Download SOUTH ASIA This region includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh

SOUTH ASIA
This region includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka & the Maldives, the
latter two are islands. All (except for Nepal & Bhutan which were British protectorates) were
part of British India for several centuries
MAIN THEMES
Environmental Geography – The arid parts suffer from water shortages and salinization while the
humid areas often experience flooding
Population & Settlement – South Asia will soon become the most populous region in the world
Cultural Coherence & Diversity – It is a culturally diverse region with India alone having more
than a dozen official languages & members of most major religions
Geopolitics – The region has a large number of secessionist movements and major conflicts
between India & Pakistan, both of which posses nuclear weapons
Economic & Social Development – Although, as a whole, one of the world’s poorest regions,
parts of India are experiencing rapid economic development based on the high-tech skills
of the educated part of the population
INDIA
PAKISTAN
Area (mi2) 1269340
T/E Spec. (A)
215
T/E Spec. (P)
244
307375
45
2
B’DESH
NEPAL
55598
65
12
56826
59
6
BHUTAN SRI LANKA
18147
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Geographic Aspects of the South Asia
1) large region with great diversity
2) high populations
3) pollution associated w/ early stages of development
4) deforestation due to population, agriculture & industrialization
5) home to endangered species, esp. tigers & elephants
25332
53
280
MALDIVES
116
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PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Physical Geography consists of 4 Subregions:
1) Mountains of the North
a) Karakoram Range in the west
b) Himalayas in the center, inc. Mt. Everest (29,028 ft / 8848 m) bet. Nepal & China
c) Arakan Yoma Mts. in the east, bet. India & Burma (Myanmar), separates S. Asia from
SE Asia
2) Indus-Ganges-Brahmaputra Lowlands
a) Indus – 1800 mi / 2880 mi, flows from the Himalayas thru Pakistan to the Arabian Sea,
site of one of the world’s earliest civilizations ~5000 y.a.
b) Ganges – 1500 mi / 2400 km, flows from the Himalayas southeasterly into the Bay of
Bengal, also was a site of an early civilization
c) Brahmaputra – 1700 mi / 2720 km, flows from the Tibetan Plateau easterly to join the
Ganges in central Bangladesh, the two rivers creating the largest delta in the
world
3) Peninsular India – consists of the Deccan Plateau
a) Western Ghats
b) Eastern Ghats
4) Southern Islands
a) Sri Lanka (Ceylon) – almost linked to India by small islands (Adam’s Bridge)
b) Maldives – 1200 flat, low coral atolls (116 mi2 / 290 km2) , < 2 m above sea level, in
Arabian Sea
c) Lakshadweep – part of India, N of the Maldives in Andaman Sea
d) Andaman Islands & Nicobar Islands – part of India in Andaman Sea
CLIMATE
The dominant climatic factor for most of South Asia is the monsoon (a seasonal change in wind
direction which corresponds to wet & dry periods). There are 3 distinct seasons:
a) warm & rainy of the SW monsoon (June – October)
b) cool & dry season with NE winds (November – February)
c) hot & dry period (March – May)
ENVIRONMENTAL GEOGRAPHY
1) rapid population growth in Bangladesh has people moving into the fertile delta area & thus
are at risk of floods
2) Deforestation has aggravated the flooding & also resulted in a lower water level of rivers
during the dry season. Deforestation is a result of agriculture, urban & industrial growth,
RR construction in the 19th C., & logging. This has also resulted in a lack of fuel wood
3) South Asia has the best environmental protection in Asia & has resulted in the survival of the
Asian lion in India, tigers in Bangladesh, & elephants in India, Sri Lanka & Nepal
POPULATION & SETTLEMENT
South Asia will soon surpass East Asia as the world’s most populous region, as it is growing
twice as fast. India, Pakistan & Bangladesh are among the world’s 10 most populous countries.
It has more undernourished & malnourished people than any other world region.
Less than 30% of the population are urban; most live in rural villages & small towns. Largest
rural populations are found in the Ganges & Indus River valleys & on the coastal plains. India
has more than 30 cities with populations > one million: Mumbai (Bombay) has more than 16
million, Calcutta has more than 12 million, & Delhi has more than 11 million. Dhaka has almost
8 million & Karachi has more than 7 million.
Migration
1) from villages to large cities
2) intensive out-migration from:
a) Bangladesh
b) Indian states of Bihar & Rajasthan
c) northern portion of the state Andhra Pradesh
CULTURAL COHERENCE & DIVERSITY
Religion
Hinduism emerged from the foothills of the Himalayas over 5,000 years ago. It’s real name is
Sanatana Dharma (Eternal Order), Hindu is a British term derived from the Indus River; world’s
3rd largest & oldest religion; it is not just a religion but an intricate web of religious,
philosophical, social, economic, & artistic elements comprising a distinctive Indian civilization;
as Hinduism spread throughout India, it assimilated tribal religions, giving it a vast array of gods
and goddesses 97% are found in India & 2% in Nepal.
Buddhism started in India in 560 B.C. & expanded through most of East, SE, & Central Asia.
By 1000 A.D. it had virtually disappeared from the region, except for Sri Lanka, Bhutan & the
high Himalayas.
Jainism has been described as the theological mean between Hinduism and Buddhism started in
northern India in 599 B.C. It stresses non-violence.
Islam came to the Indus Valley in 700 A.D., & by the 1300s most of South Asia was under
Muslim power. Most Muslims are in Pakistan & Bangladesh. Until the 20th C., Hindus &
Muslims co-existed peacefully.
Sikhism (Sikh means “student” or “disciple”) is a major religion in India. It is based upon the
teaching of Guru Nanak, (1469-1539), a saint revered in India by Hindus, Moslems and Sikhs
alike. It started in the Punjab state near the India/Pakistan border.
Other religious groups are:
1) Zoroastrians (Parsis) – concentrated in the Mumbai area having arrived as refugees from Iran
in the 7th C.
2) Christians – more numerous than either the Jains or Parsis, arrived around 200 A.D.
3) Jews – a few 100
Caste System
The caste system separated the people into four groups in the Hindu world:
1) Brahmins - scholar-priests
2) Kshatriyas - warrior-landowners
3) Vaishyas - business, farmers, herdsmen
4) Sudras - servants & laborers
The castes are further divided into thousands of jati groups defined by geography & occupation
Below these four castes were the Harijans (or Dalits) - untouchables (20% of India’s population),
not part of caste system
Caste is regarded as a natural outgrowth of the reincarnation process by which individual souls
return to Earth many times, reaping the fruits of past actions. People are born into a caste
structure of society. Today the caste system is being deemphasized
Language
South Asia’s linguistic diversity matches its religious diversity. India has 14 official languages
with English being the main integrating language. English is also widely used in Pakistan,
Bangladesh & Sri Lanka.
Language Families
1) Indo-European – in the north & southern Sri Lanka
a) Iranian Subfamily – in western Pakistan
b) Indo-Aryan Subfamily – each language is associated with an Indian state;
Hindustani: Hindi - written in Devangari script, official language of India
Urdu - written in Arabic script, official language of Pakistan
Hindustani is the most widely spoken, followed by Bengali
2) Dravidian – in the south, each language is associated with an Indian state
3) Tibeto-Burman – along the mountainous northern rim
4) Austro-Asiatic – among tribal groups in eastern India