The Asia–Pacific and Middle East Region is a region that competes in the

Little League World Series The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children—typically boys—aged 10 to 12 years old, held in the Eastern United States. Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for the Wor ...

. Asian teams first competed in the LLWS in , when Japanese teams competed in the original

Pacific Region The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

(which included Hawaii). In , Japanese teams began competing in the newly created Far East Region. In , the Little League World Series was expanded to sixteen teams, and East Asia was split into two regions – the Pacific (consisting of teams from the

Pacific Islands Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, and

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

) and Asia (consisting of teams from mainland

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

). In , the regions were reconfigured.

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

was given its own automatic berth in the Series, while the remaining Asian teams merged with the Pacific teams to create the Asia-Pacific Region. In , the region was reorganized as the Asia-Pacific and Middle East Region.

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, now the fourth-largest country and the largest outside North America in Little League participation, received its own LLWS region. All Middle Eastern countries with Little League programs, except for

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, were placed in the former Asia-Pacific Region. Previously, the Middle East had formed a region with Africa, but that region was disbanded, with African teams joining the Europe and Africa Region (formerly Europe Region, which also includes Israel and Turkey).

Asia–Pacific and Middle East Region Countries

* * In 1949, the Republic of China government led by the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

(KMT) lost the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

to the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

(CPC) and set up a provisional capital in Taipei, which serves as the seat of government to this day. The CPC established the People's Republic. As such, the

political status In international law three categories of Political status are usually recognized: #Independent countries e.g.: France, Canada #Internal independent countries which are under the protection of another country in matters of defense and foreign affa ...

of the ROC and the

legal status of Taiwan The controversy surrounding the political status of Taiwan or the Taiwan issue is a result of World War II, the second phase of the Chinese Civil War (1945–1949), and the Cold War. The basic issue hinges on who the islands of Taiwan, Penghu ...

(alongside the

territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

currently under ROC jurisdiction) are in dispute. In 1971, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

gave its China seat to the PRC instead of the ROC: most states recognize the PRC to be the sole legitimate representative of all China, and the UN classifies Taiwan as " Taiwan, Province of China". The ROC has ''de facto'' relations with most sovereign states. A significant political movement within Taiwan advocates

Taiwan independence Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

. Due to PRC pressure, the ROC participates in the LLWS events under the name "Chinese Taipei" instead of its official name "Republic of China" or as "Taiwan". * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Asia Region (2001–2006)

In 2001, the Far East Region split into the Asia and Pacific regions. The Asia Region comprised Little Leagues from mainland

Asia Regional Championship

The list below lists each country's participant in the Asia Region Tournament between 2001 and 2006. Each year's winner is indicated in green. Two teams from the Asia Region won the Little League World Series —

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

in and .

LLWS results

Pacific Region (2001–2006)

In 2001, the Far East Region split into the Asia and Pacific regions. The list below lists each country's participant in the Pacific Region Tournament between 2001 and 2006. Each year's winner is indicated in green. No team from the Pacific Region won the Little League World Series.

Pacific Regional Championship

LLWS results

Asia-Pacific Region (2007–2012)

In 2007, the Asia and Pacific regions were reconfigured again.

was given its own place in the LLWS and the remaining Asian and Pacific teams were merged into one region. No Asia-Pacific team has won the LLWS, although Kuei-Shan Little League of

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

finished runner-up in .

Asia-Pacific Regional Championship

The list below lists each country's participant in the Asia-Pacific Little League Region Tournament between 2007 and 2012. That year's winner is indicated in green.

LLWS results

Asia-Pacific and Middle East Region (2013–)

As noted above, this region was reconfigured in 2013, with the spin-off of Australia into its own LLWS region and the addition of Middle Eastern countries.

LLWS results by country

The following table lists each Asia-Pacific country's record in the Little League World Series. ''Italics'' indicates team is no longer in the region. Table includes results for teams that qualified for either the East Asian, Pacific, Asia, or Asia-Pacific regional LLWS berth through the 2019 Little League World Series.

Notes

References

External links

Little League Online
{{LLWS Asia-Pacific and Middle East Baseball leagues in Asia

Asia–Pacific and Middle East Region Countries

Asia Region (2001–2006)

Asia Regional Championship

LLWS results

Pacific Region (2001–2006)

Pacific Regional Championship

LLWS results

Asia-Pacific Region (2007–2012)

Asia-Pacific Regional Championship

LLWS results

Asia-Pacific and Middle East Region (2013–)

LLWS results by country

See also

Notes

References

External links