The Baháʼí Faith was founded by Baháʼu'lláh, in Iran who faced a series of exiles and imprisonment that moved him to Baghdad, Istanbul, and Palestine. By the 1950s, about a century after its forming, Iran remained home to the vast majority of adherents to the Baháʼí Faith. Expansive teaching efforts began in the late 19th century and gained converts in other parts of Asia. By 1968, according to official Baháʼí statistics, the majority of Baháʼís (~75%) lived outside of Iran and North America, the two most prominent centers of the religion previously.

In 1956 there were only three Baháʼí National Spiritual Assemblies in Asia: Iran, Iraq, and India. By 1967 the total was 15, and by 2001 there were 39 National Spiritual Assemblies in Asia.

A Baháʼí House of Worship known as the Lotus Temple was completed in Delhi, India, in 1986, and another was completed in 2017 in Battambang, Cambodia. The design for a House of Worship in Bihar Sharif, Bihar, India, was unveiled in 2020. The Baháʼí World Centre, site of the Universal House of Justice (the governing body of the Baháʼí Faith) and other Baháʼí administrative buildings and holy places, is located in Israel.

Baháʼís have faced severe persecution in Iran, as well as varying degrees of persecution in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Yemen, Qatar, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Afghanistan.

Central Asia Kazakhstan

The Baháʼí Faith in Kazakhstan began during the policy of oppression of religion in the former Soviet Union. Before that time, Kazakhstan, as part of the Russian Empire, would have had indirect contact with the Baháʼí Faith as far back as 1847. By 1994 the National Spiritual Assembly of Kazakhstan was electedThe Baháʼí Faith: 1844–1963: Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the Ten Year International Baháʼí Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953–1963, Compiled by Hands of the Cause Residing in the Holy Land, pages 22 and 46. Following the entrance of pioneers the community grew by 2001 to be the religion with the third-most registered religious organizations in the country, after Islam and Christianity.

Tajikistan There are an estimated 1,000 Baháʼís in Tajikistan.

Turkmenistan

The Baháʼí Faith in Turkmenistan begins before Russian advances into the region when the area was under the influence of Persia. By 1887 a community of Baháʼí refugees from religious violence in Persia had made a religious center in Ashgabat. Shortly afterwards – by 1894 – Russia made Turkmenistan part of the Russian Empire. While the Baháʼí Faith spread across the Russian Empire and attracted the attention of scholars and artists, the Baháʼí community in Ashgabat built the first Baháʼí House of Worship, elected one of the first Baháʼí local administrative institutions and was a center of scholarship. However, during the Soviet period religious persecution made the Baháʼí community almost disappear – however Baháʼís who moved into the regions in the 1950s did identify individuals still adhering to the religion. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991, Baháʼí communities and their administrative bodies started to develop across the nations of the former Soviet Union; In 1994 Turkmenistan elected its own National Spiritual Assembly however laws passed in 1995 in Turkmenistan required 500 adult religious adherents in each locality for registration and no Baháʼí community in Turkmenistan could meet this requirement. As of 2007 the religion had still failed to reach the minimum number of adherents to register and individuals have had their homes raided for Baháʼí literature.

Uzbekistan

The Baháʼí Faith in Uzbekistan began in the lifetime of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the religion. Circa 1918 there was an estimated 1900 Baháʼís in Tashkent. By the period of the policy of oppression of religion in the former Soviet Union the communities shrank away – by 1963 in the entire USSR there were about 200 Baháʼís. Little is known until the 1980s when the Baháʼí Faith started to grow across the Soviet Union again. In 1991 a Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly of the Soviet Union was elected but was quickly split among its former members. In 1992, a regional National Spiritual Assembly for the whole of Central Asia was formed with its seat in Ashgabat. In 1994 the National Spiritual Assembly of Uzbekistan was elected. In 2008 eight Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assemblies or smaller groups had registered with the government though more recently there were also raids and expulsions.

East Asia China

The Baháʼí Faith was first introduced in China during the lifetime of its founder, Baháʼu'lláh. The first record of a Baháʼí living in China is of a Persian, Hájí Mírzá Muhammad-ʼAlí, who lived in Shanghai from 1862 to 1868. In 1928 the first Local Spiritual Assembly in China was formed in Shanghai.

As China expanded its reform efforts and increased its interactions with the worldwide community, more Baháʼís moved to China.

The Baháʼí Faith in China has still not matured to the same point as in many other countries of the world where there is an established structure to administer its affairs. As a result of the lack of formal registration and structure, it is difficult to ascertain with some degree of certainty, the number of Baháʼís in China. The number of active followers of Baháʼu'lláh's Teachings in China has spread beyond the scope of knowledge of the existing administrative structures. Certainly there are active followers of the teachings of Baháʼu'lláh in all of the major cities of China and in many regional centers and rural areas.

Good working relationships have been developed with China's State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA).

