Download South Asia - Cobb Learning

South Asia
Human Geography
Chapter 25
India
 India is the largest
country in South Asia
and has the most
developed economy.
 Indian culture is
deeply influenced by
religion
History
 Indian civilization begins
in Indus Valley in 2500
B.C.
 Muslim
___Mughal Empire_rules
much of India by early
1500s
 British establish direct rule in 1857
 ___Raj___—90 year period of
direct British control, opposed by
most Indians
 Mohandas Gandhi’s ___nonviolent
resistance____achieves goals
peacefully
 India gains its independence from
Britain in 1947
 Muslim Pakistan splits from Hindu
India; violence, migrations result
India After Independence
 Constitution is created under first prime
minister, Jawaharlal Nehru
 a democratic republic since 1950
 System has federation of states, strong
central government, like U.S.
 _Parliamentary Democracy__ system,
like U.K.
 India is mostly Hindu, but with large
Muslim, Sikh, Tamil minorities
 Sikhs kill Nehru’s daughter, Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi, 1984
 Tamils assassinate her son, Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi, 1991
Pakistan & Bangladesh
1947 ___partition____
creates Hindu India, Muslim
Pakistan
Hindu-Muslim violence killed one
million people
10 million crossed borders:
Hindus to India, Muslims to
Pakistan
Ethnic differences led to civil war
between West and East Pakistan
East Pakistan won
independence in 1971,
became Bangladesh
Kashmir
Kashmir’s problem: population is
Muslim, but its leader was Hindu
Indus River is critical source of
drinking, irrigation water in
Pakistan
Pakistan doesn’t want India to
control that resource
Religion
 Hinduism
 80% of Indians are Hindu; polytheistic
 reincarnation—rebirth of the soul after death
 Original Aryan _______caste system___ of social classes:
 Brahmans—priests, scholars; Kshatriyas—rulers, warriors
 Vaisyas—farmers, merchants; Sudras—artisans, laborers
 Dalits (untouchables) are outside caste system—lowest status
 ___dharma____ is a caste’s moral duty; only reincarnation changes
caste
 Other Religions
 India’s other faiths include Jainism, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism
 Buddhism originated in northern India, but Islam is still strong in
certain parts of India
 Millions of Muslims left after 1947 independence
Islamic Culture
 Customs include daily prayer
 Pakistan’s stricter Islamic law includes purdah—
women’s seclusion
 Women have no contact with men they are not related to
 Must wear veils in public
 Bangladesh’s religious practices are less strict
Mountain Kingdoms: Nepal and
Bhutan
 Both countries are located in Himalayas
 Mountain landscape isolates Nepal, Bhutan; hard to
reach, conquer
 Today both are constitutional monarchies
 Kingdom where ruler’s power is limited by constitution
 Bhutan’s king is supreme ruler, Nepal’s shares power with
parliament (Parliamentary Republic)
Religious Customs
 Siddharta Gautama, the Buddha, born in 500s B.C.
 Rejects caste system of Hindu religion
 Nepalese were Buddhist; today most are Hindu
 Tibetan-style Buddhism is official religion of Bhutan
 Dalai Lama - the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism and,
until the establishment of Chinese communist rule, the
spiritual and temporal ruler of Tibet
Today’s Issues: South Asia
 South Asia faces the challenges of rapid population
growth, destructive weather, and territorial disputes
caused by religious and ethnic differences
Population Explosion
 Population growth in South Asia has contributed to social
and economic ills in the region
 Education is key to controlling population growth and
improving the quality of life in South Asia
 In 2012, India’s population reached 1.2 million
Population Grows
 India, Pakistan, Bangladesh among top 10 most
populous countries
 Region has 22% of world’s population, lives on 3% of
world’s land
Inadequate Resources
 Region has widespread poverty, illiteracy—inability to
read or write, despite free public education through age
14
 Poor sanitation, health education which leads to disease
outbreaks
 Every year, to keep pace, India would have to:
 Build 127,000 new schools and 2.5 millioin new homes
 Create 4 million new jobs and produce 6 million tons of food
Managing Population Growth
 India spends nearly $1 billion a year encouraging
smaller families
 Programs have only limited success
 Indian women marry before age 18, start having babies
early
 To poor, children are source of money (working fields) and
can later take care of elderly parents
Living with Extreme Weather
 South Asia experiences a yearly cycle of floods, often
followed by drought
 The extreme weather of South Asia leads to serious
physical, economic and political consequences.
Impact of the Monsoons
 Monsoon flooding nourish rainforests, irrigate crops
 Cyclones are common with summer monsoons
 _severe_________ droughts turn lush lands into arid
wastelands
Economic Impact
 Floods, droughts make agriculture difficult
 Weather catastrophes also destroy homes, families
 People build: house on stilts, concrete cyclone shelters,
dams