The National Library’s Asian language collections focus on contemporary Asia from the 19th century onwards. Systematic collecting began in the 1950s and covers a range of subjects, such as history, politics, current affairs, society and culture. Books, journals, government publications, magazines and newspapers are supplemented by full-text article databases, e-books, maps, archived websites and ephemeral materials.

The collections are strongest for the countries of East and Southeast Asia, and there are rich holdings of English language materials on Asia.

Highlights

Explore our Asian collections by viewing the highlights below: