 India: more than 1 billion  Pakistan: 145 million  Bangladesh: million  Large undernourishment and malnourishment in these countries

 The Geography of Family Planning ◦ India  Since the 1950s the TFR has dropped  TFRS vary widely within the country  Strong correlation between women’s education and family planning  27% of India’s married women are sterilized  Cultural preference for male children

◦ Pakistan  The country still lacks an effective, coordinated family planning program  Overall high TFR  Early childhood mortality, and low rate of female contraception usage may account for the high TFRs

◦ Bangladesh  Has one of the highest settlement densities in the world  TFR has been nearly cut in half between 1975 and the late 1990s  50% of Bangladesh women use oral contraception  Strong government support for family planning

 South Asia is one of the least urbanized regions of the world  Majority reside in compact rural villages and small towns  Rural-to-urban migration as a result if agricultural changes

 Historically unproductive agriculture  Green Revolution – agricultural techniques based on hybrid crop strains and heavy use of industrial fertilizers and chemical pesticides  Greatly increased agricultural yields in South Asia

◦ 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 India’s Ganges Valley  Punjab is India’s “breadbasket”  Oil seeds in semiarid districts  Coconut, tea, and spices in Kerala and Sri Lanka  Cotton in west central India and Pakistan  Jute in Bangladesh

◦ Livestock  Low meat consumption due to vegetarianism and poverty  White revolution – increase in dairy efficiency and production

 Use of hybrid seeds to bolster production  1970 and 1990s: India more than doubled annual grain production  Only more prosperous farmers could afford to adopt seeds and use mechanization  Environmental problems from dependency on chemical fertilizers and pesticides  Poorer farmers forced from their lands

◦ Future Food Supply  Many of the crop improvements have seemingly exhausted their potential  Genetic engineering a solution?  Expanded irrigation a solution?  Salinization – the buildup of salt in agricultural fields

 About 25% of the South Asian population resides in urban areas  Many live in bustees – sprawling squatter settlements

 Bustees – settlements of temporary, often illegal housing in Indian Cities; main cause is rural to urban shift. ◦ Mumbai (Bombay)  Largest city in South Asia  Financial, commercial, and industrial center  Less-fortunate immigrants live in “hutments” – these are crude shelters built on formerly busy sidewalks often right in the center of the city.

 More than 11 million people  India’s capital  British colonial imprint  Air pollution

 More than 12 million people  Poverty, pollution, and congestion; homelessness rife

 Capital of Bangladesh  Around 8 million people  Economic vitality has increased since independence

 More than 7 million people  Is Pakistan’s largest city  Political and ethnic tensions

 Pakistan’s cultural, educational, and artistic center ◦ Islamabad  Forward capital – the capital that signals both symbolically and geographically the intentions of the country  Islamabad  Name makes formal statement about religious foundation of Pakistan  Location close to Kashmir gives message that Pakistan is not giving up claims to that region