Today
• South Asia
Culture
Population
Development & industry
• SE Asia
Physical environments
© T. M. Whitmore
Last time – Questions?
• Agriculture
• Green Revolution
• Cattle
© T. M. Whitmore
Cultural Diversity
• Early civilizations
• Linguistic diversity
• Religious diversity
• Colonial imprint
© T. M. Whitmore
In the second
millennium BC IndoEuropean speakers
arrived in South Asia
and largely replaced
the indigenous
Dravidians except in
peninsular southern
India. Thus northern
Indian languages are
unrelated to those of
southern India but are
related to European
languages such as
English.
Timeline of South
Asian Religions
Hinduism is over 4000
years old and includes
>95% of Indians.
Jainism and Buddhism
originated in India
~500 BC as reactions
to Hinduism.
Islam includes 400
million in the region
and started arriving
after 700 AD with
conquering armies.
Sikhism originated in
the Punjab in the late
1400s as an offshoot of
Hinduism.
Roman Catholic and
Syrian Christians are
also present.
Languages
• In India alone there are 16 official
languages covering ~ 75% of pop
(and hundreds in total) and Pakistan
is similar
Indic
Persian
Dravidian
English
© T. M. Whitmore
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Indian Religions
Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism
origins here (plus Islam and Christianity from
elsewhere)
An important part of daily life
Shared concepts:
Past deeds actively influence future
experiences (karma), in accordance with the
proper way of living in harmony with
nature's underlying order (dharma)
A cycle of reincarnation or rebirth, and the
potential for liberation from the cycle
Spiritual practices such as meditation
and
© T. M. Whitmore
yoga
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Hinduism
Emerged in India about 3,000 years ago
No single text, but hundreds of scriptures
called Vedas
Complex beliefs with multiple gods in lots of
local guises (Bahama the creator; Vishnu the
preserver; and Shiva the destroyer)
Connected with a society of multiple
(hierarchal) social roles each with multiple
levels or castes (Braman priests; warrior;
merchant; laborers; etc)
Dominant over most of India and Nepal as
well
© T. M. Whitmore
Hindu Caste System
• Main Groups:
Brahmins
Kshatriyas
Vaishyas
Sudras
Dalits
© T. M. Whitmore
Mohandas Gandhi
• South African Influence
• “Civil disobedience”
• Points of Protest
•
Unfair taxation
Discrimination
Poverty
Liberation of Women
Religious/Ethnic Peace
End of Caste System
Independent India
Ties to American Civil Rights
Movement
© T. M. Whitmore
Buddhism
• Prince Siddhartha’s (the Buddha, c
500 BCE) search for enlightenment
thru meditation & rejection of
earthly desires
• Indian in origin but more important
outside India all over SE Asia (but
dominant in Sri Lanka and Bhutan)
© T. M. Whitmore
Islam
• Arrives in S Asia in the 700s
• Spatial expansion to cover all
Pakistan, Bangladesh, and most of
N. India (except south) by 1700
S topped by Hindu resistance just
as Brits establish colonial
presence
• Population majority Muslim in
Pakistan
Bangladesh
© T. M. Whitmore
Sikhism
• Punjab: 60% Sikh
• Elements of Islam & Hinduism
• Principal components
Path to salvation is through disciplined
meditation
Equality
© T. M. Whitmore
Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism
The Indian film industry is the largest in the world in terms of films produced
and tickets sold. The films have worldwide appeal but only generate a fraction
of Hollywood’s revenues. The Hindu/Urdu language component of the industry
is known as Bollywood.
Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism
Islam
Islam
Sikhism
History, complexity & conflict
• British colonial rule replaced the Islamic
•
Mughal Empire
Left a mixed legacy:
 investments in infrastructure
 the foundations of India’s democracy
were established
 industry was little developed
After independence (1947)
Religious strife leads to 2 states:
 Muslim Pakistan (east & west)
 Hindu (majority) India
Pakistan later divides into:
© T. M. Whitmore
 Pakistan & Bangladesh
Millions were displaced and
hundreds of thousands died in the
partition of India and Pakistan.
