SOUTH ASIA
DEFINING THE REALM
Topics:
• South Asia as a birthplace
of religions
• Cutting-edge IT, backward
agriculture
• Two nuclear powers quarrel
over Kashmir
• The Indian Ocean Basin: A
new geopolitical arena
• South Asia’s missing girls
SOUTH ASIA
THE GEOGRAPHIC
PANORAMA
• Subcontinent.
• Divides Indian Ocean between
Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.
• Demarcated by mountains, rivers,
and deserts.
• British Empire—unifying force.
• Partitions in 1947 based on
religion—Muslim, Hindu, and
Buddhist.
• Large, growing population.
• Disputed territory—Kashmir.
• English—Lingua franca.
SOUTH ASIA’S
PHYSIOGRAPHY
Unique Tectonic Boundary
•Collision of Indian and Eurasian Plate.
‒ Continental plate-to-continental plate
collision created Himalaya Mountains
(north).
‒ Earthquakes and tectonic activity.
•Permanent snow/ice provide
meltwater to sustain rivers.
•Headwaters of the great rivers:
‒ Indus River
‒ Ganges River
‒ Brahmaputra River
Double delta in Bangladesh!
[Tropical Monsoon (Am)]
The Monsoon Climate
• Monsoon-annual rains
• Warm land mass, low air
pressure, onshore winds,
warm waters = precipitation.
• Wet monsoon brings rains
for 60 days or more!
• Short dry season.
• Important for agriculture,
ecosystems and wildlife.
SOUTH ASIA
Physiographic Regions
• Northern Mountains
‒ Hindu Kush
‒ Karakoram
‒ Himalayas
• River Lowlands
‒ Indus Valley
‒ Gangetic Plain
• Double delta—Ganges and
Brahmaputra in Bangladesh
• North Indian Plain
‒ Punjab
• Plateaus
‒ Deccan—tableland
‒ Central Indian Plateau
• Eastern and Western Ghats
SOUTH ASIA
BIRTHPLACE OF CIVILIZATIONS
Indus Valley Civilization
•Centered on Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro (2500BC).
•Name of state—Sindhu.
•Complex and
technologically advanced.
•Influence extended
eastward to Delhi.
•Did not last because of
environmental change.
BIRTHPLACE OF CIVILIZATIONS
Aryans and Origins of Hinduism
• Northern India invaded by Aryans—
peoples speaking Indo-European
languages (1500 BC).
‒ Sanskrit—Language related to Old
Persian (base of Indo-European fam).
• Hinduism—emerged out of Vedism
religious texts.
• Social stratification system:
‒ Solidified powerful position of Aryans.
‒ Organized villages into controlled
networks.
‒ Small city-states emerged.
‒ Hierarchy of power—Brahmins
(highest-order priests).
‒ Caste system – religion/past lives
• Less with urban areas/modern times.
•Dravidian family—dominant in the South
Languages and Culture
‒ Indigenous languages:
• Telugu, Tamil, Kanarese (Kannada), Malayalam
•Northern and northeastern areas
‒ Sino-Tibetan languages
•Eastern India and Bangladesh
‒ Austro-Asiatic languages
Buddhism and Other Indigenous Religions
•Buddhism—around 500 BC
‒ Arose in eastern Ganges Basin.
‒ Less than 1% of population in India.
‒ Important in Bhutan (state religion) and Sri
Lanka (70% of population).
‒ Influence greater in Southeast/East Asia.
•Jainism—developed alongside Hinduism
‒ More purist, principled, and deeply spiritual
form of Hinduism.
‒ Less than 1% of population.
•Sikhism—emerged around AD 1500
‒ Blend of Islamic and Hindu beliefs.
‒ Keep good, rid the bad.
‒ About 2% of population.
The Reach of Islam
•Invaders spread eastward to Indus
Valley (10th century AD).
•Mughal (Mogul) Empire—Islamicized
Mongols.
‒ Afghanistan into the Punjab.
‒ Ousted the Delhi Sultanate (13th C).
‒ Expanded Islam with tolerant policies
toward Hindus.
‒ Built Taj Mahal!
•Today Islam is dominant in Pakistan and
Bangladesh.
The European Intrusion
•Mid-18th century—British had taken
over trade of South Asia,
•East India Company (EIC)
Represented the British empire.
•British took advantage of weakened
power of Mughals.
•“Indirect rule”—left local rulers
(maharajas) to rule.
•1857—”East India” became part of the
British Colonial Empire.
Colonial Transformation
• Raw materials via railroads, city ports,
to Europe.
• Decline of local industries, loss of
markets, bad for local people.
• A new elite among South Asian
natives emerged.
THE GEOPOLITICS OF MODERN SOUTH ASIA
Partition and Independence
• Partition—separation of India
and Pakistan.
‒ Tensions between Hindus and
Muslims.
‒ New boundaries drawn through
areas where both sides
historically coexisted.
‒ Refugee migrations, Millions
displaced.
• Created a new cultural and
geopolitical landscape in South
Asia based on religion.
India-Pakistan-Bangladesh
•Tenuous relationship to this day.
