Textbook Notes:

[Some maps may be difficult to read. To see a clear image, RIGHT CLICK on the image and select VIEW IMAGE]

BRIEF OUTLINE / 4 CLASS THEMES Chapter 10 SOUTHEAST ASIA   DEFINING THE REALM 494 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY Land and Sea Borders 495 Physical Geography 496 Population Geography 497 People and Land 490 The Ethnic Mosaic 491   HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY: How the Political Map Evolved 499 The Colonial Imprint 499 Cultural-Geographic Legacies 501 Overseas Chinese 502 Regional Issue: The Chinese Presence in Southeast Asia 504   CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY: Southeast Asia's Political Geography 505 The Boundaries 505 State Territorial Morphology 507 REGIONS OF THE REALM 502 Mainland Southeast Asia 509 Elongated Vietnam 509 Vietnam Today 511 Compact Cambodia 513 The Mighty Mekong 514 Landlocked Laos 515 Protruded Thailand 515 Extended Myanmar 519   Insular Southeast Asia 520 Mainland-Island Malaysia 520 Pinang: A Future Singapore? 522 Singapore 523 Indonesia's Archipelago 524 Diversity in Unity 527 Transmigration and the Outer Islands 528 The Major Islands 530 East Timor 532 Fragmented Philippines 534

MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC QUALITIES OF THE REALM

• Southeast Asia extends from the peninsular mainland to the archipelagos offshore. Because Indonesia controls part of New Guinea, its functional region reaches into the neighboring Pacific geographic realm.
• Southeast Asia, like Eastern Europe, has been a shatter belt between powerful adversaries and has a fractured cultural and political geography shaped by foreign intervention.
• Southeast Asia's physiography is dominated by high relief, crustal instability marked by volcanic activity and earthquakes, and tropical climates.
• A majority of Southeast Asia's more than half-billion people live on the islands of just two countries: Indonesia, with the world's fourth-largest population, and the Philippines. The rate of population increase in the Insular region of Southeast Asia exceeds that of the Mainland region.
• Although the overwhelming majority of Southeast Asians have the same ancestry, cultural divisions and local traditions abound, which the realm's divisive physiography sustains.
• The legacies of powerful foreign influences, Asian as well as non-Asian, continue to affect the cultural landscapes of Southeast Asia.
• Southeast Asia's political geography exhibits a variety of boundary types and several categories of state territorial morphology.
• The Mekong River, Southeast Asia's Danube, has its source in China and borders or crosses five Southeast Asian countries, sustaining tens of millions of farmers, fishing people, and boat owners.
• The realm's giant in terms of territory as well as population, Indonesia, has not asserted itself as the dominant state because of mismanagement and corruption; but Indonesia has enormous potential.

DEFINING THE REALM

• realm of peninsulas and islands
• accessible to outside forces
  • Indian traders
  • Chinese settlers
  • Arab traders and to spread Islam
  • European colonizers
  • Japan during W.W.II
  • the Americans after W.W.II
• a buffer zone and a shatter belt
• 12 States (countries) west to east
  • Mainland Southeast Asia:
    • Myanmar (Burma)
    • Thailand
    • Malaysia
    • Singapore
    • Cambodia
    • Vietnam
    • Laos
  • Insular (islands) Southeast Asia
    • Philippines
    • Indonesia part of which (New Guinea) is in the Pacific Realm (chapter 12)
    • Brunei
    • East Timor
    • Malaysia (part of mainland and insular Southeast Asia)

   

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

• high relief (not flat, mountainous)

  

• the Pacific "Ring of Fire" = fertile volcanic soil

  

• fertile river valleys

  

• irregular coastlines, difficult demarcating political boundaries, cause of possible conflicts

  

• Population Geography
  • less populous and less densely (both arithmetically and physiologically) populated than neighboring realms of East and South Asia
  • therefore, with political stability, many countries can feed themselves and even export large quantities of food

   

  • Where do people live and Why:
    • 
  • densely populated in fertile river valleys and deltas
  • densely populated in fertile volcanic islands
  • sparsely populated in the infertile, leached, soils of the highlands between the river valley on the mainland

     

    QUESTION: Where do most people of the realm live? (In what type of areas). Do the "5 reasons" that we discussed in the Introduction chapter apply to this realm? Online lecture "Physical Geography:: Where Do People Live and Why"

• If southeast Asia is sparsely populated and the neighboring realms of East Asia and South Asia are densely populated why weren't there large migrations into Southeast Asia?
  • many did migrate into Southeast Asia, mainly by sea due to the realms great exposure
    • Chines
    • Arabs
    • Europeans
    • even some Indians
  • BUT migrations hindered due to:
    • densely forested hills and mountains along the India-Myanmar border in the west
    • mountains in the northwest and north
    • high relief within the realm isolates population clusters and hinders movement

   

  QUESTION: If southeast Asia is sparsely populated and the neighboring realms of East Asia and South Asia are densely populated why weren't there large migrations into Southeast Asia?

CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY

• The "Ethnic" Mosaic: Cultural Groups, Languages, Religions
• Political Geography

• The Ethnic Mosaic
  • Southeast Asia is made of of several multicultural states put together during the period of European colonialism
  • Culturally diverse (see figure 10-3) and source of potential conflicts:

    

    

  • RIGHT CLICK on the maps and select "view image" to get a larger map
  • at the small scale of the maps above many smaller cultural groups cannot be seen
  • on the mainland there is a rough spatial coincidence of cultural groups with political boundaries
  • but there are many cultural minorities
    • South Asian (Hindu) minority: mainland Malaysia and island of Bali, Indonesia
    • Chinese minorities: Mainland Malaysia and insular Malaysia, Indonesian island of Jawa, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi
    • important minorities in Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, and Vietnam

   

• Political Geography (pp. 505-509)
  • Definition - A systematic field of geography that focuses on the spatial expressions of political behavior
  • Key Terms
    • - Supranationalism
    • - Balkanization
    • - Irredentism
    • - Geopolitics
    • - Devolution
    • - centripetal forces
    • - centrifugal forces

     

  • Boundaries

   

  • - Definition vs. Delimitation vs. Demarcation

   

  • - Morphological Classifications - classifying different boundaries by their SHAPE
    • Geometric
      • straight lines without reference to the physical or cultural geography
      • sometimes a cause of conflict
      • EXAMPLE: the boundary between Indonesia and Papua/New Guinea on the island of New Guinea
    • Physiographic
      • following the physical landscape; like following rivers
      • EXAMPLE: the boundary between Laos and Vietnam follows the Annam Mountains
    • Anthropogeographic
      • following the cultural landscape; like different religions or languages
      • EXAMPLE: the boundary between Thailand and Myanmar separating the Tibeto-Burman cultural group from the Thai Cultural group

       

  • - Genetic Classifications - Classifying different boundaries by the evolution or CHANGES in the cultural/historical landscape
    • Antecedent boundary
      • boundaries that were there BEFORE the current human landscape developed
      • EXAMPLE: the boundary between Malaysia and Indonesia on the island of Borneo runs through a dense tropical rainforest that has ALWAYS separated these two parts of the island
    • Subsequent boundary
      • an boundary that has undergone an ONGOING PROCESS of change and accommodation
      • EXAMPLE: the boundary between China and Vietnam is very intricate due to a long process of changes
    • Superimposed boundary
      • a FORCED boundary drawn across an area that is homogenous
      • EXAMPLE: the geometric boundary dividing Indonesia and Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea was drawn during colonial times across the island even though the cultural and physical landscape is similar all over the island
      • this is why ALL of the island of New Guinea is in the Pacific Realm, even though the western side is a part of Indonesia
    • Relict boundary
      • a political boundary that does NOT EXIST ANYMORE BUT whose cultural imprint can still be seen
      • EXAMPLE: the former boundary between North And South Vietnam which ceased to exist after North Vietnam won the Vietnam (Indochina) war (and the US and South Vietnam lost) and North and South Vietnam were reunited.

   

  • State Territorial Morphology: the effect of a country's SHAPE
    • Online Lecture

     

    • Five categories of shapes with examples:
      • - Compact- Cambodia
      • - Protruded (Extended)- Thailand, Myanmar
      • - Elongated (Attenuated)- Vietnam, Chile
      • - Fragmented- Philippines, Indonesia
      • - Perforated- South Africa

   

  • Compact State
    • A state (country) that possesses a circular, oval, or rectangular territory in which the distance from the center to any point on the boundary exhibits little variation
    • Cambodia, Uruguay, and Poland are examples.

     

  • Elongated State
    • A state whose territory is decidedly long and narrow; its length is at least six times greater than its average width
    • Chile, Vietnam, and Laos are examples.

     

  • Protruded State
    • A type of territorial shape that exhibits a narrow, elongated land extension leading away from the main body of the territory
    • Thailand and Myanmar are examples.

     

  • Fragmented State
    • A state whose territory consists of several separated parts, not a contiguous whole
    • The individual parts may be isolated from each other by the land area of other states or by international waters.
    • Philippines and Indonesia are examples.

