Unit 4: South, East and Southeast ASIA GEOGRAPHY & CULTURE NOTES Kahoot.it quiz to follow!
SOUTH ASIA: 8 COUNTRIES Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka
Indian Subcontinent
NORTH Himalayas Hindu Kush Karakoram Mountains Khyber Pass Formed 60 million yrs ago by plates crashing together Northern divider of Indian subcontinent Mt. Everest – world’s highest point Hindu Kush Khyber Pass Karakoram Mountains
Bodies of Water South – Indian Ocean East – Bay of Bengal West – Arabian Sea
River Systems Indus – mostly Pakistan, to Arabian Sea Brahmaputra – east, to Bay of Bengal
River Systems Ganges – east, joins Brahmaputra to form delta along Bay of Bengal (sacred to Hindus) Indo-Gangetic Plain flooding of Indus & Ganges rivers largest alluvial plain (rich soil) in the world most of population lives here
Monsoons – seasonal winds
Buddhism Not too many Buddhists in present day India Created by a Hindu prince who was in search of nirvana (Siddartha, c. 500 BCE) Said way to nirvana lay neither in priestly rituals nor extreme self-denial but in a “middle-way” He became known as Buddha (“the enlightened one”) More popular today in East & Southeast Asia
History & Religion Mughal Empire (1526-1857) Muslim elite ruled the Hindu majority in South Asia Built the Taj Mahal Replaced by British rulers (the Raj, 1857-1947) Independence for India led by Mohandas Gandhi (partitioned into Hindu India, Muslim Pakistan; East Pakistan later became Bangladesh) Kashmir territory
Bangladesh
Southeast Asia includes: China (1.3 billion people) Japan North & South Korea Southeast Asia includes: Indonesia (200 million people, largest Muslim pop) Vietnam Philippines
East Asia Geography
Physical features Gobi desert
Tsunamis Japan, 2011
Kim Jung Un Korea: partitioned after World War II Korean War (1950-53) North Korea (Pyongyang capital) – communist, like China South Korea (Seoul capital) - democracy
China Ruled by dynasties (Han, Ming, etc. – Confucianism philosophy) until 20th century Communist takeover in 1949 (Mao Zedong) Largest economy today