South Asia

South Asia is the southern subregion of

Asia, which is defined in both geographical
and ethnic-cultural terms. The region
consists of the countries of
Afghanistan,[note 1] Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri
Lanka.[7] Topographically, it is dominated
by the Indian subcontinent and defined
largely by the Indian Ocean on the south,
and the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Pamir
mountains on the north. The Amu Darya,
which rises north of the Hindu Kush, forms
part of the northwestern border. On land
(clockwise), South Asia is bounded by
Western Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, and
Southeast Asia.
 South Asia

Area 5,134,641 km2
(1,982,496 sq mi)

Population 1.94 billion (2020)[1]

Population density 362.3/km2

(938/sq mi)

GDP (PPP) $15.1 trillion (2022)[2]

GDP (nominal) $4.47 trillion (2022)[3]

GDP per capita $2,350 (nominal)

(2022)

$8,000 (PPP) (2022)[4]

HDI 0.641 (2019)
(medium)[5]
Ethnic groups Indo-Aryan, Iranian,
Dravidian, Sino-
Tibetan, Austroasiatic,
Turkic etc.

Religions Hinduism, Islam,

Christianity,
Buddhism, Sikhism,
Jainism,
Zoroastrianism,
Irreligion

Demonym South Asian

Countries 8 states
 Afghanistan
 Bangladesh
 Bhutan
  India
 Maldives
   Nepal
 Pakistan
 Sri Lanka
Dependencies  British Indian
Ocean Territory
(United Kingdom)

Languages Official languages

Bengali
Dari (Persian)
Urdu
Hindi
Pashto
Nepali
Dzongkha
Dhivehi
 English
Sinhala
Tamil
Other languages
Afro-Asiatic:
Arabic
Austroasiatic:
Khasi · Santali
Austronesian:
Sri Lanka Malay
Dravidian:
Beary · Brahui · Gondi ·
Kodava · Malayalam ·
Kannada · Telugu ·
Tulu
Indo-European:
Assamese · Balochi ·
Bhojpuri · Bhili · Dogri ·
Garhwali · Gujarati ·
Hindustani dialects ·
Saraiki · Hindko ·
Kashmiri · Konkani ·
Kumaoni · Kutchi ·
Lahnda · Maithili ·
Marathi · Marwari ·
Odia · Punjabi ·
Rangpuri · Rohingya ·
Sanskrit · Saraiki ·
Satgaiya · Sindhi ·
Sylheti · Shina
Sino-Tibetan:
Balti · Bodo · Gurung ·
Ladakhi · Limbu · Mizo
 · Manang · Meitei ·
Sikkimese · Tamang ·
Thakali · Tibetan
Turkic:
Turkmen · Uzbek
Time zones 5 time zones
UTC+04:30:
Afghanistan
UTC+05:00:
Maldives · Pakistan
UTC+05:30:
India · Sri Lanka
UTC+05:45:
Nepal
UTC+06:00:
Bangladesh ·
Bhutan
Internet TLD .af, .bd, .bt, .in, .io, .lk,
.mv, .np, .pk
Calling code Zone 8 & 9

Largest cities 10 largest

cities in
South Asia
1. Delhi
2. Mumbai
3. Dhaka
4. Karachi
5. Kolkata
6. Lahore
7. Bangalore
8. Chennai
9.
Hyderabad
 10.
Ahmedabad

UN M49 code 034 – Southern

Asia

142 – Asia

001 – World

The South Asian Association for Regional

Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic
cooperation organization in the region
which was established in 1985 and
includes all eight nations comprising
South Asia.[8] South Asia covers about
5.2 million km2 (2.0 million sq mi), which is
11.71% of the Asian continent or 3.5% of
the world's land surface area.[7] The
population of South Asia is about
1.9 billion[1] or about one-fourth of the
world's population, making it both the
most populous and the most densely
populated geographical region in the
world.[9]

In 2010, South Asia had the world's largest

populations of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs,
Jains, and Zoroastrians.[10] South Asia
alone accounts for 98.47% of Hindus,
90.5% of Sikhs, and 31% of Muslims
worldwide, as well as 35 million Christians
and 25 million Buddhists.[11][12][13][14]
Definition

Various definitions of South Asia, including the definition by the United Nations geoscheme which was created for
"statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or
territories."[15]

Modern definitions of South Asia are

consistent in including Afghanistan,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives,
Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka as the
constituent countries.[16][17][18]
Afghanistan is, however, considered by
some to be a part of Central Asia, Western
Asia, or the Middle East.[19][20][21][22][23][24]
After the Second Anglo-Afghan War, it was
a British protectorate until 1919.[25][16][18]
On the other hand, Myanmar (Burma),
administered as a part of the British Raj
between 1886 and 1937[26] and now
largely considered a part of Southeast
Asia as a member state of ASEAN, is also
sometimes included.[20][21][27] But the Aden
Colony, British Somaliland and Singapore,
though administered at various times
under the British Raj, have never been
proposed as any part of South Asia.[28]
The region may also include the disputed
territory of Aksai Chin, which was part of
the British Indian princely state of Jammu
and Kashmir, now administered as part of
the Chinese autonomous region of
Xinjiang but also claimed by India.[29]

The geographical extent is not clear cut as

systemic and foreign policy orientations of
its constituents are quite asymmetrical.[20]
Beyond the core territories of the British
Raj or the British Indian Empire, there is a
high degree of variation as to which other
countries are included in South
Asia.[30][21][31][32] There is no clear
boundary – geographical, geopolitical,
socio-cultural, economical or historical –
between South Asia and other parts of
Asia, especially the Middle East and
Southeast Asia.[33]

The common definition of South Asia is

largely inherited from the administrative
boundaries of the British Raj,[34] with
several exceptions. The current territories
of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan which
were the core territories of the British
Empire from 1857 to 1947 also form the
core territories of South Asia.[35][36][17][18]
The mountain countries of Nepal and
Bhutan, two independent countries that
were not part of the British Raj,[37] and the
island countries of Sri Lanka and Maldives
are generally included. By various
definitions based on substantially different
reasons, the British Indian Ocean Territory
and the Tibet Autonomous Region are
included as well.[38][39][40][41][42][43][44] The
562 princely states that were protected by
but not directly ruled by the British Raj
became administrative parts of South Asia
upon joining India or Pakistan.[45][46]

United Nations cartographic map of South Asia.[47] However, the United Nations does not endorse any definitions or area
boundaries.[note 2]
The South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC), a contiguous block
of countries, started in 1985 with seven
countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka –
and admitted Afghanistan as an eighth
member in 2007.[48][49] China and
Myanmar have also applied for the status
of full members of SAARC.[50][51] The
South Asia Free Trade Agreement
admitted Afghanistan in 2011.[52]

The World Bank and United Nations

Children's Fund (UNICEF) recognizes the
eight SAARC countries as South
Asia,[53][54][55][56] The Hirschman–
Herfindahl index of the United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and the Pacific for the region excludes
Afghanistan from South Asia.[57]
Population Information Network (POPIN)
excludes Maldives which is included as a
member Pacific POPIN subregional
network.[58] The United Nations Statistics
Division's scheme of sub-regions, for
statistical purpose,[15] includes Iran along
with all eight members of the SAARC as
part of Southern Asia.[59]

The boundaries of South Asia vary based

on how the region is defined. South Asia's
northern, eastern, and western boundaries
vary based on definitions used, while the
Indian Ocean is the southern periphery.
Most of this region rests on the Indian
Plate and is isolated from the rest of Asia
by mountain barriers.[60][61] Much of the
region consists of a peninsula in south-
central Asia, rather resembling a diamond
which is delineated by the Himalayas on
the north, the Hindu Kush in the west, and
the Arakanese in the east,[62] and which
extends southward into the Indian Ocean
with the Arabian Sea to the southwest and
the Bay of Bengal to the southeast.[38][63]
While South Asia had never been a coherent geopolitical region, it has a distinct geographical identity[27][64]

The terms "Indian subcontinent" and

"South Asia" are sometimes used
interchangeably.[38][65][63][66] The Indian
subcontinent is largely a geological term
referring to the land mass that drifted
northeastwards from ancient Gondwana,
colliding with the Eurasian plate nearly 55
million years ago, towards the end of
Palaeocene. This geological region largely
includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri
Lanka.[67] Historians Catherine Asher and
Cynthia Talbot state that the term "Indian
subcontinent" describes a natural physical
landmass in South Asia that has been
relatively isolated from the rest of
Eurasia.[68]

The use of the term Indian subcontinent

began in the British Empire, and has been
a term particularly common in its
successors.[65] South Asia as the preferred
term is particularly common when
scholars or officials seek to differentiate
this region from East Asia.[69] According to
historians Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal,
the Indian subcontinent has come to be
known as South Asia "in more recent and
neutral parlance."[70] This "neutral" notion
refers to the concerns of Pakistan and
Bangladesh, particularly given the
recurring conflicts between India and
Pakistan, wherein the dominant placement
of "India" as a prefix before the
subcontinent might offend some political
sentiments.[27] However, in Pakistan, the
term "South Asia" is considered too India-
centric and was banned until 1989 after
the death of Zia ul Haq.[71] This region has
also been labelled as "India" (in its
classical and pre-modern sense) and
"Greater India".[27][64]

According to Robert M. Cutler – a scholar

of Political Science at Carleton
University,[72] the terms South Asia,
Southwest Asia, and Central Asia are
distinct, but the confusion and
disagreements have arisen due to the
geopolitical movement to enlarge these
regions into Greater South Asia, Greater
Southwest Asia, and Greater Central Asia.
The frontier of Greater South Asia, states
Cutler, between 2001 and 2006 has been
geopolitically extended to eastern Iran and
western Afghanistan in the west, and in
the north to northeastern Iran, northern
Afghanistan, and southern Uzbekistan.[72]

Identification with a South Asian identity

was found to be significantly low among
respondents in an older two-year survey
across Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan,
and Sri Lanka.[73]

History

Pre-history

The history of core South Asia begins with

evidence of human activity of Homo
sapiens, as long as 75,000 years ago, or
with earlier hominids including Homo
 erectus from about 500,000 years ago.[74]
The earliest prehistoric culture have roots
in the mesolithic sites as evidenced by the
rock paintings of Bhimbetka rock shelters
dating to a period of 30,000 BCE or
older,[note 3] as well as neolithic
times.[note 4]

Ancient era

Ai Khanoum

Shahbazgarh
(Greek city)
i
Mansehra
Lumbini

Laghman
Khalsi
Taxila

TopraNigali
(Aramaic)
Meerut
Kandahar

(Aramaic) Sagar
Bahapur
BairatKosambi Araraj,
Nandangarh
(Greek andBhabru Pataliputra
Rampurva
Barabar
Sanchi Gujarra
Ujjain Rupnath Ahraura

Sarnath
Aramaic)
Girnar Dhauli
Saru Maru Sasaram
SoparaSannati
Maski
Jaugada
Yerragudi
Palkigundu
Rajula/Mandagiri

Gavimath
Brahmagiri

Jatinga/Rameshwara Udegolam

Siddapur

Nittur
Edicts of Ashoka

Location of the Minor Rock Edicts (Edicts 1, 2 & 3)

Other inscriptions often classified as Minor Rock Edicts.

Location of the Major Rock Edicts.

Location of the Minor Pillar Edicts.

Original location of the Major Pillar Edicts.

Capital cities

Indus Valley civilisation during 2600–1900 BCE, the mature phase

The Indus Valley civilization, which spread

and flourished in the northwestern part of
South Asia from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE in
present-day Pakistan, Northern India and
Afghanistan, was the first major
civilization in South Asia.[75] A
sophisticated and technologically
advanced urban culture developed in the
Mature Harappan period, from 2600 to
1900 BCE.[76] According to anthropologist
Possehl, the Indus Valley civilization
provides a logical, if somewhat arbitrary,
starting point for South Asian religions, but
these links from the Indus religion to later-
day South Asian traditions are subject to
scholarly dispute.[77]
The Trimurti is the trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism, typically Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the
destroyer

The Vedic period, named after the Vedic

religion of the Indo-Aryans,[note 5] lasted
from c. 1900 to 500 BCE.[79][80] The Indo-
Aryans were Indo-European pastoralists[81]
who migrated into north-western India
after the collapse of the Indus Valley
Civilization,[78][82] Linguistic and
archaeological data show a cultural
change after 1500 BCE,[78] with the
linguistic and religious data clearly
showing links with Indo-European
languages and religion.[83] By about 1200
BCE, the Vedic culture and agrarian
lifestyle was established in the northwest
and northern Gangetic plain of South
Asia.[81][84][85] Rudimentary state-forms
appeared, of which the Kuru-Pañcāla union
was the most influential.[86][87] The first
recorded state-level society in South Asia
existed around 1000 BCE.[81] In this period,
states Samuel, emerged the Brahmana
and Aranyaka layers of Vedic texts, which
merged into the earliest Upanishads.[88]
These texts began to ask the meaning of a
ritual, adding increasing levels of
philosophical and metaphysical
speculation,[88] or "Hindu synthesis".[89]

Increasing urbanisation of India between

800 and 400 BCE, and possibly the spread
of urban diseases, contributed to the rise
of ascetic movements and of new ideas
which challenged the orthodox
Brahmanism.[90] These ideas led to
Sramana movements, of which Mahavira
(c. 549–477 BCE), proponent of Jainism,
and Buddha (c. 563–483), founder of
Buddhism, were the most prominent
icons.[91]
The Greek army led by Alexander the Great
stayed in the Hindu Kush region of South
Asia for several years and then later
moved into the Indus valley region. Later,
the Maurya Empire extended over much of
South Asia in the 3rd century BCE.
Buddhism spread beyond south Asia,
through northwest into Central Asia. The
Bamiyan Buddhas of Afghanistan and the
edicts of Aśoka suggest that the Buddhist
monks spread Buddhism (Dharma) in
eastern provinces of the Seleucid Empire,
and possibly even farther into Western
Asia.[92][93][94] The Theravada school
spread south from India in the 3rd century
BCE, to Sri Lanka, later to Southeast
Asia.[95] Buddhism, by the last centuries of
the 1st millennium BCE, was prominent in
the Himalayan region, Gandhara, Hindu
Kush region and Bactria.[96][97][98]

From about 500 BCE through about 300

CE, the Vedic-Brahmanic synthesis or
"Hindu synthesis" continued.[89] Classical
Hindu and Sramanic (particularly
Buddhist) ideas spread within South Asia,
as well outside South Asia.[99][100][101] The
Gupta Empire ruled over a large part of the
region between 4th and 7th centuries, a
period that saw the construction of major
temples, monasteries and universities
such as the Nalanda.[102][103][104] During
this era, and through the 10th century,
numerous cave monasteries and temples
such as the Ajanta Caves, Badami cave
temples and Ellora Caves were built in
South Asia.[105][106][107]

