South Asia
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South Asia
| Countries | 7 to 10 (see page) |
|---|---|
| Territories | 1 or 2 (see page) |
| GDP | |
| GDP per capita | |
| Languages | Assamese/Asomiya, Bengali, Bodo, Burmese, Chinese, Dari[1], Dhivehi, Dogri, Dzongkha, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Manipuri, Nepali, Oriya, Pashto, Persian, Punjabi, Urdu, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Sinhala, Siraiki, Tamil, Telugu, Tibetan, and others |
| Time Zones | UTC +8:00 (Tibet, PRC) to UTC +3:30 (Iran) |
| Largest Cities | Colombo, Dhaka, Diego Garcia, Kabul, Karachi, Kathmandu, Lhasa, Malé, Mumbai, Tehran, Thimpu, and Yangon |
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is a southern region of the Asian continent, comprising the sub-Himalayan countries and the regions on their west and, for some authorities (see below), on the east as well. It is surrounded (clockwise, from west to east) by Western Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Asia, and Southeastern Asia.
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[edit] Definitions and usage
South Asia consists of the following countries and territories:
These countries, except the British Indian Ocean Territory, are also currently members of a regional co-operation group, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which was jointly formed by them. For assumed geographic, cultural, and/or historical reasons[citation needed], the following countries and territories are often included in South Asia:
Afghanistan[1][5][6][7][3][4][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16](Otherwise considered Central Asian or Middle-Eastern[17]) (Now a member of SAARC)
Myanmar, (Prior to August 1947, for nearly a century, it was part of the British Raj region of South Asia proper.) (Otherwise considered Southeast Asian[citation needed])- Tibet, PRC[5][6][11][12][13][14][15][16][18] (Otherwise considered Central Asian[19]) (The People's Republic of China, exercising sovereignty over Tibet, is an observer member of SAARC)
The United Nations also includes Iran, but not Tibet or Burma, as part of Southern Asia:[20]
Iran (Iran is an observer nation in SAARC) (Otherwise considered Southwest Asia)
Geophysically, the term Indian subcontinent is used to describe those regions which lie on the Indian Plate, bordered on the north by the Eurasian Plate. However, a good proportion of the Pakistani land mass is not on the Indian plate, but on the fringes of the Iranian plateau. As in the case of the Hindukush mountains, everything to the south-east of the Iranian Plateau is considered South Asia. But, geopolitically, Southern Asia subsumes the Indian subcontinent and includes both, the territories found internal to the Indian Plate and those in proximity to it. Afghanistan, for instance, is sometimes grouped in this region due to socio-political, historical, and ethnic (Pashtun) ties to neighbouring Pakistan.
[edit] Differences in definitions
The definition of South Asia can vary greatly from person to person. Most sources accept Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Chagos Islands, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka as South Asian. Most of the controversy originates over Afghanistan, Iran, and Tibet. Afghanistan and Tibet are often considered South Asian by several universities' departments of South Asian studies, especially those refered to above, but this definition is by no means universal. Another controversy grows over Iran, as Iran is considered South Asian by the UN, but few of those departments above. The G8's definition of the Greater Middle East further obfuscates matters by including both Pakistan and Afghanistan. See: Middle East and Greater Middle East. Controversial race researcher Richard Lynn has defined Southern Asia as "from Bangladesh in the east through India, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, the Gulf states, the near East, and Turkey".[21]
[edit] Territory and region data
[edit] Demography and history
[edit] History
- Further information: History of South Asia
The peoples of the region possess several distinguishing features that set them apart anthropologically from the rest of Asia; the dominant peoples and cultures are Indo-Aryan and Dravidian, (though the Mongoloid populations in north-east India, Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet are not to be ignored), and have a great affinity with the peoples of Iranian Plateau and the Caucasus particularly in the north west region of South Asia encompassing the modern states of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Persian, Arab and Turkish cultural traditions from the west also form an integral part of Islamic South Asian culture, but have been adapted to form a Muslim culture distinct from what is found in the Middle East e.g. pilgrimage to dargahs is common among many South Asian Muslims.
South Asia ranks among the world's most densely-populated regions. About 1.6 billion people live here – about one-fourth of all the people in the world. The region's population density of 305 persons per square kilometre is more than seven times the world average.
