Part 3.

South & East Asia

Lecture #10:
South & SE Asia: Patterns & Issues
G LOBAL PE RSPECTIVES ON LA ND A ND LIFE
G E O G 1 1 0 0 . 1 B : FA L L 2 0 2 1

CO U RS E I N S T R U CTO R : DR . M I N - J U N G KWA K
M I N - J U N G . KWA K @ S M U.CA

OCTOBER 21, 2021

Course Schedule I
Class Topic
1 Introduction to the course
PART 1: Introduction
2-5 Introduction, Climate, Economic Dev & Demography
PART 2: The US & Canada
6 Regional Geographies
7 National Day for Truth & Reconciliation (September 30, 2021) – No Class
8-9 Regional Geographies (cont’d)
10 TEST 1 (Tuesday, October 12, 2021)
PART 3: South & East Asia
11 Area, Population & Natural Environment
12 Agriculture & Culture
13 South & SE Asia: Patterns & Issues
14 East Asia: Patterns & Issues
Course Schedule II
Class Topic
PART 4. Middle East & North Africa (MENA)
15-17 Regional Geographies
18-19 Fall Break – No Classes (November 8-14)
20 TEST 2 (Tuesday, November 16, 2021)
PART 5. Sub-Saharan Africa
21-23 Regional Geographies
PART 6: Europe
24-26 Regional Geographies
FINAL EXAM (December 11-21, 2021)
Today
-Housekeeping notes: Please complete Midterm course review
(anonymous survey)

- Lecture on Part 3. South & SE Asia: Patterns & Issues

- Reading: Chapters 7.5 & 7.6
South Asia: Regional Political Geography
South Asia: Partition of India-Pakistan
India and Pakistan
◦ The Indian subcontinent features great religious differences between the two largest religious groups
(Hindus and Muslims)
◦ 1947 separation of India and Pakistan (West & East)
◦ 15 million migrated based on religious background
◦ “Mohajirs”: Muslim migrants in Pakistan
◦ 1971 East Pakistan became Bangladesh

Kashmir
◦ Disputed province straddling border of India, Pakistan, and China
◦ ¾ Muslim population
◦ Previously governed by Hindu before 1947
◦ Contains the upper portion of the Indus River and many of its tributaries
Nationalism and Nuclear Weapons
Comprehensive test ban treaty
◦ Prohibition of all nuclear testing
◦ NPT (Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty)
◦ Signed by 149 nations and went into effect in 1996
◦ Nuclear possessing countries: the US, Russia, China, the UK,
and France (Israel & North Korea)

India and Pakistan

◦ In 1998, India conducted 3 underground nuclear tests in the Thar Desert
◦ Pakistan followed with six nuclear tests
◦ Fear of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)
◦ ‘Pivotal countries’ → their collapse would cause intl. migration,
war, pollution, disease epidemics and other intl. security problems
Pakistan Since 9/11
(Pakistan & China) vs. (the US & India)
Post 9/11: Pakistan allowed the U.S. to use the
country to prepare for the assault on the
Taliban and al-Qa’ida in Afghanistan
◦ U.S. forgave much of Pakistan’s debt and lifted
economic sanctions, and post-nuclear test
sanctions against India
Semiautonomous Federally Administered
Tribal areas (FATA)
◦ Pashtun are sympathetic to the causes of their
Taliban ethnic kin and their al-Qa’ida spiritual kin
◦ Target of US drone strikes → caused unintended
killing of many civilians
Figure 7.39 Ethic Pashtun areas and international
borders. C.f. Durand Line: established in 1893 and
remains the boundary between Afghanistan and
Pakistan today
Afghanistan: Graveyard of Empires
- Transitional location between Asia & ME - Mujahidin (anti-Soviet Islamist rebel bands)

- Limited infrastructure, weak governmental → The Taliban in power from 1996

control, and little foreign trade → al-Qa’ida led by Osama Bin Laden & terrorist acts
including 9/11 attack → The US declared ‘War on Terror’
- Very poor despite having one of the world’s richest
in 2001 & Hunt down of Osama Bin Laden in 2011
and valuable mineral resources
- Post-Taliban reconstruction effort had been slow while
- Rugged mountainous areas with low agricultural the US spent $730 billion on war & reconstruction
production. (i.e. the most successful crop has been
the opium poppy) - Withdrawal of the US by 9/11/2021 & The Taliban took
over the power
- Historically, it has been a hotbed where the most
powerful countries compete over its advantageous
geographical location (e.g. The British during the
colonial era, the Soviet Union invasion in 1979, and
the US)
South Asia: Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
◦ Two major ethnic groups:
◦ Sinhalese, Buddhist: about 75% of population
◦ Tamils, Hindu: about 12% of population