Medieval era

Outreach of influence of early medieval Chola dynasty

Islam came as a political power in the

fringe of South Asia in 8th century CE
when the Arab general Muhammad bin
Qasim conquered Sindh, and Multan in
Southern Punjab, in modern-day
Pakistan.[108] By 962 CE, Hindu and
Buddhist kingdoms in South Asia were
under a wave of raids from Muslim armies
from Central Asia.[109] Among them was
Mahmud of Ghazni, who raided and
plundered kingdoms in north India from
east of the Indus river to west of Yamuna
river seventeen times between 997 and
1030.[110] Mahmud of Ghazni raided the
treasuries but retracted each time, only
extending Islamic rule into western
Punjab.[111][112]
Timur defeats the Sultan of Delhi, Nasir-u Din Mehmud, in the winter of 1397–1398

The wave of raids on north Indian and

western Indian kingdoms by Muslim
warlords continued after Mahmud of
Ghazni, plundering and looting these
kingdoms.[113] The raids did not establish
or extend permanent boundaries of their
Islamic kingdoms. The Ghurid Sultan
Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad began a
systematic war of expansion into North
India in 1173.[114] He sought to carve out a
principality for himself by expanding the
Islamic world,[110][115] and thus laid the
foundation for the Muslim kingdom that
became the Delhi Sultanate.[110] Some
historians chronicle the Delhi Sultanate
from 1192 due to the presence and
geographical claims of Mu'izz al-Din in
South Asia by that time.[116]

The Delhi Sultanate covered varying parts

of South Asia and was ruled by a series of
dynasties: Mamluk, Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid
and Lodi dynasties. Muhammad bin
Tughlaq came to power in 1325, launched
a war of expansion and the Delhi Sultanate
reached it largest geographical reach over
the South Asian region during his 26-year
rule.[117] A Sunni Sultan, Muhammad bin
Tughlaq persecuted non-Muslims such as
Hindus, as well as non-Sunni Muslims
such as Shia and Mahdi sects.[118][119][120]

Revolts against the Delhi Sultanate sprang

up in many parts of South Asia during the
14th century. After the death of
Muhammad bin Tughlaq, the Bengal
Sultanate became independent in 1352 CE
in the north eastern regions, as the Delhi
Sultanate began disintegrating. The
Bengal Sultanate remained in power
through the early 16th century. It was
reconquered by the armies of the Mughal
Empire. The state religion of the Bengal
Sultanate was Islam, and the region under
its rule, a region that ultimately emerged
as the modern nation of Bangladesh, saw
a growth of a syncretic form of
Islam.[121][122] In the South India, the Hindu
Vijayanagara Empire came to power in
1336 and persisted throughout the 16th
century. It was ultimately defeated and
destroyed by an alliance of Muslim Deccan
sultanates at the battle of Talikota.[123][124]
About 1526, the Punjab governor Dawlat
Khan Lodī reached out to the Mughal
Babur and invited him to attack Delhi
Sultanate. Babur defeated and killed
Ibrahim Lodi in the Battle of Panipat in
1526. The death of Ibrahim Lodi ended the
Delhi Sultanate, and the Mughal Empire
replaced it.[125]

Modern era
Emperor Shah Jahan and his son Prince Aurangzeb in Mughal Court, 1650

The modern history period of South Asia,

that is 16th-century onwards, witnessed
the establishment of the Mughal empire,
with Sunni Islam theology. The first ruler
was Babur had Turco-Mongol roots and
his realm included the northwest and Indo-
Gangetic Plain regions of South Asia. The
southern and northeastern regions of
South Asia were largely under Hindu kings
such as those of Vijayanagara Empire and
Ahom kingdom,[126] with some regions
such as parts of modern Telangana and
Andhra Pradesh under local Sultanates
namely Deccan sultanates.[127]

The Mughal Empire continued its wars of

expansion after Babur's death. With the fall
of the Rajput kingdoms and Vijayanagara,
its boundaries encompassed almost the
entirety of the Indian subcontinent.[128]
The Mughal Empire was marked by a
period of artistic exchanges and a Central
Asian and South Asian architecture
synthesis, with remarkable buildings such
as the Taj Mahal.[129] At its height, the
empire was the world's largest economy,
worth almost 25% of global GDP, more
than the entirety of Western
Europe.[130][131]

However, this time also marked an

extended period of religious
persecution.[132] Two of the religious
leaders of Sikhism, Guru Arjan and Guru
Tegh Bahadur were arrested under orders
of the Mughal emperors after their revolts
and were executed when they refused to
convert to Islam.[133][134][135] Religious
taxes on non-Muslims called jizya were
imposed. Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh
temples were desecrated. However, not all
Muslim rulers persecuted non-Muslims.
Akbar, a Mughal ruler for example, sought
religious tolerance and abolished
jizya.[136][137][138][139]

British Indian Empire in 1909. British India is shaded pink, the princely states yellow.

Under Aurangzeb's rule, South Asia

reached its zenith, becoming the world's
largest economy and biggest
manufacturing power.[130][131] After the
death of Aurangzeb and the collapse of
the Mughal Empire, which marks the
beginning of modern India, in the early
18th century, it provided opportunities for
the Marathas, Sikhs, Mysoreans and
Nawabs of Bengal to exercise control over
large regions of the Indian
subcontinent.[140][141] By the mid-18th
century, India was a major proto-
industrializing region.[142]

Maritime trading between South Asia and

European merchants began after the
Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama
returned to Europe. British, French,
Portuguese colonial interests struck
treaties with these rulers and established
their trading ports. In northwest South
Asia, a large region was consolidated into
the Sikh Empire by Ranjit Singh.[143][144]
After the defeat of the Nawab of Bengal
and Tipu Sultan and his French allies, the
British Empire expanded their control till
the Hindu Kush region.

Contemporary era

In 1905, the Government of India initiated

the partition of Bengal, a decision which
was eventually reversed after Indian
opposition. However, during the partition
of India, Bengal was partitioned into East
Bengal (Pakistan) and West Bengal (India).
East Bengal became the People's Republic
of Bangladesh after the Bangladesh
Liberation War in 1971.

Geography
According to Saul Cohen, early colonial era
strategists treated South Asia with East
Asia, but in reality, the South Asia region
excluding Afghanistan is a distinct
geopolitical region separated from other
nearby geostrategic realms, one that is
geographically diverse.[145] The region is
home to a variety of geographical features,
such as glaciers, rainforests, valleys,
deserts, and grasslands that are typical of
much larger continents. It is surrounded by
three water bodies – the Bay of Bengal,
the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea –
and has acutely varied climate zones. The
tip of the Indian Peninsula had the highest
quality pearls.[146]

Indian Plate

Most of this region is resting on the Indian

Plate, the northerly portion of the Indo-
Australian Plate, separated from the rest
of the Eurasian Plate. The Indian Plate
includes most of South Asia, forming a
land mass which extends from the
Himalayas into a portion of the basin
under the Indian Ocean, including parts of
South China and Eastern Indonesia, as
well as Kunlun and Karakoram
ranges,[147][148] and extending up to but not
including Ladakh, Kohistan, the Hindu
Kush range, and Balochistan.[149][150][151] It
may be noted that geophysically the
Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet is situated
at the outside of the border of the regional
structure, while the Pamir Mountains in
Tajikistan are situated inside that
border.[152]

The Indian subcontinent formerly formed

part of the supercontinent Gondwana,
before rifting away during the Cretaceous
period and colliding with the Eurasian
Plate about 50–55 million years ago and
giving birth to the Himalayan range and
the Tibetan plateau. It is the peninsular
region south of the Himalayas and Kuen
Lun mountain ranges and east of the Indus
River and the Iranian Plateau, extending
southward into the Indian Ocean between
the Arabian Sea (to the southwest) and the
Bay of Bengal (to the southeast).

