South Asia
(Redirected from Indian subcontinent)
- Southern Asia sometimes refers to all of Asia that was not part of the Soviet Union.
South Asia is often synonymous with the Indian subcontinent, and includes the following neighboring states:
- India, Pakistan and Bangladesh; constituting the bulk of the subcontinent proper
- Himalayan States: Nepal and Bhutan
- Indian Ocean Island Nations - Sri Lanka, the Maldives
These countries are all members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
Geographically, the Indian subcontinent would additionally include some disputed territory currently controlled by China, and Myanmar and exclude most of western and northern Pakistan and Kashmir where the Indian plate and Eurasian plate meet and collide. Politically, (as in the SAARC member-states) the region covers about 4,480,000 km² (1,729,738 mi²), or 10 percent of the Asian continent. However, its population accounts for about 40 percent of Asia. Some or all of Afghanistan is sometimes considered part of the region of South Asia because Afghanistan due to its geographic proximity and has shared many historical currents with the region, but is not located on the subcontinent.
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Nomenclature
The term "South Asia" is often used synonymously with the term "Subcontinent", although usually "South Asia" refers specifically to the group of nations that make the Subcontinent, while "Indian subcontinent" signifies an area defined by the earth's topography.
The term 'South Asia' is thus a common contemporary term for what in times before 1947, the end of the British Raj and the beginning of the First Indo-Pakistani War, was simply known as 'British India', 'India', or 'Hindustan': citizens of South Asian countries other than the Republic of India can sometimes be offended by the use of "India" or "Indian" in relation to them or their nationalities. In addition, South Asia is a more logical term since as a region it can include areas that are not technically located within the subcontinent such as Baluchistan and Afghanistan and yet can be associated due to geographic proximity. "Greater India", a term that some historians in India use, intended simply to refer to India and its neighbours, is even more discredited and vague.
Geography
Geographically, the region is bound by the Himalaya to the north and east, and the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal to the south. The Hindu Kush mountains that run through northern Pakistan and Afghanistan are usually considered the northwestern edge of the subcontinent that effectively bifurcate Kashmir and the Northern Areas of Pakistan. In addition, the Sulaiman Mountains separate Pakistani Baluchistan from the subcontinent as it rests upon the Iranian plateau.
Geologically, most of this region is a subcontinent because it rests on a tectonic plate of its own, the India Plate, separate from the rest of Eurasia and was once a small continent before colliding with the Eurasian Plate and giving birth to the Himalayan range and the Tibetan plateau. Even now the India Plate continues to move northward with the result that the Himalaya are growing taller by a few centimetres each decade. In addition, the region is also home to an astounding variety of geographical features that are typical of much larger continents, such as glaciers, rainforests, valleys, deserts, and grasslands in an area about half the size of the United States.
South Asia ranks among the world's most densely-populated regions. About 1.6 billion people live there — about a quarter 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 civilisations developed in the Indus River Valley. The region was at its most prosperous before the 18th century, when the Mughal Empire held sway in the north; European colonialism led to a new conquering of the region, by Portugal and Holland, and later Britain and to a lesser degree France. Most of the region gained independence from Europe in the late 1940s.
- See also: History of South Asia
Other subregions of Asia
- East Asia
- Southeast Asia
- Central Asia
- Southwest Asia or West Asia (One definition of the Middle East is synonymous with Southwest Asia)
- North Asia (Siberia)
- Northern Eurasia (Extends into Europe)
- Central Eurasia (Extends into Europe)
External links
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