South Asia

South Asia is a major subregion located in the southern part of the Asian continent.

It is a vast area covering approximately 5.2 million square kilometers. This represents about 10% of the total land surface of Asia. The region is largely a peninsula resting on the Indian Plate. This tectonic plate collided with Eurasia roughly 50 million years ago. This massive collision helped shape the current landscape of the continent.

Geographically, South Asia is defined by very distinct natural boundaries. To the north, it is blocked by massive mountain barriers. These include the Himalayas, the Karakoram, and the Pamir Mountains. To the south, the region meets the Indian Ocean. It shares borders with several other Asian subregions. It borders East Asia to the northeast and Central Asia to the northwest. West Asia lies to the west, while Southeast Asia is to the east. Interestingly, Southeast Asia and Maritime South Asia are the only Asian subregions that sit partly in the Southern Hemisphere.

Human life in this region has a deep and complex history. Settled life first emerged about 9,000 years ago. This happened along the western margins of the Indus River Basin. Over time, this grew into the Indus Valley Civilisation during the third millennium BCE.

Later, new influences arrived from the northwest. Indo-Aryan-speaking people began entering the subcontinent between 3,900 and 3,000 years ago. This process likely involved many small-scale migrations rather than a single event. These groups brought a predecessor to the Sanskrit language. This cultural blending combined new outside features with existing Harappan influences.

The Vedic period left a unique mark on South Asian culture. The Aryans were nomadic horse-herding tribes known as an elite group. They composed sacred ritual texts called the Vedas in Sanskrit. These texts, including the Rig Veda, were composed orally. Teachers passed them down to students in an unbroken line. This method acted like a "tape-recording" of the era. It even preserved the musical tones of the original words. The Rig Veda is the earliest extant text composed in Sanskrit. It was composed around 1500 BCE, before the widespread use of iron.

As centuries passed, many different powers shaped the political landscape. Muslim armies from Central Asia arrived and founded the Delhi Sultanate in the 13th century. This connected the region to the cosmopolitan networks of medieval Islam. Later, the Mughal Empire began its rule in 1526. The Mughals provided two centuries of relative peace. They left behind a legacy of luminous architecture.

Eventually, the British East India Company began expanding its rule. This turned much of South Asia into a colonial economy. By 1858, the British Crown took direct control of the region.

The modern political map was created through a major change in 1947. The British Indian Empire was partitioned into two independent dominions. These were the Hindu-majority Dominion of India and the Muslim-majority Dominion of Pakistan. This partition caused an unprecedented migration and a large loss of life. During this time, hundreds of local princes became legally independent. Most eventually merged their domains into either India or Pakistan. Later, in 1971, East Pakistan seceded to become the new nation of Bangladesh.

Today, South Asia is one of the most significant regions on Earth. It has a population of about 2.04 billion people. This means South Asia contains 25% of the entire world's population. It is both the most populous and most densely populated region globally. The region is also incredibly diverse in its religious beliefs. It holds the world's largest populations of Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains. It also contains massive populations of Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists.

To help with regional cooperation, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established in 1985.