•Pakistan and Bangladesh separated (1971)
•Cold War divisions:
‒ India tilted toward Moscow.
‒ Pakistan found favor in Washington.
‒ Arms race led to both becoming nuclear powers.
•Muslims in India are the largest cultural minority
in the world.
Contested Kashmir
•Territory of high mountains surrounded
by Pakistan, India, and China.
•Pakistan’s forward capital—Islamabad.
•Kashmir and the Partition
‒ Maharaja was Hindu (pro-autocratic)
‒ Population Muslim (pro-Pakistan)
‒ Indian intervention
•Tensions remain.
The Specter of Terrorism
•Mumbai, India: 2008 terrorist attacks.
‒ Lashkar-e-Taiba—Pakistan-based
organization with aims to return
Kashmir to Islamic rule.
•Pakistan’s northwestern frontier is
managed by the Taliban.
•Majority of India’s Muslims are
uninvolved in extremism.
•Geopolitical chess game between
India, Pakistan, and the United States.
Chinese Border Claims
•Jammu and Kashmir
•Arunachal Pradesh
•China + Pakistan ally vs. India + SE Asia ally.
•Indian Ocean trade to China’s advantage.
‒ Issue remains unresolved today.
SOUTH ASIA
EMERGING MARKETS AND FRAGMENTED
MODERNIZATION
• “India Shining”—rising
economic growth rates
‒ Due to globalization,
modernization, and integration
into global economy.
• Poverty
‒ Over half the population of
India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh
live in poverty.
• Benefits of economic growth
unevenly distributed.
Economic Liberalization
• Neoliberalism—deregulation to spur
business activity = economic growth.
• Results noticeable in India,
Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
‒ Manufacturing, services, finances, and
information technology.
• Yet 1 billion South Asians have not
attained middle-class status!
SOUTH ASIA’S POPULATION GEOGRAPHY
• Population geography focuses on the
characteristics, distribution, growth, and
other aspects of spatial demography.
• 4 demographic dimensions in South Asia:
‒ The role of density
‒ The demographic transition
‒ Age distributions and economics
‒ The gender bias in birth rates
SOUTH ASIA’S POPULATION GEOGRAPHY
Population Density and Overpopulation
•Population density measures the number of
people per unit area.
•Overpopulation and “carrying capacity”
‒ High population growth and densities
unsupportable.
‒ Not all high-density countries are struggling.
• Human Use vs. Natural Resources
‒ Countries with high education levels,
institutional efficiency, and technological
know-how are able to use natural resources
more efficiently.
‒ South Asia’s large population is illiterate,
undereducated; thus, unsustainable.
*India’s Ganges River Wildlife Refuge example:
 Kaziranga National Park.
 Tigers, Rhinos, and Elephants.
 Few protected places, few park rangers, few remaining in the wild.
 Habitat loss to farming, poaching and black-market trade, animal vs. human use.
The Demographic Transition
• Structural change in birth and death rates:
o Rapid population increase.
o Decline in growth rates.
o Stable population.
• Most South Asian countries in the 3rd
stage—rates stabilize, deaths decline due to
medical advances.
• Fertility rates—the number of births per
woman.
‒ Fertility rates have dropped across realm.
Demographic Burdens
•Proportion of population that is either too old or too young to be
productive and that must be cared for by productive population.
•Low death rates and high birth rates will have large share of
young and old resulting in a high demographic burden.
•Population Pyramid—diagrams showing age-sex structure…
SOUTH ASIA’S POPULATION GEOGRAPHY
The Missing Girls
•Sex ratio
‒ Among young children males outnumber
females.
•Gender bias
‒ Higher value on boys.
‒ Thought to be more productive income-
earners, entitled to land and inheritance, and
do not require a dowry.
•Female infanticide
‒ Ultrasound scanning and rising incomes
have resulted in abortion of females.
•“Bachelor angst”—difficulty in finding
brides (many men, few women).
‒ Has resulted in changing attitudes.
Significant Agriculture
•More than half the workforce employed
in agriculture.
‒ Low productivity and only 20%
contribution to overall economy.
•70% of South Asia’s population is rural.
•Dependence on a good harvest:
‒ Eastern India and Bangladesh—rice.
‒ Northwestern India and Pakistan—wheat.
Realm in Transition
• Politically
‒ India-Pakistan relations.
• Economically
‒ India’s rise in global economy.
‒ Growing middle class.
‒ IT is a leading economic sector, giving it
future advantage (+ Indian Ocean trade).
• Demographically
‒ Pass through demographic transition.
‒ India is world’s largest democracy.
‒ India soon to have largest national
population!
• 1.2 billion people in India
SOUTH ASIA
FUTURE PROSPECTS
Homework
1. Read Textbook Chapter 8
2. Homework:
• Choose one “@from the Field Notes”
subsection topic in Ch.8 textbook; research
and summarize (1 page).
OR
• Choose a realm/region within or adjacent
to South Asia to review in detail (1 page).
Regions include Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka,
Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, the Maldives.
Choose a culture, country, or feature to
research and write about.