HUMAN AND CULTURAL GEOGRAPH Y

OF SOUTHEAST ASIA HUMAN & CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY

•Population

•History and Government

•Cultures and Lifestyle

SOUTHEAST ASIA POPULATION 2019:

POPULATION

SOUTHEAST ASIA POPULATION 2019: POPULATION

•Major ethnic groups
Country Major Ethnic Group
Brunei Malays
Cambodia Khmer
Indonesia Javanese
Malaysia Malays
Myanmar Bamars/ Burmans
Laos Lao
Philippines Christian Filipinos
Singapore Chinese
Thailand Thai (Tai)
Vietnam Kinh (Viet)
POPULATION GROWTH GROWTH OF URBAN POPULATION
Country 2011 2012 2013 2014
Brunei 76 76 77 77
Cambodia 20 20 20 21
Indonesia 51 51 52 53
Laos 34 35 36 38
Malaysia 72 73 73 74
Myanmar 32 32 33 34
Philippines 45 45 45 44
Singapore 100 100 100 100
Thailand 45 47 48 49
Vietnam 31 32 33 33
Urban Population (% Total) – World Bank Population
Estimates

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS

HISTORY •Indigenous people

•Humans have lived in SEA for tens of thousands of years

& GOVERNMENT •All belong to the Indonesien race (= Tibetan Mongoloid + local Melanesien)

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS KINGDOMS & EMPIRES

•Materials: water rice cultivation, cattle herding, advanced metal work, masterful boat •Pre-governments formed for two major reasons
skills •Coalition of tribes to control the nature for rice cultivation
•Society: significant role of women, matriarchal system, society organized around the •Coalition of tribes to fight against Northern invaders
irrigation system for water rice cultivation •The development of these pre-governments had strong roots in trading
•Legends: binary system: mountain vs. ocean; bird vs. sea creatures; highland vs. between large areas, esp. between SEA and India.
lowland; etc.
•Religion: everything has spirit; ancestor worshipping; worshipping of Mother Earth;
sacred places built on high grounds; etc.
•Language: Monosyllabic systems
 Southeast Asians created a distinctive indigenous culture rooted in pre- and
KINGDOMS & EMPIRES FUNAN (1st – 7th century A.D.)
1. Funan Kingdom •Located in the Mekong Delta of South Cambodia and South
Vietnam
2. Khmer Kingdom
•Encouraged by the development of new trade routes
3. Srivijaya Empire between China and India in the 1st c. A.D.
•Óc Eo (today An Giang, KiênGiang, Đồng Tháp, Cần Thơ,
4. Dai Viet
Bạc Liêu) = a major Funan port  Funan was a powerful
trading state
•Strongly influenced by the Indian culture: the use of sanscrit
llanguage in courts, Buddhist and Hindu religions,
astronomy, legal system, literature, etc.

Culture and Beliefs of the Funan Culture and Beliefs of the Funan
•Indian & Chinese influence
•multicultural and multi-ethnic
empire

Some Óc Eo artifacts CHAMPA (4th – 17th century A.D.)

•Officially founded in the 6th

century under the Gangaragia
Dynasty as an absolute monarchy
•Weakened during the 9th century
Golden lotuses but did not disappear
•Heavily influenced by the Indian
Binh Hoa Buddha statue Statue of Vishnu culture: religion, social class system
CHAMPA CULTURE KHMER KINGDOM

Remains of Mỹ Sơn Holyland The dancing Shiva

statue

KHMER CIVILIZATION (9th – 15th century)

•Covered today’s Cambodia, Thailand, Laos
•Great builders: monumental temples,
and Southern Vietnam
huge reservoirs, canals, extensive
•The roots of the empire’s power:
road network with all sorts of bridges
•A right political doctrine that enforced the
unity of people
-the main highways are 800 km long.
•An intelligent irrigation system that could •Angkor Wat, a microcosm of the
control the Mekong river  the country’s Hindu universe and defies
prosperity
imagination as the world's largest
•Several wars with the Chams and the religious complex: 200 hectares, 30
Vietnamese years to complete
•Declined and collapsed with the great
Thai migration (12th – 14thc.)