The region has a long history. Ancient civilizations developed in the Indus River Valley and the Dwaraka region. The region was far more prosperous before the 18th century, when the Mughal Empire held sway in the north and the Maratha Empire held sway in the south and central regions of the Indian peninsula. Subsequently, European encroachments, initially by Portugal and the Netherlands,and later by France and British colonialism, led to political destabilisation of the region, leading finally to almost complete occupation and rule by the British. Christianity, western culture, modern health care and liberal education got a favourable climate to prosper in their times and the region became a captive market for the products of western industrial revolution, adversely affecting centuries old local industries. Most of the region gained independence from Europe by the late 1940s, when these colonial powers were weakened by the World War II and could neither control the people of the region nor satisfy their aspirations.
Since 1947, most of the countries of South Asia have achieved tremendous progress in all spheres. Most notable achievements are in the fields of education; industry; health care; information technology and services based on its applications; research in the fields of cutting edge sciences and technologies; defence related self-reliance projects; international/global trade and business enterprises and outsourcing of human resources. In all these areas, Republic of India is leading the group of SAARC nations; her only blemishes being inequitable distribution of wealth and prosperity among its billion plus population, periodic inter-religious violence and perceived or real grievances of religion/caste based minorities. However, the new generation is working diligently on remediation of these aberrations.
[edit] Ethnic groups, cultures and languages
South Asia, which consists of the nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives, is ethnically diverse, with more than 2,000 ethnic entities with populations ranging from hundreds of millions to small tribal groups. South Asia has been invaded and settled by many ethnic groups over the centuries including various Dravidian, Indo-Aryan and Iranian groups. The amalgamation of Dravidian, Indo-Aryan and local tribal cultures over the centuries created common culture, traditions and beliefs. The Vedic Sanskrit language and Vedic religion combined Indo-Aryan, Dravidian and local tribal beliefs to give rise to the ancient Indian religion of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism (although Buddha was born in Nepal) and also Sikhism, even though Sufi tradition of Islam had also significantly influenced nascent Sikhism and its holiest scripture. As a consequence, they share many similar cultural practices, festivals, and traditions. Throughout time, the traditions of different ethnic groups in South Asia have diverged, sometimes giving rise to strong local traditions, such as South Indian culture in earlier times. Other ethnic groups, successively streaming in later mainly from Central Asia and Iran, e.g. Sakas, Kushans, Huns etc. influenced pre-existing south Asian cultures; the last of these new arrivals - the Turks and Pathans - brought in much cultural influence and the Abrahamic religion of Islam to the Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtun, Baloch and Kashmiri people in the northwestern parts of South Asia, to North India and to Bangladesh[citation needed]. However, their Turkish/Persian languages have ceased to be prominent; replaced now by Urdu, a syncretic language of combined Hindi-Persian-Turkik-Arabian heritage. The largest spoken language in this region is now Hindi, its speakers numbering almost 300 million[citation needed]; the second largest spoken language is Bengali, with 240 million[citation needed] speakers. Other languages of this region fall into a few major linguistic groups: the Dravidian languages and the Indo-Aryan languages, a sub-branch of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. Many Tibeto-Burman groups are found in northeast India, Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. Other small groups speaking Austro-Asiatic languages are also present in South Asia. English is another language which dominates South Asia, especially as a medium of advanced education and government administration; ethnic Englishmen are now practically absent after their two centuries long colonial presence, although they have left an imprint of western culture in the elite society.
[edit] Religions
 Afghanistan[1] |
Sunni Muslim (80%), Shi'a Muslim (19%), other (1%) |
 Bangladesh[24] |
Muslim (82.8%), Hindu (14.2%), Buddhist (1.6%), Christian (1.3%),Believers in tribal faiths (0.1%) |
 British Indian Ocean Territory[25] |
Christian (45.55%), Hindu (38.55%), Muslim (9.25%), Non-Religious (6.50%), Atheist (0.10%), Other (0.05%) |
 Bhutan[2] |
Buddhist (75%), Hindu (25%) |
 India[26] |
Hindu (80.5%), Muslim (13.4%), Christian (2.3%), Sikh (1.9%), Buddhist (0.8%), Jain (0.4%), Others (0.6%) |
 Iran[27] |
Shi'a Muslim (89%), Sunni Muslim (9%), Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i (2%) |
 Maldives[28] |
Sunni Muslim (100%) (One must be a Sunni Muslim to be a citizen on the Maldives[citation needed]) |
 Myanmar[29] |
Theravada Buddhism (89%), Muslim (4%), Christian (4%) (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Animist (1%), others (including Hinduism) (2%) |
 Nepal[30] |
Hindu (80.6%), Buddhist (10.7%), Muslim (4.2%), Kirat (3.6%) |
 Pakistan[31] |
Muslim (96.28%), Christian (1.59%), Hindu (0.25%), Ahmadi (0.22%) |
 Sri Lanka[32] |
Theravada Buddhist (70.42%), Hindu (10.89%), Muslim (8.78%), Catholic (7.77%), Other Christian (1.96%), Other (0.13%) |
| Tibet, PRC | Buddhist, Bön, Hindu, Muslim, and others[citation needed] |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Afghanistan. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency (December 13, 2007).
