FERTILITY TRANSITION was one of the most fundamental and consequential developments in Pacific Asia in the last half of the twentieth century. This transition reflected changing economic, social, and ideational circumstances for Asia's peoples and inturn vitally affected prospects for the way they will live in the twenty-first century and beyond. The timing and pace of the fertility decline varied greatly, and the resulting size and structure of populations in the "late starter" countries differ greatly from those of the early starters. Nevertheless, the universality of the transition has become its most notable characteristic. In the whole of East and Southeast Asia, only Cambodia, Laos, and East Timor have yet to be deeply affected by it.
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