◦ Discontent with economic and political

conditions, especially minority Tamils
◦ Between 1983 and 2009, more than 70,000
deaths have resulted from the Tamils’ fight for
autonomy or independence from Sinhalese
government
◦ Tamil Tigers – Tamil fighters wishing to help
establish their own homeland
Figure 7.32 Ethnicity in Sri Lanka
South Asia: The Caste System
Hindus believe every individual is born into a caste, or social subgroup that determines rank and
role in society
◦ The lowest group in the caste system are the Dalits, once known as untouchables, accounting
for about 20% of all Hindus
◦ In 1950, India’s constitution outlawed the caste system
◦ In 1997, the first Dalit president
◦ Still, Urban vs. Rural & Northern vs. Southern Divides
South Asia: Keeping Malthus at Bay
Poverty and human health
Population surge in India since Independence
◦ 352 million in 1947 to 1.3 billion in 2014
◦ 32% of the population “abjectly poor” (meaning living on less than $1.25 per day)
◦ Almost ½ of India’s children are malnourished

Agricultural output growing

Women’s status in India
◦ Women population outnumbered by men (113 boys per 100 girls)
◦ “Dowries” practice
Low-Lying Bangladesh and Maldives
Bangladesh
◦ Subject to catastrophic flooding
◦ Frequent hurricanes
◦ Increased runoff from the Himalayas due to deforestation
◦ Climate change → Melting glaciers in Himalayas (water source for 40% of world’s population)
→ Water shortages & Drought
◦ Concerns about rising sea levels
Himalayas: “Water Towers of Asia”
The Maldives
◦ 80% of its limited land area is less than 3 feet above sea level
◦ Could become completely submerged as a result of climate change
Deforestation of Southeast Asia
Aggressive export of the region’s tropical
hardwoods
◦ Commercial logging for Japanese and Chinese
markets
◦ Clearing of land for use as palm oil plantations
◦ Many forests and peat bogs are cleared by
burning, emitting CO2
◦ Indonesia is now world’s 5th largest contributor of
greenhouse gas emissions
◦ Many plants and animals in these forests are
endemic species
The Great Tsunami of 2004
December 26, 2004
◦ Magnitude 9.1 earthquake off the northwestern coast of Sumatra
◦ Over 200,000 total death toll
◦ Greatest number of deaths (over 130,000) occurred in Indonesia
◦ As many as 2 million people made homeless by this disaster
◦ Installation of an early warning system in the Indian Ocean region became a priority, and was completed
in 2006
Misrule in Myanmar
Myanmar (formerly Burma)
◦ Constant civil war since independence from
British Commonwealth in 1948
◦ Military junta gained power since 1962
◦ One of the world’s most repressive places to live
due to the authoritarian & isolationist military
government.
◦ E.g. Destruction by category 4 cyclone in 2008
resulted in 135,000 deaths while the
government refusing any foreign aid.

Fig. 7.48 Ethnicities in Myanmar

Misrule in Myanmar (cont’d.)
Some favorable changes in government in 2011
◦ The US course change led the military government to
engage a series of reforms
◦ Joined ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
◦ More recently, Myanmar government has maintained
much closer relationship with China
◦ In Feb. 2021, there was a military coup while house
arresting Aung San Suu Ki & People’s resistance
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1991)
◦ Aung San Suu Kyi
◦ Influential during the Political exile
◦ State counsellor and Foreign minister since 2016
◦ Silence over the human rights crisis against Rohyngia Muslims
‘Ethnic cleansing’ against Rohyngia peoples &
Human Rights Crisis (Ethnic cleansing) in Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi’s silence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04axDDRVy_o
Sex, Drugs, and Health in Southeast Asia
Opium and Heroin: Afghanistan & SE Asia
“Golden Triangle”
◦ Absence of strong government presence, and
ideal growing conditions led to explosive growth
in drug production
◦ AIDS epidemic among heroin users spread to sex
industry
◦ Thailand – 1.1% HIV infection rate among adults in 2014
Myanmar
The Mekong River
From Tibetan Plateau in China → Laos, Thailand, Cambodia → Vietnam (about 4,500 km; waters &
feeds 66 million people)
Not a great magnet for cities and civilizations
But, the world’s most prolific fisheries with a thousand of fish species
Issues: Construction of hydroelectric power dams
- China (11+8); Laos (1+5); Thailand (+2); Cambodia (1+(2)); Vietnam (+5)
- Falling fish catch
- Disruption of the ecosystem
- Impact on Mekong delta (agricultural ‘breadbasket’ of the region)
1995 MRC (Mekong River Commission): China & Myanmar refuse to join →
2015 LMC (Lancang-Mekong Cooperation: Chinese led more economic focused initiative)
Next Class
Lecture #11: East Asia: Patterns & Issues
Readings: Chapters 7.5 -7.6