Southern Asia’s geography affectshow the region’s people live.

Studying the geography ofSouthern Asia will help youunderstand its history,economy, and customs.

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW

TERMS & NAMESsubcontinentHimalayasNorthern PlainsdeltasedimentDeccan Plateauarchipelagomonsoon

PhysicalGeographyPhysicalGeography

Today, New Zealander Sir

Edmund Hillary and Sherpa

tribesman Tenzing Norgay

became the first people to

reach the top of Mount

Everest in the Himalayas.

Using oxygen canisters

and boots and clothing

with special insulation,

the two men overcame

the tremendous cold, high

winds, and thin air to reach

their goal. “We didn’t

know if it was humanly

possible to reach the top

of Mount Everest,” said

Hillary of their adventure.

“And even using oxygen as

we were, if we did get to

the top, we weren’t at all

sure whether we wouldn’t

drop dead or something

of that nature.” Hillary

and Tenzing survived and

will go down in history

as the first people to stand

atop the highest mountain

in the world.

NEPAL, SOUTHERN ASIA, MAY 29, 1953

Human-Environment Interaction •

Tenzing Norgay (on the right) and

Sir Edmund Hillary relax after their

historic climb. �

TAKING NOTES

Geography . . .

Indus River . . .

FactorsImpact of Geography/

Contributions ofCivilizations

Use your chart to take notes aboutSouthern Asia.

SOUTH ASIA

The Variety of Southern AsiaThe Unit Atlas maps on pages 366–367 show the great varietyand contrasts in the geography of Southern Asia. There are thevast snow-capped mountain ranges, such as the Himalayas, andwet low-lying rain forests. Some people live in the mountains,while others live deep in the tropical rain forest or in the desert.Some places are dry, and others get plenty of water—some, infact, get too much.

Southern Asia: Place and Times 377

Southern Asia is divided into two regions, South Asia andSoutheast Asia. South Asia includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh,Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka (sreeLAHNG•kuh). The South Asian subcontinent includes thecountries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan. Asubcontinent is a large landmass that is part of a continent, butis geographically separate from it. India is the largest country onthe subcontinent and in Southern Asia. It is the second mostpopulous country in the world, next to China.

Geographic Regions of South AsiaThe subcontinent has three main geographic regions—theNorthern Mountain Rim, the Northern Plains, and the Deccan(DEHK•uhn) Plateau. Just off the coast are two island countries,Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Each of these regions has distinctivelandforms and climate that affect how people live.

The Northern Mountain Rim The Northern Mountain Rim ismade up of several mountain ranges. The Hindu KushMountains are located to the west and the Himalayas to theeast. The Karakoram Range lies between the two, extendingalong the northern border of Pakistan. These mountains form awall that separates the subcontinent from the rest of Asia.

378 CHAPTER 13

Geologists believethat the SouthAsian subcontinentwas once part of the African continent. It brokeaway 200 millionyears ago. Fortymillion years ago,this subcontinentcrashed into Asiaand created theHimalayas.

A. MakingInferences Howmight these mountains havemade trade andtravel by waterimportant inancient times?

.RsudnI

Ganges R.

Indus R.Mt. Everest29,035 ft.(8,850 m)

EA

ST

ER

N

GH A T S

N O R T H E R N P L A I N S

WE

ST

ER

NG

HA

TS

HI M

A

LA Y A

MT S.

HINDU KUSH KarakoramRange

D e c c a nP l a t e a u

T h a rD e s e r t

ArabianSea

Bay ofBengal

I N D I A N O C E A N

I N D I A

P A K I S T A N

BANGLADESH

BHUTAN

AFGHANISTAN

NEPAL

SRI LANKAMALDIVES

70°E 80°E 90°E

Tropic of Cancer

Elevation

Mountain peak

(4,000 m)(2,000 m)

(500 m)(200 m)

(0 m)Below sea level

13,100 ft.6,600 ft.1,600 ft.

650 ft.0 ft.

0

0 250 500 kilometers

250 500 miles

N

Elevations of South Asia

GEOGRAPHYSKILLBUILDER:Interpreting a Map1. Location • What is

the highest mountainrange in South Asia?

2. Region • Howwould you compareland elevations inBangladesh with land elevations in Pakistan?

However, there are some mountain passes that since ancient timeshave allowed travelers and invaders from Asia to get through themountain barrier. The Khyber Pass, for example, connects the twomodern-day countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Himalayas stretch for 1,500 miles across northern Indiaand Nepal. They are 200 miles wide at some points, and manypeaks are more than four and a half miles high. The tallest moun-tain in the world, Mount Everest, is almost five and a half mileshigh. This is taller than 23 Empire State Buildings stacked on topof one another. The terrain is rough in this region with few saferoads. It is also difficult to farm. As a result, fewer people live inthis part of South Asia.

