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South Asia Today
Chapter Focus
Section 1 Living in South Asia
Section 2 People and Their
Environment
Chapter Assessment
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Indian girl celebrating the Festival
of Lights
Geographic Setting
The people who live in South Asia
have adapted to a rich and varied
geographic setting, which includes
everything from isolated mountain
valleys to a long coastline that is a
crossroads for international trade.
Chapter Objectives
• Describe major economic activities
in South Asia. 
• Explain the effects of a rapidly
expanding population on the
environment of South Asia.
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the information.
Geographic Themes
• Section 1 Living in South Asia
REGION In most nations of South
Asia, a large majority of the people
still make their living in agriculture. 
• Section 2 People and Their
Environment
HUMAN/ENVIRONMENT
INTERACTION The rapidly expanding
population of South Asia is placing an
ever-increasing burden on the
environment.
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the information.
Living in South Asia
Read to Discover…
• the major crops of South Asia. 
• the industries that are developing in
South Asia. 
• mining and fishing resources of South
Asia. 
Key Terms
subsistence farming, jute, cash crop,
green revolution
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information. Additional lecture notes appear on the following slides.
Living in South Asia
Identify and Locate
Malabar Coast, Kathmandu Valley,
Chittagong 
Section Objectives
1. Identify the major crops of South Asia. 
2. Describe industrial development in
South Asia. 
3. Discuss mining and fishing resources
of South Asia.
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information. Additional lecture notes appear on the following slides.
Introduction
• In recent years the governments of
several South Asian nations have made
tremendous progress toward
modernizing their economies. 
• Since increasing agricultural output,
slowing population growth, and
establishing a broad and impressive
industrial base, India now ranks among
the world’s top 12 producers of goods
and services. 
• However, India continues to have one
of the world’s lowest per capita
incomes–about $380 a year.
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the information.
HUMAN/ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION
Agriculture
• Most people in South Asia make their
living by farming. 
• Most people practice subsistence
farming–managing to produce just
what they need to survive–using
simple tools, such as wooden harrows
pulled by an ox. 
• Gradually, agriculture is changing as
modern methods are introduced. 
• Some farmers now use tractors and
irrigate with water pumped from
electric-powered wells.
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the information.
Agricultural Conditions
• South Asian farms vary in size from
large plantations in Sri Lanka to small
plots of land in India. 
• The British and the Dutch originally
established the Sri Lankan
plantations. 
• Today on plantations, skilled workers
use advanced technology to produce
tea, rubber, coconut, and other
products for export.
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the information.
Agricultural Conditions (cont.)
• In India more than one-third of the
farms are small as a result of
traditional inheritance practices–
dividing a family’s land equally among
all the family’s sons. 
• A family may own several such plots,
scattered around the village where the
family lives, making farming difficult. 
• In an attempt to solve this problem,
some states in India have passed laws
establishing a minimum size for farms.
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A Variety of Crops
• The major food crop grown in South
Asia is rice. 
• India is the world’s second-largest
producer of rice. 
• Tiny Bangladesh (about the size of
Iowa) ranks fourth. 
• Rice is grown chiefly in the tropical
rain forest climate of the Ganges Delta
and along the Malabar Coast. 
• Wheat is a major crop of the IndoGangetic Plain and is the chief crop of
the Indus Valley of Pakistan.
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the information.
A Variety of Crops (cont.)
• Peanuts grown along the western
coast of the peninsula are another
important crop. 
• Jute, a fiber used to make string and
cloth, is the major cash crop of
Bangladesh. 
• Cotton is an important fiber crop for
South Asia, India, and Pakistan. 
• India is one of the world’s largest
producers of bananas, while citrus
fruits are grown in the steppe areas of
India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
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A Variety of Crops (cont.)
• India and Sri Lanka are two of the
world’s largest producers of tea, which
was originally grown in China and
introduced to India by British planters. 
• When workers on the Indian tea
plantations began demanding better
working conditions, the British set up
new plantations in Ceylon (now Sri
Lanka). 