According to Albert Cheung, many aspects of Baháʼu'lláh's teachings correspond closely to traditional Chinese religious and philosophical beliefs, such as: 1) the Great Unity (world peace); 2) unity of the human family; 3) service to others; 4) moral education; 5) extended family values; 6) the investigation of truth; 7) the Highest Reality (God); 8) the common foundation of religions; 9) harmony in Nature; 10) the purpose of tests and suffering; and 11) moderation in all things.Cheung, Albert. "Common Teachings from Chinese Culture and the Baha'i Faith: From Material Civilization to Spiritual Civilization" Published in Lights of Irfan, Book 1, pages 37–52 Wilmette, IL: Irfan Colloquia, Web Published (2000); https://bahai-library.com/?file=cheung_chinese_bahai_teachings.htm

Hong Kong

Hong Kong has a long history of Baha'i activity being the second location in China with Baha'is. Two brothers moved there in 1870 and established a long-running export business. Hong Kong did not have its first Local Spiritual Assembly until 1956 and then formed a National Spiritual Assembly in 1974. This was allowed because of Hong Kong's status at that time as similar to a sovereign nation and also due to the growth of the religion there. In 1997 sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred to the People's Republic of China and it operates as a Special Administrative Area of China. The coordinating Spiritual Assembly there is no longer considered a "National" Spiritual Assembly but it still operates in a similar manner coordinating the activities of a very vibrant Baha'i community. In 2005 the Association of Religion Data Archives (relying mostly on World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated the Baháʼí population of Hong Kong at about 1,100.

Macau

The Baháʼí Faith was established in Macao (also spelled Macau) much later (in 1953) than in other parts of China, most likely due to the unique conditions of Macao being a Portuguese colony until 1999 and it being somewhat in the shadow of Hong Kong and larger centers in mainland China like Shanghai. Macao formed its first Local Spiritual Assembly in 1958 and then formed a National Spiritual Assembly in 1989. In 1999 sovereignty of Macao was transferred to the People's Republic of China and it operates as a Special Administrative Area of China. The coordinating Spiritual Assembly there is no longer considered a "National" Spiritual Assembly but it still operates in a similar manner coordinating the activities of a Baháʼí community which is estimated at 2,500 and which is considered one of the five major religions of Macao.

Japan

The Baháʼí Faith was first introduced to Japan after mentions of the country by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá first in 1875. Japanese contact with the religion came from the West when was living in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1902 converted; the second being .

In 1914 two Baháʼís, George Jacob Augur and Agnes Alexander, and their families, pioneered to Japan. Alexander would live some 31 years off and on in Japan until 1967 when she left for the last time The first Baháʼí convert on Japanese soil was in 1915. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá undertook several trips in 1911-1912 and met Japanese travelers in Western cities, in Paris, London, and New York. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá met Fujita in Chicago and Yamamoto in San Francisco.

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá wrote a series of letters, or tablets, in 1916-1917 compiled together in the book titled Tablets of the Divine Plan but which was not presented in the United States until 1919. Fujita would serve between the World Wars first in the household of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and then of Shoghi Effendi. In 1932 the first Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in Tokyo and reelected in 1933. In all of Japan there were 19 Baháʼís.

In 1937 Alexander went on Baháʼí pilgrimage to return years later. In 1938 Fujita was excused from his services in Haifa out of fears for his safety during World War II and returned to Japan until 1956. In 1942, back in the United States, the Yamamoto family lived at a relocation camp during the war. Baháʼí Americans associated with the American Occupation Forces reconnected the Japanese Baháʼí community – Michael Jamir found Fujita by 1946 and Robert Imagire helped re-elect the assembly in Tokyo in 1948. In 1963 the statistics of Baháʼí communities showed 13 assemblies and other smaller groups.

In 1968 Japanese Baháʼís began to travel outside Japan. In 1971 the first residents of Okinawa converted to the religion. In 1991 the community organized an affiliate of the Association for Baháʼí Studies in Japan which has since held annual conferences, published newsletters, and published and coordinated academic work across affiliates.Yerrinbool Report on Scholarship 1999 Affiliate Associations for Baháʼí Studies-Japan The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 15,650 Baháʼís in 2005 while the CIA World Factbook estimated about 12,000 Japanese Baháʼís in 2006.

Mongolia

The Baháʼí Faith in Mongolia dates back only to the 1980s and 1990s, as prior to that point Mongolia's Communist anti-religious stance impeded the spread of the religion to that country. The first Baháʼí arrived in Mongolia in 1988, and the religion established a foothold there, later establish a Local Spiritual Assembly in that nation. In 1994, the Baháʼís elected their first National Spiritual Assembly. Though the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated only some 50 Baháʼís in 2005 more than 1700 Mongolian Baháʼís turned out for a regional conference in 2009. In July 1989 Sean Hinton became the first Baháʼí to reside in Mongolia, was named a Knight of Baháʼu'lláh, and the last name to be entered on the Roll of Honor at the Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh.

North Korea Baháʼís originally entered the Korean Peninsula in 1921 before the Division of Korea. Both 2005 data from the Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on the World Christian Encyclopedia for adherents estimates) and independent research agree there are no Baháʼís in North Korea.

South Korea According to a member of the South Korean Baháʼí community, there are approximately 200 active Baháʼís in South Korea.

Taiwan