Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental

portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is
bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. It includes the countries of
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, with peninsular Malaysia sometimes also being
included.

The term Indochina (originally Indo-China) was coined in the early nineteenth century, emphasizing the
historical cultural influence of Indian and Chinese civilizations on the area. The term was later adopted
as the name of the colony of French Indochina (today's Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam). Today, the term,
Mainland Southeast Asia, in contrast to Maritime Southeast Asia, is more commonly referenced.

Contents

1 Terminology

2 Biogeography

3 Geography

4 Culture

5 See also

6 References

7 Further reading

8 External links

Terminology

1886 map of Indochina, from the Scottish Geographical Magazine

The origins of the name Indo-China are usually attributed jointly to the Danish-French geographer
Conrad Malte-Brun, who referred to the area as indo-chinois in 1804, and the Scottish linguist John
Leyden, who used the term Indo-Chinese to describe the area's inhabitants and their languages in 1808.
[1] Scholarly opinions at the time regarding China's and India's historical influence over the area were
conflicting, and the term was itself controversial—Malte-Brun himself later argued against its use in a
later edition of his Universal Geography, reasoning that it over-emphasized Chinese influence, and
suggested Chin-India instead.[2] Nevertheless, Indo-China had already gained traction and soon
supplanted alternative terms such as Further India and the Peninsula beyond the Ganges. Later,
however, as the French established the colony of French Indochina, use of the term became more
restricted to the French colony,[3] and today the area is usually referred to as Mainland Southeast Asia.
[4]
Biogeography

In biogeography, the Indochinese bioregion is a major region in the Indomalayan realm, and also a
phytogeographical floristic region in the Oriental Paleotropical Kingdom. It includes the native flora and
fauna of all the countries above. The adjacent Malesian Region covers the Maritime Southeast Asian
countries, and straddles the Indomalayan and Australasian realms.[5]

Geography

Mekong River

The Indochinese Peninsula projects southward from the Asian continent proper. It contains several
mountain ranges extending from the Tibetan Plateau in the north, interspersed with lowlands largely
drained by three major river systems running in a north–south direction: the Irrawaddy (serving
Myanmar), the Chao Phraya (in Thailand), and the Mekong (flowing through Northeastern Thailand,
Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam). To the south it forms the Malay Peninsula, located on which are Southern
Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia; the latter is variably considered part of Mainland Southeast Asia or
separately as part of Maritime Southeast Asia.

It is also unclear whether some southern parts of China could also be considered Mainland Southeast
Asia, due to proximity to Southeast Asian geography and climate as well as containing many ethnic
groups considered Southeast Asian such as Tai peoples who live there.[citation needed] Nonetheless,
they are generally not considered a part of South East Asia.

Culture

Mainland Southeast Asia contrasts with Maritime Southeast Asia, mainly through the division of largely
land-based lifestyles in Indochina and the sea-based lifestyles of the Indonesian archipelago and
Philippine archipelago, as well as the dividing line between the Austroasiatic, Tai–Kadai, and Sino-
Tibetan languages (spoken in Mainland Southeast Asia) and the Austronesian languages (spoken in
Maritime Southeast Asia). The languages of the mainland form the Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic
area: although belonging to several independent language families, they have converged over the
course of history and share a number of typological similarities.

The countries of mainland Southeast Asia received cultural influence from both India and China to
varying degrees.[6] Some cultures, such as those of Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand are influenced mainly
by India with a smaller influence from China. Others, such as Vietnam, are more heavily influenced by
Chinese culture with only minor influences from India, largely via the Champa civilization that Vietnam
conquered during its southward expansion. Myanmar, on the other hand balances the influence of the
two cultures.

Overall, Mainland Southeast Asia is predominantly Buddhist[7][8][9][10][11][12] with minority Muslim

and Hindu populations.[13][14]