Climate
South Asia's Köppen climate classification map[153] is based on native vegetation, temperature, precipitation and their
seasonality.
   (Af) Tropical rainforest    (BSh) Hot semi arid    (Cwa) Subtropical,    (Dsb) Continental, warm
   (Am) Tropical monsoon    (BSk) Cold semi arid humid summer, dry winter summer
   (Aw) Tropical savanna,    (Csa) Mediterranean,    (Cwb) Subtropical    (Dwb) Continental, dry
wet & dry dry, hot summer highland, dry winter winter
   (BWh) Hot desert    (Cfa) Subtropical, humid    (Dsa) Continental, hot    (Dwc) Continental
   (BWk) Cold desert summer Subarctic, dry winter

The climate of this vast region varies

considerably from area to area from
tropical monsoon in the south to
temperate in the north. The variety is
influenced by not only the altitude but also
by factors such as proximity to the
seacoast and the seasonal impact of the
monsoons. Southern parts are mostly hot
in summers and receive rain during
monsoon periods. The northern belt of
Indo-Gangetic plains also is hot in
summer, but cooler in winter. The
mountainous north is colder and receives
snowfall at higher altitudes of Himalayan
ranges.

As the Himalayas block the north-Asian

bitter cold winds, the temperatures are
considerably moderate in the plains down
below. For the most part, the climate of
the region is called the Monsoon climate,
which keeps the region humid during
summer and dry during winter, and favours
the cultivation of jute, tea, rice, and various
vegetables in this region.

South Asia is largely divided into four

broad climate zones:[154]

The northern Indian edge and northern

Pakistani uplands have a dry subtropical
continental climate
The far south of India and southwest Sri
Lanka have an equatorial climate
Most of the peninsula has a tropical
climate with variations:
Hot subtropical climate in
northwest India
 Cool winter hot tropical climate in
Bangladesh
Tropical semi-arid climate in the
center
The Himalayas and most of the Hindu
Kush have an Alpine climate

Maximum relative humidity of over 80%

has been recorded in Khasi and Jaintia
Hills and Sri Lanka, while the area
adjustment to Pakistan and western India
records lower than 20%–30%.[154] Climate
of South Asia is largely characterized by
monsoons. South Asia depends critically
on monsoon rainfall.[155] Two monsoon
systems exist in the region:[156]
 The summer monsoon: Wind blows
from the southwest to most parts of the
region. It accounts for 70%–90% of the
annual precipitation.
The winter monsoon: Wind blows from
the northeast. Dominant in Sri Lanka
and Maldives.

The warmest period of the year precedes

the monsoon season (March to mid June).
In the summer the low pressures are
centered over the Indus-Gangetic Plain
and high wind from the Indian Ocean
blows towards the center. The monsoons
are the second coolest season of the year
because of high humidity and cloud
covering. But, at the beginning of June, the
jetstreams vanish above the Tibetan
Plateau, low pressure over the Indus Valley
deepens and the Intertropical
Convergence Zone (ITCZ) moves in. The
change is violent. Moderately vigorous
monsoon depressions form in the Bay of
Bengal and make landfall from June to
September.[154]

Climate change in South Asia is causing a

range of challenges including sea level
rise, cyclonic activity, and changes in
ambient temperature and precipitation
patterns.[157]
Land and water area

This list includes dependent territories

within their sovereign states (including
uninhabited territories), but does not
include claims on Antarctica. EEZ+TIA is
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) plus total
internal area (TIA) which includes land and
internal waters.

Country Area in km2 EEZ Shelf EEZ+TIA

 Afghanistan 652,864 0 0 652,864

 Bangladesh 148,460 86,392 66,438 230,390

 Bhutan 38,394 0 0 38,394

 India 3,287,263 2,305,143 402,996 5,592,406

   Nepal 147,181 0 0 147,181

 Maldives 298 923,322 34,538 923,622

 Pakistan 881,913 290,000 51,383 1,117,911

 Sri Lanka 65,610 532,619 32,453 598,229

Total 5,221,093 4,137,476 587,808 9,300,997

Society

Population

The population of South Asia is about

1.749 billion which makes it the most
populated region in the world.[158] It is
socially very mixed, consisting of many
language groups and religions, and social
practices in one region that are vastly
different from those in another.[159]
 Population in Population growth rate[162]
thousands Density
% of
Country (per
(2019) world[161] 2005– 2010– 2015–
km2) 1950
(%Share)[160][1] 10 15 20

38,042 (2.07%) 58.27 0.420% 2.78 3.16 2.41 7,752

 Afghanistan

163,046 (8.88%) 1098.25 2.17% 1.18 1.16 1.04 37,895

 Bangladesh

 Bhutan 763 (0.04%) 19.87 0.00957% 2.05 1.58 1.18 177

1,366,418
 India 415.67 17.5% 1.46 1.23 1.10 376,325
(74.45%)

531 (0.03%) 1781.9 0.00490% 2.68 2.76 1.85 74

 Maldives

   Nepal 28,609 (1.56%) 194.38 0.383% 1.05 1.17 1.09 8,483

216,565 (11.8%) 245.56 2.82% 2.05 2.09 1.91 37,542

 Pakistan

 Sri
21,324 (1.62%) 325.01 0.279% 0.68 0.50 0.35 7,971
Lanka

1,835,297
South Asia 357.4 23.586% - - - 476,220
(100%)

Population of South Asian countries in 1950, 1975, 2000, 2025, 2050, 2075 and 2100 projection
population projections are based on medium fertility index. With India and Bangladesh approac
facing steep decline and may turn negative in mid

Languages
Ethno-linguistic distribution map of South Asia

There are numerous languages in South

Asia. The spoken languages of the region
are largely based on geography and
shared across religious boundaries, but
the written script is sharply divided by
religious boundaries. In particular,
Muslims of South Asia such as in
Afghanistan and Pakistan use the Arabic
alphabet and Persian Nastaliq. Till 1952,
Muslim-majority Bangladesh (then known
as East Pakistan) also mandated only the
Nastaliq script, but after that adopted
regional scripts and particularly Bengali,
after the Language Movement for the
adoption of Bengali as the official
language of the then East Pakistan. Non-
Muslims of South Asia, and some Muslims
in India, on the other hand, use scripts
such as those derived from Brahmi script
for Indo-European languages and non-
Brahmi scripts for Dravidian languages
and others.[163]

The Nagari script has been the primus inter

pares of the traditional South Asian
scripts.[164] The Devanagari script is used
for over 120 South Asian languages,[165]
including Hindi,[166] Marathi, Nepali, Pali,
Konkani, Bodo, Sindhi and Maithili among
other languages and dialects, making it
one of the most used and adopted writing
systems in the world.[167] The Devanagari
script is also used for classical Sanskrit
texts.[165]