Khmer king: Jayavarman VII Angkor Thom complex

•The empire's greatest king •Meaning: great city
Jayavarman VII (r. 1181 CE - 1215
•Area: 9 km²
CE):
•expelled the Chams
•restored the realm from
anarchy
•invaded Champa (Cham's
kingdom).
•built temples, monuments,
highways, a hundred hospitals
KHMER
•The Khmer: festive people, with many
celebrations all the year round. •Choul Chhnam Thmey (Khmer New Year): Marks the traditional solar New
•Wrestling, horse races, cock fights, Year in Cambodia (14 April)
fireworks, music and dances

SRIVIJAYA EMPIRE
(7th – 13th century A.D.)

•Among the great trading empires

in history
•Based on the Indonesian island of
Sumatra
•Ranked among the wealthiest and
most splendid, prospering from
the Indian Ocean trade and by
controlling the Malacca strait

Overview
Origin of Research on Srivijaya
● Existence: 7th - 14th century: 670-1375 (?) (coinciding with Tang &
● Known by China as 三佛齊 (Tam Phật Tề)
Sui dynasty from China) ● First confirmed record: Chinese pilgrim Yijing’s record (635–
● Political form: 713 CE)
○ mandala kingdom/ empire ○ Yijing travel to the West (Nalanda University in India in 671 and 695)
by sea, stayed in Srivijaya for years to learn and translate Buddhism
○ Buddhist thalassocratic Indonesian empire
document
● Capitol: Palembang, Jambi (later) ● Kedukan Bukit inscription: unearthed by Dutch colonization
● Economy: maritime trading in Indonesia
● Technology: sea faring, maritime military ○ 45 cm × 80 cm.
○ 1 May 683 CE
● Language: Sanskrit & Malay ○ Old Malay language
● Religion: Buddhism & Hinduism ● Talang Tuwo inscription
● Ethnicity: mainly Tamil ● Other archaeological evidence
Political Form & Power
Much adopted from China & Buddhism/Indian Relationship with Regional Powers
philosophy
● Fluid territory but stable empire: critical area to protect: capitol only ● Reunification of China under the Sui (590 – 618) and T’ang
● Mandala (Mạn-đà-la): receiving tribute other countries in its influence dynasties,
● “Cooperate and you will be rewarded,” seemed to be the mantra that Srivijaya ● Demise of long-distance trade with Persia, created new opportunity
used with its vassal islands for Southeast Asian traders.
● Suzerainty over large areas of Sumatra, western Java and much of the
● The Middle Kingdom (China): mandale
Malay Peninsula.
○ Fighting against tribes known as militaristic nomadic cultures of the Central Asian
● Dominating the Malacca and Sunda straits, Srivijaya controlled both
○ The Emperor found it more expedient to have his army available to defend the capitol
the spice route traffic and local trade, charging a toll on passing
○ The capitol was not bound by a particular location but instead resided where the Imperial
court was. Imperial Court moved to a new capitol --> China moved with them. ships.

Economy
India’s Influence on Srivijaya
● Serving as Southeast Asia's main
entrepôt (port city) ● India’s Hindu mythology united Southeast Asians under one
● Gaining trade patronage by the
Chinese court religious roof
● Lucrative maritime trade between ● Due to the Indian influence, the entire trade network, i.e. the
China and India residents of India, Southeast Asia and China, worshipped common
spirits.
→ reflect seafaring economic
culture ● Religious harmony characterized the region

