East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that covers about 6,640,000 kmÂ , or 15 % of the Asian continent . East Asia or Eastern Asia ( the latter form preferred by the United Nations ) is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms . Geographically and geo-politically , it covers about 12000000 k , or about 28 percent of the Asian continent , about 15 percent bigger than the area of Europe .