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'South Asia', also known as 'Southern Asia', is a southern geopolitical region of the Asian continent comprising territories on and in proximity to the Indian subcontinent. It is surrounded by (from west to east) Western Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Asia, and Southeastern Asia.

Contents

Definitions and usage

Controversy over the definition

Demography and history

Religion

References

See also

Other subregions in Asia

External links

Definitions and usage

South Asia consists of the following countries and territories, these countries are also active members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (except British Indian Ocean Territory):

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Also sometimes included (for assumed cultural and/or historical reasons):

★ Center for South Asia Studies: University of California, Berkeley [1]Center for South Asia Outreach UW-Madison [2]Department of South Asia Studies: University of Pennsylvania [3]South Asia: Data, Projects, and Research [4]

★ , because it was part of the British Raj

★ Tibet Center for South Asia Studies: University of California, Berkeley [5]Center for South Asia Outreach UW-Madison [6]Department of South Asia Studies: University of Pennsylvania [7]South Asia Language Resource Center: The University of Chicago [8]AIIS Advanced Language Programs in India [9]Tibet is located on the Tibetan Plateau which is in Central Asia.[10]
The United Nations further includes Iran as part of ''Southern Asia'':^[1]

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The term ''Indian subcontinent'' aptly describes those regions which geophysically lie on the Indian Plate, bordered on the north by the Eurasian Plate. Geopolitically ''Southern Asia'' subsumes the Indian subcontinent: it also includes territories found internal to the Indian Plate and in proximity to it. Afghanistan, for instance, is sometimes grouped in this region due to sociopolitical and ethnic (Pashtun) ties to neighbouring Pakistan, whilst Pakistani regions west of the Indus are sometimes described as being in Central Asia, due to historical connections. A good proportion of the Pakistani land mass is not on the Indian plate, but on the fringes of the Iranian plateau. As in the case of the Hindukush mountains, everything to the south-east of the Iranian Plateau is considered South Asia.

Controversy over the definition

The definition of South Asia can vary greatly from person to person. Most sources commonly accept Bangladesh, the Chagos Islands, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Pakistan as South Asian. The controversy originates over Afghanistan, Iran, and Tibet. Afghanistan and Tibet are often considered South Asian by many universities' departments of South Asian studies, especially those referenced above, but this definition is not universal. Another controversy grows over Iran, as Iran is considered South Asian only by the UN

Demography and history

The peoples of the region possess several distinguishing features that set them apart anthropologically from the rest of Asia; the dominant peoples and cultures are Indo-Aryan and Dravidian, and have a great affinity with the Iranian Plateau and the Caucasus particularly in the north west region of South Asia encompassing the modern states of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Persian, Arab and Turkish cultural traditions from the west also form an integral part of Islamic South Asian culture, but have been radically adapted to form a Muslim culture distinct from what is found in the Middle East e.g. pilgrimage to dargahs.
South Asia ranks among the world's most densely-populated regions. About 1.6 billion people live here – about one-fourth of all the people in the world. The region's population density of 305 persons per square kilometre is more than seven times the world average.
The region has a long history. Ancient civilizations developed in the Dwaraka region and the Indus River Valley. The region was at its far more prosperous before the 18th century, when the Mughal Empire held sway in the north and the Maratha Empire held sway in the south and central; European colonialism led to its expansion in the region, by Portugal and Holland, and later Britain and to a lesser degree France. Most of the region gained independence from Europe by the late 1940s.

Religion

[2]	Sunni Muslim (80%), Shi'a Muslim (19%), other (1%)
[3]	Muslim (89.7%), Hindu (9.2%), Buddhist (0.7%), Christian (0.3%), Animist and believers in tribal faiths (0.1%)
[4]	Christian (45.55%), Hindu (38.55%), Muslim (9.25%), Non-Religious (6.50%), Atheist (0.10%), Other (0.05%)
[5]	Buddhist (75%), Hindu (25%)
[6]	Hindu (80.5%), Muslim (13.4%), Christian (2.3%), Sikh (1.9%), Buddhist (0.8%), Jain (0.4%), Others (0.6%)
[7]	Shi'a Muslim (89%), Sunni Muslim (9%), Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i (2%)
[8]	Sunni Muslim (100%)
	Theravada Buddhism (89%), Muslim (4%), Christian (4%), Animist (1%), others (including Hinduism) (2%))
[9]	Hindu (80.6%), Buddhist (10.7%), Muslim (4.2%), Kirat (3.6%)
[10]	Muslim (96.28%), Christian (1.59%), Hindu (0.25%), Qadiani (0.22%)
[11]	Buddhist (70.42%), Muslim (10.89%), Hindu (8.78%), Catholic (7.77%), Other Christian (1.97%), Other (0.17%)
Tibet	Buddhist, Bön, Muslim, and others... (Data Unknown)

References

1. Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings, United Nations website
2. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html#People
3. http://www.banbeis.gov.bd/bd_pro.htm
4. http://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_32_1.asp
5. https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/bt.html#People
6. http://www.censusindia.net/religiondata/presentation_on_religion.pdf
7. https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ir.html#People
8. http://www.themaldives.com/Maldives/Maldives_Religion.htm
9. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Nepal.pdf
10. http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/pop_by_religion.pdf
11. http://www.statistics.gov.lk/census2001/population/ds_div/t001b.htm

See also

★ South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

★ South Asian Economic Union

★ Indosphere

★ Greater India

★ Indology

★ History of South Asia

★ India (disambiguation)

★ Islamic conquest of South Asia

★ List of South Asian stock exchanges

★ South Asian cuisine

Other subregions in Asia

★ East Asia

★ South-East Asia

★ Central Asia

★ North Asia

★ West Asia

External links

★ BBC News South Asia

★ Himal Southasian magazine

★ South Asian Note

★ Birding in South Asia

★ South Asian Awareness Network Conference Website

★ Global Media Publications Website