Southeast Asia is a realm of mountainous barriers, unproductive highlands, rugged coastlines, and island chains as well as fertile valleys, deltas, rich volcanic soils on terraced hilltops and productive plains watered by ample rainfall. There are four major river systems within the region. They are:
There are hundreds of active and inactive volcanoes towering over the landscape. The region also contains some of the world's largest remaining stands of rain forests.
Southeast Asia has a total land surface of about 1,735,448 square miles, which is just over 1/2 of the continental United States (2001 World... , 2001, pg.7 and U. S. Dept. of Commerce, 1998, pg. 2). The Asian continent contains the countries of Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Vietnam, which make up some 748,739 sq. miles, or 1/4 of the continental United States. The island nations of Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines make up the remaining 986,709 sq. miles of the region, which is a little larger than Alaska, Colorado, and Texas combined (986,607 sq. miles) (Ibid.). Within the entire region, Indonesia has the largest landmass of 735,355 square miles or slightly more than the size of Alaska and Colorado combined (Ibid.).
The climate of the entire region is primarily a tropical humid climate zone or type "A" of the Koeppen climate classification system. This zone can be divided into three (3) sub-categories. The first is the Tropical-Wet, which covers northern Vietnam, northwestern Myanmar, western and peninsular areas of Thailand, portions of eastern Laos, and the eastern areas of the Philippines. The second category is the Tropical Wet-Dry, which is eastern Myanmar, about 2/3 of Thailand, northwestern and southern parts of Laos, most of Cambodia, and southern Vietnam, as well as in the extreme western part of the Philippines. The third category is monsoon, which is most common in southern parts of Myanmar, Thailand and western Cambodia.
The Southeast Asian region now has a population of 519 million (World Population Reference Bureau, 2001). Of that number, 206.1 million of the population live in Indonesia, with 60%, or over 120 million, living on the island of Jawa (Java) (World Population Reference Bureau, 2001; Pulsipher, 2000, pg. 509; Clawson, 2001, pg. 364). That means, Southeast Asia has 1.8 times the number of people that the United States has, but with less than half the land area of the United States (Pulsipher, 2000, pg. 479). This large population is supported in a few, very densely populated areas, such as river deltas, coastal Vietnam, Philippines, the island of Java, and other major urban-city areas (Ibid. pg. 479).
Southeast Asian cities are among the most crowded in the world and population density is a means to measure the available land area per person. For example, Manila has about 10.2 million people, which equates to a population density of roughly 54,000 people per square mile (20,000/sq. km); Jakarta has three times as many people as Manila or 130,000 people per square mile (50,000/sq. km) (Pulsipher, 2000, pg. 479). Now compare those figures to the population density of the number 1 city in the United States, New York City. New York City has a density of 7,504.2 people per sq. mile (U. S. Dept. of Commerce, 1998, pg. 63) (about 2,832 per sq. km). Presently, more than 50% of the women in the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam say they don’t want to have another child, and even with 55% of the women using birth control, the population will continue to grow at such a high rate (Pulsipher, 2000, pg. 479). The regional population growth is projected to be about 685 million people by 2025, because approximately 32% of the Southeast Asian population are below the age of 15 and a relatively high birth rate average of 23 per 1000 (World Population Reference Bureau, 2001).
Development
The development throughout the region is due to the migrations of many outsiders. The Chinese have been migrating to Southeast Asia for approximately 2000 years. The Spanish arriving in the Philippines in 1521 started the European colonial period. Next, the Dutch arrived in Indonesia in 1600, with the British entering Burma in 1826 and later Malaysia in 1874. The French in 1862 colonized the area they called Indochina (Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam). Finally, the United States replaced the Spaniards in 1898 in the Philippines, as a consequence of the Spanish-American War. The Muslims, also arriving from southwestern Asia, mainly developed trade in the area. During these migrations, the development of plantations, railroad systems, educational and political systems, religions, etc., were very much in progress. For instance, after the colonial forces, in particular the European powers, divided up the region, by usually playing one existing state against another, they began to build colonies, plantations, etc., for the main purpose of making their homelands greater in wealth. But, even this would begin the exportation of many raw materials and food crops like rice, rubber, spices, tea, coffee, and other resources. The British developed a complicated system of colonies and protectorates that eventually gave rise to the present day Malaysian Federation. They also built many rice plantations in the western side of the Malay peninsula. Britain also formed what was called the Strait Settlement, which included Singapore. The French developed the rubber plantations and the Dutch extracted spices from Indonesia by means of The Dutch East India Company, bringing them considerable wealth. The Spanish brought not only their government but also their religion, Catholicism to the Filipinos, which is still the dominating religion of the country. The Indians brought Buddhism, Hinduism and later Islam which was promoted even more by the Arabs who also came as traders to the region. Today, all of Southeast Asia's states are independent, but centuries of colonial rule have left strong cultural imprints. In their cities, education, civil service, and in many other ways, this realm still carries the marks of its varied colonial past.