     

  • Perforated State
    • A state that completely surround the territory of another state so that they have a "hole" in them
    • South Africa is an example

     

  

  • A state's territorial morphology (shape) MAY have an impact on it political stability and economy
    • - COMPACT states may be politically more stable and economically integrated because each region is in closer contact with other regions
    • - PROTRUDED states may be politically unstable since the region in the protrusion is far from the central body of the state. For example: the Karen people of south eastern Myanmar are a different cultural group far from the political core of the country and they have been fighting with the central government
    • - ELONGATED states may be politically unstable and economically divided since the extreme regions are far from each other. For example, Vietnam has two economic core areas, one int he north and one in the south.
    • - FRAGMENTED states may be politically unstable since communication and interaction is difficult
    • - PERFORATED- states nay have much control over the state that they surround since they control the overland and air connections of that state with the outside world.

   

  QUESTION: Name the five territorial morphology types and give an example (if one exists) of each from Southeast Asia Discuss how the a state's physical shape - its territorial morphology - can affect its cohesion and political viability using examples from countries in Southeast Asia.

   

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY - How the Political Map Evolved (pp. 499-505)

• Colonial Rulers
  • See Figure 10-4
  • France: Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia
  • Great Britain: Burma (now Myanmar) and Malaysia
  • The Netherlands: Indonesia
  • Spain: The Philippines; therfore much of the Philippines is now Catholic
  • Portugal: East Timor

   

  • The United States replaced Spain after the Spanish American War of 1898
  • Japan controlled much of Southeast Asia during W.W.II

CURRENT POLITICAL MAP

COLONIAL MAP

• "Indochina"
  • Name of the French colonies in the realm, but applies to most of the realm
  • stresses the role of Indian (South Asian) and Chinese immigrants prior to European colonization

   

  • "Indo" - South Asian migrants
    • brought Hinduism and Buddhism, and later Islam to the realm
    • colonies in Malay Peninsula (now mainland Malaysia) and on the Indonesian islands of Jawa and Bali
    • Islam, brought by the South Asians and promoted by Arab traders became dominant religion in Indonesia
      • Indonesia is the country with the largest population of Muslims in the world
    • Buddhism became dominant in Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, and Cambodia
    • Although Islam is the dominant religion in Malaysia, most Malays of Indian Ancestry remain Hindu
    • The famous ruins of the Angkor Wat Temple in Buddhist Cambodia is a former HINDU temple
    • Hinduism remains the dominant religion on the Indonesian island of Bali

   

  QUESTION: Know the dominant religions in the various countries in the realm and the primary colonial powers

   

  • Chinese imprints on Southeast Asia
    • from the southeastern Coast of China
    • strained relations between the new Chinese migrants and the earlier inhabitants; some of these conflicts continue today
    • Chinese immigration continues
    • Chinese immigrants soon dominated the realm's retail business and played major roles in shipping, banking, and manufacturing
    • Europeans found that the Chinese in Southeast Asia were business competitors and soon began to impose restrictions
    • after independence conflict continues in many places

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

• Rural
• Poor
• One economic Tiger: Singapore
• Communist Vietnam has begun a structural Adjunstment program; introducing market incentives

REGIONS OF THE REALM

• Mainland Region
  • 5 states:
    • Vietnam (Previously North & South Vietnam)
    • Cambodia (Previously French Indochina)
    • Laos (Previously French Indochina)
    • Thailand
    • Myanmar (Previously Burma)

• Buddhism dominates the cultural landscape
• A multicultural and multiethnic region
• One of the least urbanized realms in the world
• Some countries have more than one core area (Vietnam, Myanmar)

 

• Vietnam
  • 81.9 million people
  • French delimited Vietnam
  • Not a homogenous colony
  • Divided into three units
    • Tonkin (Hanoi)
    • Cochin China (Saigon)
    • Annam (Hue)
  • Mekong River Delta
  • Advantageous relative location on Pacific Rim
  • Economic development slow (Communist System)
  • Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) has advantage over Hanoi (Capital) - accessible by oceangoing vessels
  • Special Economic Zone downstream from Saigon
  • Issues/Concerns
    • Population (81.9 million) has doubled since the end of war in 1975
    • A classic "elongated country"
    • A bipolar arrangement exists between Saigon and Hanoi
    • New Strategy- retain communist political system but pursue market economics

 

