Southeast Asia:
Defining the Realm
WHERE? [serealm]
The Politico-Geographical Map
The Southeast Asia realm is at a major world crossroads and is easily accessible to outside influences [serealm]. As a result, other countries have settled, occupied, colonized, controlled, and fought over these islands and peninsulas.
The realm is also a shatter belt - "a region caught between stronger colliding external cultural-political forces, under persistent stress, and often fragmented by aggressive rivals."
And, itt has also played the role of a cold war buffer zone.
Southeast Asia borders the "giants" of India and China. One country of the realm, Myanmar, borders both. To the east, the island State of Indonesia [seindosm] controls the western half of the island of New Guinea [panewgui], yet the whole island [seout] is included in the pacific realm [paoutcou].
"Indochina"
The realm is sometimes called "Indochina", (especially the former
French colonies of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia). [seindchi]
[sechines]
[sechitab]
[secolony]
Hindu traders from India and Muslims from the Arab world came across the Indian ocean with the Monsoon winds to trade. From the north came Chinese settlers. Later, European colonizers laid claim to the peninsulas and islands of the realm.
[top]
Which of the "regional criteria" best define the realm?
Physical Barriers [sephys]
Physical Geography [wwclimat] [wwprec] [sephys]
Cultural Geography
The borders of the realm (like ALL realm and region boundaries) are transition zones. Examine the following sets of maps to see the similarities along the borders as well as the overall differences between Southeast Asia and its neighbors.
1. [seethnic] [sslang] [chethnic] [sechines] [sechitab]
2. [serelig] [ssrelig] [wwrelig] [asrelig]
Economic Geography
Use the following tables and maps to get an idea of the level of
economic development of Southeast Asia. Especially look at the
borders of the realm to see if geographers use economic criteria to
separate Southeast Asia from the rest of Asia (south Asia and
China).
[semeasur.htm]
[secoumea.htm]
[wbgnpmap]
[wraglab]
[wrurban]
[wrpopgr]
[wwtrans]
[wwinfmrt]
[wwlifexp]
[wwlitrt]
[wwhdi]
Historical Geography
As was mentioned above, southeast Asia is a shatter belt and
buffer zone. These maps give you an idea of the number of other
countries who have had an influence on the development of the
region
[secolony]
[jpempire]
[sepolgeo]
[seindchi]
[sechines]
[sechitab]
Population Clusters [seecumen] [sspopden] [wwecumen]
Realm boundaries often pass through areas of sparse population. Is this true for the boundaries of southeast Asia? Also compare the population density of Southeast Asia with that of South Asia and China. Southeast Asia is significantly less densely populated than adjacent areas of the neighboring realms. We will discuss why later.
[top]
