South Asia

1
South Asia
2
South Asia by majority religion
3
Introduction

• Geopolitical tension ? religious division
• Hindu (India) ?? Muslim (Pakistan)
• Demographic concerns ? high natural growth
• High population density
• Limited resource bases
• Less connected to the global economy
• Slow economic growth
• Inward orientation

4
Environmental Geography
Diverse Landscapes, from Tropical Islands to
Mountain Rim
5
The Four Subregions of South Asia
6
Mountains of the North

• Includes the worlds highest mountain
• Produced by the collision between tectonic plates
• ? seismically active

7
Indus-Ganges-Brahmaputra Lowlands
Brahmaputra R.
Indus R.
Ganges R.

• Created by three major river systems
• Population core areas

8
Peninsular India
Deccan Plateau
Eastern Ghats
Western Ghats

• Continuous Western Ghats ? narrow western coastal
  plains
• Discontinuous Eastern Ghats ? broad eastern
  coastal plains ? high population densities

9
The Southern Islands

• Sri Lanka
• Mountains in the southern interior
• ringed by extensive coastal plains

Maldives Flat and low coral atolls
10
Monsoon rain June in Mumbai

• During the summer monsoon, Mumbai receives more
  than 70 inches of rain in just three months

11
South Asias Climates

• Most of South Asia has three distinct seasons
• June Oct. warm and rainy season
• Nov. Feb cool and dry season
• Match May hot period
• What is the major factor of this distinct season?

Monsoon
(Distinct seasonal change of wind direction)
12
Monsoons in South Asia
Summer
Winter
? dry
? wet
Southwest monsoon
Northeast monsoon
13
451 inches
10 inches

• Orographic rainfall results from the uplifting
  and cooling of moist monsoon winds over high
  mountains

• Rainfall varies greatly from place to place
  Ganges Delta ? rice
  Punjab ? wheat

14
Flooding in Bangladesh
Natural condition

• High precipitation
• Low-lying land
• Cyclone

Ganges Delta
Man-made condition

• High population density
• Deforestation in the river headwater

15
Population and Settlement
The Demographic Dilemma
16

• Soon will become the worlds most populous region
• ? High natural growth
• Fertility patterns vary by countries ? family
  planning
• India, Bangladesh vs. Pakistan
• One of the least urbanized regions in the world

17
Population distribution ? Fertile soils ?
Dependable water supplies
18

• Pull factor rural-to-urban migration
• Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta

• Push factor refugees
• Afghanistan, Kashmir, Burma, Sri Lanka

19
Crop zones in South Asia
20
Cattle in India

• India has the worlds largest cattle population
• They dont produce meat due to Hinduism
• Rather, produce milk as major sources of protein
• Also used for plowing and pulling carts

21
Major cities in South Asia
22
Major cities in South Asia

• India
• Mumbai financial center and media capital of
  India
• Delhi political capital (former Muslim capital,
  colonial capital)
• Calcutta trading center, declined after
  partition (1947)
• Pakistan
• Karachi commercial core
• Islamabad forward capital religious, and
  geopolitical
• Bangladesh
• Dhaka global center for clothing, and shoe
  manufacturing

23
Overurbanization in South Asia
Mumbai hutments
24
Cultural Coherence and Diversity
A Common Heritage Rent by Religious Rivalries
25

• Long united by Hinduism
• Caste System
• Arrival of Islam
• Religious rivalries between Hindu and Muslim
• British imperialism
• Use of English due to multilingualism

26
Historic overview of South Asia
3000 B.C.
800 B.C.
1000
2000 B.C.
1600 A.D.
Indus Valley Civilization
Ganges Valley Civilization
Muslim rules
Invasion of Indo-Aryan
Hinduism
Caste System
Sikhism
Buddhism
Islam
Jainism
27
Religious diversity in South Asia

• Hinduism (1500 B.C.)
• Indus valley civilization Indo-Aryan religion
• Persist to present day (eg. Caste System) main
  religion in India
• Buddhism, Jainism (500 B.C.)
• Challenge to Hinduism orthodoxy
• Islam (1000 A.D.)
• Muslim rule in the north or trade network in the
  south
• Active conversion from Hindus to Islam
  particularly in northwest (Pakistan) and
  northeast (Bangladesh)
• Sikhism (1400 A.D. )
• Hinduism Islam in Punjab(modern bnd b/w. India
  and Pakistan)

28
Geographies of Religion

• Hinduism
• India, S Nepal
• Islam
• Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives
• 15 of India
• Sikhism Punjab
• Buddhism
• Sri Lanka, Bhutan, NE Kashmir, N Nepal
• Jainism Gujarat
• Christian Goa, NE India