• Kingdom Of Cambodia
  • Mekong River
  • Core area in the interior
  • Culturally homogenous (Khmers)
  • Khmer Rouge (Communist Revolutionaries)
    • drove people from urban to rural areas
    • killed millions
    • Vietnam invaded in 1978 to stop the killing
    • UN sponsored elections 1993
  • A classic "Compact State"
  • Population of 12.7 million, with strong ethnic and cultural homogeneity- 90% Khmers
  • Phnom Penh (1.2 million) principal city and capital
  • A victim of wars and insurgencies
    • - Vietnam spillover
    • - 1970 - military deposes the king
    • - 1975 - communist revolutionaries (Khmer Rouge) change name to Kampuchea
    • - invaded by Vietnam in late 1970s

• Laos
  • Independence 1949
  • Lao People's Democratic Republic (1975)
  • Communist Government
  • Landlocked
  • Rural-Based Population
  • Little Infrastructure and Industry
  • A "Landlocked" State
  • A Former French Colony (1893-1953)
  • Population of 5.8 million, with 50% Ethnic Lao
  • 17% Urbanized
  • Undeveloped with no railroads, little industry, and few roads
  • The realm's poorest country

• Kingdom of Thailand
  • Leading state of the region
  • Economic Growth
    • Relative Location
    • Natural Environment
    • Social Conditions
    • Stifled By Mismanagement
  • Bangkok (Venice of Asia)
  • Problems
    • Surface communications
    • Influx of refugees
    • Drugs
  • A classic "Protruded State"
  • Population of 63.6 million has the slowest growth rate in the realm
  • Per Capita GDP is higher than Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar COMBINED!
  • Bangkok- A classic "Primate City" of 8.1 million
  • Economic Success
    • - Relative Location
    • - Natural Environment
    • - Tai Workforce

 

• Myanmar
  • One of world's poorest countries
  • Independence: 1948
  • Military Government (1962)
  • Irrawaddy River
  • Core Areas: Yangon & Mandalay
  • Ethnic Diversity
    • Burman 68%
    • Shan 9%
    • Karen 7%
  • A "Protruded State", with an unserviced extension
  • A former British colony-Burma, which became independent in 1948
  • Population of 50.3 million, 80 % literate, and culturally diverse
  • Agricultural potential is good; varied soil and environmental conditions; self-sufficient in rice
  • World's leading producer of opium poppies

• Insular Southeast Asia
  • A region of peninsulas and islands
  • Southeast Asia's southern and eastern periphery
  • Comprised of 6 States, all of which have colonial histories
    • - Malaysia
    • - Indonesia
    • - Philippines
    • - Singapore
    • - Brunei
    • - East Timor
  • Fragmented political entities
  • A multicultural and multiethnic region
  • Islam prevails
  • Colonial legacies persist

• Malaysia
  • Fragmented state- Mainland-Island type
  • A Former British Colony
  • Malaysia came into being in 1963, referring to the federal organization and expansion of Malaya (On The Malay Peninsula) to include parts of Borneo
  • Population of 25.3 million with strong adherence to Islam
  • Rapidly growing economy with 3rd hghest GDP in the realm
  • Pinang-A future Singapore?

• Singapore
  • A city-state
  • Secededfrom Malaysia In 1965
  • Population of 4.3 million (76 % Are Chinese, 15% Malay, 6% South Asian)
  • Absolute location and site were initial considerations, but relative location and situation were its keys
  • Per Capita GDP: $24,910

• Indonesia
  • A fragmented state of more than 13,000 islands
  • A Dutch colonial creation
  • Population of 224 million
  • 4 major islands (Greater Sunda Islands):
    • - Jawa (Java)
    • - Sumatera (Sumatra)
    • - Kalimantan (Part Of Borneo)
    • - Sulawesi (Celebes)
    • - West Papua
  • Jawa is ihe core with 125 million people
  • Largest Muslim population in the world

 

• Brunei
  • An anomaly in Southeast Asia - An oil exporting Islamic Sultanate
  • A British protected remnant
    • Gained independence in 1984
  • 395,000 people within 2,225 sq. mi.
  • Oil discovered in 1929, natural gas in 1965
  • Population is 64% Malay, 20% Chinese

• Philippines
  • Archipelago of >7,000 islands, most of which are < 1 square mile
  • Former Spanish colony for 300+ years; US possession (1898-1946)
  • 3 Main Island Groups
    • Luzon and Mndoro (North)
    • Visayan Group (Central)
    • Mindanao (South)
  • 83.9 million people;
  • 83% Catholic
  • Islamic minority and an Islamic-basied insurgency in the southeast part of the island of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago islands
  • Agricultural economy
  • Manilla: Primate City

   

• East Timor