1. South Asia today and tomorrow
Read carefully through the list "Ten Major Geographic Qualities of South Asia" at the beginning of chapter 8A Think about how these qualities are affecting the realm today and/or in the future. Each of these qualities is discussed further in the chapter.
Choose two of these "Ten Major Geographic Qualities of South Asia" from the list in 8A. For each, explain:
How this geographic quality having a major impact on the realm today and/or in the future? (Not just in the past) How is this quality affecting real people, places, environments, and landscapes?
MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC QUALITIES OF SOUTH ASIA
- South Asia is clearly defined physiographically, and much of the realm's boundary is marked by mountains, deserts, and the Indian Ocean.
- South Asia's great rivers, especially the Ganges, have for tens of thousands of years supported huge population clusters.
- South Asia, and especially northern India, was the birthplace of major religions that include Hinduism and Buddhism.
- Due to the realm's natural boundaries, foreign influences in premodern South Asia came mainly via a narrow passage in the northwest (the Khyber Pass).
- South Asia covers just over 3 percent of the Earth's land area but contains nearly 24 percent of the world's human population.
- South Asia's annual monsoon continues to dominate life for hundreds of millions of subsistence and commercial farmers. Failure of the monsoon cycle spells economic crisis.
- Certain remote areas in the realm's northern mountain perimeter are a dangerous source of friction between India and both Pakistan and China.
- South Asia is still predominantly rural with hundreds of thousands of small villages; but it also contains some of the biggest cities in the world.