1. © T. M. Whitmore Last Time South Asia  Natural Resources and industry  Languages  Religion traditions  Cultural complexity  Population issues Southeast Asia  Plate tectonics & landforms  Climate

2. © T. M. Whitmore Today: Southeast Asian Soils and forests Agriculture Mineral resources Pre-colonial historical-cultural influences European colonization Contemporary population issues in SE Asia Country details in SE Asia

3. © T. M. Whitmore Southeast Asian Climates Recall -- Climate regimes  Tropical wet/dry and equatorial climates (Af, Aw, Am) — warm year around in all places (except very highlands)

5. © T. M. Whitmore Vegetation and soils Vegetation  Inland in Indochina  Semi-deciduous forest & savanna  Equatorial rainforest most everywhere else Soils: high temps & much rain =>  Poor soils in most places  Exceptions to volcanic slopes in Indonesia and alluvial soils in river valleys & deltas

6. © T. M. Whitmore Puzzle of equatorial rainforests Much of the more moist area originally under “classical” tropical rainforest Huge trees; much biodiversity; high biomass/area Yet — all this on poor soils mostly — how? Commercial threats increasing

7. © John Wiley & Sons

10. © W.H. Freeman & Co.

14. © T. M. Whitmore Agriculture Quality soils on recent (geologically) volcanic ash  Sumatra, Java, and other volcanic islands Quality soils also in delta and flood plain alluvium  Along the major rivers of Indochina (e.g., Irrawaddy, Chao- Phraya, Mekong, Red) Poorer soils most everywhere else

15. © T. M. Whitmore

16. © John Wiley & Sons Red R. Mekong R. Cho Phraya Irrawaddy Salween

17. © T. M. Whitmore Dilemma of agriculture in poor-soil equatorial rainforests 1st strategy is shifting cultivation within the rainforest – in low density areas (highlands in Indochina & elsewhere) 2nd strategy is modification of the landscape into intensive agriculture — paddy rice (e.g., Java) 3rd strategy is commercial plantation agriculture — growth of special “cash” crops for commerce and usually export (e.g., Malaysia)

18. © John Wiley & Sons

19. © W.H. Freeman & Co.

20. © John Wiley & Sons

21. © W.H. Freeman & Co.

24. © 2002 Manfred Leiter Rice terraces, Java

25. © 2002 Manfred Leiter Rice terraces, Java

26. © 2002 Manfred Leiter Rice harvest, Java

28. © 2002 Manfred Leiter Tea plantation, Malaysia

29. Oil Palm plantation in Malaysia © 2002 Manfred Leiter

30. © T. M. Whitmore Mineral resources Best known may be the “Tin belt” on the Malay Peninsula Economically more important are gas and oil  Indonesian Archipelago  Malaysian part of the island of Borneo  S. China Sea  Problem with reserves below the shallow (150' in places) S China Sea  case of the Spratley Islands

31. © John Wiley & Sons

36. © T. M. Whitmore Pre-colonial historical-cultural influences Early cultural groups Chinese influences — 2 types  Ancient Chinese influences  Modern Chinese diaspora — quite different (later) Indian influences (Hindu & Buddhist) Islamic influences

37. © John Wiley & Sons

39. © 2002 Manfred Leiter Buddhist influence, SE Asia

40. © 2002 Manfred Leiter Buddhist influence

41. © 2002 Manfred Leiter Hindu influenced Angkor Wat

42. © 2002 Manfred Leiter Islamic influence, Malaysia

43. © 2002 Manfred Leiter Chinese influence, Malaysia

44. © W.H. Freeman & Co.

46. © T. M. Whitmore Status of SE Asia by 1600 (before European colonization) Thai, Shan, Vietnamese, Lao, Burma/Myanmar, Khmer (Cambodia) kingdoms in Indochina Malaccan sultanate in S Malay peninsula Indonesian archipelago fractured into hundreds of tiny states

47. © John Wiley & Sons