Southeast Asia and the Cultural
Aspect:
A Brief Look at Human
Characteristics, Culture and Lifestyles
Vocabulary Terms
• Urbanization- The shift from rural to urban
lifestyles
• Primate City- An urban area that serves as a
country’s major port, economic center and
often its capital; EX: Bangkok, Thailand
• Wats- Indian style religious buildings or
temples
Human
Characteristics
SE Asia is home to about 520
million people; those
including descendants of
indigenous peoples, Indians,
Chinese and Arabs, as well as
European colonists.
Imperialist countries such as
France and Britain have left
influences that have added
uniqueness to SE Asia’s
cultural mix.
Valuable spices grown in this
region initially drew outside
traders
Population
• SE Asia is home to about 520 million people
• The Indonesian island of Java is one of the
most densely populated islands in the world
• The regions has shown a 1.6% natural increase
compared to the global 1.3%; some countries
are working towards slowing down their
population growths
• Urbanization has grown rapidly- many people
moving from the rural areas to the city
Early Civilizations and Life
• Early peoples of SE Asia were
skilled farmers
• Also advanced metalworkersBronze was first cast in
Thailand in 3000 BC; one
thousand years before the
Chinese
• Early SE Asians worshipped
their ancestors as well as
animals and nature
• Power and wealth were
passed down through the
mother’s family
• Funan Empire
• Khmer Empire
• Srivijaya Empire
Regional ConflictsEast Timor
Many regions in SE Asia have
experienced conflicts
East Timor was a former Portuguese
colony seized by Indonesia in 1975.
Over 20 years, approximately
200,000 Roman Catholic East
Timorese have died in combat
against Muslim Indonesians
When Indonesia’s dictatorship fell in
1999, East Timor broke away, and
was helped by the UN until 2002 to
help with stability and
independence
To this day, Westerners and
foreigners continue to be the target
of many terrorist attacks
Culture and Lifestyle
Language
Religion
• Most of the region’s languages
stem from three major
language families- MalayoPolynesian, Sino-Tibetan and
Mon-Khmer
• Buddhism- major religion in
Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia,
Laos, Vietnam
• Many of the languages are
blended as a result of
migration and colonization
• Spanish, English and French
are official languages of some
countries
• Islam- major religion in Malaysia
and Indonesia
• Roman Catholic/Christianitypracticed in the Philippines
• Confucianism- practiced by those
mainly of Chinese ancestry
Culture and the
Arts
Civilizations such as early India,
China, as well as European and
Western colonization have
influenced SE Asian arts and
literature
Wats or temples, color the
landscape; Thousands of the
temples are located on the
Indonesian Peninsula alone
Arjunavivaha- SE Asian story about
the life of a king in Java
Drama and dance are combined to
re-tell or recreate legends and
historical events. Traditional dances
are also preformed
Puppet plays are also very popular
about historical and religious
characters.
On the island of Bali, in Indonesia, young
women perform a dance called Legong. Making
gestures, the dancers re-enact episodes from
the Ramayana, an ancient Indian story.
Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, has an area called the Golden Triangle that
includes luxury hotels, multi-storied office buildings and development
projects; also known as KLCC- Kuala Lumpur City Center; home to one of the
world’s tallest office buildings, The Petronas Twin Towers