The cultural make up of the region is of a large variety, not having so much to do with their physical appearances, but more so in language, ethnicity, and religious traditions. One of these groups, the Chinese, who makeup 7% of the overall regional population (Bradshaw, 2002, pg. 276), are scattered throughout Southeast Asia, numbering 30 million with most being of the Buddhist faith. The Malays, one of the indigenous ethnic groups, are followers of the Islamic faith which is the second in its number of followers compared with Buddhism which ranks 1st in its number of followers. The Indians, Vietnamese, Khmer (who stretch from Cambodia and overflow into Vietnam and Thailand), Mon, Thai, Lao, Shan, Filipino, and Karen, give you an idea of the many ethnic groups in the region. Some of the languages are Chinese, English, Vietnamese, French, Malay, Tamil, Khmer, and in the Philippines alone there are about 90 different languages spoken.
The economic development of the region varies greatly. According to a 2 July 1999 Asiaweek magazine article, "About Singapore Annexure," there is a vast difference in GNP per capita amongst the Southeast Asian countries. The richest nations are Singapore, with a GNP of $31,900 per capita, and Brunei, which has a GNP of $20,400. At the other end of the GNP scale are countries like Vietnam, which has a GNP of $280 per capita, and Laos with a GNP at $370. While rubber, palm oil, and tin still rank high on the export list, electronics have made its appearance as well. Electronics have become one of the largest growing industries in the region, particularly in the nations of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Singapore, with its involvement in the electronics market, has become one of the world's largest producers of disk drives for small computers. Since 1980 Malaysia's economy has grown rapidly, making its GNP of $4,287 the third in Southeast Asia, which brings it a step behind oil rich Brunei and Singapore. Myanmar is one of the world's poorest countries, however they have made many strides in which their GNP of $765 now surpasses that of Vietnam and Laos. In Indonesia, the GNP is at about $981 per capita and is also becoming more involved in the export of electronics, especially in the manufacturing and exporting of microcomputer chips.
Some areas like Thailand depend on tourism as its leading source revenue. However, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries have been involved with a new kind of tourism, called the international sex tourism. It is prostitution of all kinds, which is actually an advertised part of the tourist industry. A Thai official had once stated, "that it is the sex workers who attract most of the tourists they have saved our economy from bankruptcy (Pulsipher, 2000, pg. 472)." However, the Thai government has passed many laws in an effort to stop such practices, with heavy fines and imprisonment for all parties concerned in such trade. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) "has taken a firm stance on preventing and discouraging sex-related tourism, and has, over the past years, cooperated with the Tourist Police on seeking out and prosecuting sex tourism operators (Tourism..., Online)."
2001 World Population Data Sheet. (2001). Population Reference Bureau. Book Ed. Washington, DC.
About Singapore Annexure [Online]. (1999). Asiaweek magazine. Available: http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/5738/abtsg-2.htm. 14 Oct. 2001.
Bradshaw, Michael. (2002). World Regional Geography: The New Global Order, Updated 2nd Edition. NY: McGraw Hill.
Clawson, David L. (2001). World Regional Geography: A Development Approach. 7th Ed. NJ: Prentice Hall, NJ.
Pulsipher, Lydia Mihelic. (2000). World Geography. NY: W.H. Freeman and Co.
Tourism Authority of Thailand [Online]. (2000). Laws on Prostitution. Available: http://www.tat.or.th/homepage/index.htm. 14 Oct. 2001.
United States Department of Commerce: Bureau of the Census [Online]. (1998). State and Metropolitan Area Data Book. 5th Ed. Tables A-1 States Area and Population and B-1 Metro Areas and Population. pp. 2 and 63. Available: http://www.census.gov/prod/3/98pubs/smadb-97.pdf. 14 Oct. 2001.
1. Which of the following Southeast Asian countries has a higher per capita income than many European countries, including Spain, Portugal, Poland, Yugoslavia, Greece and Great Britain?
A. Indonesia B. Philippines C. Thailand D. Singapore E. Malaysia.
2. Southeast Asia's largest country in terms of both area and population is:
A. Myanmar B. Thailand C. Malaysia D. Indonesia E. Vietnam.
3. Of the following countries in SE Asia, which has the highest per capita income:
A. Brunei B. Thailand C. Vietnam D. Cambodia E. Malaysia.
4. Which three Southeast Asian countries once were French possessions?
A. Thailand, Cambodia, Laos B. Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos C. Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei D. Myanmar, Thailand, Laos; E. Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand.
5. Which Southeast Asian nation did the United States rule for almost half a century?
A. Philippines B. Thailand C. Indonesia D. Malaysia E. Vietnam.
Original submitted by Matthew L. Irons on Dec. 5, 1996. Re-submitted by Connie Shockley on June 16, 1997, and by John Kempf on Nov. 19, 2001.