• When Sri Lanka gained its
independence in 1948, the British
planters moved on once again, but the
plantations remain.
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A Variety of Crops (cont.)
• Sri Lanka’s dependence on the cash
crops of tea and rubber forces it to
import great quantities of rice to meet
its people’s food needs. 
• The conflict–between growing the food
crops a nation’s people need to
survive physically and growing the
cash crops the country needs in order
to survive in the global economy–
exists throughout South Asia, as in
many developing regions.
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the information.
Improved Agricultural Practices
• At the present growth rate, the
population of South Asia will double in
less than 40 years. 
• Although government leaders, especially
in India, have attempted to slow the
population growth rate, they realize that
agricultural production must rise
dramatically to adequately feed their
people. 
• Government programs throughout South
Asia are training farmers to use modern
technology, focusing on irrigation, insect
control, and fertilization.
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the information.
Improved Agricultural Practices (cont.)
• In some areas farmers are taught to
plant two or more crops on the same
piece of land in a single year. 
• In places where agriculture is
dependent on the monsoon rains,
growing more than one crop in a year
is difficult. 
• Farmers who have used traditional
methods for centuries may be
reluctant to experiment with new
techniques, and subsistence farmers
have little room for error in their lives.
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the information.
Improved Agricultural Practices (cont.)
• Education and government leadership
are crucial to change attitudes and to
teach specific new techniques. 
• Agricultural research stations in
Bhutan have led to the establishment
of very successful fruit orchards. 
• The Sri Lankan government has
encouraged rice production by paying
high prices for rice and establishing
new irrigation programs.
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the information.
Improved Agricultural Practices (cont.)
• In the 1960s plant breeders began to
develop new and more productive
varieties of rice, wheat, and maize–an
achievement called green revolution. 
• Rice and wheat production increased,
but these new varieties are more
susceptible to disease and require
expensive fertilizers and much
irrigation. 
• The green revolution has allowed
countries such as India to store
surpluses and even export grain.
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the information.
HUMAN/ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION
Mining and Fishing
• Because South Asia consists of a
peninsula and islands, fish are an
important resource. 
• Mining is also an important source of
income.
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the information.
Mining
• Most of the mining takes place on the
Indo-Gangetic Plain and in eastern
India. 
• India produces large amounts of mica,
coal, and iron ore and has significant
deposits of bauxite, silver, and copper. 
• Pakistan has some natural-gas
deposits. 
• Precious stones such as sapphires and
rubies are mined in Sri Lanka. 
• Bhutan possesses coal, lead, marble,
zinc, and copper.
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the information.
Fishing
• Fishing is an important industry in Sri
Lanka and Pakistan. 
• Fresh and dried fish, lobster, and
shrimp are important exports of
Pakistan. 
• In Bangladesh, fish are a primary food
source for many people. 
• The majority of farmers in rural
Bangladesh fish during the flood
season. 
• Bangladesh’s new commercial
fisheries industry is very successful.
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MOVEMENT
Industrial Growth
• The pace of industrialization varies in
South Asia. 
• Industries have traditionally been
heavily regulated by the government.

• In India, an easing of government
regulations in the 1980s led to a surge
in development. 
• Government policy in Bhutan is to
encourage development but to proceed
very slowly, so that the nation’s cultural
heritage and natural resources are
carefully preserved.
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the information.
Light Industry
• Light industry involves the production
of consumer goods, such as bicycles,
televisions, and textiles. 
• Textile manufacturing is, and has been,
India’s most important industry. 
• The textile industry employs roughly 24
million people and produces cotton,
wool, and silk that is embroidered,
woven, painted, and tie-dyed. 
• The garment industry in Bangladesh is
also thriving. Within just 10 years,
profits had soared to $450 million.
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the information.
Light Industry (cont.)
• Throughout South Asia many goods are
manufactured by workers at home, such
as fabrics, shoes, jewelry, brassware,
woodcarvings, furniture, bowls, and other
goods. 
