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South Asia
South Asia is a southern geopolitical region of the Asian continent
comprising territories on and in proximity to the Indian subcontinent.
Southern Asia includes both the Indian subcontinent and Iranian Plateau.
It is surrounded by (from west to east) Western Asia, Central Asia,
Eastern Asia, and Southeastern Asia. The terms with cardinal directions
are often equated with the Indian subcontinent, but they are not
synonymous. The United
Nations subregion of Southern Asia sometime includes the above plus
Afghanistan and Iran (see Subregions of Asia). The term was also
sometimes used to describe the whole of Asia south of the former Soviet
Union. Culturally and socially, the definition inclusive of Afghanistan
and Iran is more correct, given that the populations of these countries
are not Arab/Semitic and therefore far more South Asian than Middle
Eastern. The term Indian
subcontinent aptly describe those regions which geophysically lie on the
Indian Plate, bordered on the north by the Eurasian Plate.
Geopolitically, however, South Asia or Southern Asia subsumes the Indian
subcontinent: it also includes territories found external to the Indian
Plate and in proximity to it. Afghanistan, for instance, is sometimes
grouped in this region due to sociopolitical ties to neighboring
Pakistan, and because it was a part of the Indian Maurya and Mughal
empires. It also has a majority Pashtun ethnic group, who also form the
second largest ethnic group in Pakistan. Iran is sometimes included due
to its Indo-Aryan heritage which ties it closer to these nations than
the Middle East.
Southwestern Asia Southwest Asia or
Southwestern Asia (often confused with the Middle East) is the
southwestern portion of Asia. The term Western Asia is commonly used in
writings about the archaeology and late prehistory of the region, and in
the U.S. subregion geoschem.. Unlike the Middle East, which is a
vaguely-defined region generally meant to include the African country of
Egypt, Western Asia is a purely geographical term that includes the
southwestern extreme of Asia. Southwest Asia is partly
coterminous with the traditional European names the Middle East and the
Near East, both of which describe the regions' geographical position in
relation to Europe rather than their location within Asia. The term
Western Asia has become the preferred term of use for the Middle East by
international organizations (most notably the United Nations) and also
in African and Asian countries, such as India, because of the perceived
Eurocentrism of the historical term Middle East. In terms of cultural
and political geography, the Middle East sometimes includes North
African countries, particularly Egypt. For similar reasons, Afghanistan,
Central Asia, and Pakistan are also variously affiliated with the
region. The UN includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, and
Georgia in its Western Asian subregion, as they are almost entirely
located there. However, these countries are also in the Caucasus, a
region that straddles both Asia and Europe, and have sociopolitical ties
to the latter. On the other hand, the UN assigns Iran and Egypt to
Southern Asia and Northern Africa, respectively. |
