Chapter 9 Lecture World Regions in Global Context: Peoples, Places, and Environments 5th Edition

South Asia

Matthew Waller

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South Asia

• Densely populated • Low levels of urbanization • Huge recent growth in Internet usage © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Environment and Society

• Monsoon • Mountain building © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Climate

• Monsoon – Low pressure over Asia – Orographic effect

• Exceptions – Pakistan – Sri Lanka

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Climatic Adaptation • • • •

Terracing Intercropping Transhumance Green Revolution – High-yield varieties of corn and wheat

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Climatic Change • • • • •

Less frequent but more intense typhoons Sea-level rise Increase in drought events Himalayan glaciers Disease ecology

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Landforms

• Peninsular highlands – Deccan Plateau

• Mountain rim – Himalayas and Karakoram © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

• Plains – Bulk of South Asia’s population

• Coastal fringe

Landforms (cont.)

• Flooding hazard – Summer monsoon – Bangladesh – Pakistan • Levees on the Indus River

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Landforms (cont.)

• Energy and mineral resources – Sandstone and marble – Mining

• Arsenic contamination – Tube wells

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Environmental Management

• Diverse habitats and species • The Sundarbans • Land use change – Deforestation – Anthropogenic forest cover

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Environmental Management (cont.) • Resource stress – Heavily rural population – Water needs in cities

• Environmental pollution – Untreated wastewater – Motor vehicle emissions

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Environmental Management (cont.) • Disappearing megafauna – Species extinctions – Bengal tigers – Indian vultures

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Historical Landscapes

• Harappan and Aryan legacies – Organized cities – Sophisticated agriculture – Trade links to other world regions

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Historical Landscapes (cont.)

• Early empires – Mauryan Empire • Ashoka • Dharma

– Gupta Empire • Classical period of Sanskrit and Hindu art

• Mughal India – Highly organized administrative structure – Islam © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Historical Landscapes (cont.) • British colonialism – Trade and economic imperialism – Anticolonial reaction – The Raj – The Great Game – Plantation agriculture – Western development

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Historical Landscapes (cont.) • Partition – Mohandas Gandhi – Independence granted in 1947 • Hindus to India • Muslims to Pakistan

– Refugees and violence – East Pakistan • Bangladesh

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Tea • Ancient China and Japan • British East India Company • Assam • Thomas Lipton • Horrible working conditions

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Economy

• New South Asian economy – Second-fastest growing economy – Large middle class – Software industry in Bangalore – Call centers – Tata

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Economy (cont.)

• Tourism boom – Mount Everest – Indian tourists

• Inequality and poverty – Overcrowding in cities • Dharavi

– Women and poverty • Grameen Bank • Microfinance

– Bonded labor

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Economy (cont.) • Opium production – Afghanistan – Poppy flower – Heroin

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Territory and Politics

• Indo-Pakistani conflicts – Kashmir – Legacy of partition – Both countries with nuclear capabilities – Terror attacks

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Territory and Politics (cont.)

• Afghanistan – Soviet alignment – Mujahideen – Taliban and al-Qaeda – War on Terror and American military presence • Drones • Osama bin Laden

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Religion and Language

• Religion – Hinduism • Vedas • Karma

– Islam • Syncretism

– Buddhism • Bhutan and Sri Lanka

– Jainism, Sikhism, Christianity

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Religion and Language (cont.) • Religious identity and politics – Religious conservatism – Taliban in Afghanistan – Hindutva • Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

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Religion and Language (cont.) • Language – 1,600 different languages – Prevalence of Hindi and Tamil – English as the lingua franca

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Marginality and Resistance

• Caste, jati – Endogamous – Brahmins – Dalits

• Adivasi peoples – Naxalite insurgencies

• Baluchistan

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Pop Culture

• Indian material consumption • “Western” entertainment • Bollywood • Bhutan – Gross national happiness

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Culture and Globalization

• • • •

Yoga Nonviolent protest Literature Food

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Gross National Happiness

• Bhutan • Focus on quality of life rather than economic indicators

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Demography and Urbanization • 1.62 billion people • Fast growing region • Very densely populated

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Demography and Urbanization (cont.) • Declining growth – India’s failed attempts at population control – Educational and economic changes – Zero population growth (ZPG) • Kerala state • Bangladesh

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Demography and Urbanization (cont.) • Urbanization – Highly rural world region – Rural-to-urban migration increasing • Problems

• South Asian diaspora – – – –

Within the British Empire To Great Britain and the U.S. To Persian Gulf countries Brain drain

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Future Geographies

• The fate of Afghanistan – U.S. withdrawal in 2014 – Relations with Pakistan and India

• Toward ZPG – Large number of dependents a future problem

• Food technologies – Genetically modified organisms vs. traditional farming techniques © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

End of Chapter 9

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