• South Asia also has a number of
privately-owned small industries–
generally plants that employ fewer than
100 workers and use simple machinery
to make bicycle parts, shoes, and
carpets.
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the information.
Heavy Industry
• South Asia also has large-scale
industries that specialize in heavy
industrial production related to mining,
electric power, and iron and steel
manufacturing. 
• India manufactures steel, cement, and
heavy machinery. 
• Bangladesh produces cement, iron,
and steel.
• It melts down and reuses steel from
one of its most unusual industries–
shipbreaking.
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the information.
Heavy Industry (cont.)
• Manufacturing is not an important part
of the economy of Sri Lanka or
Bhutan. 
• When India moved to a free market
economy in the early 1990s, more than
200 of its large-scale industries were
owned solely by the government. 
• Since 1992, however, foreign investment
has been encouraged, and products may
be sold under their own brand names.
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the information.
Tourism
• Tourism is important to the economies
of several South Asian nations. 
• Tourists go to Nepal to hunt, photograph
wildlife, and climb or trek in the
Himalayas. 
• Tourists go to exotic Bhutan, but their
activities are carefully controlled by the
government. 
• Sri Lanka has many beautiful attractions,
but continuing violence between the
Sinhalese and the Tamils has drastically
reduced tourism on the island.
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the information.
What areas in India and Pakistan are
known for growing wheat?
The Indo-Gangetic Plain in India and
the Indus Valley in Pakistan are
known for growing wheat.
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the answer.
Compare and contrast industrial
development in India and Bhutan.
The British industrialization of India
grew rapidly in the 1980s after
government deregulation. Isolated
until recently, Bhutan’s government
regulates its development.
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the answer.
People and Their Environment
Read to Discover…
• how people have affected South Asia’s
wildlife. 
• how both deforestation and reforestation
are occurring. 
• how water use is changing. 
• how activities such as tourism affect the
environment. 
Key Terms
deforestation, trekker, mangrove tree,
Chipko
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information. Additional lecture notes appear on the following slides.
People and Their Environment
Identify and Locate
Sundarbans, Uttar Pradesh, Narmada
River basin 
Section Objectives
1. Explain how people have affected
South Asia’s wildlife. 
2. Discuss deforestation and reforestation
in South Asia. 
3. Describe how water use is changing in
South Asia. 
4. Discuss how activities such as tourism
affect the environment.
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information. Additional lecture notes appear on the following slides.
Introduction
• The environment of South Asia is
affected by human beings. 
• The interaction between humans and
the environment is especially intense
because much of South Asia is so
densely populated.
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the information.
HUMAN/ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION
Forests of South Asia
• Centuries ago much of South Asia
was covered with forests. 
• Over time, much forestland has been
converted into farmland or pastureland
and has been cut for firewood and
shelter. 
• If South Asia’s population continues to
expand at its present rate, many experts
doubt that these forests can be
preserved, pointing out the severe
effects of deforestation–the loss of
forests.
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the information.
Deforestation
• One expert estimates that half of the
trees of northern India have been cut
down in the past 30 years by
commercial timbering enterprises or to
make way for other businesses, such as
quarrying. 
• Impoverished villagers who use the
leaves as fodder for their animals have
slowly killed other trees. 
• Almost one-third of Nepal’s forests have
been cut down by farmers for farmland
and grazing.
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the information.
Deforestation (cont.)
• Tourists vastly increase the demand
on firewood in Nepal and Bhutan. 
• A single trekker, or mountain hiker, may
use as much firewood as 10 Sherpas. 
• In Bangladesh, using firewood as the
main fuel has caused a severe loss of
woodlands, leaving only the Chittagong
Hills–home to a small number of tribal
people–and the Sundarbans–swampland
full of mangrove trees along the Bay of
Bengal–as the only forests left.
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the information.
Effects
• In the past, dense mangroves in the
Sundarbans provided protection for
the coast of Bangladesh from
cyclones and tidal waves. 
