Chapter 12:
South Asia
(Fig. 12.1)
Learning Objectives
•	Understand the unique climatological challenges of this region, which include monsoons and cyclones, and accompanying flooding
•	Learn about the challenges and strategies of feeding a large and growing population
•	Become familiar with the physical, demographic, cultural, political, and economic characteristics of South Asia
•	Understand the following concepts and models:
Introduction
Setting the boundaries
•	The “Subcontinent,” a distinct landmass of Asia south of the Himalayan Mountains; there is extensive cultural and religious diversity in the region
•	India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives
•	South Asia is the world’s second most populous region and growing, raising concerns about food production keeping pace
•	South Asia was a British colony for several centuries
•	Since achieving independence in 1947, India and Pakistan have been embroiled in conflict; both countries have nuclear weapons
•	This region is one of the world’s poorest
Environmental Geography: Diverse Landscapes, from Tropical Islands to Mountain Rim
•	Building the Quadrilateral Highway
•	Multilane highways rare, travel time long
•	New route will connect New Delhi,
    Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras),
    and Mumbai (Bombay)
•	Religious and environmental conflicts

•	Environmental Issues in South Asia
•	1984 explosion at Bhopal fertilizer plant killed 2,500 people
–	Natural Hazards in Bangladesh
•	Ganges and Brahmaputra river deltas flood in wet summer monsoons; dense settlement there causes many deaths
Environmental Geography: Diverse Landscapes, from Tropical Islands to Mountain Rim, cont.
•	Environmental Issues in South Asia, cont.
–	Forests and Deforestation
•	Causes: agricultural, 
    urban, and industrial
    expansion
•	Fuel wood shortage
    leads to use of manure
    for heating, rather
    than for fertilizer
Environmental Geography: Diverse Landscapes, Tropical Islands to Mountain Rim (cont.)
•	South Asia’s Monsoon Climates

Environmental Geography: Diverse Landscapes, Tropical Islands to Mountain Rim (cont.)
•	Physical Subregions of  South Asia
–	Mountains of the North
•	Collision of Indian
   Subcontinent with
   Asian landmass 
–	Indus-Ganges-Brahmaputra
     Lowlands
–	Peninsular India
•	Deccan Plateau
–	The Southern Islands
Population and Settlement: 
The Demographic Dilemma
•	India has more than 1.1 billion people
–	Concern about producing enough food
–	India’s TFR at 2.9
–	Preference for males creates problems
•	Pakistan has 166 million people
–	Pakistan lacks an effective, coordinated family planning program
–	Overall TFR is 4.6; RNI is 2.4%
–	Linked to Muslim culture
–	Early childhood mortality, and low rate of female contraception
•	Bangladesh has 147 million people
–	Has one of the highest settlement densities in the world
–	TFR is 3.0; RNI is 1.9%
–	Strong government support for family planning
–	Muslim culture, but more flexible
Population
(Fig. 12.9)
Population and Settlement: The Demographic Dilemma (cont.)
•	Migration and the Settlement Landscape
•	South Asia is one of the least urbanized regions of the world
–	Majority live in compact rural villages
–	Rural-to-urban migration caused by agricultural changes
•	Most settlement near fertile soils and dependable water sources
Population and Settlement: The Demographic Dilemma (cont.)
•	Agricultural Regions and Activities
•	Agriculture has historically been unproductive, but food production has outpaced population growth since 1970s
•	Agricultural Regions and Activities
–	Crop Zones
•	Rice: lower Ganges Valley, lowlands of India’s eastern and western coasts, delta lands of Bangladesh, Pakistan’s lower Indus Valley, and Sri Lanka
•	Wheat: northern Indus Valley, western half of Ganges Valley
–	Punjab is India’s “breadbasket”
•	Millet and sorghum in less fertile areas
Population and Settlement: The Demographic Dilemma (cont.)
•	Agricultural Regions and Activities (cont.)
–	The Green Revolution
•	Green Revolution: agricultural techniques based on hybrid crops, heavy use of industrial fertilizers and chemical pesticides
•	Use of hybrid, high-yield seeds to bolster production
–	From 1970 to 1990s: India more than doubled annual grain production (Punjab: “breadbasket”)
•	But with high environmental and social costs
–	Chemical fertilizers and pesticides harm environment
–	Salinization in irrigated areas
–	Poorer farmers forced from their lands
–	Only more prosperous farmers could afford to adopt seeds and use mechanization
–	Bhopal fertilizer factory explosion in 1984 long-term effects
Population and Settlement: The Demographic Dilemma (cont.)
•	Urban South Asia
•	Just 25% of South Asian people live in urban areas
–	Many live in bustees (sprawling squatter settlements)
–	Mumbai (Bombay)
•	Largest city in South Asia, with finance, commerce, industry
–	Less-fortunate live in “hutments: crude shelters built on sidewalks
–	Delhi
•	11+ million people; India’s capital, British colonial imprint
–	Calcutta (Kolkata)
•	More than 12 million people: poverty, 
    pollution, congestion, homelessness
–	Karachi
•	More than 7 million people; Pakistan’s largest city
•	Political and ethnic tensions between native Sindis 
    and Muhajirs (Muslim refugees from India)
Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Common Heritage Undermined by Religious Rivalries
•	Since its inception in 1948, India has been a secular state
–	Growth of Hindu nationalism: movement promoting Hindu values as essential and exclusive fabric of Indian society
–	Tensions between Hindus and Muslims in India
–	Tensions between fundamentalists and secularists in Pakistan
•	Origins of South Asian Civilizations
•	Indus Valley civilization established 5,000 years ago
•	By 800 B.C., a new urban focus in Ganges Valley
–	Hindu Civilization
•	Hinduism: a complicated faith without a single, uniformly accepted system of belief
•	Sanskrit: sacred languages of Hinduism
•	Caste system: strict division of Hindu society into ranked hereditary groups 
Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Common Heritage Undermined by Religious Rivalries (cont.)
•	Origins of South Asian Civilizations (cont.)
–	Buddhism
•	Siddhartha Gautama (563 B.C.), the Buddha
–	From elite caste, but rejected wealth and power
–	Sought to attain mystical union with the universe (enlightenment) 
•	Faith spread throughout South Asia, and East, Southeast, and Central Asia, but retreated from South Asia
–	Arrival of Islam
•	Around 700 A.D. Arab armies conquered lower Indus Valley
•	Mughal Empire, a powerful Muslim state, dominated
•	Conversion in northwest (Pakistan) and Northeast (Bangladesh)
Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Common Heritage Undermined by Religious Rivalries (cont.)
•	Origins of  South Asian Civilizations (cont.)
–	The Caste System
•	Regional variations, religious differences in acceptance of caste system
•	Caste: complex social order
–	Varna: ancient fourfold social hierarchy of the Hindu world
–	Jati:  refers to local hundreds of local endogamous groups
»	Castes include Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Sudras
»	Scheduled castes or “untouchables” or Dalits 
Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Common Heritage Undermined by Religious Rivalries (cont.)
•	Contemporary Geographies of Religion
–	Hinduism
•	Major faith of India and Nepal; worship differs by region
–	Islam
•	400 million Muslims in the region
–	Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives are mostly Muslim
–	Sikhism
•	Sikhism:  faith incorporating elements of Hinduism and Islam
•	Originated in Punjab in 1400s, still concentrated in Punjab
•	Sikh men noted for work as soldiers and bodyguards

Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Common Heritage Undermined by Religious Rivalries (cont.)
•	Contemporary Geographies of Religion (cont.)
–	Buddhism and Jainism
•	Buddhism virtually disappeared in India but persisted in Sri Lanka, mainland Southeast Asia, and the high valleys of the Himalayas
•	Jainism – religion that emerged around 500 B.C. as protest to orthodox Hinduism
–	Stressed extreme non-violence
–	Other Religious Groups
•	Parsis (Zoroastrians): an ancient religion focusing on the cosmic struggle between good and evil 
–	Concentrated in the Mumbai area, most prosperous
•	Indian Christians more numerous than either Parsis or Jains
•	British missionaries converted animists to Protestantism  
Religion
(Fig. 12.18)
Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Common Heritage Undermined by Religious Rivalries (cont.)
•	Geographies of Language
•	Dravidian: linguistic group unique to southern India
•	Political subdivisions in India follow linguistic lines
–	The Indo-European North
•	Hindi: most widely spoken language of  South Asia
–	Second-most widely spoken language in the world
–	Language of  the Hindu majority
•	Urdu: language of the Muslim minority
–	Languages of the South
•	Dravidian in southern India and northern Sri Lanka
–	Tamil in Sri Lanka
–	Linguistic Dilemmas
•	Linguistic nationalism: linking of a language with political goals
–	India encountered resistance to Hindi as a national language
•	Role of Hindi is expanding
•	English is the main integrating language in South Asia

Languages
(Fig. 12.20)
Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Common Heritage Undermined by Religious Rivalries (cont.)
•	South Asians in a Global Cultural Context
•	English helped spread global culture to the region
•	South Asian literature has spread throughout the world
•	Indians migrate to developed and less-developed world regions
•	Imported global culture, especially with sexual content, creates tensions 
Geopolitical Framework: A Deeply Divided Region
•	South Asia Before and After Independence in 1947
•	During the 1500s most of region was under the Mughal Empire 
–	European merchants established coastal trading posts
•	By 1700s the empire weakened and contending states emerged
–	The British Conquest
•	British East India Company – a private organization acted as an arm of the British government and monopolized trade
–	Exploited political chaos to stake empire
•	Sepoy Mutiny (1856) led to South Asia being ruled directly by the British
•	Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh rulers retained their states under British rule
Geopolitical Framework: A Deeply Divided Region (cont.)
•	South Asia Before and After Independence in 1947 (cont.)
–	Independence and Partition
•	By the 1920s political protestors called for independence
•	Gandhi favored a unified state, while Muslim leaders argued for a division
•	Post World War II partitioning
–	India, East and West Pakistan
–	1971: Bangladesh independence
–	Geopolitical Structure of India
–	India organized as a federal state, following linguistic patterns
»	Added in 2000: Jharkand, Uttaranchal, and Chhattisgarh

