FACTBOX-Five facts about Southeast Asia's ASEAN

(For related story see ASEAN or [ID:nSIN97797])

July 17 (Reuters) - Ministers from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), meet in Singapore July 21-24 to discuss ratifying a new charter and creating a European Union-style single market.

Here are five facts about ASEAN:

* ASEAN's 10 members span the political and economic spectrum: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

* Its population of about 580 million is greater than that of the European Union (about 489 million), and also that of the three countries that make up NAFTA -- the United States, Canada and Mexico (about 446 million).

* Combined gross domestic product is estimated at about $1.1 trillion, second only to China in emerging Asia, though there are large economic disparities between members.

* Recent declarations include a blueprint for a charter, advancing the group's economic union to 2015 from 2020, a convention on counter-terrorism and a plan for poverty alleviation and disaster prevention.

* Its policy of non-interference has prompted critics to label it a talking shop. A landmark November 2007 charter calls for the promotion of democracy within a regional human rights body. The Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar are yet to ratify.

Sources: Reuters, ASEAN (www.aseansec.org), CIA World Factbook (www.cia.gov) (Writing by Gillian Murdoch, Beijing Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Bill Tarrant)