The Northern Plains The Northern Plains lie between theHimalayas and southern India. This region includes the Ganges(GAN•JEEZ) and Indus River valleys. The Ganges flows throughBangladesh and empties into the Bay of Bengal. The Indus Riverflows through Pakistan and empties into the Arabian Sea. TheIndus and the Ganges rivers form large deltas where they emptyinto the sea. A delta is a triangular deposit of soil at the mouthof a river. The map on page 378 shows that the Ganges Riverdelta is mostly within Bangladesh.

The Ganges River carries rich sediment from the Himalayasto the plains. Sediment includes minerals and debris that settleat the bottom of a river. During the rainy season, the NorthernPlains flood, and the sediment from the Ganges River isdeposited there. This makes the plains a fertile farming area.

Human-EnvironmentInteraction •People in heavily populatedBangladeshcrowd aboard a Ganges River ferryboat. �

Southern Asia: Place and Times 379

Because of the fertile soil, parts of theNorthern Plains are densely populated. InBangladesh, for example, more than 130million people live in an area smaller thanthe state of Wisconsin. In ancient times,the Indus River valley was also fertile anddensely populated. Today, however, the val-ley is mostly desert, and few people live inthis hot, dry region.

The Deccan Plateau As you can see fromthe map on page 378, the Deccan Plateaumakes up most of southern India. Theplateau has mineral deposits, as well as forests where elephantsroam. Mountains border the plateau to the east and west—theEastern and Western Ghats (gawts). The Western Ghats are thehigher peaks, reaching 8,000 feet at the southern tip of India. Acoastal plain runs between the mountains and the oceans on bothcoasts. Along these coastal plains the soil is fertile and water isplentiful. In the interior part of the plateau, between the moun-tain ranges, the soil is not as rich. People do farm there but watersupplies are unreliable and it is hot year round. Fewer people liveon the Deccan Plateau than in the Northern Plains.

Sri Lanka and the Maldives Theislands of Sri Lanka and the Maldiveslie south and southwest of India. SriLanka is a picturesque, mountainousisland, 23 miles off the southern tipof India. Parts of it receive a greatdeal of rain.

The Maldives is a country made upof more than 1,200 low, flat coralislands called atolls. People live on onlyabout 300 of these islands. TheMaldives stretch south for 400 miles.The highest elevation in the entirechain is just over six feet above sea level.

Place • The central highlands of Sri Lanka have mountains that reachover 7,000 feet and offer somespectacular scenery. �

Place • Anelephant gets its tusks washedat an elephanttraining camp in MudumalaiNational Park. �

B. Clarifying Howcould fertile soillead to densepopulation?

If scientists’predictions aboutglobal warmingare accurate, sealevels could risedramatically. TheMaldives wouldthen disappear, ornearly disappear,under the sea.

Regions and Nations of Southeast AsiaSoutheast Asia contains both a mainland region and manyislands. The countries that make up Southeast Asia includeBrunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar(Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Mainland Southeast Asia The mainland lies on two peninsu-las—the Indochinese Peninsula and the Malay Peninsula. Thecountries of mainland Southeast Asia are Cambodia, Laos,Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and part of Malaysia. TheMekong River drains more than 313,000 square miles of thisregion. It starts in the highlands of the Plateau of Tibet and endsin the South China Sea. It flows through Laos, central Cambodia,and into Vietnam. This area is a major rice-producing region andis densely populated.

Islands of Southeast Asia The islands of Southeast Asia includeBorneo, part of which belongs to the country of Malaysia, theisland of Singapore, and the archipelagoes of Indonesia and thePhilippines. An archipelago (AHR•kuh•PEHL•uh•GOH) is agroup of islands.

Indonesia is the largest nation in Southeast Asia. It extendsover an area about three times the size of Texas, and it has thefourth largest population in the world. Indonesia is made up of17,000 islands that were formed by volcanoes.

C. MakingInferences Howdo you think theMekong River contributes togrowing crops in this region?

Place • MountMerapi, called theFire Mountain, is the most activevolcano inIndonesia. �

Southern Asia: Place and Times 381

More than 6,000 of these islands are inhabited. The islandshave a tropical climate with a lot of rain, but the soil is not veryfertile. Still, more than half the people of Indonesia are farmers.

The 7,100 islands of the Philippines cover an area about thesize of the state of Arizona. Only 800 of these islands are inhab-ited. Nearly half of the Philippine people are farmers.

Climate and MonsoonsMost of South Asia has three seasons—cool, hot, and rainy. Thehigher elevations are usually cooler. Much of India’s weather is

milder in the cool season. Sometimes frost formson the Northern Plains. However, most ofsouthern India is hot all year round.

