The Association of Southeast Asian Nations^[5] (ASEAN pron.: /ˈɑːsi.ɑːn/ ah-see-ahn,^[6] rarely /ˈɑːzi.ɑːn/ ah-zee-ahn)^[7][8] is ageo-political and economic organization of ten countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia,Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.^[9] Since then, membership has expanded to include Brunei, Burma (Myanmar),Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Its aims include accelerating economic growth, social progress, cultural development among its members, protection of regional peace and stability, and opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully.^[10]

ASEAN covers a land area of 4.46 million km², which is 3% of the total land area of Earth, and has a population of approximately 600 million people, which is 8.8% of the world's population. The sea area of ASEAN is about three times larger than its land counterpart. In 2010, its combined nominal GDP had grown to US$1.8 trillion.^[11] If ASEAN were a single entity, it would rank as the tenth largest economy in the world, behind the United States, China, Japan, India, Germany, Russia, France, Canada, Spain, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Italy

History

See also: Member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations

ASEAN was preceded by an organization called the Association of Southeast Asia, commonly called ASA, an alliance consisting of the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand that was formed in 1961. The bloc itself, however, was established on 8 August 1967, when foreign ministers of five countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand – met at the Thai Department of Foreign Affairs building in Bangkok and signed the ASEAN Declaration, more commonly known as the Bangkok Declaration. The five foreign ministers – Adam Malik of Indonesia, Narciso Ramos of the Philippines, Abdul Razak of Malaysia, S. Rajaratnam of Singapore, and Thanat Khoman of Thailand – are considered the organization's Founding Fathers.^[12]

The motivations for the birth of ASEAN were so that its members’ governing elite could concentrate on nation building, the common fear of communism, reduced faith in or mistrust of external powers in the 1960s, and a desire for economic development; not to mention Indonesia’s ambition to become a regional hegemon through regional cooperation and the hope on the part of Malaysia and Singapore to constrain Indonesia and bring it into a more cooperative framework.

Papua New Guinea was accorded Observer status in 1976 and Special Observer status in 1981.^[13] Papua New Guinea is a Melanesian state. ASEAN embarked on a program of economic cooperation following the Bali Summit of 1976. This floundered in the mid-1980s and was only revived around 1991 due to a Thai proposal for a regional free trade area. The bloc grew when Brunei Darussalam became the sixth member on 8 January 1984, barely a week after gaining independence on 1 January.^[14]

thank you :  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASEAN_Economic_Community