The largest spoken language in this region

is Hindustani language, followed by
Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati,
Kannada, and Punjabi.[163] In the modern
era, new syncretic languages developed in
the region such as Urdu that are used by
the Muslim community of northern South
Asia (particularly Pakistan and northern
states of India).[168] The Punjabi language
spans three religions: Islam, Hinduism, and
Sikhism. The spoken language is similar,
but it is written in three scripts. The Sikh
use Gurmukhi alphabet, Muslim Punjabis
in Pakistan use the Nastaliq script, while
Hindu Punjabis in India use the Gurmukhi
or Nāgarī script. The Gurmukhi and Nagari
scripts are distinct but close in their
structure, but the Persian Nastaliq script is
very different.[169]

English, with British spelling, is commonly

used in urban areas and is a major
economic lingua franca of South Asia.[170]

Religions

A map of major denominations and religions of the

world

Worldwide Importance of Religion, 2015[171]

In 2010, South Asia had the world's largest

population of Hindus,[13] about 510 million
Muslims,[13] over 27 million Sikhs, 35
million Christians and over 25 million
Buddhists.[11] Hindus make up about 68
percent or about 900 million and Muslims
at 31 percent or 510 million of the overall
South Asia population,[172] while
Buddhists, Jains, Christians and Sikhs
constitute most of the rest. The Hindus,
Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and Christians are
concentrated in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and
Bhutan, while the Muslims are
concentrated in Afghanistan (99%),
Bangladesh (90%), Pakistan (96%) and
Maldives (100%).[13]

Indian religions are the religions that

originated in the Indian subcontinent;
namely Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and
Sikhism.[173] The Indian religions are
distinct yet share terminology, concepts,
goals and ideas, and from South Asia
spread into East Asia and southeast
Asia.[173] Early Christianity and Islam were
introduced into coastal regions of South
Asia by merchants who settled among the
local populations. Later Sindh,
Balochistan, and parts of the Punjab
region saw conquest by the Arab
caliphates along with an influx of Muslims
from Persia and Central Asia, which
resulted in spread of both Shia and Sunni
Islam in parts of northwestern region of
South Asia. Subsequently, under the
influence of Muslim rulers of the Islamic
sultanates and the Mughal Empire, Islam
spread in South Asia.[174][175] About one-
third of the world's Muslims are from
South Asia.[176][177][178]

Religion in British India in the 1871–1872 Census (data includes modern-day India, Bangladesh, most of Pakistan
(including Sindh, Punjab, and Balochistan), Kashmir, and coastal Myanmar))[179]

   Hinduism (73.07%)
   Islam (21.45%)
   Buddhism and Jainism (1.49%)
   Sikhism (0.62%)
   Christianity (0.47%)
   Others (2.68%)
   Religion not known (0.22%)
 Religious population as a percentage of total pop
State
Country
religion Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Islam Kiratism Sikhism

Islam – – – 99.7% – –
 Afghanistan

Islam 0.6% 0.4% 9.5% 90.4% – –

 Bangladesh

Vajrayana
 Bhutan 74.8% 0.5% 22.6% 0.1% – –
Buddhism

 India None 0.7% 2.3% 79.8% 14.2% – 1.7%

Sunni
– – – 100% – –
 Maldives Islam

 Nepal None 9% 1.3% 81.3% 4.4% 3% –

Islam – 1.59% 1.85% 96.28% – –

 Pakistan

 Sri Theravada
70.2% 6.2% 12.6% 9.7% – –
Lanka Buddhism

Largest urban areas

South Asia is home to some of the most

populated urban areas in the world.
According to the 2020 edition of
Demographia World Urban Areas, the region
contains 8 of the world's 35 megacities
(urban areas over 10 million
population):[192]

Urban Area Density

Rank State/Province Country Population[192]
Area (km2)[192] (/km2)[192]

National Capital
1 Delhi  India 29,617,000 2,232 13,266
Region

2 Mumbai Maharashtra  India 23,355,000 944 24,773

4 Kolkata West Bengal  India 17,560,000 1,351 12,988

3 Dhaka Dhaka Division 21,741,000 2161.17 10,060

 Bangladesh

5 Karachi Sindh 14,835,000 3,780 14,213

 Pakistan

6 Bangalore Karnataka  India 13,707,000 1,205 11,381

7 Chennai Tamil Nadu  India 11,324,000 1,049 10,795

8 Lahore Punjab 11,021,000 1,772 6,300

 Pakistan

 Sri
9 Colombo Western Province 5,648,000 3,684 1,600
Lanka

10 Faisalabad Punjab 3,203,846 1,326 2,400

 Pakistan

Sports
Cricket is the most popular sport in South
Asia,[193] with 90% of the sport's worldwide
fans being in the Indian subcontinent.[194]
There are also some traditional games,
such as kabaddi and kho-kho, which are
played across the region and even
officially at the South Asian
Games.[195][196]

Economy

Mumbai is the financial capital of India with GDP of $400 billion[197]

GDP per capita development in South Asia

India is the largest economy in the region

(US$3.535 trillion) and makes up almost
80% of the South Asian economy; it is the
world's 5th largest in nominal terms and
3rd largest by purchasing power adjusted
exchange rates (US$11.745 trillion).[198]
India is the member of G-20 major
economies and BRICS from the region. It
is the fastest-growing major economy in
the world and one of the world's fastest
registering a growth of 7.3% in FY 2014–
15.

India is followed by Bangladesh, which has

a GDP of ($411 billion) and a GDP per
capita of $2,554, which is 4th in the region
above India and Pakistan. It has the
fastest GDP growth rate in Asia. It is one
of the emerging and growth-leading
economies of the world, and is also listed
among the Next Eleven countries. It is also
one of the fastest-growing middle-income
countries. It has the world's 33rd largest
GDP in nominal terms and is the 27th
largest by purchasing power adjusted
exchange rates ($1.015 trillion).
Bangladesh's economic growth crossed
7% in fiscal 2015–2016 after almost a
decade in holding a growth rate of 6%, and
is expected to grow by 8.13% in 2019–
2020. Pakistan has an economy of
($314 billion) and ranks 5th in GDP per
capita in the region.[199] Next is Sri Lanka,
which has the 2nd highest GDP per capita
and the 4th largest economy in the region.
According to a World Bank report in 2015,
driven by a strong expansion in India,
coupled with favorable oil prices, from the
last quarter of 2014 South Asia became
the fastest-growing region in the world[200]
 GDP

GDP
Nominal GDP
GDP per (PPP)
GDP Inflation
Country
GDP
(PPP)
[201][202][203] capita (in growth (2022)[204
(in millions) per
millions)
(2022) (2022)[206] capita (2022)[207]
(2022)
(%Share)[205] (2022)
(%Share)

$80,912 $2,456
$20,136 (2020) $611 (2020) -2.4% (2020) 5.6% (20
 Afghanistan[210] (2020) (2020)

$460,751 $1,345,646
 Bangladesh $2,734 $7,985 7.2% 6
(10.41%) (8.97%)

$9,937
 Bhutan $2,707 (0.06%) $3,562 $13,077 4.0% 7
(0.07%)

$3,468,566 $11,665,490
 India $2,466 $8,293 6.8% 6
(78.35%) (77.74%)