• The forests in the Himalayas acted like
sponges–absorbing the heavy rains in
the monsoon season and gradually
releasing the moisture throughout the
year. 
• When the forests are cleared, heavy
rains pour down the bare mountainsides,
causing flooding and landslides.
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the information.
Effects (cont.)
• Deforestation affects wildlife, as animals
such as tigers and elephants are slowly
forced into smaller habitats. 
• Also, if the tropical rain forests
disappear, soil erodes, and climate
changes occur.
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the information.
Conservation
• The government of Bhutan has taken
steps to protect the nation’s trees by... 
– supervising control of the forests. 
– limiting commercial timbering. 
– training citizens in forestry. 
• Pine trees have been planted on
Nepalese hillsides to stop erosion. 
• In Sri Lanka a reforestation program
began in 1970, and the export of
timber has been banned since 1977.
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the information.
Conservation (cont.)
• In India, environmental activist Sunderlal
Bahaguna, a former follower of Gandhi,
started the Chipko–or tree-hugger–
movement, devoted to saving the
remaining forests of northern India. 
• Bahaguna has had success in
showing impoverished villagers that
trees must be preserved if erosion and
drought are to be avoided. 
• He convinced then Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi to halt commercial
timbering in the Himalayan forests of
Uttar Pradesh.
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the information.
Wildlife
• South Asia is home to spectacular
wildlife, including elephants, water
buffalo, and monkeys in Sri Lanka
and crocodiles and Bengal tigers in
Bangladesh. 
• Many of these animals are endangered
because of overhunting, deforestation,
and development projects. 
• In recent decades, governments have
created wildlife reserves with help from
international organizations and have
passed laws to control hunting and
development.
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the information.
HUMAN/ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION
Water
• In South Asia, in relation to water,
humans and the environment affect
each other. 
• The people build dams, irrigate, pollute,
and change the courses of rivers and the
effects of the monsoons.
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the information.
Dams
• Dams play a crucial role in irrigating
dry areas, regulating the flow of water,
and producing hydroelectric power. 
• Built in the 1970s, the Tarbela Dam of
Pakistan is the world’s largest earthen
dam, controlling floods and holding
water in reserve for irrigating Pakistan’s
crops during the driest months. 
• In building a dam, however, land must
be flooded, wildlife displaced, and plant
life destroyed.
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the information.
Dams (cont.)
• Dams trap silt that would otherwise
flow downstream, and dam reservoirs
can be a source of waterborne
disease. 
• In a country such as India, where
many people consider the rivers holy,
dams are seen as interfering with the
spiritual force of the water.
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the information.
Narmada River Project
• Plans to build dams in India’s Narmada
River basin have met with both intense
excitement and violent disapproval. 
• Supporters point out that the dams will
generate large amounts of electricity,
irrigate millions of acres of cropland, and
control flooding during the monsoon
months. 
• Opposition includes environmental
activists and thousands of tribal people
who will be forced out of their villages
when flooding begins.
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the information.
Where can the Bengal tiger still be
found?
The Bengal tiger can still be found in
Bangladesh.
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the answer.
Why is it important for South Asians
to preserve their forests?
Forests protect topsoil, provide
habitat for wildlife, and produce wood
for fuel and shelter.
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the answer.
Section 1 Summary
• Agricultural advances are helping South Asia
produce enough food for its expanding
population. 
• Main food crops include rice and wheat;
main cash crops include jute and tea. 
• Mining, fishing, and tourism are significant
sources of income in the region. 
• Industry–both light and heavy–is expanding
in the region.
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the information.
Section 2 Summary
• Much of South Asia has been deforested by
human beings seeking wood for fuel and
shelter, and land for farming and grazing. 
• Deforestation can lead to flooding,
landslides, loss of valuable topsoil, loss of
habitat for animals, and climate changes. 
• Governments and individuals throughout
South Asia are attempting to conserve and
replant forests.
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the information.
Section 2 Summary (cont.)
• Despite the loss of many animals due to
overhunting and habitat loss, South Asians
are working to maintain existing species in
wildlife preserves and elsewhere. 