Geopolitical
Issues
(Fig. 12.25)
Geopolitical Change
(Fig. 12.26)
Geopolitical Framework: A Deeply Divided Region (cont.)
•	Ethnic Conflicts in South Asia
–	The Punjab
•	Original Punjab area divided between India and Pakistan in 1947
•	Punjab has Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs
•	Tensions, violence led to assassination of Prime Minister Indira Ghandi by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984
•	Still potential for conflict
–	The Northeast Fringe
•	Ethnic conflict in states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, and portions of Assam
–	Migration from Bangladesh and other parts of India is a potential threat to local culture

Geopolitical Framework: A Deeply Divided Region (cont.)
•	Ethnic Conflicts in South Asia, cont.
–	Sri Lanka
•	North dominated by Hindu Tamils (minority) and south by Buddhist Singhalese (majority)
•	Singhalese favor a national
   government, while Tamils
   support political and cultural
   autonomy
•	Tamil Tigers (a rebel force) 
    attacked Sri Lankan army in 1983;
    tensions still brewing

Geopolitical Framework: A Deeply Divided Region (cont.)
•	International and Global Geopolitics
•	Cold war between India and Pakistan
–	Nuclear capabilities of both countries escalated tensions
–	China allied with Pakistan (China-India border conflict)
–	Terrorist attacks of September 11th complicated matters
–	Pakistani had supported Afghanistan’s Taliban regime, now helps U.S.
•	Marxist rebel movement against India in Nepal 
Economic and Social Development: 
Rapid Growth and Rampant Poverty
•	South Asian Poverty
•	More than 800 million Indians live on less than $2/day
•	Bangladesh is poorer; Nepal and Bhutan are in worse condition
•	India has a growing middle class, and an upper class
–	About 150 million Indians afford modern consumer goods
•	Geographies of Economic Development
–	The Himalayan Countries
•	Rugged terrain and isolation in Nepal and Bhutan are a disadvantage
•	Bhutan has isolationist stance (tourists must spend $165/day)
•	Nepal’s tourism has resulted in environmental degradation
Economic and Social Development: Rapid Growth and Rampant Poverty, cont.
•	Geographies of Economic Development

–	Bangladesh
•	Poorest country in the region
•	Heavy reliance on production of commercial crops
•	Environmental degradation has contributed to poverty
•	Internationally competitive in textile and clothing manufacturing

–	Pakistan
•	Inherited a reasonably well-developed urban infrastructure
•	Agriculture, cotton, textile industry are important
•	Less dynamic economy and less potential for growth
•	Burdened by high levels of defense spending

Economic and Social Development: Rapid Growth and Rampant Poverty, cont.
•	Geographies of Economic Development (cont.)
–	Sri Lanka and the Maldives
•	Sri Lanka: second-most highly developed economy in region
–	Exports of agricultural products (rubber and tea) and textiles
–	Civil war has undercut economic progress
•	Maldives is most prosperous country in region, based on GNI
–	Small total economy
–	India’s Lesser Developed Areas
•	India’s economy dwarfs that of other South Asian countries
•	Prosperous west and poorer east
•	Caste tensions exist in these areas

Economic and Social Development: Rapid Growth and Rampant Poverty, cont.
Economic and Social Development: Rapid Growth and Rampant Poverty, cont.
•	Geographies of Economic Development (cont.)
–	India’s Centers of Economic Growth
•	Punjab and Haryana are showcase states of Green Revolution
•	Gujarat and Maharashtra are noted for their industrial and financial clout
–	Many Gujarat merchants and traders were part of Indian diaspora (migration of large numbers of Indians to foreign countries)
–	Karnataka’s capital Bangalore is a growing high-tech center
Economic and Social Development: Rapid Growth and Rampant Poverty, cont.
•	Globalization and India’s Economic Future
•	Globalization is increasing in India
–	Economy based on private ownership combined with government control of planning, resource allocation, and certain heavy industrial sectors
»	Led to low, slow-paced growth
–	1990s: liberalization of the economy, regulations reduced
–	Produced positive results but generated local opposition
Economic and Social Development: Rapid Growth and Rampant Poverty, cont.
•	Social Development
•	South Asia has low levels of health and education
–	Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra on top; Bihar at the bottom
–	But literacy rates are high in the poor northeast because of missionary education, even though there is poverty
–	The Educated South
•	Sri Lanka has high levels of social welfare
–	Long life expectancy, low literacy rate
–	Fertility rate reduced to near replacement levels
•	Kerala on the mainland, though not prosperous, has best social development in India
–	Socialist leaders promote education and community health care
Economic and Social Development: Rapid Growth and Rampant Poverty, cont.
•	The Status of Women
•	Both Hindu and Muslim traditions tend to limit women
•	In many regions of India, female literacy is far lower than that of male literacy
•	Gender imbalances as a result of  “differential neglect”
–	In poorer families, boys tend to receive better and more preferential treatment than girls
•	Social position of women is improving, especially in the more prosperous parts of the north
Conclusions