Four Asian Tigers Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Four Asian Tigers

A map showing the Four Asian Tigers

Hong Kong

Singapore

South Korea

Taiwan

Chinese name

Traditional Chinese

亞洲四小龍

Simplified Chinese

亚洲四小龙

Literal meaning

Asia's Four Little Dragons

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Yǎzhōu sì xiǎo lóng
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	aa3 zau1 sei3 siu2 long4

Korean name

Hangul

아시아의 네 마리 용

Literal meaning

Asia's four dragons

Transcriptions
Revised Romanization	asia ui ne mari yong

The Four Asian Tigers or Asian Dragons are four places in Asia that became very rich and developed very quickly. These are Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. They are called "Tigers" because their economies grew incredibly fast. This rapid growth happened between the early 1960s and the 1990s.

These four places were the first "newly industrialized countries." This means they quickly changed from being mostly farming-based to having many factories and modern industries. Today, all four are considered very rich and developed economies.

What Made Them Successful?
From Less Free to More Free
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What Made Them Successful?

All four Asian Tigers have a highly educated workforce. This means their people were well-trained and good at their jobs. This helped them produce many goods and services.

They also focused on selling their products to other rich countries. This is called exporting. They grew rich very quickly, with their economies often growing by more than 10% each year for decades.

The fast economic growth in South Korea was called the "Miracle on the Han River." In Taiwan, it was known as the "Taiwan Miracle." These names show how amazing their progress was.

From Less Free to More Free

In their early years of rapid growth, these nations were not always democracies. People did not have as much freedom as they do today. Over time, all of these countries became much freer. Today, Taiwan and South Korea are considered liberal democracies. This means their governments are chosen by the people, and citizens have many rights.