Southeast Asia’s climate has less variety. It ishot and rainy. Heavy seasonal winds and rainsare common both to South Asia and SoutheastAsia.

The Monsoon Cycle The period from Junethrough September marks the coming of themonsoon winds and the rainy season. A monsoonis a seasonal wind that blows over the northernpart of the Indian Ocean. From April throughOctober, the monsoon blows from the southwest,building up moisture over the ocean and bringingheavy rains to South Asia and Southeast Asia.From November through March, the monsoonblows from the northeast.

South Asia and Southeast Asia have differentmonsoon cycles. In South Asia, heavy monsoonrains fall from June through October. Novemberthrough February is mostly cool and dry.Because March through late May is hot andhumid, the monsoon rains in June bring greatrelief. In India, school starts in June, after therains begin. Children take their main vacationduring the spring, when it is too hot to study.The monsoon rains reach as far north as theHimalayas. However, there is very little rain inmost of western Pakistan.

382 CHAPTER 13

The World’s Most DestructiveVolcano Krakatau (KRAK•uh•TOW),a volcanic island between Javaand Sumatra in Indonesia, is prettyquiet these days (see below). In1883, however, it erupted withexplosions so loud they wereheard in Australia and Japan, thou-sands of miles away. Krakatau’svolcanic eruption caused tidalwaves that killed 36,000 people.The eruption blew nearly 5 cubicmiles of rock into the air andspewed out volcanic ash at least17 miles high, throwing the regioninto darkness for days. This ash,blown around Earth for two years, caused amazing sunsetsworldwide.

In Southeast Asia, there are twoseasons. The summer monsoon lastsfrom April to September. During thistime, there are heavy rains. The win-ter season from October throughMarch is cool and dry.

Depending on Rain Agriculturedepends on the timing of the mon-soons. If the monsoons come tooearly, the farmers do not have time toplant their seeds. If the rains do notarrive or if they arrive too late, thecrops fail. Sometimes the monsoonsbring too much rain, resulting insevere flooding that ruins crops,damages property, and is dangerousto people.

Southern Asia: Place and Times 383

Culture • These women in India are celebratingTeej, a festival for welcoming the coming of themonsoons. �

D. Compare andContrast Howdoes this cycle ofhot, cool, and rainyseasons comparewith the cycle ofseasons where you live?

Photocopy a map of Southeast Asia. Using highlighter markers, spotlight the places you havelearned about in Section 1. Share your map with the class.

SECTION ASSESSMENT

Using Graphics2. Use a chart like this one to record

important information about SouthAsia and Southeast Asia.

Main Ideas3. (a) Describe three distinctive

regions of South Asia.

(b) Where is the Mekong River?Which countries does it flowthrough?

(c) Name two nations in SoutheastAsia that are archipelagoes.

Critical Thinking4. Compare and Contrast

Compare the Northern Plains withthe Deccan Plateau. How are theysimilar? How are they different?

Think About◆ location◆ fertility of the soil and population

density

Terms & Names1. Explain the significance of: (a) subcontinent (b) Himalayas (c) Northern Plains (d) delta

(e) sediment (f ) Deccan Plateau (g) archipelago (h) monsoon

Countries

Major Regions

Major Rivers

Monsoon Cycle

South Asia Southeast Asia

.RsudnI

Ganges R.

Narmada R.

Brahmaputra R.

Godavari R.Krishna R.

Indus R.

70°E 80°E 90°E

20°N

10°N

0°

10°N

0°

Equator

Tropic of Cancer

Arabian

Sea

Gulf ofMannar

Bay ofBengalL

acc

ad

i ve

Se

a

An

da

ma

nS

ea

I N D I A N O C E A N

Lakshadweep(Ind.)

Andaman Is.(Ind.)

Nicobar Is.(Ind.)

Islamabad

Lahore

Rawalpindi

Faisalabad

Kabul

Kathmandu

New Delhi

Kolkata(Calcutta) Chittagong

Bangalore

Mumbai(Bombay)

ThimphuKanpur

Lucknow

Varanasi

Delhi

JaipurHyderabad

Karachi

Ahmadabad

Surat

Hyderabad

Nagpur

Pune

Chennai(Madras)

Vijayawada

Dhaka

Male

Colombo

I N D I A

INDIA

PAKISTAN

BANGLADESH

BHUTAN

AFGHANISTAN

NEPAL

SRI LANKA

MALDIVES

National boundary

National capital

Other city

0

0 250 500 kilometers

250 500 miles

N

India and Its Neighbors, 2001

384 CHAPTER 13

GEOGRAPHYSKILLBUILDER:Interpreting a Map1. Location • What

country is both eastand west ofBangladesh?

2. Location • What isthe absolute locationof the capital of SriLanka?