northwest-86866386, https://www.slideshare.net/wearesocial/digital-in-2018-in-southeast-asia-part-2-southeast-86866464 

Most Populated Cities

Maps and information from Google Maps and www.citypopulation.de
Source: Places with at least 1,000 inhabitants https://www.citypopulation.de/en/brunei/cities/ 
Source: Cities, Urban Areas & Urban Communes https://www.citypopulation.de/en/cambodia/cities/ 
Source: Urban Areas with at least 75,000 inhabitants https://www.citypopulation.de/Indonesia-CU.html 
Source: Cities and urban localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants https://www.citypopulation.de/en/laos/cities/ 
Source: Urban Areas with at least 10,000 inhabitants https://www.citypopulation.de/en/malaysia/cities/ 
Source: Cities and towns with more than 20,000 inhabitants https://www.citypopulation.de/Myanmar-Cities.html 
Source: Urban agglomerations with more than 50,000 inhabitants https://www.citypopulation.de/en/philippines/cities/ 
Source: https://www.citypopulation.de/en/singapore/cities/ 
Source: Urban Areas with at least 35,000 inhabitants https://www.citypopulation.de/en/thailand/cities/ua/ 
Source: Cities, towns and communes with more than 20,000 urban inhabitants https://www.citypopulation.de/en/vietnam/cities/