Introduction to South Asia

Population

• India has 3x as many people as the United States and is 3x smaller.

• Do you think they have exceeded their carrying capacity?

Where is South Asia?

Right there.

Countries of South Asia

1. Pakistan

2. India

3. Maldives Islands

4. Sri Lanka

5. Bangladesh

6. Bhutan7. Nepal

While South Asia is bordered by bodies of water in the east, west, and south, what are the borders to the north?

1. Afghanistan 2. China

3. Myanmar (Burma)

Physical Geography

• South Asia is a sub-continent

– A large landmass forming a distinct part of a continent.

Physical Geography

The region is a land of extremes, from the tallest mountains in the world to some of the driest deserts to areas inundated by the monsoon rains.

Physical Geography

• With headwaters in the Himalayan Mountains, three of the world’s great rivers flow through this region.

• Indus (Pakistan)• Brahmaputra (Bangladesh)• Ganges (India)

Physical Geography• Himalayan Mountains

– Mt. Everest: tallest mountain in the world (29,000+ ft.)

• That’s almost 5.5 miles!

– Himalayas separate South Asia from the rest of the continent.

• The Himalayas are a result of tectonic activity.

– India “crashed” into Asia, creating the crumpled mountains.

~203 people have died climbing Everest.

Physical Geography

• Monsoons

– Seasonal winds

– Crucial for life on the subcontinent.

• Beneficial and disastrously unpredictable.

History

• Most of South Asia was formerly known as “British India”.

– Today it is made

up of ….

History

• In 1947, India became independent from Britain.

• What other country received independence in this year?

History

• Mohandas Gandhi

– Led an independence movement in India.

– Encouraged “non-violent resistance” which greatly influenced what American?

Gandhi

• “Man can never be a woman's equal in the spirit of selfless service with which nature has endowed her.”

• “Action expresses priorities.”

• “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

History

• Why did British India divide like it is today?

Religious conflict between Hindus and Muslims dictated that “British India” be divided into predominantly Hindu (India), *Muslim (Pakistan) and *Muslim (Bangladesh).

Religion

• Four of the world’s major religions are practiced in this region.

• There has been conflict between Hindus and Muslims and between Hindus and Sikhs.

Hinduism

Islam

Buddhism

Sikhism

Population

• South and East Asia account for over 50% of the world’s population.

• 3 billion+ people.

- India alone accounts for nearly 20% of the world’s population.

- 1+ billion people

- It is estimated that within 50 years India will pass China as the world’s most populous country.

Population

India

Pakistan

Bangladesh

What can you tell about the future of these countries by their population pyramids?

Population

World Clock

Population

• Despite the large number of people, India has still not exceeded it’s carrying capacity.

– They are not overpopulated.

– They can feed their people.

Population

• Most of the villages have been left behind when compared to modern cities like Mumbai (Bombay), Bangalore, and Madras.

Population

• India has not exceeded its carrying capacity because of the Green Revolution.

– A breakthrough in agricultural technology that allows India to produce enough food for its population.

The Green Revolution

• The Green Revolution allowed farmers to use genetic engineering to produce more crops quicker.

• The main researcher behind the Green Revolution was Norman Borlaug of Texas A&M

Government and Economies

• India is the world’s largest democracy.

• They practice “universal suffrage”.

– The ability for all adult citizens from the age of 18 and up to vote.

Government and Economies

• They speak many different languages in South Asia, but the “lingua franca” is English.

The economy of India today is growing rapidly.

Government and Economies

Government and Economies• Tata Nano car, released in India.

• It costs ~$2000.

While much of the economy of India is growing, there are still hundreds of millions who are mired in poverty.

Government and Economies

Government and Economies

• The “caste system”.

• Acquired status: you just get it through birth, there is no hope for movement up the ladder.

Government and Economies

• Outsourcing!

• Many technical jobs, such as call centers, have moved to India.– How is time an important

factor here?

• Many qualified, educated Indians will work for much less than Americans.

Government and Economies

• India produces more films than any other country.

• “Bollywood” (Mumbai/Bombay) is the capital of their film industry.

Most of India lacks adequate infrastructure, but the country has more miles of train tracks than any other in the world. This is a remnant of British rule.

Government and Economies

Government and Economies

• Pakistan

• Has fallen behind India economically because of unstable government and religious fundamentalism.

• There is a history of conflict between India and Pakistan.

Government and Economies

• Education is available in Pakistan, though many attend “madrasas” (religious schools).

Government and Economies

• While Bangladesh is a country of contrasts, it is still a heavily agrarian society that lives on the whim of cyclones and monsoons.

Government and Economies

• The Grameen Bank, started in Bangladesh gives small loans to women to start small businesses. This method was very successful and copied worldwide.

Grameen banks

• These loans have allowed women to become self-sufficient and participate in the global marketplace.

Government and Economies

• Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.

Government and Economies

• Sri Lanka (the “tear drop of South Asia”) is one of the largest growers of tea in the world.

• Like most of South Asia, Sri Lanka is a blend of the old and the new.

• A civil war has plagued this region for many years. (Tamil Tigers)

Bike military unit.

Sri Lanka

• In recent floods, 325,000 were displaced.

Maldives

• 80% of it’s islands are only 1m above sealevel.

Government and Economies

• South Asia has many roots in British culture.

• Games such as cricket transcend conflicts that have broken out in the past.

Rinku Singh and Dinesh Kumar Patel