$12,071
 Maldives $5,900 (0.13%) $15,097 $30,888 8.7% 4
(0.08%)

$39,028 $141,161
   Nepal $1,293 $4,677 4.2% 6
(0.88%) (0.94%)

$376,493 $1,512,476
 Pakistan $1,658 $6,662 6.0% 12.1
(8.50%) (10.08%)

$73,739 $318,690
 Sri Lanka $3,293 $14,230 -8.7% 48
(1.67%) (2.12%)

$4,427,184 $15,005,471
South Asia[211] $2,385 $8,085 6.4% 8.1%
(100%) (100%)

According to the World Bank's 2011 report,

based on 2005 ICP PPP, about 24.6% of
the South Asian population falls below the
international poverty line of $1.25/day.[212]
Afghanistan and Bangladesh rank the
highest, with 30.6% and 43.3% of their
respective populations below the poverty
line. Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka have
the lowest number of people below the
poverty line, with 2.4%, 1.5% and 4.1%
respectively. India has lifted the most
people in the region above the poverty line
between 2008 and 2011, with around 140
million being raised from the poverty line.
As of 2011, 21.9% of India's population
lives below the poverty line, compared to
41.6% in 2005.[213][214]
 Population below poverty line (at $1.9/day)

2021 Global Popu

Country
Multidimensional Population Hunger un
[201][202][203] World CIA
Poverty Index in Extreme Index nour
Bank[221] Factbook
Report (MPI poverty (2021)[215] (201
(year) (2015)[225]
source (2021)[224]
year)[222][223]

54.5%
55.91% (2015–16) 40% 36% 28.3 (103rd)
 Afghanistan (2016)

24.3%
24.64% (2019) 3% 31.5% 19.1 (76th)
 Bangladesh (2016)

8.2%
 Bhutan 37.34% (2010) <3% 12% No data
(2017)

21.9%
 India 27.91% (2015–16) 6% 29.8% 27.5 (101st)
(2011)

8.2%
 Maldives 0.77% (2016–17) <3% 16% No data
(2016)

25.2%
   Nepal 17.50% (2019) 7% 25.2% 19.1 (76th)
(2010)

24.3%
 Pakistan 38.33% (2017–18) 5% 12.4% 24.7 (94th)
(2015)

4.1%
 Sri Lanka 2.92% (2016) <3% 8.9% 16 (65th)
(2016)

The major stock exchanges in the region

are Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) with
market Capitalization of $2.298 trillion
(11th largest in the world), National Stock
Exchange of India (NSE) with market
capitalization of $2.273 trillion (12th
largest in the world), Dhaka Stock
Exchange (DSE), Colombo Stock Exchange
(CSE), and Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)
with market capitalization of
$72 billion.[226]
Economic data is sourced
from the International Monetary Fund,
current as of April 2017, and is given in US
dollars.[227]

Education
Durbar High School, oldest secondary school of Nepal, established in 1854 CE

Lower class school in Sri Lanka

College of Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan

One of the key challenges in assessing the
quality of education in South Asia is the
vast range of contextual difference across
the region, complicating any attempt to
compare between countries.[228] In 2018,
11.3 million children at the primary level
and 20.6 million children at the lower
secondary level were out-of-school in
South Asia, while millions of children
completed primary education without
mastering the foundational skills of basic
numeracy and literacy.[229]

According to UNESCO, 241 million children

between six and fourteen years or 81
percent of the total were not learning in
Southern and Central Asia in 2017. Only
sub-Saharan Africa had a higher rate of
children not learning. Two-thirds of these
children were in school, sitting in
classrooms. Only 19 percent of children
attending primary and lower secondary
schools attaining a minimum proficiency
level in reading and mathematics.[230][231]
According to a citizen-led assessment,
only 48% in Indian public schools and 46%
of children in Pakistan public schools
could read a class two level text by the
time they reached class five.[232][231] This
poor quality of education in turn has
contributed to some of the highest drop-
out rates in the world, while over half of
the students complete secondary school
with acquiring requisite skills.[231]

In South Asia, classrooms are teacher-

centred and rote-based, while children are
often subjected to corporal punishment
and discrimination.[229] Different South
Asian countries have different education
structures. While by 2018 India and
Pakistan has two of the most developed
and increasingly decentralised education
systems, Bangladesh still had a highly
centralised system, and Nepal is in a state
of transition from a centralized to a
decentralized system.[228] In most South
Asian countries children's education is
theoretically free; the exceptions are the
Maldives, where there is no
constitutionally guaranteed free education,
as well as Bhutan and Nepal, where fees
are charged by primary schools. But
parents are still faced with unmanageable
secondary financial demands, including
private tuition to make up for the
inadequacies of the education system.[233]

The larger and poorer countries in the

region, like India and Bangladesh, struggle
financially to get sufficient resources to
sustain an education system required for
their vast populations, with an added
challenge of getting large numbers of out-
of-school children enrolled into
schools.[228] Their capacity to deliver
inclusive and equitable quality education is
limited by low levels of public finance for
education,[229] while the smaller emerging
middle-income countries like Sri Lanka,
Maldives and Bhutan have been able to
achieve universal primary school
completion, and are in a better position to
focus on quality of education.[228]

Children's education in the region is also

adversely affected by natural and human-
made crises including natural hazards,
political instability, rising extremism and
civil strife that makes it difficult to deliver
educational services.[229] Afghanistan and
India are among the top ten countries with
the highest number of reported disasters
due to natural hazards and conflict. The
precarious security situation in
Afghanistan is a big barrier in rolling out
education programmes on a national
scale.[228]

According to UNICEF, girls face incredible

hurdles to pursue their education in the
region,[229] while UNESCO estimated in
2005 that 24 million girls of primary-
school age in the region were not receiving
any formal education.[234][235] Between
1900 and 2005, most of the countries in
the region had shown progress in girls'
education with Sri Lanka and the Maldives
significantly ahead of the others, while the
gender gap in education has widened in
Pakistan and Afghanistan. Bangladesh
made the greatest progress in the region
in the period increasing girls’ secondary
school enrolment from 13 percent to 56
percent in ten years.[236][237]

With about 21 million students in 700

universities and 40 thousand colleges
India had the one of the largest higher
education systems in the world in 2011,
accounting for 86 percent of all higher-
level students in South Asia. Bangladesh
(two million) and Pakistan (1.8 million)
stood at distant second and third
positions in the region. In Nepal (390
thousand) and Sri Lanka (230 thousand)
the numbers were much smaller. Bhutan
with only one university and Maldives with
none hardly had between them about 7000
students in higher education in 2011. The
gross enrolment ratio in 2011 ranged from
about 10 percent in Pakistan and
Afghanistan to above 20 percent in India,
much below the global average of 31
percent.[238]
IInstitute of Engineering, Pulchowk Campus, Nepal

Sri
Parameters Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Pakistan
Lanka

Primary School
29% 90% 85% 92% 94% 96% 73% 98%
Enrollment[239]

Secondary School
49% 54% 78% 68% N/A 72% 45% 96%
Enrollment[240]

Health and nutrition

Child getting vaccine in Bangladesh under the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI)
According to World Health Organization
(WHO), South Asia is home to two out of
the three countries in the world still
affected by polio, Pakistan and
Afghanistan, with 306 & 28 polio cases
registered in 2014 respectively.[241]
Attempts to eradicate polio have been
badly hit by opposition from militants in
both countries, who say the program is
cover to spy on their operations. Their
attacks on immunization teams have
claimed 78 lives since December 2012.[242]