29
Linguistic diversity in South Asia

• Indo-European (north)
• Iranian
• Baluchi, Pashtun ? western Pakistan, Afghanistan
• Indo-Aryan
• Closely associated with Indian states
• Bengali, Punjabi ? Indian states with Bangladesh,
  eastern Pakistan
• Singhalese, Divehi ? Sri Lanka, Maldives
• Dravidian (south)
• Confined to southern India

30
Geographies of Language
31
Linguistic Dilemmas

• So many different languages in one country
• India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
• India has 15 official languages with no unified
  national language
• Role of media
• Hindi is spreading through popular media
• Role of English
• Main integrating language of India

32
South Asian global diaspora

• British India settlements in British colonies
• Contemporary India migrated into U.S. and North
  America

33
Geopolitical Framework
A Deeply Divided Region
34

• British rule (mid 18c mid 20c)
• Independence and partition
• Separation of Pakistan from India (1947)
• Separation of Bangladesh from East Pakistan
  (1971)
• Continuing tension between Pakistan and India
• Intensified by the nuclear capabilities of both

35
Mughal Empire (mid 16c mid 19c)
Muslim
Hindu
36
British Conquest (mid 18c mid 20c)
During chaotic waning years of the Mughal Empire
(18c), the British East India Company began to
monopolize trade
After Sepoy Rebellion (1856), South Asia was
ruled directly by the British government
37
Independence and Partition

• The British withdrew from South Asia in 1947
• The region was divided into two countries a
  Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority
  Pakistan (1947)
• Bangladesh was separated from East Pakistan
  (1971)

38
Conflicts in Kashmir
? Hostility between Pakistan and India

• Before the partition, this regions of
  predominantly Muslim population was ruled by a
  Hindu maharaja
• Some Kashmirs wish to to join Pakistan while
  others argue for an independent state

39
Separatism in Punjab region
? Hostility between the Sikh majority and the
Indian government

• Sikh leaders strived for autonomy

Sikh temple at Amritsar
40
Civil war in Sri Lanka
? Religious and linguistic differences
support political autonomy
favor unitary government
41
Global implication of the tension between India
and Pakistan

• During Cold War
• Pakistan U.S. ?? India ? Soviet Union
• After 1991
• Pakistan China ?? India
• Chinas animosity toward India
• Pakistan Taliban Afghanistan
• After 9/11
• Pakistan U.S. ?? Taliban Afghanistan
• But anti-Americanism in Pakistan needs to be
  addressed

42
Economic and Social Development
Burdened by Poverty
43
South Asian Poverty

• Disparity between social classes
• World-class scientific and technological
  accomplishments
• Largest undernourished and malnourished people
• Developmental contradictions in economic history
• Land of great riches until the early modern
  period
• Exploitation by external forces
• Central Asian, the British

44

• The poorest world region along with Sub-Saharan
  Africa
• Pessimism undercut by large and growing
  population
• Optimism globally interconnected IT industry

45
The Himalayan countries

• Disadvantaged by their rugged terrain and remote
  locations
• Bhutan
• Isolationist policy
• Nepal
• Closely integrated with the Indian economy
• Relies heavily on international tourism

46
Bangladesh

• Bad news
• Burdened by massive population, environmental
  degradation, and colonial legacy
• Devastating effect of partition (1947)
• Increasingly uncompetitive Jute market
• Good news
• Competitive in textile manufacture ? low wage
  rate
• Falling birthrate ? economic growth begins to
  catch up with its population growth

47
Pakistan

• Current potential
• Productive agricultural sector (eg. Punjab)
• Large textile industry ? huge cotton crop
• Export of surgical implements ? legacy of
  sword-making center
• Future potential
• Burdened by high level of defense spending
• Powerful landlord class with no benefit for
  economy
• Failure to develop IT industry (cf. India)

48
Sri Lanka and the Maldives

• Sri Lanka
• Specialization in textiles and tea
• Perennial civil war overshadows potentials such
  as strategic location, and high levels of
  education
• Maldives
• Revenues from fishing and international tourism

49
Economic division in India
50
Major industrial areas
51
Economic policy after independence

• Mixed socialist-capitalist system by the 1980s
• Economic nationalism
• Self-sufficiency policy
• Liberalization of economy since the early 1990s
• Privatization of state-owned industries
• Deregulation
• Internationalization

52
Global linkages
53

• High levels of social welfare in the south
• Sri Lanka, Maldives, southwestern India
• Low levels of social welfare in the north
• Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, northern
  India

54
The status of women

• Women has a very low social position in both the
  Hindu and Muslim traditions
• Women in the Hindu tradition
• Excluded from inheriting land, early marriage,
  dowry, not allowed to remarry
• Women has a high social position in southern
  India and Sri Lanka
• Inheritance through the female line in Kerala