• Water usage is controversial in South Asia
for many reasons; dams are needed to
control flooding and provide water for
irrigation, but they also cause environmental
problems.
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the information.
A fiber used to make rope and
cloth is ___.
jute
Something grown to make money
rather than to use for one’s own
survival is known as a ________.
cash crop
The development and use of new,
high-yield grains is called the
____________.
green revolution
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answers.
A mountain hiker is known as a
______.
trekker
____________
Mangrove trees grow in the
swamplands of Bangladesh.
A movement to save the forests of
northern India is called Chipko
_____.
The loss of all trees in an area is
called __________.
deforestation
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the answers.
How do the majority of people in
South Asia make their living?
The majority make their living in
agriculture.
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the answer.
Why is the Bengal tiger
endangered?
It is endangered because of a
rapidly changing environment in
forested areas.
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the answer.
Match the letters on the map with
the places and physical features
of South Asia.
1. Calcutta
2. Arabian Sea
3. Kathmandu
Valley
4. Narmada River
5. Indus Valley
6. Ganges River
7. Indo-Gangetic
Plain
8. Malabar Coast
9. Bay of Bengal
10. Himalayas
Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answers.
What are the arguments for and
against building dams in South Asia?
Dams control floods, provide water for
irrigation during dry months, and
produce hydroelectricity. When dams
are built, people are forced out of areas
because of flooding. Wildlife is
displaced, and plant life is destroyed.
Dam reservoirs can be a source of
disease.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Technology Skills
Using a Spreadsheet
After listening to the introduction, take a few
moments to read “Reviewing the Skill”
on page 522 in your textbook.
Technology Skills
Using a Spreadsheet
1. Open a new spreadsheet file. 
2. Type the information in columns A through E as
shown below:
Nation
GNP Per
Popula.
Life
Life
Capita
mid-1988 Expect.
Expect.
(U.S. $)
(millions)
Female
260
Bangl.
390
Bhutan
380
India
210
Nepal
480
Pakistan
740
Sri Lan.
U.S. 28,020
123.4
0.8
988.7
23.7
141.9
18.9
270.2
Male
59
NA
59
55
58
70
73
58
NA
59
54
59
74
79
Technology Skills
Using a Spreadsheet
3. Delete the information about the United States. 
4. Type the following information into cell B10 to
calculate the total GNP per capita for the South
Asian countries listed: “=B4+B5+B6+B7+B8+B9.”
Nation
Bangl.
Bhutan
India
Nepal
Pakistan
Sri Lan.
GNP Per
Popula.
Life
Life
Capita
mid-1988 Expect.
Expect.
(U.S. $)
(millions)
Female
260
390
380
210
480
740
=B4…
123.4
0.8
988.7
23.7
141.9
18.9
Male
59
NA
59
55
58
70
58
NA
59
54
59
74
Technology Skills
Using a Spreadsheet
5. In cell C10, use the AutoSum function (S)
to calculate total population in millions
for South Asia. 
6. Print your results and share them with the class.
Nation
Bangl.
Bhutan
India
Nepal
Pakistan
Sri Lan.
GNP Per
Popula.
Life
Life
Capita
mid-1988 Expect.
Expect.
(U.S. $)
(millions)
Female
123.4
260
0.8
390
988.7
380
23.7
210
141.9
480
18.9
740
=B4… =(S) …
Male
59
NA
59
55
58
70
58
NA
59
54
59
74
Use the MindJogger videoquiz as a preview,
review, or both.
Click the Videodisc button to play the
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Disc 4
Side A
Chapter 25
If you experience difficulties, check the
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Explore online information about the
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Explore online news resources to find
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Click on the Connect button to launch your browser and go to the
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launch your Web browser and go to
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Choose one country in South Asia you would
like to visit.
1. Plan an itinerary that includes methods of
travel, cities, and places of interest.
2. Prepare a map showing your proposed
travel route.
3. Create an illustrated brochure describing
your trip.
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