The World Bank estimates that India is one

of the highest ranking countries in the
world for the number of children suffering
from malnutrition. The prevalence of
underweight children in India is among the
highest in the world and is nearly double
that of Sub Saharan Africa with dire
consequences for mobility, mortality,
productivity, and economic growth.[243]

A weekly child examination performed at a hospital in Farah, Afghanistan

According to the World Bank, 70% of the

South Asian population and about 75% of
South Asia's poor live in rural areas and
most rely on agriculture for their
livelihood[244] according to the UN's Food
and Agricultural Organisation. In 2015,
approximately 281 million people in the
region were malnourished. The report says
that Nepal reached both the WFS target as
well as MDG and is moving towards
bringing down the number of
undernourished people to less than 5% of
the population.[216] Bangladesh reached
the MDG target with the National Food
Policy framework – with only 16.5% of the
population undernourished. In India, the
malnourished comprise just over 15
percent of the population. While the
number of malnourished people in the
neighborhood has shown a decline over
the last 25 years, the number of under-
nourished in Pakistan displays an upward
trend. There were 28.7 million hungry in
Pakistan in the 1990s – a number that has
steadily increased to 41.3 million in 2015
with 22% of the population malnourished.
Approximately 194.6 million people are
undernourished in India, which accounts
for the highest number of people suffering
from hunger in any single country.[216][245]

The 2006 report stated, "the low status of

women in South Asian countries and their
lack of nutritional knowledge are
important determinants of high prevalence
of underweight children in the region".
Corruption and the lack of initiative on the
part of the government has been one of
the major problems associated with
nutrition in India. Illiteracy in villages has
been found to be one of the major issues
that need more government attention. The
report mentioned that although there has
been a reduction in malnutrition due to the
Green Revolution in South Asia, there is
concern that South Asia has "inadequate
feeding and caring practices for young
children".[246]

Governance and politics

Systems of government
 Head
Form of Head of
Country Capital of Legislature
government government
state

Unitary
totalitarian
provisional Supreme
 Afghanistan Kabul Prime Minister Leadership Counc
theocratic Leader
Islamic
emirate

Unitary
parliamentary
 Bangladesh Dhaka President Prime Minister Jatiya Sangsad
constitutional
republic

Unitary
National Council,
parliamentary
 Bhutan Thimphu King Prime Minister National Assemb
constitutional
monarchy

Federal
Rajya Sabha,
parliamentary
 India New Delhi President Prime Minister Lok Sabha
constitutional
republic

Unitary
presidential
 Maldives Malé President People's Majlis
constitutional
republic

Federal National Assemb

parliamentary
   Nepal Kathmandu President Prime Minister House of
constitutional
Representatives
republic

Federal
Senate,
parliamentary
 Pakistan Islamabad President Prime Minister National Assemb
Islamic
republic
 Head
Form of Head of
Country Capital of Legislature
government government
state

Unitary semi-
Sri
presidential
 Sri Lanka Jayawardenepura President Prime Minister Parliament
constitutional
Kotte
republic

Sansad Bhavan, New Delhi, India

Parliament House, Islamabad, Pakistan

Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, Dhaka,

Bangladesh
India is a secular federative parliamentary
republic with the prime minister as head of
government. With most populous
functional democracy in world[248] and
world's longest written
constitution,[249][250][251] India has been
stably sustaining the political system it
adopted in 1950 with no regime change
except that by a democratic election.
India's sustained democratic freedoms are
unique among the world's newer
establishments. Since the formation of its
republic abolishing British law, it has
remained a democracy with civil liberties,
an active Supreme Court, and a largely
independent press.[252] India leads region
in Democracy Index. It has a multi-party
system in its internal regional politics[253]
whereas alternative transfer of powers to
alliances of Indian left-wing and right-wing
political parties in national government
provide it with characteristics of a two-
party state.[254] India has been facing
notable internal religious conflicts and
separatism however consistently
becoming more and more stable with
time.

Foundation of Pakistan lies in Pakistan

movement started in colonial India based
on Islamic nationalism. Pakistan is a
federal parliamentary Islamic republic and
was the world's first country to adopt
Islamic republic system to modify its
republican status under its otherwise
secular constitution in 1956. Pakistan's
governance is one of the most conflicted
in the world. The military rule and the
unstable government in Pakistan has
become a concern for the South Asian
region. Out of 22 appointed Pakistani
Prime ministers, none has been able to
complete a full term in office.[255] The
nature of Pakistani politics can be
characterized as a multi-party system.
Pakistan's governance is one of the most
conflicted in the region. The military rule
and the unstable government in Pakistan
have become a concern for the South
Asian region.

The unitary semi-presidential

constitutional republic of Sri Lanka is
oldest sustained democracy in Asia.
Tensions between Sinhalese and Tamils
led to Sri Lankan civil war that undermined
the country's stability for more than two
and a half decades.[256] Sri Lanka however,
has been leading region in HDI with per
capita GDP well ahead of India, Pakistan
and Bangladesh. The political situation in
Sri Lanka has been dominated by an
increasingly assertive Sinhalese
nationalism, and the emergence of a Tamil
separatist movement under LTTE, which
was suppressed in May 2009.

Bangladesh is a unitary parliamentary

republic. Law of Bangladesh defines it as
both Islamic[257] as well as secular.[258]
The nature of Bangladeshi politics can be
characterized as a multi-party system.
Bangladesh is a unitary state and
parliamentary democracy.[259] Bangladesh
also stands out as one of the few Muslim-
majority democracies. "It is a moderate
and generally secular and tolerant —
though sometimes this is getting
stretched at the moment — alternative to
violent extremism in a very troubled part of
the world", said Dan Mozena, the U.S.
ambassador to Bangladesh. Although
Bangladesh's legal code is secular, more
citizens are embracing a conservative
version of Islam, with some pushing for
sharia law, analysts say. Experts say that
the rise in conservatism reflects the
influence of foreign-financed Islamic
charities and the more austere version of
Islam brought home by migrant workers in
Persian Gulf countries.[260]

By the 18th century, the Hindu Gorkha

Kingdom achieved the unification of
Nepal. Hinduism became the state religion
and Hindu laws were formulated as
national policies. A small oligarchic group
of Gorkha region based Hindu Thakuri and
Chhetri political families dominated the
national politics, military and civic affairs
until the abdication of the Rana dynasty
regime and establishment of
Parliamentary democratic system in 1951,
which was twice suspended by Nepalese
monarchs, in 1960 and 2005. It was the
last Hindu state in world before becoming
a secular democratic republic in 2008. The
country's modern development suffered
due to the various significant events like
the 1990 Nepalese revolution, 1996–2006
Nepalese Civil War, April 2015 Nepal
earthquake and the 2015 Nepal blockade
by India leading to the grave 2015–2017
Nepal humanitarian crisis. There is also a
huge turnover in the office of the Prime
Minister of Nepal leading to serious
concerns of political instability. The
country has been ranked one of the poor
countries in terms of GDP per capita but it
has one of the lowest levels of hunger
problem in South Asia.[215] When the
stability of the country ensured as late as
recent, it has also made considerable
progress in development indicators
outpacing many other South Asian states.