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Cultural complexity & conflict
Muslim Pakistan and nearby Hindu India —
common Punjabi language
Muslim Bangladesh and nearby Hindu India —
common Bengali language
Mostly Hindu Jammu in Pakistan and mostly
Muslim Kashmir in India
Muslim Pakistan and Bangladesh separated in
space by India (and in language)
Mostly Hindu India religion binds — very many
languages separate
Muslim Pakistan religion binds — very many
languages separate
Muslim Bangladesh both religion and language tie
Sri Lanka: Tamil Hindus & Singhalese Buddhists
© T. M. Whitmore
Population Issues
• Size: ~ India + Pakistan + Bangladesh =
•
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1/5 of humanity nearly 1.4b
Fertility (TFR) (3.1 = 3rd world ave)
India ~ 3.1; Pakistan ~ 4.8; Bangladesh
~ 3.6; Sri Lanka ~ 2.0
Regionally variable
Mortality (Eo) (global LDC ave ~ 63)
India ~63; Pakistan ~63; Bangladesh
~59; Sri Lanka ~72
© T. M. Whitmore
Population Issues II
• Growth — 1.3%/yr in Sri Lanka to
>2.7%/yr in Pakistan & 2.2 in Bangladesh
• Age structure
All very youthful (35-40% < age 15)
• Gender bias
Low status of women & dowry murders
© T. M. Whitmore
Spatial Distribution of Population
• Most in coastal and river valley
areas (Ganges ;Brahmaputra; &
Indus)
• Little urbanized – but growing
< 35% urban overall
but Calcutta & Mumbai [> 10-15 m]
Future growth
• Urban problems of crowding,
substandard housing, lack of jobs
etc. (e.g., over 500,000 homeless
and living on the street in Calcutta)
© T. M. Whitmore
© W.H. Freeman & Co.
© W.H. Freeman & Co.
Development issues I
• Poverty throughout the region
(LDC ave ~ $3,600 PPP
GDP/capita)
India ~ $2,800
Pakistan ~ $1,800
Bangladesh ~ $1,600
Sri Lanka ~ $3,300
© T. M. Whitmore
Development issues II
• Relatively low levels of life
expectancy, poor infant mortality,
literacy
Generally S and W India better
Child labor issues
Major problem is relatively low
status of women in much of S Asia
due in part to the Hindu and
Muslim traditions
But religion is not all since
Kerala state has good conditions
© T. M. Whitmore
This woman earns ~$1/day collecting trash
Industry & Economic Development
• Industrial development & British
colonial legacy
• New “back office” and hi-tech
developments
• Maquiladora-type, export led
developments
• Micro-credit:
Muhammad Yunus & Grameen Bank
Awarded The Nobel Peace Prize
for 2006 www.grameen-info.org/
© T. M. Whitmore
Also see www.kiva.org
Locales of industrial development
• Pakistan: Lahlore
• Bangladesh: Dhaka
• India
Old colonial cities
Mumbai/Bombay; Delhi – light
industry & finance
Calcutta & W Bengal – heavy
industry
New “Silicon plateau” BangaloreMadras
© T. M. Whitmore
Southeast Asia
• Plate tectonics in SE Asia
• Earthquakes & Volcanoes
© T. M. Whitmore
Banda Aceh before
Banda Aceh after
Tambora
Southeast Asian environments II
• Other land forms
Indochinese (mainland) mountains
Highlands of Borneo and New
Guinea
Coastal mangrove swamps of E
Sumatra and parts of N Guinea
and Borneo
Major rivers of Indochina
© T. M. Whitmore
Red R.
Mekong R.
Irrawaddy
Salween
Cho Phraya
Southeast Asian Climates
• Climate regimes
Tropical wet/dry and equatorial
climates (Af, Aw, Am) — warm
year around in all places (except
very highlands)
© T. M. Whitmore
Vegetation and soils
• Inland in Indochina
• Lowland equatorial rainforest
• Soils — high temperatures and
rainfall
© T. M. Whitmore
Puzzle of tropical/equatorial
rainforests
• Much of the most moist area under
“classical” tropical rainforest
• Huge trees; much biodiversity; high
biomass/area
• Yet — all this on poor soils mostly —
how?
• Commercial threats to tropical
rainforests increasing
© T. M. Whitmore