● Piracy: no official document by

researchers
● Sea building: high level of skills

Buddhism in Srivijaya SRIVIJAYA EMPIRE

● Vajrayana Buddhism (金剛乘 - Kim Cương Thừa) originating from Mahayana
Buddhism: special, mystical form of Buddhism
● Theravada Buddhism: mainly South-East Asia, including Sri Lanka, Thailand,
Cambodia, and Burma
● Mahayana Buddhism: northern Asia – into Japan, Vietnam, China, Tibet, and
Korea
● Palembang: Buddhist shrines (stupas): a well-known stop for Chinese Buddhist
pilgrims on their way to India, the birthplace of Buddhism.
○ Yijing (Chinese pilgrim)
● Politics:
○ Srivijayan king, Sri Jayanasa, as a bodhisattva, already achieving buddhahood Borobudur - One of the greatest Buddhist
The Buddha of Grahi, the most
monuments in Southeast Asia, 8th c.
notable image of the Srivijaya
Period
 CONTEMPORARY
FORMS OF GOVERNMENT Foreign Influences
Southeast Asia has a diversity of peoples and cultures. How might physical
•Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore: geography have shaped this diversity?
democratic republic
•Brunei: absolute monarchy
•Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand:
constitutional monarchy
•Laos: democratic republic
Aung San Suu Kyi, chairperson of the
•Vietnam: socialist republic National League for Democracy in
Burma.
•Myanmar: military  democracy

Foreign Influences Foreign Influences

•Indian and Chinese influences •Islamic influences
•India: Hindu and Buddhist religions, art forms inspired by these religions, a concept •800s: Arab and Indian traders brought cotton and silk to SEA
of government that glorifies the king as both political and spiritual leader •1200s: people in port towns started to convert to Islam  interior areas of Indonesian
•China: writing system, Confucian traditions, feudal system of government islands and Malay peninsula

•Western influences: 1400s & 1500s

Foreign Influences

CULTURES &
LIFESTYLES
CULTURAL DIVERSITY LANGUAGES

•A region with great ethnic diversity •Hundreds of languages and dialects that belong to 3 language families
• Indonesia: largest number of ethnic groups and •Some languages are results of migration and colonization
languages: 300 ethnic groups & 250 languages
•The Philippines: Filipino, English and Spanish
• Vietnam: 54 ethnic groups
• Việt – Mường group (4) •Singapore: Chinese, Malay, Tamil, English
• Tày – Thái group (8) •Malaysia: English
• Mon – Khmer group (21)
• H’Mong – Dao group (3)
• Kadai group (4)
• Nam Đảo group (5)
• Hán group (3)
• Tạng group (6)

RELIGIONS
•Nearly all of the world’s major religions are present
•Buddhism: Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam
•Islam: Malaysia, Indonesia
•Catholics: The Philippines
A Cao Đài temple in Tây Ninh,
•Religions co-exist and inter-mingle Việt Nam
•Vietnam: Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Catholicism, Cao Dai, Hoa Hao

Crafts

• Architecture
• Crafts
THE ARTS • Literature
• Dance & Drama
Crafts Incense in Vietnam

LITERATURE

LITERATURE
Sang Sinxay (Lao: ສັງ
ິສນໄຊ, also known as
Sinxay or Sinsai),is a
Lao epic poem
written by Pang
Kham

DANCE & DRAMA Indonesian shadow DANCE AND DRAMA

puppetry

Vietnam’s water puppetry

DANCE AND DRAMA DANCE AND DRAMA

Laos’ khon dance-dramas Vietnam’s tuồng

Thai classical dance Cambodia’s apsara dance

Architecture & Housing

•Traditionally, influences by
•Indian and Chinese seen in religion architecture
•Later: Western style
Gestures of Cambodian •Citizens’ houses: varied by region and time
traditional dancing •Long houses
•Stilt houses
•Brick houses
•High rise buildings

Architecture

Borobudur temple , Indonesia

Architecture Architecture

Bagan, Myanmar Huế Citadel, Việt Nam

Stilt & long houses

Housing in a Vietnamese city Housing in a Lao city

LIFESTYLES Food
• Staple: rice
•Health & Education • Served with spicy fish, chicken, vegetables, and sauces
•Housing (covered above)

•Food, recreation and celebrations

15 Southeast Asian Food You Must Try Once In Your Lifetime

Food Health
•Life expectancy and infant mortality rates also have improved

Education
•Since 1945, literacy has
increased dramatically
in the region, although
educational
opportunities are still
limited in many areas.