Afghanistan has been a unitary theocratic

Islamic emirate since 2021. Afghanistan
has been suffering from one of the most
unstable regimes on earth as a result of
multiple foreign invasions, civil wars,
revolutions and terrorist groups. Persisting
instability for decades have left the
country's economy stagnated and torn and
it remains one of the most poor and least
developed countries on the planet, leading
to the influx of Afghan refugees to
neighboring countries like Iran.[180]

Bhutan is a Buddhist state with a

constitutional monarchy. The country has
been ranked as the least corrupt and
peaceful with most economic freedom in
the region in 2016. Myanmar's politics is
dominated by a military Junta, which has
sidelined the democratic forces led by
Aung San Suu Kyi. Maldives is a unitary
presidential republic with Sunni Islam
strictly as the state religion.
Governance and stability

Parameters Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Pa

Fragile States Index[261] 102.9 85.7 69.5 75.3 66.2 82.6 92

Corruption Perceptions Index

68 41 29 34 32
(2019)[262] (Global rank out of 16 (173rd) 26 (146th)
(25th) (80th) (130th) (113th) (12
179 countries)

Government
8% 24% 68% 56% 41% 13% 27
Effectiveness

The Political stability

Worldwide and absence

1% 11% 89% 17% 61% 16% 1%

Governance
of
Indicators violence/terrorism
(2015)[263] Rule of law 2% 27% 70% 56% 35% 27% 24

Voice and
16% 31% 46% 61% 30% 33% 27
accountability

Regional politics
India has been the dominant geopolitical
power in the region[264][265][266] and alone
accounts for most part of the landmass,
population, economy and military
expenditure in the region.[267] India is a
major economy, member of G4, has
world's third highest military budget[268]
and exerts strong cultural and political
influence over the region.[269][270]
Sometimes referred as a great power or
emerging superpower primarily attributed
to its large and expanding economic and
military abilities, India acts as fulcrum of
South Asia.[271][272]
Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are
middle powers with sizeable populations
and economies with significant impact on
regional politics.[273][274]

During the Partition of India in 1947,

subsequent violence and territorial
disputes left relations between India and
Pakistan sour and very hostile[275] and
various confrontations and wars which
largely shaped the politics of the region
and led to the creation of Bangladesh.[276]
With Yugoslavia, India found Non-Aligned
Movement but later entered an agreement
with former Soviet Union following
western support for Pakistan.[277] Amid
the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, US sent its
USS Enterprise to the Indian Ocean what
was perceived as a nuclear threat by
India.[278] India's nuclear test in 1974
pushed Pakistan's nuclear program[279]
who conducted nuclear tests in Chagai-I in
1998, just 18 days after India's series of
nuclear tests for thermonuclear
weapons.[280]

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979

accelerated efforts to form a union to
restrengthen deteriorating regional
security.[281] After agreements, the union
was finally established in Dhaka in
December 1985.[282] However,
deterioration of India-Pakistan ties have
led India to emphasize more on sub-
regional groups SASEC and BBIN.

South Asia continues to remain least

integrated region in the world. Meanwhile,
in East Asia, regional trade accounts for
50% of total trade, it accounts for only a
little more than 5% in South Asia.[283]

Populism is a general characteristic of

internal politics of India.[284]

Regional groups of countries

 Name of Population
Area
Capital or Countrie
country/region, Population density
Currency
(km2) Secretariat included
with flag (per km2)

Afghanis
Banglade
Bhutan,
Core Definition
India,
(above) of South 5,220,460 1,726,907,000 330.79 — —
Maldives
Asia
Nepal,
Pakistan
Lanka

Afghanis
Banglade
Bhutan,
UNSD of South India, Ira
6,778,083 1,702,000,000 270.77 — —
Asia Maldives
Nepal,
Pakistan
Lanka

Afghanis
Banglade
Bhutan,
India,
SAARC 4,637,469 1,626,000,000 350.6 Kathmandu —
Maldives
Nepal,
Pakistan
Lanka

Banglade
BBIN 3,499,559 1,465,236,000 418.69 — — Bhutan,
India, Ne
 Name of Population
Area
Capital or Countrie
country/region, Population density
Currency
(km2) Secretariat included
with flag (per km2)

Banglade
Bhutan,
India,
SASEC 3,565,467 1,485,909,931 416.75 — — Myanma
Nepal, Sr
Lanka,
Maldives

See also
Asia
portal

Genetics and archaeogenetics of South

Asia
Cuisine of the Indian subcontinent
South Asian Games
South Asia Olympic Council
South Asian Football Federation
 List of tallest buildings and structures in
the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
A Region in Turmoil: South Asian
Conflicts since 1947 by Rob Johnson

Notes
1. Afghanistan is sometimes considered to be
part of Central Asia. The Islamic Republic
regarded Afghanistan as a link between
Central Asia and South Asia.[6]
2. According to the UN cartographic section
website disclaimers, "DESIGNATIONS
USED: The depiction and use of boundaries,
geographic names and related data shown
on maps and included in lists, tables,
 documents, and databases on this web site
are not warranted to be error free nor do
they necessarily imply official endorsement
or acceptance by the United Nations."[47]
3. Doniger 2010, p. 66: "Much of what we now
call Hinduism may have had roots in
cultures that thrived in South Asia long
before the creation of textual evidence that
we can decipher with any confidence.
Remarkable cave paintings have been
preserved from Mesolithic sites dating from
c. 30,000 BCE in Bhimbetka, near present-
day Bhopal, in the Vindhya Mountains in the
province of Madhya Pradesh."
4. Jones & Ryan 2006, p. xvii: "Some practices
of Hinduism must have originated in
Neolithic times (c. 4000 BCE). The worship
 of certain plants and animals as sacred, for
instance, could very likely have very great
antiquity. The worship of goddesses, too, a
part of Hinduism today, maybe a feature
that originated in the Neolithic."
5. Michaels: "They called themselves arya
("Aryans," literally "the hospitable," from the
Vedic arya, "homey, the hospitable") but
even in the Rgveda, arya denotes a cultural
and linguistic boundary and not only a
racial one."[78]

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"Indus religion" (https://books.google.com/b
ooks?id=XVgeAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA154) , The
Indus Civilization: A Contemporary
Perspective, Rowman Altamira, pp. 141–156,
ISBN 978-0-7591-1642-9
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Indonesia: A Minority Religion Between Local,
National, and Global Interests. New York:
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Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC): An emerging collaboration
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Samuel, Geoffrey (2010), The Origins of Yoga
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 Witzel, Michael (1995), "Early Sanskritization:
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Further reading
Anthony, David W. (2007), The Horse, the
Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age
Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped
the Modern World, Princeton University
Press
 Beckwith, Christopher I. (2009), Empires
of the Silk Road, Princeton University
Press

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related
to South Asia.

South Asia (http://www.worldbank.org/e

n/region/sar) , The World Bank
Digital South Asia Library (https://dsal.u
chicago.edu/) , University of Chicago
South Asian and Himalayan Arts (http://
www.asia.si.edu/collections/edan/sout
hAsian.cfm) Archived (https://web.arch
ive.org/web/20171006204801/http://w
ww.asia.si.edu/collections/edan/south
 Asian.cfm) 6 October 2017 at the
Wayback Machine, Freer and Sackler
Galleries, Smithsonian
South Asia (https://www.brookings.edu/
topic/south-asia/) , Brookings
Institution
South Asia Subregional Economic
Cooperation (https://www.adb.org/coun
tries/subregional-programs/sasec) ,
Asia Development Bank

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