- ^ a b CIA - The World Factbook
- ^ a b South Asia: Data, Projects, and Research [1]
- ^ a b MAPS SHOWING GEOLOGY, OIL AND GAS FIELDS AND GEOLOGICAL PROVINCES OF SOUTH ASIA [2] Includes Afghanistan and Bhutan
- ^ a b Center for South Asia Studies: University of California, Berkeley [3]
- ^ a b Center for South Asia Outreach UW-Madison [4]
- ^ Department of South Asia Studies: University of Pennsylvania [5]
- ^ Afghanistan-Tajikistan Bridge Links Central, South Asia [6] Refers to Afghanistan as South Asian and Tajikistan as Central Asian
- ^ University of Washington Jackson School of International Studies: The South Asia Center http://jsis.washington.edu/advise/catalog/soasia-b.html
- ^ Syracruse University: The South Asia Center http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/moynihan/programs/sac/
- ^ a b Center for South Asian Studies
- ^ a b http://www.brandeis.edu/registrar/catalog/one-subject.php?subject_id=6550 this sources admits in certain contexts that Tibet and Afghanistan are South Asian
- ^ a b http://www.britac.ac.uk/institutes/SSAS/about.htm Tibetan and Afghan flag shown
- ^ a b Organization - Center for South Asian Studies - Oscar
- ^ a b University of Hawaii at Manoa | South Asia Collection
- ^ a b Rutgers, SAS South Asian Studies: - Home
- ^ The 2007 Middle East & Central Asia Politics, Economics,and Society Conference University of Utah "Regional Economic Outlook: Middle East & Central Asia" May 2006, International Monetary Fund Middle East Network Information Center (MENIC), University of Texas at Austin Afghanistan Profile, National Geographic (accessed 20 January 2006) Afghanistan, Middle East Institute (accessed 20 January 2006)
- ^ South Asian Studies at Emory
- ^ Tibet - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
- ^ Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings, United Nations website
- ^ Race Differences in Intelligence by Richard Lynn pg 79, 2006
- ^ ICL - Iran - Constitution
- ^ Population by Mother Tongue. Population Census Organization, Government of Pakistan. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
- ^ Bangladesh : AT A GLANCE
- ^ The Association of Religion Data Archives | National Profiles
- ^ http://www.censusindia.net/religiondata/presentation_on_religion.pdf
- ^ CIA - The World Factbook
- ^ Maldives - maldives religion
- ^ CIA - The World Factbook - Burma
- ^ NEPAL
- ^ http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/pop_by_religion.pdf
- ^ http://www.statistics.gov.lk/census2001/population/ds_div/t001b.htm
[edit] See also
- History of South Asia
- South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
- South Asian Economic Union
- Indosphere
- Greater India
- Indology
- India (disambiguation)
- Islamic conquest of South Asia
- List of South Asian stock exchanges
- South Asian cuisine
[edit] Other subregions in Asia
[edit] External links
- World Bank, South Asia Region
- BBC News South Asia
- Himal Southasian magazine
- South Asian Note
- Birding in South Asia
- South Asian Awareness Network Conference Website
- Global Media Publications Website
- Digital South Asia Library
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| mountains and plateaus | Himalayas · Western Ghats · Eastern Ghats · Aravalli Range · The Nilgiris · Vindhya Range · Satpura Range · Garo Hills · Shivalik Hills · Khasi Hills · Annamalai Hills · Cardamom Hills · Sulaiman Mountains · Toba Kakar Range · Karakoram · Hindu Kush · Chittagong Hill Tracts · Deccan Plateau · Thar Desert · Makran · Chota Nagpur · Naga Hills · Mysore Plateau · Ladakh Plateau |
| lowlands and islands | Indo-Gangetic plain · Indus River Delta · Ganga basin · Ganges Delta · Atolls of Maldives · Coromandel Coast · Konkan · Lakshadweep · Andaman and Nicobar Islands · Sundarbans · Rann of Kutch · Protected areas of Tamil Nadu |
| Main | India · Pakistan · Nepal · Bhutan · Tibet · Sri Lanka · Bangladesh · The Maldives · Portal:Himalaya region |
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Bangladesh · Bhutan · India · Maldives · Nepal · Pakistan · Sri Lanka Sometimes included: Afghanistan • British Indian Ocean Territory • Iran • Myanmar • Tibet |
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